How To: Install multitouch trackpad in non unibody white MacBooks

[Tartarus]

well, 100% of people i asked here said it could not be done, but i have succeeded in installing a multitouch trackpad in a non unibody white macbook

this guide works to all MacBooks 2007 and newer
there are 2 routes to this project, i prefer the latter, because though it involves removing the top case, its much easier in my opinion.

Things you'll need:
1. a trackpad assembly from a 2008 (MUST BE 2008) Non-unbody (MUST BE NON-UNIBODY) macbook pro (see image below)

2. screwdrivers (for route 2)
3. hair dryer
4. knife of some sort ( used my pocketknife)
5. time, patience, and a steady hand.

ok, route 1.

remove the battery of your macbook
you should see where the trackpad is located on the underside of the top case.

remove the plastic flap very carefully.

now carefully (CAREFULLY) remove the ribbon cables by lifting up on the clamps of the connectors, and pulling the cables out

now before taking out this trackpad you should take the trackpad assembly that you are going to put in the macbook and using the hair dryer and knife gently remove JUST the trackpad part like this

so it looks like this


discard (or keep) the rest of the assembly, we are just using the trackpad

now that you have done it on the trackpad, its time to swap them.

do the same with the macbooks trackpad, just try pushing it out thru the hole
(DO NOT under any circumstance, remove the button, it will NEVER click properly again if you do)

then once that is out, simply place the new trackpad back into the empty slot, making sure its correctly aligned.
then reconnect the ribbon cables (VERY CAREFULLY, the gold wiring on the white ribbon cable likes to peel off, i almost had to buy a new top case but luckilly i was able to fold it back over.)

now boot up and enjoy! it should come up right from boot with being able to use gestures( this is in lion/mountain lion, im not sure about snow leopard)

Route 2

this is the route i took, i wasnt comfortable pushing the trackpad out so i removed the top case and used my knife to lift it of the adhesive.

remove the top case (google it)

then basically do what the above steps for route 1 say.

then reassemble the macbook, boot and enjoy!

the finished product should look like this

[Orange Furball]

You should have taken the MacBook to Apple to replace the top case first.

Nice mod though!

[charlieegan3]

Ha, i thought you were going to ask how to do this, i was going to say don't bother.

so good for you, nice mod.

[Tartarus]

Originally Posted by Orange Furball

You should have taken the MacBook to Apple to replace the top case first.

Nice mod though!

the nearest apple store is an hour and a half drive from here, when my truck gets 15 mpg tops, its not worth it when it still functions

and thanks!

the trackpads are actually really cheap on ebay, about $25 is what i paid, thats over twice as cheap as a magic trackpad

[DaKKs]

This can't be done on an early 2006, right? I hear the connectors are different.

[gumblecosby]

Fantastic work. Well done. I would love to see a video of it in action.

[jkoneal]

Cool!!!!

I can not find trackpads on eBay, just some complete upper housings: (

Can anyone tell me a seller?

Thank you.

[magicman911]

Ok, so I have nowhere to turn for questions but here.

I purchased both a Blackbook topcase and a 15" MBP Core 2 Duo Trackpad from ebay for my early 09 white/polycarb Macbook. I cross-referenced exactly which trackpad year to get with this website, (which says that early 08 MBPs have model #'s of A1260)

http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_y...d-in-2008.html

The trackpad i got said it was compatible with A1226 and A1260 models, so I assumed it would have Multi-touch functionality.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251177429405...84.m1439.l2649

After receiving, and painfully installing the new trackpad and new topcase into my MB, I don't have any Multitouch in Mountain Lion (even after resetting PRAM and SMC). The 'more gestures' option doesn't show, the trackpad isn't recognized as a Multitouch one in BetterTouchTool, and I feel like I'm SOL...

I soooo thought I had gotten the right trackpad, and I'm still sure, but is it a compatibility problem with the Blackbook top case?... I connected the wires correctly, although the blackbook trackpad looked slightly different (with 2 black circuit board/boxes instead of one, like on the 08 multitouch trackpad and my 09 white trackpad.

