Inspiron 1525- 1526, Touchpad, Mouse or Keyboard Issues Fixed

one more thing people, do not forget to install the right driver for touchpad. some people were trying to slow down the cursor speed or touchpad sensibility well restore it back to default settings. keep in mind that this issue is not related to "bios problem" or "touchpad driver".

I'm very tempted to try this although I'm very technically inept!! LOL. Also I'm thinking this may affect your wrranty!? If anyone else tries this and it solves the problem, please let us know.

Thanks PeruRican!

I agree, taking apart your computer and attempting to repair it yourself will certainly void your warranty if Dell can tell that you have done that. I say its not worth the risk, and Dell should fix the problem.

  Hi  All ......

  I SEE SOME USERS STILL UNDER  DELL'S  WARRANTY ...   WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ?    CALL DELL TECH SUPPORT, AND ASK THEM TO HAVE IT FIXED...   

NOW KEEP IN MIND THIS ISSUE HAS A CHANCE OF COMING BACK WITHIN MONTHS.

THIS A DO IT YOURSELF FIX PROJECT FOR THOSE WHO'S DELL WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED ...

ALSO,  IF YOU ARE UNDER WARRANTY,  AND WANNA FIX IT YOURSELF,  DON'T BE AFRAID , THERE WON'T BE ANY  VOID SEALS LABELS.

........  ANYWAYS,  NOW YOU KNOW WHERE THE PROBLEM IS, IF YOUR LAPTOP TOUCHPAD GOES CRAZY  .......

Hello, I have the problem of erratic touchpad and lockup key board. I have updated  the touchpad driver, seemed to solve the problem but reoccurred. What I have noticed, after two hours of operation the touchpad is erratic and I have to shutdown and let the 1525 cool down. I can restart and no problem. I assume this is a heat related problem, maybe heat causing resistance to increase on the touchpad cable connection that you are illustrating in your fix. Since I have critical operations on the 1525 for the next week, I cannot use your fix. If I continue to have this problem, at the end of this week, and the problem is persistant, I will send computer in under warranty. Thank you for your fix, may use it in the future, I will reply.

It is later, the problem reoccurred on the 1525 xp-home, I think I resovled my problem. I have downloaded and expanded the Dell Alps Touchpad driver in it the default location. I went to control panel, system, hardware, device manager, point devices, hightlighted Dell Touchpad, right click, properties, uninstall click, yes to restart, rebooted, computer started normal to desktop, was able to use touchpad, then rebooted (restarted) again. NO PROBLEMS. I have had computer on for eight hours and all is normal. Hopefully this helps someone. This is a mystical problem. Good luck.

Will edit post if there is more news.

More news, same problem, this time I went to device manager and opened Dell Touchpad driver and rolled back to previous driver version, also select standard size mouse display. So far no more problems for a day. If this problem reoccurs, its bye bye  1525 back to Dell for repair, hardware to fix my hardware, or replacement.

Reocurred yesterday, tried another rollback, but no older driver, so updated driver again, and working ok.

Still working ok, some other thoughts, if this problem is so random, it would be hard for tech to repair this problem under warranty or not. This maybe basic, I cleaned the touchpad with the cleaner I use on my LCD, spray first on a clean cotton cloth then rub the touchpad area to clean. 

Reoccurred, un/install driver, back to thinking it is heat related, the fan intake is in a bad location, bottom left of the laptop. With the laptop on the lap the fan is covered. Fan may loose power over time and not cool properly. I will call Dell service soon.

Update: I have removed Dell touchpad update with add/remove programs, defragged, computer worked normal for few days then the hanging mouse again. I called Dell service to set up a return and repair, computer started the next day all normal. Sent the computer in on a Friday and returned the next Friday with unable to duplicate problem and no corrective action.  As I am writing this note, all is normal, I hope the hanging mouse cursor stayed at Dell service.  Sorry that I could not have identified the problem and added a solution.  Dell had a special offer of extending the warranty on the 1525 for four years and I opted for this action. This is all I can add to the forum. I will still buy Dell notebooks, I have an Inspiron 2100, 8000, and two 1525s.

The problem is back, a temporary fix, shut computer down, remove battery and/or charger for 15 seconds and then reconnect, then restart computer. Still researching, why this helps.

I did it, the modifications in the pictures, just go easy, hardest part was the center console cover. Refer to <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> and be careful to start from the right by the indent, I had to use a thin metal wedge shaped to start from the indent of the cover. I used a small wood and/or plastic wedge shaped tool to help dislodge the edges of the panel. Start from the right and continue down the back by the hinges. Beware, using a pry by the power button, there is a small ribbon connector cable to the front and right of the power button.  I was able to lay the console over without removing the cable, carefully took the screws out for the keyboard and move it out of the way to have access to the touchpad cable. Slide the black tabs left and right of the ribbon with a plastic or wood tool, and the ribbon slides out. The add on tape is small, about 3/16 wide, I used tweezors for placement. I used two layers of scotch tape. This operation was done on 8/8, will give it a week to see if it fix the problem.

It is 8/15 and this hardware fix has cured my 1525. No freezes or erratic mouse pointer. Next to install current Dell Touchpad driver, I have been using the Microsoft generic driver. 8/16 and installed Dell updated Touchpad driver 2008.  The computer works as it was new. Finally. 8/28 still no problems.

PERURICAN, the above picture fix, thank you, Dell should give you a new computer or coupon and take note of your fix.

May this problem not plague you.

Thnak you for your reply  MarkRam  ... 

