Black Macbook trackpad button extremely sensitive

[savageboredom]

I have a mid-2008 black Macbook (right before the unibody refresh) and lately the trackpad button is very touchy. Over time I would notice that it was becoming less and less "clicky," but still worked just fine. But in the past week or so it doesn't click at and, and in fact s so sensitive that hardly any pressure at all is required to register a click. In fact, so much a resting a finger on top of the button will activate it.

I looked around and found the "origami fix," but that seemed to have the opposite effect. Itstead of requiring extra padding under the button, it's like I need less. If I remove the battery completely, the button reacts and clicks like it should. My battery doesn't seem like it's swelled or anything, but is it possible that it's expanded in the past year and a half? Is there anything I can do about this problem, short of replacing the whole top cover?

 

[germano.basler]

I have a mid-2008 black Macbook (right before the unibody refresh) and lately the trackpad button is very touchy. Over time I would notice that it was becoming less and less "clicky," but still worked just fine. But in the past week or so it doesn't click at and, and in fact s so sensitive that hardly any pressure at all is required to register a click. In fact, so much a resting a finger on top of the button will activate it.

I looked around and found the "origami fix," but that seemed to have the opposite effect. Itstead of requiring extra padding under the button, it's like I need less. If I remove the battery completely, the button reacts and clicks like it should. My battery doesn't seem like it's swelled or anything, but is it possible that it's expanded in the past year and a half? Is there anything I can do about this problem, short of replacing the whole top cover?

OMG, that´s exactly what´s happening to me right now. In April it will be 3 years old. I got the same sensitivity issue. In fact it got worse today... As I gently support my wrist on the macbook to type, it clicks and holds clicked... It´s so annoying!!!
So as I remove the battery the trackpad goes normal, the click are "noisy" as it did in the first month... So anyone knows how to fix it? I mean real fix it, because I´ve heard that if you insert under the battery a folded piece of paper, it kind of fix it... But you know, that doesn´t seem very OK...

thanks a lot,
regards,
Germano

 

[savageboredom]

I ended up taking it to the Genius Bar. Even though I was out of warranty, they gave me a brand new battery. It had ended up swelling after all. I guess it's a safety hazard so they just gave me a new one, straight off the shelf. I was literally in and out in less than five minutes.

 

[Jehr]

Been there, too

MacBook 13.3", A1278 mid 2009

All MacBooks have had the same or similar issues. Mine is similar. Clicking by pressing on the trackpad became ever more difficult over a month long period. I took out the battery, inspected for swelling or warping then cleaned all the surfaces and contacts of the battery, trackpad and chassis. Put the battery back in place and the problem was still there.

Since it was the original battery (from 2009) and wasn't holding a charge for more than a couple of hours I ordered a new one of the improved design. When I received the new battery I installed it and found that all functionality of the trackpad was now lost; still no click capability but now cursor movement and gestures were gone, also.

Reverted back to the original battery but the trackpad remained completely unusable.

I decided to try running my old friend, applejack (applejack.sourceforge.net) because it has always fixed strange issues in OSX. (Most unix-like systems tend to develop problems when file permissions get messed up. Applejack is great at finding and fixing such things.)

I booted into single user mode and ran applejack. When the system restarted cursor control and gestures on the trackpad had been restored although clicking was still not working.

Over time the click sensitivity diminishes so I used a jeweler's screwdriver and turned that weird three-winged adjustment screw under the trackpad about 45 degrees to the left (counter clockwise) - voila! All my trackpad issues are now history.

I hope these things help someone else.