I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012). The "click" function of my laptop's touchpad stopped working. It still tracks my finger movements and it does the right click. I had to plug in a mouse to make it work. I started the computer in "safe mode" and it works fine, but when I reboot it stops working again. I have disconnected all peripherals. What should I try next?
MacPro1,1 Dual-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.5)
Are you using any third-party software that modifies the behavior of the trackpad, such as "BetterTouchTool" or "MagicPrefs?" If so, please disable it, then log out or restart the computer and test.
No, I have nothing fo the kind. I ended up calling Apple support and tried everything under the sun, including re-installing the OS. But to no avail. BTW, I had actually previously booted in "repair " mode, not in "safe" mode as I saw d in my initial question. The touchpad click does work in "repair" mode, but not in "safe" mode Nor in a new account I created. The Apple support guy told me my last r sort was to do a clean install... Yikes! Quite a drastic step. Any better ideas?
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this test is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account. Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The "Guest User" login created by "Find My Mac" is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Thank you for your response, I had already tried with the "Guest User" Account, and also with a second account I have that has none of my applications installed. The touchpad acts the same way, that is to say that it still tracks my finger movements and it does respond to the two-finger push for a right click, it just does not respond to a single finger push to do a "click".
So to summarize, I have checked the touchpad settings, I have checked the accessibility mode to make sure it was not affecting the touchpad, I have tried to use the touchpad in multiple accounts, guest and other, and I have tried it in Safe mode, and the "click" does not work. I have re-installed the OS and it still doe snot work. Yet, the single click DOES work in "REPAIR" mode, as evidenced when I went to repair my disk (I had done this earlier in the day), and then again when I went into that mode to re-install the OS system. In addition, I connected two different USB (wired) mouses and the same thing happened. This proves that it is not hardware, since both the touchpad and the mice act the same manner, and the "click" worked in REPAIR mode.
The only way I have access to the mouse click function is by way of my Wacom tablet. The Wacom tablet is also wired, but it is the only thing that works at this time to select, or "click" on my computer.
The apple support guy said I could try to delete some configuration settings files (which I have never done and I'm worried I might mess up...) or do a clean install. What do you think? Or do you know of any other option that I might have not tried yet? If I have to delete config files, can you point me to a good set of instructions so I can do it correctly?
Thanks!
CLARIFICATION: in my original post I had said that the mouse worked in SAFE mode, but I had mistaken REPAIR mode for SAFE mode. I also said originally that I had connected a mouse, but it was a Wacom pen. I had not tried a wired mouse at that point and I thought it was all the same, so I was surprised and when I did try a mouse and found it did not work. So pretty much most of what I wrote in my initial question was not accurate. What I wrote this time is correct
If you don't already have a current backup, please back up all data, then reinstall the OS.* You don't need to erase the startup volume, and you won't need the backup unless something goes wrong. If the system was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you may need the Apple ID and password you used.
There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
If you installed the Java runtime distributed by Apple and still need it, you'll have to reinstall it. The same goes for Xcode. All other data will be preserved.
*The linked support article refers to OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan"), but the procedure is the same for OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and later.
I have already re-installed the OS. Please see my earlier response. It did not work. The click function still does not work. That's why I am asking about config files vs a clean install, which I would like to avoid. Is deleting config setting files a better way to go? Or a clean install?
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It makes no changes to your data.
I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. That's what I suggest you use, even if your preferred browser is something else.
Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
ls -@BOaen /L*/Preferences | pbcopy
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any one of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.
The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.
The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.
If a graphics tablet (Wacom or similar) has ever been connected, or if third-party software such as "Inklet" has been installed to allow the trackpad to be used as a tablet, there may be a pane named Ink in System Preferences. Please open it and uncheck the box marked
Allow me to Ink in any application
Yes, I have Ink. Full of hope, I unchecked the box "Allow me to Ink in any application" . Unfortunately, still no change to my touchpad click function. Now I'll do what you suggested above and report back. Thanks.
total 816
drwxr-xr-x 72 0 0 sunlnk 2448 Jun 12 17:07 .
drwxr-xr-x+ 67 0 0 sunlnk 2278 Jun 11 17:42 ..