 You are having almost the same problems as I had with my Dell 1525 laptop ...    An erratic Touchpad , and keyboard lockup ...  plus I noticed that Touchpad became very hot in temperature ...  at one point I thought that Touchpad was damaged, But  since I have experience in fixing laptops, I was determined to find a solution ...

 First I replaced the touchpad with a new working touchpad...   but the erratic activity was still there ...  So replacing with a new touchpad didn't fix the problem ...   

Second I took the erratic touchpad and placed it on another  inspiron 1525 that had No problems ... and guess what ... the erratic touchpad was actually working fine..

So I narrowed down the problem, I was sure that the touchpad wasn't damaged at all..    I moved on to check any burned chips on the board, but everything looked in great shape..

Third and Last, I was gonna make sure that the cable connecting the touchpad with the motherboard socket , was secure and had a tight fit ....  AND SURPRISE SURPRISE .. TOUCHPAD WAS WORKING FINE WITH NO PROBLEMS ... PLUS KEYBOARD WAS ACTING NORMAL ..

 MARKRAM, I hope everything works out for you, and you have a good working laptop running ...  no matter what you try to get it fixed ... If you do try my technique, please be kind to post back , so others can see.....   

Catch you later all...

Fantastic post!  I have had this Dell 1525 Toachpad problem from day 1.  I even sent the laptop in for repair for the keyboard not working all the time and Dell re-seated the keyboard ribbon cable and sent it back.  I had forgot to mention the touchpad problem to them at that time.   (laptop sent in before this post's date) So maybe they use your info now. 

This is the best post I have seen in a long time!  PeruRican I hope Dell gave you a big gift for this fix. 

Thank you so much for the hard work and great photos. :emotion-1:

  Welcome to this post  Fliersrr

  Thank you for sharing your experience with us ...  

  Looks like you fixed the Touchpad problem on your own, when you got your laptop back from Dell Corp ....

 Just to be 100 % sure please  tell us  what you did to get the Touchpad fixed .......  Did you try my Step by Step troubleshooting ? .. How easy was to follow instructions ?

  Please share what you did so other users can read it .....

 And by the way .. I haven't received no Gift from the Dell Tech dpt, yet    ......   :emotion-2: .....  I should right ?    I'm saving them big money  ...  :emotion-2:  ... 

 Best gift so far for me ....... is ........  I'm  happy as long as I make others happy ....  Always share a bit of  knowledge .... feels good ...

 Peace  \\m// 

Hello,

Yes I followed the above instructions and pictures.  The only thing I did differently was not to take out the keyboard completely.  I pulled it up and decided to just let it go back a few inches and was able to work on the touchpad's cable just fine.  I added the boxing tape, re-assembled and presto, no more mouse problems. 

I never would have guest it was a poor connection problem, but you were 100% correct.

I was at a point where I had tried so many different drivers, setting, and ready to toss the laptop out.  I was in hope maybe the new Windows7 would fix the problem.  I just was on the web and decided to search for a FIX again in hopes of finding something that worked.  And there was your post!

Dell should at least send you a small gift and a thank you.

Your photos are a lot of help.  The small arrows showing the direction of how the cable locks work is great.

If anyone is having this problem, they should take a few minutes and do this FIX.  It WORKS!

You saved a laptops life.

Thank you. 

Great post! PeruRican, please see the email and private message I have sent.

Wanted to clear up one thing about the warranty: It does NOT void your warranty if you open the laptop up and make modifications. The only time your warranty would be voided would be if any modifications you make to the system cause damage. We would classify that as customer induced damage and would not warrant repairs.

Hello ddough,

It's been a few weeks for me and the mouse is working well.  I just wanted to say that I used three layers of tape under mine.  Also make sure yours did not push back when getting inserted.  The tape must be thick enough, and under the very edge so the ribbon contacts are pushed up against the motherboard connector.  I am sure you noticed that this laptop gets warn under the touchpad after extended use.  This causes the connection to be worse so three layers of tape made mine perfect.

I would definitely take the ribbon cable back out and see if the tape moved back.  Either way it's worth the time to try three layers.  remeber that tape must be all the way to the end of the ribbon cable for it to push the contacts.

Hope you get it working.

Since Bill said it wouldn't affect my warranty I decided out of desparation to try Peru Rican's fix. The instructions were easy to follow even for me a non technical person. HOWEVER, I'm sorry to say that it  HAS  NOT solved my problem. When I 1st cut my laptop on it works fairly well.....but if I stay on for awhile it is totally goes totally crazy. Guess I'm going to have to call Dell although it sounds as though that will be a waste of my time. Sure wish your FIX would have worked for me!!!!

Hi Ddough .... well as Fliersrr said .... make sure the tape attached to the back of the touchpad cable fits right in place ...  otherwise try adding one more layer of tape ....  

A good sign that there still a bad connection between the touchpad cable, and the Slot, is when the touchpad surface gets very HOT ....... so if you get this there must be a bad connection still after your fix .....  Like I said try adding a layer of extra tape .... 

 Good Luck !!!    and please reply if you do try fixing it again ...

Peace  \\m//

Follow Up on Dell 1525 Touchpad:

It has now been almost 2 months since I used the fix above.  I have to say the touchpad is so, so much better, but in all fairness to all readers, it is still not perfect. 

I still think it makes such an improvement that I would still recommend doing it.

I am now running Windows 7 RC from Microsofts web site and the touchpad is still the same.    I am using no additional software for the touchpad.  Just the generic driver Microsoft installed.   Windows 7 does not gain or loss anything towards the fix.

I am so glad I found this fix.  It is worth the time, but just don't expect a perfectly normal touchpad. 

Fliersrr