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    Touchpad - Strange Behaviour

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by devoidx, Jan 4, 2011.

  1. devoidx

    devoidx Notebook Consultant

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    Hi All,

    Hoping someone can assist with this issue ...

    I have been using an external mouse for some time now (G5) but do remember the border around the trackpad being lit when I first received the R2.

    Recently I have had a need to use the laptop at night ... on the lounge ... on my lap and noticed the border around the touchpad was not lit (No USB mouse attached).

    I have attempted changing settings in the Synaptics driver as well as via AlienTouch (This includes FN+F11 and FN+F12) in addition to uninstalling and re-installing the drivers, to no avail.

    I did notice when 'Disable Trackpad when external USB mouse is attached' is active and I DO NOT have an external USB mouse attached, the trackpad does not function. :confused:

    This behaviour is present with both the default Windows driver as well as the Synaptics driver.

    So ... I put a call into Dell Support and the tech was on-site today to replace the palm rest. In addition to not installing the palm rest correctly the issue remains. :mad: I bid the tech farewell as it was clear he was as perplexed as I was and keeping him here was not going to resolve the issue.

    Is it just me or does this problem seem to be related to software rather than malfunctioning hardware?

    Does anyone have any tips on what I might be able to do to light up my touchpad once again?

    My preference is NOT to rebuild the machine as I have GBs of software installed and wasn't planning on this until SP1 is RTM. :D
     
    devoidx, Jan 4, 2011
    #1
  2. Tchamber

    Tchamber Notebook Consultant

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    You said you tried F11, but did you enable the mouse light (zone 9 on R1) in Alien FX Editor?
     
    Tchamber, Jan 4, 2011
    #2
  3. devoidx

    devoidx Notebook Consultant

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    Sure did. :)
     
    devoidx, Jan 4, 2011
    #3
  4. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Check again those bldy ribbons :D as they are a pain at times and also remove your CMOS bat. for a while <-- this fixed my problem(touchstreep would not light but buttons working).
     
    katalin_2003, Jan 5, 2011
    #4
  5. devoidx

    devoidx Notebook Consultant

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    hmmm ... i'll give that a try and let you know.
     
    devoidx, Jan 6, 2011
    #5
  6. devoidx

    devoidx Notebook Consultant

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    Well ...

    Turns out there is a very small short in the ribbon cable. On the phone now for a replacement ...

    Update: 54 minutes to order a replacement ribbon cable ... is that a record? :D
     
    devoidx, Jan 6, 2011
    #6
  7. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    woow..at least you got it they're pretty hard to find!
     
    katalin_2003, Jan 6, 2011
    #7
  8. Zero_Shadow

    Zero_Shadow Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have this exact same problem let me know how it works out for you Ive just had to use Alt-Tab to be able to login when this happens.
     
    Zero_Shadow, Jan 9, 2011
    #8
  9. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Look up at the #4 post. It worked for me! These ribbons can become really tricky.
     
    katalin_2003, Jan 9, 2011
    #9