Is it possible to recalibrate the touchpad of a MacBook Pro (early 2011)?

Question

Is it possible to recalibrate the touchpad of a MacBook Pro (early 2011)?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Nov 26, 2014 4:22 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 26, 2014 4:46 AM in response to Esquared

Hi - thanks for your response. The cursor seems to have developed a mind of its own - darting around all over the place, highlighting things, launching the dictionary function (which I never use and wouldn't know how to if I did!), sending screens off to the side etc etc which, at its worst, makes the machine nigh on unusable.

I've run anti-virus scans etc, installed/uninstalled the anti virus software (as this can sometimes cause problems), rebooted countless times, tried it in safe mode, repaired permissions, reset the System Management Controller, but the problem persists. Sometimes all is fine, then the problem starts-up again.

Any suggestions would be most gratefully received :-)

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Answer 2

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Nov 26, 2014 5:30 AM in response to sibbofromwelwyn

Uninstall all antivirus software (and all apps that are 'keepers optimizers, boosters gard, cleaners, and that sort of crap) , then restart.

Then do the SMC reset for your mac:

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support

Then when the issue is still here and you have a macbook or macbook pro:

click the Apple menu (left icon on top menu bar), hold the Alt(option) key, and choose 'SystemInformation', in the left navigation panel under 'hardware' click 'Power', in there look at "Health Information" give the 'cycle count....' and the 'condition:.... here.

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Answer 3

Nov 26, 2014 5:06 AM in response to sibbofromwelwyn

Sounds like your trackpad might had gone bad. I suggest:

1. Log in as another user account and test there. This will narrow it down to a user-specific issue or machine-specific.

2. If it does the same as any user, try rebooting into the Recovery Partition (hold Command + R at startup) and see if it does the same thing there. This will test whether it is an OS issue or a hardware issue.

3. If the issue persists while booted to the Recovery Partition, you can try a regular old USB mouse just to make sure that works normally.

If the trackpad issue persists and you have no issue with an external mouse, I'd say it's time for a trip to the Apple store.

One of their diagnostics they can run is a trackpad diag which will show any dead spots or other anomalies. If your machine has no warranty left, I believe a replacement trackpad is somewhere around $70.

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Answer 4

Nov 26, 2014 5:39 AM in response to Lexiepex

I'm sorry but all of this has nothing to do with the trackpad. The SMC is the power management system for issues with power on/off or sleep/wake, and the "cycle count" information shows how many charge/depletion cycles your battery has gone through...

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Answer 5

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Nov 26, 2014 5:56 AM in response to mberardinelli

The SMC is a hardware firmware reset, and the battery information (MB or MBP) is very relevant, because old batteries will swell and pres the underside of the keyboard and trackpad: this has been often enough found here as cause.

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