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Precision 7510 touchpad periodically freezes, cursor moves on its own
Just got a brand-new Precision Mobile Workstation 7510 about a week ago. Out of the box and prior to installing any updates or new software, the touchpad will, randomly every minute or so, stop responding to input, and the cursor would very slowly inch itself (usually creeping slightly up and to the right). This would occur for anywhere from a few to 10 or so seconds before the touchpad would start working again. No change in the past week.
The pointer stick works as normal during the time the touchpad is not responding.
I have tried all of the suggestions I found recommended or could think of:
- Reinstalling Windows from the factory image (did this twice)
- Reinstalling the driver (I already had the latest one, but I both reinstalled it and then deleted it and reinstalled a freshly-downloaded version from the most recent version provided on Dell.com)
- Disabling the pointer stick
- Disabling gestures
- Unplugging all peripherals, including the AC adapter
- Rebooting in Safe Mode (still occurs, though perhaps the normal touchpad driver is still loaded in Safe Mode)
I was about to call Dell (I have Pro Support) thinking that it is a hardware problem, but interestingly, there is no sign of the problem in the mouse-enabled Dell GUI BIOS set-up screen. I would assume that if it were a hardware issue, it would still show up there.
FWIW, the Dell touchpad icon in the system tray sometimes, but not always, displays touchpad input in the center of the touchpad when this occurs. The cursor movement is very slight--at the rate of about a couple of millimeters each instance, totaling about an inch of cursor travel over 10 minutes (I'm watching it do it right now while I post this from my old machine).
Any suggestions for anything else to try before I call support and schedule a call for a touchpad/palmrest replacement?
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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June 18th, 2016 16:00
Don't want to jinx it, but...it's been about 24 hours since the tech came out and replaced my touchpad, and things have been working great since then.
It does appear that it was a hardware issue that a replacement resolved.
Thanks to Terry for setting up the tech support dispatch without making me jump through all the hoops of talking to tech support. I've long been pleased with Dell ProSupport, but having Terry help me set it up just made it extra easy. Thanks!
Andy D
4 Posts
1
July 1st, 2016 14:00
Company IT support replaced the touch pad this morning. Took them about 45 minutes. Solved my problem with the cursor stalling and drifting slowly to the right.
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
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3.5K Posts
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June 13th, 2016 16:00
If you haven't done so I suggest uninstalling the touch pad driver altogether and then test. Does the problem still occur regardless that the driver has been removed or does the cursor stay put all of a sudden?
If you notice the problem still even with the driver uninstalled I suggest a service. If the course starts behaving after uninstalling the touch pad driver replacing the touch pad may not make much of a difference if any.
I have sent out a friend request, If you are in the US I may be able to help process a service if needed.
TB
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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June 13th, 2016 20:00
Thanks for the friend request. I'm indeed in the US.
Hmm, I tried that before but it automatically reinstalled the driver (probably from Windows Update?) after a few moments.
I just tried it again, deleting the driver in the process, and disconnected from wifi so it couldn't download the ALPS driver and then restarted. Lo and behold, it worked fine--the trackpad worked flawlessly and the cursor never started moving on its own. (I couldn't disable tap-to-click without the real ALPS driver, so this isn't a long-term solution.)
As soon as I re-enabled wifi, though, the ALPS driver automatically installed itself, and then after the next restart, it started doing the exact same thing again with freezing up and moving the cursor on its own.
It does seem like a software issue with the ALPS driver. So...what can we do to fix it?
imanenduser
4 Posts
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June 15th, 2016 08:00
Good day! I have been having the same problem with the trackpad on my precision 7510 will xeon process since March and haven't found a good answer until yours. The only answer that I saw that people were using with some success was to disable graphics switching in the bios and the onboard intel video card. This seemed self defeating and went with using an external mouse. If you find an answer to this please post the repsonse.
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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June 16th, 2016 10:00
Hmm, I just tried disabling switchable graphics and that didn't help in my case.
Terry, I responded to your friend request/message and am still waiting to hear back from you about setting up that service call. Looks like you've been off the last couple of days, perhaps?
Andy D
4 Posts
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June 30th, 2016 04:00
Thanks for your post. I am having the exact same issue you described on my new Precision 7510. I'll try the touch pad replacement. It's a company provided laptop under warranty (new) and we've already tried reinstalling the ALPS drivers and checking cable connections.
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
4 Operator
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3.5K Posts
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July 1st, 2016 12:00
Please let me know if tech support was able to help, and if you have the service if it corrected the problem.
TB
imanenduser
4 Posts
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July 1st, 2016 14:00
Is there a way to email support with the link to this post. I haven't called in because a usual support call takes at least 1/2 hour with call backs.
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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July 2nd, 2016 00:00
FWIW, things were working fine for a few days after the replacement, but then it started recurring again, though not as much/often as it was before the replacement.
I have about a week to return this machine before it's non-returnable...
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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July 22nd, 2016 21:00
Looks like a new version of the Touchpad driver came out in the last few days and was installed by Dell SupportAssist. I had high hopes it would resolve the issue. No go. Still happening.
Andy D
4 Posts
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July 24th, 2016 13:00
Is it possible that the new touch pad you had installed has the same hardware issue as the original?
At this point, I think I'd ask Dell Support Assist to install a touch pad in your laptop that has been verified and is known to have been working properly over a few days or more (not an out of the box new one). By swapping touch pads with a known to be properly functioning laptop you could also check the problem with your current touch pad in another laptop. It might help to narrow down the source of your problem.
The new touch pad hardware in my Dell Precision 7510 with XEON processor seems to have fixed it for me. I haven't seen the problem recur in the three weeks or so since it was replaced.
I'm sure it's frustrating for you... good luck on finding a solution!
tjjordan5
1 Message
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July 29th, 2016 14:00
If you go into Control Panel and select Dell Touchpad. Select Gestures and turn gestures OFF. My issues went away with the cursor freezing and responding very slowly.
alaskanjackal
14 Posts
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July 31st, 2016 20:00
Did that yesterday per your suggestion and it was good until just now, when it seized up again. :(
TopQuark_net
12 Posts
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March 20th, 2017 09:00
I'm having issues that sound similar to yours. See en.community.dell.com/.../20008073
I've been trying to get Dell Engineering to take this seriously, but they are aren't ... in part because they believe I'm the only user seeing this problem.
If anyone is still experiencing this issue, please send me a Private Message, so I can help you get your complaint directed to the appropriate people.