0: ABCDEFAB-CDEF-ABCD-EFAB-CDEF0000000C deny delete
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 20 - 15159 Jun 11 17:50 .GlobalPreferences.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 2048 Jan 22 2013 .Lzfh0Blt8K
drwxrwxr-x 4 0 202 - 136 Jun 11 17:47 Audio
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 - 68 Jun 11 17:42 DirectoryService
drwxrwxrwx 11 0 0 - 374 May 10 2014 FLEXnet Publisher
drwxr-xr-x 5 0 0 - 170 Jun 11 17:51 OpenDirectory
drwxr-xr-x 14 0 80 sunlnk 476 Jun 12 16:23 SystemConfiguration
drwxrwxr-x 4 0 0 - 136 Feb 1 11:25 Tablet
drwxr-xr-x 2 0 0 - 68 Jun 24 2012 Xsan
-rwxrwxrwx 1 0 80 - 389 Mar 17 08:24 com.Adobe.Elements Organizer.14.0.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 105 Sep 13 2014 com.adobe.DigitalEditions.plist
-rwxrwxr-x 1 0 80 - 266 Jan 28 01:58 com.adobe.Elementslog.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 39327 Jan 31 18:26 com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 68 Apr 12 01:04 com.adobe.acc.AdobeDesktopService.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 145 Jun 3 15:27 com.adobe.acrobat.DC.WebResource.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 140 Jan 31 18:26 com.adobe.acrobat.pdfviewer.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 230 Apr 12 01:04 com.adobe.headlights.apip.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 20 - 159 Oct 20 2013 com.apple.ARDAgent.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 180 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.AppleFileServer.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 145 Jun 12 10:04 com.apple.BezelServices.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 20087 Jun 12 11:18 com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 compressed 418 Aug 1 2015 com.apple.ByteRangeLocking.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 60 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.CoreRAIDServer.cfdb
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 73 Jan 20 15:11 com.apple.FindMyMac.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 391 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.HIToolbox.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 86 Jun 12 10:41 com.apple.MCX.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 compressed 4115 Mar 22 15:37 com.apple.P2PSupervisor.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 67 Oct 20 2013 com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 59 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.SetupAssistant.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 562 Jun 12 00:50 com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 3314 Jun 12 16:38 com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 compressed 42 Oct 31 2015 com.apple.ViewBridge.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 compressed 336 Mar 22 15:37 com.apple.airport.opproam.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 80 - 4777 Sep 3 2015 com.apple.alf.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 80 compressed 3342 Jul 29 2015 com.apple.alf.plist~orig
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 0 Sep 3 2015 com.apple.apsd.launchd
-rw------- 1 0 0 - 19438 Jun 12 16:33 com.apple.apsd.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 121 Jul 3 2014 com.apple.captive.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 427 Jun 3 14:49 com.apple.commerce.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 108 Sep 3 2015 com.apple.dock.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 80 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.driver.AppleIRController.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 320 Jan 21 08:24 com.apple.dt.Xcode.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 501 20 - 978 Jun 10 19:07 com.apple.iPod.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 410 Apr 29 20:22 com.apple.iokit.AmbientLightSensor.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 20 - 234 Jun 12 10:06 com.apple.loginwindow.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 1067 Jun 12 17:07 com.apple.networkextension.cache.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 63 Jun 12 16:33 com.apple.networkextension.necp.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 308 Jun 11 17:52 com.apple.networkextension.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 102 Jun 11 17:55 com.apple.noticeboard.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 73 Aug 22 2014 com.apple.print.makequeues.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 203 Sep 11 2013 com.apple.screensaver.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 compressed 249 Jan 21 19:44 com.apple.security.appsandbox.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 71 Jun 12 10:04 com.apple.security.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 353 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.security.systemidentities.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 42 Jun 12 10:04 com.apple.storeagent.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 216 Oct 6 2012 com.apple.timezone.auto.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 73 Oct 14 2014 com.apple.updatesetings.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 88 88 - 109752 Jun 12 10:06 com.apple.windowserver.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 501 20 - 0 Sep 9 2015 com.citrixonline.GoToAssist Express.plist
-rw-rw-r-- 1 0 0 - 415 Oct 12 2012 com.microsoft.PlayReady.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 5666 Jan 22 2013 com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 88 Oct 20 2013 com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
-rwxrw-rw-@ 1 0 0 - 907 Oct 31 2015 com.sierrawireless.persipc.plist
com.apple.FinderInfo 32
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 310 Oct 31 2015 com.sierrawireless.sipc.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 501 20 - 56 Apr 17 22:44 com.stuffit.agreement.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 26 26 - 0 Oct 14 2015 jp.co.canon.ij.print.backend.canonijnetwork.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 26 26 - 70 Jun 11 18:35 jp.co.canon.ij.print.filter.raster2canonij.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 26 26 - 70 Apr 3 20:09 jp.co.canon.ij.print.utility.command2canonij.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 402 Oct 10 2012 loginwindow.plist
-rw-r--r-- 1 0 0 - 850 Jun 11 18:48 org.cups.printers.plist
Please disconnect the tablet and remove the software according to the manufacturer's instructions. Any change?
But I've had this tablet for years and never had any problems with it. Why I'm worried that I have a lot of work to do and the only way to use my computer at this point is with the tablet. I am on deadline and without it I'l never make it. Did the words I pasted from the terminal tell you anything about the tablet?
I'm suggesting a test. If there's no change, you can easily reinstall the software, and reconnecting the tablet is even easier.
Touchpad "click" does not work
