12" Powerbook trackpad issues...??

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hello all.

I have a 12" 1.5 ghz G4 powerbook with the scrolling trackpad. It is acting bizarre. It only works sometimes.....it freezes after the laptop sleeps and goes to that colorful moving thing.



I am running Leopard.



To get it working again, I have to restart it. After you type in your password the cursor moves fine.....you can move it over to your log in button and click it fine. Then it will work fine, both with the single finger and two finger movements and the clickpad right under the trackpad works fine.



BUT, when you let it sit for awhile and it goes idle, then it freezes for good. I then have to plug in a mouse to move the cursor. Then with the mouse, I can move the cursor and click with the mouse.



So, the idling freezes the trackpad. It works perfect as long as I do not let it go to idle.



I did a software update, repaired permissions, charged the battery to full, restarted it, emptied the trash, etc.



I am beginning to doubt it is a bad trackpad, because it works fine when I restart it, and well after, until it goes idle. I'm mostly a novice, so I defer to all of you who know much more then I.



Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    kmac1036kmac1036 Posts: 281member
    I would try installing OS X on an external drive. set up a completely new acct - different names than you use now - & try it. if you can't replicate, then what you can do is use the migration utility, import your stuff from the PB. boot from the DVD & restore the PB HDD from the external - as a source in the disk utility app.



    this would be a quick way to rule in or out the os. if the os is the problem, it's a little speedier than going thru the process a 2nd time with the PB hdd.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    Thank you. It seems to be intermittent so it is harder to pin down.

    Now it seems to be working fine.



    I did find that this seems to be a common problem on some of the newer macbook pro's. The easy fix with those seems to be putting a shim between the ribbon and the battery to hold the ribbon in place.



    Sadly, my powerbook's ribbon is not easily accessible.



    Frank D.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    jeffebyjeffeby Posts: 1member
    Anything further on this? I have been having the same issue with my 12" 1.5 ghz G4 Powerbook for the last 8 months. I think it started at the time of the 10.5.5 update. Love this little computer but it is driving me crazy to always have to carry around an external mouse.

    I have found that it tends to occur when it has been left idle for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes me think it has something to do with a glitch in the system's sleep preferences.
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