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5 Posts
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100533
May 29th, 2003 12:00
Cursor jumps while typing
First off, I have used this computer with a touchpad for 3 years - I am NOT accidentally grazing the touchpad... xample...kkkkk.....
Starting this morning, as soon as I booted up the Inspiron 8000 laptop, the cursor started jumping as I typed. It jumps to wherever the mouse is hovering and sometimes highlights and deletes the entire line of text. I tried just repeatedly typing a single key, and it still happens. For e
(see where it jumped up to the first line? here I go again kkkkk
I have the latest bios and synaptic drivers installed. I have gone through the mouse hardware/software troubleshooting document. I have looked for a virus (benjamin virus especially) none was found on my computer. I'm am slightly frustrated because I am facing a huge deadline on a design document, and constantly retyping every word is slowing me down tremendously. Any help would be appreciated.
tonywalk
6 Posts
0
June 4th, 2003 17:00
http://www.synaptics.com/support/downloads.cfm
The settings both in the Win2K one I've just downloaded for my I7K, and in the one I remember for Win98, are for both touchpad sensitivity and accidental "brushing" detection.
I'll have to play with the settings on my I7K at a future time when I need to do some work on it. I found it relativly simple with Win98 to strike a happy medium (choose your own joke here!).
Good luck, and I hope it fixes it for you.
Tony.
blackblackhamme
65 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 10:00
-Run the Dell diagnostics and see if a hardware problem is located.
-The pointing stick nub between the g and h keys may be stuck - wiggle it a couple times
-Adjust the sensitivity of the mouse in the Mouse entry in the Device Manager. Drag the Touch Sensitivity towards Heavy Touch and the Palm Check towards Maximum.
-Disable the pointing stick for a few days, if the problem is gone the keyboard may need replacing or cables are not properly connected.
If the problem is not gone the palm rest unit may need replacing or cables are not properly connected.
Contact Dell Tech Support.
See also the following 6 urls:
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=11052.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=7068.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=16361.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=7362.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_upgrade&message.id=16000.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=16577.
For those interested in another link on "The WANDERING OFF BY ITSELF mouse POINTING ARROW problem" see:
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=12447.
And hereby also 2 links on the "cursor jumping around when typing" aka "erratic mouse self clicking" aka "random cursor jumps" subject that may be related:
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=16253.
LINK: http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_input&message.id=16425.
I am currently experiencing the same with my insp 8000. Dell are sending me a replacement palm rest unit but I think it may be the keyboard...
I do not think it is the (Synaptics) drivers because the problem is also present on my i8000 using the standard W98 pointing stick/touchpad drivers...
At the moment I think it is a hardware proplem, so must Dell otherwise they would not be sending me replacement part(s). Some of the urls given above seem to indicate that a keyboard replacement resolves the problem, but read it for yourself...
For my end results see page 5 of this thread.
_
Message Edited by blackblackhammer on 03-09-2004 07:55 PM
blackblackhamme
65 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 11:00
paulmackintosh wrote:
Thank you for your solution. I have now worked a little with it and found a solution that fixes my computer. The problem was the function in the pointer stick set up where you can set up the function that a "tab" on the stick will select or select and drag. So in the set up menu I un checked this function and now everything works. I can use both touch pad and stick (but only to move) and a USB mouse.
____________________________________
That in my opinion is not an adequate solution. We want to be able to tap the pointing stick and the touchpad without having any of the problems described in this thread! Afteral, the notebook was designed to use tapping.
blackblackhamme
65 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 13:00
On page 1 DELL-BobT wrote:
Wendy,
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
There is a Dell nowledge base article that covers this:
Why does my cursor jump around the page while typing.
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1033230
___________________________________
That Dell Knowledge base document discusses the following problem :
"When typing, the cursor will jump around the page if you brush against the touch pad or joystick style pointer with your hands."
and it brings forward the following solution :
"Adjust the sensitivity of the mouse in the Mouse entry in the Device Manager. Drag the Touch Sensitivity towards Heavy Touch and the Palm Check towards Maximum."
