Erratic Trackpad behavior (#4)

We continue to cover erratic trackpad behavior from various Apple portables -- particularly 2005 PowerBook G4 models with the first new trackpads not manufactured by Synaptics.

Problems include taps and clicks not being recognized, jumpy cursor movement and more.

Resetting the PMU Some readers report that resetting the PowerBook/iBook PMU resolves the trackpad inconsistencies.

One reader writes:

"Called Apple about the problem with the trackpad on my 6 day old PowerBook. They had me reset the PMU and that fixed it. Note that the PMU reset procedure has changed since my old PowerBook. Now you just unplug the AC adaptor, remove the battery, hold down the power button for 5 seconds, replace the battery, and plug in the AC adaptor, then restart."

"Stuck" trackpad A number of readers report that the trackpads on 2005 PowerBook G4s take a second or two to react to new movement after being inactive for an extended period of time.

MacFixIt reader Lebn writes:

"I just replaced my 800Mhz G3 iBook with a 12" PowerBook, 2005 1.5 GHz. Reading the trackpad reports of other users I was initially glad that my trackpad seemed to be free of these problems. Lately however they have started to crop up. I have not experienced the static shocks that other users have gotten, whether on AC or not. However, sometimes when I return to the PowerBook the trackpad will take a bit to respond, five seconds or so, and in bad cases even when it does respond it will only move very slowly, or jump instead of track smoothly. This is a real pain, and an issue I never saw on the iBook. Moving my fingers back and forth rapidly seems to kind of get it "unstuck", but it may just be that it takes a while. I have seen this slow/jumpy trackpad behavior more on battery power than on AC."

Kevin Pierce adds "I find that the cursor occasionally gets stuck in addition to slow response. If I switch to another application (command-tab) and back it typically frees itself (it?s not stuck in the app I switch to)."

Static interference? Some users are attributing this issue to static interference -- a scenario for which we are seeking confirmation.

Marcello Azevedo writes:

"I'm having the same issues on my PBG4 2005's track-pad, it seems to me that the track-pad is prone to static interference, it always happens to me after I walk around and try to use the track-pad. It has been consistently erratic under this scenario."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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