MBP, early 2011, part of trackpad unresponsive

[Filipek]

Yesterday I was working on my MBP (13") for quite a while having the CPU to operate at high power where the ventilator was spinning intensively. Not sure if this piece of information is necessary or connected with my problem, but maybe it is.

At some point, my trackpad got completely unresponsive and I could not use it anymore. I had to restart my laptop after which the trackpad started, partially, working again. The problem that I am experiencing at the moment is that 70/80% of the track from the top, is not working properly. There is lag in the movement of my mouse cursor and it is not responding correctly to the movement of my finger. The bottom 20/30% seems to be working fine though.

Today the problem persists, so it seems not like something temporary.

Are there any solutions that I could (easily) try to solve this problem? Or is this a sign of permanent damage?

 

[cambookpro]

I've recently seen this on my brother's 13" 2011 MBP, although his also had phantom cursor movements when nothing was touching the trackpad.

I tired blowing compressed air, using a brush to try and clean it, reseating all the connections but nothing worked. In the end I replaced it for him and now it works fine. It's not too hard, the trackpad was about ~£65 from iFixit but you do need Phillips 000 and triwing screwdrivers.

 

[No-Me]

I had the same and my battery was completely swolen and pressed against the bottom of the trackpad. Can you physically click on the unresponsive part of the trackpad?

 

[Filipek]

I've recently seen this on my brother's 13" 2011 MBP, although his also had phantom cursor movements when nothing was touching the trackpad.

I tired blowing compressed air, using a brush to try and clean it, reseating all the connections but nothing worked. In the end I replaced it for him and now it works fine. It's not too hard, the trackpad was about ~£65 from iFixit but you do need Phillips 000 and triwing screwdrivers.

Thanks for your reply. I have changed my memory once so I am familiar with the process of replacing parts, however, some of the screws have been damaged due to me using incorrect screwdrivers before I bought the right one (unfortunately this type of trial error could have been avoided). I am not sure if I will manage to unscrew it again, however if there will not be any other solution and the damage is permanent I might have to try it.

I had the same and my battery was completely swolen and pressed against the bottom of the trackpad. Can you physically click on the unresponsive part of the trackpad?

Hmm that is interesting, so could this be a sign that my battery is damaged? I can physically click the unresponsive parts, it appears that I can not click only the top 10/15% of the trackpad. I am using an external mouse most of the time so it is not a big problem. However at this very moment I notice (after my laptop being on for 3 hours or so that the trackpad is getting totally unresponsive and whilst typing it is randomly clicking clicking.

 

[cambookpro]

Thanks for your reply. I have changed my memory once so I am familiar with the process of replacing parts, however, some of the screws have been damaged due to me using incorrect screwdrivers before I bought the right one (unfortunately this type of trial error could have been avoided). I am not sure if I will manage to unscrew it again, however if there will not be any other solution and the damage is permanent I might have to try it.



Hmm that is interesting, so could this be a sign that my battery is damaged? I can physically click the unresponsive parts, it appears that I can not click only the top 10/15% of the trackpad. I am using an external mouse most of the time so it is not a big problem. However at this very moment I notice (after my laptop being on for 3 hours or so that the trackpad is getting totally unresponsive and whilst typing it is randomly clicking clicking.

If you can click it still, it's probably not the battery swelling, but you should check it just in case. The top 10-15% of the trackpad doesn't click on any machine (apart from 2015 Force Touch models) due to the hinged design.

If the screws have been damaged and you cannot replace it, you can always disable the trackpad whilst a mouse is connected in Accessibility settings for a temporary fix.

 

[Filipek]

If you can click it still, it's probably not the battery swelling, but you should check it just in case. The top 10-15% of the trackpad doesn't click on any machine (apart from 2015 Force Touch models) due to the hinged design.

If the screws have been damaged and you cannot replace it, you can always disable the trackpad whilst a mouse is connected in Accessibility settings for a temporary fix.

Most appreciated. I just did a SMC reset as my mousepointer was starting to click on all places without a stop so I could not do anything anymore. It seems that this happened after the laptop was turned on a for a while (more heat generated?) From the assessment it seems that it could definitely be the battery being swollen. Also because the laptop was hot for a long period of time yesterday.

I have disabled the trackpad in the accessibility settings (thank God this setting exists) and I will see if the problem will be fixed. If it will, then my best guess is, according to your help, it is either the trackpad or the battery. Either way I will have to have something replaced it seems