I hereby take the liberty to assume that Wendy and none of the other persons in this thread are accidentally brushing against the touch pad or joystick style pointer with their hands when typing.
They are not marveling about somekind of immense sensitivity of their Inspiron and are subsequetly wondering if the experienced hypersensitivity of the touch pad or joystick could please be somewhat less.
At least it does not appear to me that Wendy was indicating that this was the problem she is experiencing.
In my opinion, after giving it a go and spending a little time configuring sensitivity and adjusting settings to a custom style of keyboard use (pressure and speed etc.) any problems discussed in this thread should be gone (and not e.g. temporarily gone or merely reduced).
Customizing the touch pad or joystick settings is not something that has to be done over and over again to obtain the desired results.
In my opinion, if after customizing some of the settings the problems experienced are not resolved then the cause of those problems may well lay elsewhere...
Thanks.
.
Message Edited by blackblackhammer on 06-09-2003 05:06 PM
blackblackhamme
65 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 14:00
Do Inspiron MODELS WITHOUT A POINTING STICK, who have only a touchpad, experience the ERRATIC MOUSE SELF CLICKING problem ???
( E.g. Inspiron 2500 etc... )
.
Spunky Warrior
25 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 21:00
I'm glad you can reduce the sensitivity of your touchpad. I tried, but when I followed the instructions (In WinXP Home), there was no option to disable the touchpad, which would be my first choice!
I only thought I hated the "pencil eraser" in the middle of my last Toshiba: At least that didn't have a "mind of its own!" I abhor this touchpad
!
Sorry. Jumpy cursor syndrome!
I never use a touchpad because I'm used to a mouse. Is that a Federal Offense these days? (And it's a nice Logitech optical mouse that came with the i2650.
I get the impression from several users that when the mouse is plugged in, the touchpad should be disabled, but it never has been and is not now!
If you get any answers, will you e-mail me? I'd appreciate it. Life has come to an almost complete halt for me inasmuch as I'm homebound and this thing is my only outlet to the rest of the world.
Aloha,
RL
Spunky Warrior
25 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 21:00
What model Inspiron do you have? I have a dyslexic Inspiron 2650, purchased three months ago, arrived discontinued (found out about that on these Forums!), and with more than 35 systemic problems, the most problematic of which is this cursor problem, since I'm a writer and searching for the vanished cursor takes more time than I have!!
I'm a touch typist and frequently quote from various books, newsletters, journals, etc. Since Tech Support in India had my $20/hr. Tech Support person here and me "tweak" things in places where I never go in this computer, my scanner doesn't work!
If you learn-mails anything, will you let me know? Apparently I'm being censored. E
See? ("learn-mails"???) Incredible!
Anyway, I wrote a long e-mail to the moderator, but am being ignored.
I think all of us with Inspiron 2650s are being ignored.
FredMa
50 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 22:00
I think I've pretty well tried all those things. The
whole bloody computer has been replaced by now,
piece by piece (excuse the language, it's more
directed at the problem rather than your response,
which I imagine represents a bit of time on your part).
The major fixes seem to be disabling the nub and
replacing the palm rest. The problem is that it seems
to fix the problem for a few months, then it creeps back.
Frankly, I like the sensitivity as high as possible.
That doesn't mean I want the pointer moving on its
own.
Maybe it's just the limitation of current-day touch-pad
technology. Does anyone have experience with
laptops other than Dell?
Fred
Spunky Warrior
25 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 22:00
I don't know about any other uninspired Inspiron models, but I've been asking about this critical cursor problem on the Inspiron 2650 since receipt without success.
(For some reason, all the Inspiron 2650 questions/problems/etc., seem to have vanished without a trace from these forums. We're "old news" to Dell, but for people like me -- who can't afford to just go and buy a reliable laptop -- this is a disaster!)
Dell doesn't want to address it, apparently, since people with all kinds of models seem to have the same problem, whether they have touchpads, or "sticks" or whatever.
