cassjean

Q: Erratic trackpad fixed temporarily with external mouse

I've been having issues with the trackpad on my Mid 2012 MacBook Pro lately, where it acts erratic and goes from jumping around, to staying completely still, to clicking things that I never meant to. There aren't any updates for my laptop either, as I currently have what I believe to be the most recent installment of Yosemite, and my computer is not notifying me of any possible change.

 

I've had this issue occur before but on a lesser scale, and I was able to fix it by simply going to the trackpad system preferences, unchecking everything, and then rechecking everything. This time, however, that method's only worked for about five minutes or so before it went back to acting strange. Eventually, I found an old Logitech plug-in mouse that I've been using so far, and I've discovered that when it's plugged in the trackpad works just fine, so I took out the mouse and the trackpad began working for about twenty minutes before it acted up again. So, again I plugged in the mouse, but this time, the trackpad worked in spurts where it would be fine one minute and act up the next. I've also shut down my computer entirely and waited anywhere from a few minutes to overnight completely, which would once again fix the issue for the first ten minutes of use once I turned it on before it began going haywire.

 

Any help would be appreciated as I'm totally lost with this. It might be a while before I can carve out some time to visit an apple store myself, so if I could get this fixed on my own that would be wonderful. Also, apologies if this was placed in the incorrect community/category. Thanks in advance (:

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Apr 2, 2015 3:14 PM

Close

Q: Erratic trackpad fixed temporarily with external mouse

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by dominic23,

    dominic23 dominic23 Apr 2, 2015 6:54 PM in response to cassjean
    Level 8 (42,074 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2015 6:54 PM in response to cassjean

    Jumpy Trackpad

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1449

     

    Go step by step and test.

     

    1. Restart

     

    2. Shut down the computer.

        Clean the trackpad with moist not wet microfiber cloth.

     

        System Preferences > Point & Click

        Try turning off three finger dragging and then turning it on after  testing.

     

    3. Is there any Bluetooth device nearby with failing batteries? If so, replace the batteries.

     

     

      4. Reset PRAM:   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14222

     

     

    5. Reset SMC.     http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

     

        Choose the method for:

        "Resetting SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own".

     

    6. Close all windows and quit all applications.

     

        Click the Spotlight -the magnifying glass icon- in the menu bar. Enter Disk utility in the box.

     

        Select Disk Utility. When the Disk utility window opens up,

        select  Macintosh HD, then First Aid.

     

        Click Repair Disk  Permission

        Ignore the  time remaining estimate.

        Last 1 minute may take longer.