Erratic behavior in Magic Trackpad

[Julia Falling]

Hey — My Magic Trackpad had performed flawlessly for the three years I have used it, until about a week ago. Now the cursor changes the insertion point randomly in Mail, Safari, and other applications, it jumps off a Safari page onto the desktop. It closes windows. It even closes panes in Accordance. It selects a block of desktop randomly (like you would for a ⇧⌘4 screen shot). Hitting esc doesn't fix it. I've done all the usual things: repaired permissions, run TechTool Pro (no issues). Rebooting helps for a while. My husband even took the back off it to check for loose screws. I purchased the trackpad in 2010 while I had my MBP and am now using it with a MBA. I only use it when the laptop is connected to an external monitor, but that is a daily occurrence.

 

I paired the trackpad with my MacMini and saw the same behavior, but not immediately. I then paired it with my husband's iMac. Same result. (The quickest way to find out if there's a problem is to play Snood - after just a little while the cannon starts firing even when you aren't touching the trackpad.) There are reports on the Apple forums but no definitive solutions. Some have joked about demon-possession. Anyone on the forums know how to do a long-distance exorcism?

 

We're suspecting Mavericks. My husband is having the same problem with his Logitech RF mouse. So it's not just bluetooth issue. Both of us have had the problem just recently (my husband for about a week longer).

 

All the while the built-in trackpad of the MBA works perfectly. A Magic Mouse works perfectly (paired with either my Mac mini or MBA). The bluetooth keyboard I use with the MBA also works w/o a hitch.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas? If I can't find a solution pretty soon, I'm going to see if reinstalling Mavericks helps. I think this is a hardware + OS issue. I use a lot of gestures on my trackpad. I really don't want to go back to a mouse. I've also found that the trackpad is easier on my hands — no wrist issues since I started using a trackpad almost exclusively.

 

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Interesting Julie. I've seen the same thing with my mouse and before Mavericks. Its intermittent. I don't know what causes it. I usually find that sleeping the Mac (mine is a 2009 27" iMac w/ core 2 duo) with a quick tap of the power button and reactivating it restores function.

 

I've suspected Bluetooth interference but haven't been able to track it down to anything.

 

Thx

D

[Julia Falling]

Thanks, Daniel. It's very odd. Seems to be a worse problem with Mavericks. It's also odd that for the first month I had no issues at all. Then it became progressively worse. My husband has switched mice and his iMac is doing better.

 

One of the posts on Apple Support said new batteries helped. But batteries that are still at 60% are hardly throw-aways. If batteries make a difference, I could use the slightly depleted batteries in my keyboard, I suppose.

[Λύχνις Δαν]

I had wondered about batteries but its intermittent enough that I had not made any correlation. I use Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables in both kb and mouse. With 5 kids we have we have a bunch of toys that use them also.

 

Thx

D

Edited November 29, 2013 by Daniel Semler

[Julia Falling]

We buy the huge packs of AA batteries from Sam's. Between mice, my keyboard & trackpad, we use enough of them quickly enough that they don't 'expire' before they're used up.

 

I got an email from a fella on the Apple Support forums. I'll give his suggestions a try and report back.

 

Report: The poster on the Apple Support forums suggested booting up in safe mode; letting it sit at the log-in window for 5 minutes; logging in but not using the machine for 5 minutes; shutting down, then restarting with the power button. Didn't work. Maybe I need to do it while standing on my head? I'm really not superstitious, just frustrated. And if I really did have to stand on my head I'd be in trouble. I've never been able to do anything that requires being upside down. (I was truly awful in P.E. as a kid and there has been no improvement with age.)

 

Final (I think) Report: I've tried out the trackpad that came with the church's iMac, purchased about a year ago. The church administrator (my husband) prefers a mouse, so the Trackpad gets very little use. It seems to perform without any problems at all. I even gave it the Snood test – no out of control cannon. Frankly, I'm relieved to have isolated the problem.

Since we've had no hardware problems with any of our Apple products before, I was reluctant to assume a hardware problem this time. (We have a 28 year old Apple IIe in the basement that still boots up and runs. Of course, there's no internet, and you can't run much software on it. Anyone want to play Lode Runner?) Having a relatively inexpensive peripheral fail after 3 years is no big deal. Relieved. All our Macs are healthy, and Mavericks seems to be solid.

I've taken the Trackpad to MacAuthority - they think Apple might give me a discount on a replacement even with the age of the device. Anyway, I'll be getting a new Magic Trackpad this week. A discount would be nice, but I'm certainly willing to pay full price.

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Julie Falling