Please give me some feedback, I was so pissed that it didn't work...

The first pic is the black trackpad next to the installed Multitouch silver one.
The second pic is what the back of BOTH the white and silver trackpads look like. (The Black trackpad looks different from the white and silver ones!)

[Picazsoo]

Tartarus, THANK YOU for your very detailed instructions. I always wanted to do this mod for my late 2007 Macbook Pro but wasn't willing to shell out the money for the whole topcase assembly. I managed to buy the standalone A1260 trackpad on eBay just like you and installing it with your instructions was a breeze (cost me about 40USD + 10USD for shipping to Europe). After booting, I immediately had functioning multitouch. BUT, I also found, that since the early 2008 MBP has different function keys layout, I couldn't properly adjust keyboard backlight and other such functions. I was unable to just do a simple remap using KeyRemap4MacBook, which in my opinion is very powerful tool and there is still a chance that I just didn't try hard enough.

So, I spent more time googling and came across this thread: http://hints.macworld.com/article.ph...09050515550079
(following part of the post does make sense after reading the guide in link)

It talked about changing a string inside a .kext file responsible for interpreting the function keys position. I just went backwards and copied the necessary string from the "539" section to the "560" section of the file and then deleted "com.apple.kext.caches" located at "/System/Library/Caches". Upon reboot, all of my function keys now work correctly except for the numlock green LED (the button itself works fine).

I am posting this here mostly for historical reasons in case someone in future has to deal with similar problem (http://xkcd.com/979/)

[lukarak]

Originally Posted by magicman911

Ok, so I have nowhere to turn for questions but here.

I purchased both a Blackbook topcase and a 15" MBP Core 2 Duo Trackpad from ebay for my early 09 white/polycarb Macbook. I cross-referenced exactly which trackpad year to get with this website, (which says that early 08 MBPs have model #'s of A1260)

http://www.everymac.com/systems/by_y...d-in-2008.html

The trackpad i got said it was compatible with A1226 and A1260 models, so I assumed it would have Multi-touch functionality.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251177429405...84.m1439.l2649

After receiving, and painfully installing the new trackpad and new topcase into my MB, I don't have any Multitouch in Mountain Lion (even after resetting PRAM and SMC). The 'more gestures' option doesn't show, the trackpad isn't recognized as a Multitouch one in BetterTouchTool, and I feel like I'm SOL...

I soooo thought I had gotten the right trackpad, and I'm still sure, but is it a compatibility problem with the Blackbook top case?... I connected the wires correctly, although the blackbook trackpad looked slightly different (with 2 black circuit board/boxes instead of one, like on the 08 multitouch trackpad and my 09 white trackpad.

Please give me some feedback, I was so pissed that it didn't work...

The first pic is the black trackpad next to the installed Multitouch silver one.
The second pic is what the back of BOTH the white and silver trackpads look like. (The Black trackpad looks different from the white and silver ones!)

I think the two chip one is from earlier macbooks. See, the number on the 820-1930-A is year 2005. The year on the 820-2085-A is 2006, which is probably a redesign for the 2007 MacBooks (one chip of the roughly same size is almost always cheaper). Also, notice the command key on your keyboard. It still has the Apple symbol, so it dates to before 2007.

From wikipedia:

The Apple symbol was removed in the keyboard's 2007 redesign, making room for the key's name to appear. In the US, the keyboard now uses the word "command"; in Europe, the word used now is "cmd" printed on the key.

So, in short, you bought the wrong topcase, which probably doesn't support multitouch. The OP also says it only works on 2007+ macs, and the topcase from 2006 is probably the thing that is lacking some functionality for that to work.

I have been obsessing with finding if I should get the two chip or one chip solution then I realised that the two chip one is certainly not multitouch. The only thing to do is to take apart your macbook and see if your topcase has a single or dual chip one.