0
Score
Vera
11
Asked
How do you fix a mouse that's too slow and acts erratically?
My trackpad has been acting erratically for the last few months. By "erratically" I mean it starts jumping around on the screen by itself moving and clicking, becoming practically uncontrollable with the trackpad because scrolling becomes really slow and is overpowered by the cursor's own movement. At first this went away if I let the computer sit for a little while. Then it became continuous and now I am forced to use a USB mouse with it. Without the USB mouse the cursor does not always move by itself, but is always extremely slow - much slower than a normal responsive trackpad would be, even at the highest speed setting.
My question is what I should do first to diagnose the issue? From searching a few forums, I found that it could be an issue with the trackpad, motherboard, or the battery pushing up on the trackpad if the battery is bad. A new unibody shell or motherboard are pricey, so I want to be sure before I buy one. Unfortunately I don't have other old macs available that I could salvage for parts. How do I go about diagnosing/ fixing this?
PS - at the moment my CD/DVD port is not accepting disks so I cannot boot from a disk
I appreciate any help!!
1
Score
machead3
21.3k
Answered
Accepted Answer
Sounds like what's ailing your optical drive might be related to your trackpad's illness. You really need to connect an external optical drive and boot to your Hardware Test disk... The behavior of your trackpad could be caused by CPU/RAM issues.
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Allright, I will try that first then. I will probably revisit this thread later, once I have a chance to get at the CD drive. Thanks for your help!
Vera,
I had tried various fixes for my trackpad, including swapping out the battery and ram, but it was still behaving the same way. I eventually had my computer examined at the local apple store for something else, and they replaced the trackpad for me as well. Thanks for your help!
Vera,
Is there something you're not disclosing? Like a fall or liquid spill?
machead3,
The laptop has never fallen. I have used it in the kitchen before though, and at times the mouse movement happened after I used it with wet hands (I try to dry them but there is always leftover water). It always went away afterwards though, until the last time it happened. The CD problem is not connected to the mouse problem because it's a physical obstruction issue, I have something stuck in it I think. I have been waiting to take it apart because I didn't know if I would be replacing the battery at the same time. I don't want to take the laptop apart too many times. I don't have an external optical drive at the moment. I am guessing I should take care of the CD drive first so I can test the trackpad by booting to a CD?
Vera,
I would - you don't have to screw it down after replacing the optical drive to run the hardware test... but you should leave it on the workspace unti you finish with repair (don't go carting it around with the topcase just resting on it)
machead3,