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Why is my trackpad not working properly?

The trackpad on my Macbook suddenly stopped responding properly, when I move my finger the cursor stops intermittently. I found two workarounds that might give some clues:

1) if I apply even just light pressure under the trackpad the cursor moves as it should,

2) it also works if I unplug the power source, ie. in battery mode! (not ideal, since my battery is seriously bad)

Any ideas what might cause this problem?

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Thanks guys! As it happens, the trackpad started working again before I could try any of your suggestions. If I had any less experience with computers I would say this is very strange…

Now I have the problem of USB-Midi not working with the power source attached, but that’s off topic…

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@mholmqv - I would still look at your battery as this sounds like a classic case of a swollen battery.

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It sounds like you have a double whammy here. If your Battery is going it could be pressing on the trackpad from below, often times the battery swells up. I would test it using CoconutBattery Post a snapshot of the main window here so we can see how it looks Adding images to an existing question. If needed replace it and you still may need to replace the trackpad and its cable if they got damaged. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Early 2011 Trackpad Replacement which is the same process for your system. And here’s the battery info MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2010 Battery Replacement

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2010 Battery Image

Guide

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2010 Battery Replacement

Difficulty:

Easy

—

10 - 45 minutes
MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Early 2011 Trackpad Image

Guide

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Early 2011 Trackpad Replacement

Difficulty:

Moderate

—

45 minutes - 2 hours
iFixit Image

Guide

Adding images to an existing question

Difficulty:

Very easy

—

2 - 5 minutes

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try SMC and PRAM resets. those solve most software related Mac problems. if SMC and PRAM resets don’t work then you might have to replace the trackpad.

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Trackpad Image

Product

MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2012) Trackpad

$59.99

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mats.holmqvist will be eternally grateful.
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