I contacted Logitech. They tried to help, but there is no "disable touch pad" when I click on my mouse icon in the Control Panel. In fact, there is no mention of a touch pad anywhere and the Tech people in India have no solutions. In further fact, the things they've done to this, through my Tech Guy here, have apparently messed up my printer, my Panasonic e-Wear 4/way camera software, Handspring Visor Deluxe, etc.,etc...
And my Tech Guy will not come back to work on this disasterous Dell - even at $20/an hour!
Would you say this 70 year-old is stuck... or what?
And where are the moderators in all of this? Does anybody ever turn these complaints in to Management?
Anyway, since I'm massively outraged, and can't use this "laptop" for the purposes for which we bought it, and inasmuch as we keep having "Terror Alert Levels" raised and lowered, I took some of my duct tape and stretched it over the touchpad, justincase "the reflection from the bedside lamp on my thumbnail was causing the touchpad to react' as suggested by the nice Logitech tech lady.
The heat coming out of this (apparently) fan-less i2650 buckled the duct tape! Now I have heat coming out the top and the bottom of this thing! (Bulging plastic cover of memory module. No calls from Customer Service, despite promises.)
And the problem persists.
Interesting that the "E" in DELL is crooked!
(Moderator: I double-dare you to delete this message! First-Amendment Free Speech!)
Freedom!!! It entails "freedom from" as well as "freedom to.
jprib
3 Posts
0
June 8th, 2003 23:00
Wendygt
5 Posts
0
June 11th, 2003 20:00
I don't believe that it is touchpad technology in general, unless they have recently screwed something up. I used to work on an HP Laptop, and used the touchpad on that for 2 years - never ONCE had a single problem. Believe it or not, I was able to use it and a pointy stick without ever accidentally brushing either one. It's amazing how I can "lose" the ability to avoid doing that just by buying a Dell. But then again, I am a woman, so I have that going for me...
WayneWright
2 Posts
0
June 13th, 2003 21:00
Hi All,
I'm having the some bloody problem with my Inspiron 7500. I've had it for three years, and never had this problem until just this past month. So there is no way that I am accidently brushing the touchpad as some tech supporters have suggested. I don't have an optional mouse, and I don't have a pointer stick.
This seems like a serious problem that Dell is refusing to address. I can't stress any more than anyone else has about how frustrating it is to have the cursor jumping all over the place, inserting new text in the middle of words, or even replacing large blocks of text!
Would the threat of a class-action law suit force Dell to deal with this problem?
-Wayne
Message Edited by WayneWright on 06-13-2003 05:56 PM
iKlaatu
2 Intern
•
331 Posts
0
June 14th, 2003 06:00
The Alps driver for the 8200 has an option to turn off the cursor while typing. I've already forgotten what all the Synaptics could be set to but I too had this same problem a few times over the course of two years and 4 months of owning the 8000. So you might want to look all over the place within the Synaptics settings for something akin to the disable cursor while typing thing. But the more I think about it I don't recall that same kind of thing, unless maybe the accidental palm touch sensing slider setting can be maximumed (or minimumed?) and behave the same way. If it never turns the touchpad off entirely, though, then that wouldn't be the perfect solution either.
Nightglider1
33 Posts
0
June 14th, 2003 18:00
Are you sure that they have disappeared? I can find plenty of I2650 questions/problems/concerns/etc.
As far as my personal experience, I own two 2650's, and they both work beautifully. I'm not saying yours doesn't have problems, but you seem to think that because yours is bad, AND it was "mysteriously discontinued", that ALL 2650's must be bad. That just isn't the case.
Spunky Warrior
25 Posts
0
June 15th, 2003 09:00
Well,you are one of the lucky ones, I guess.
Michael Dell doesn't agree with you, apparently, since an initial offer has been made to me within less than 24 hours of my e-mailing him. Of course, I could have gotten the same offer by contacting the BBB in Austin, TX, but a call from his office (at 8a.m.) was welcome.
We are presently in negotiation.
And do, please, consider that there had to be some reason for discontinuing this model. Check all the i2650 messages you can find.
And have a nice evening...
Aloha,
Spunky
PS. Do you have any idea why this model was discontinued? If so, do share. I'm sure all the people who are not as fortunate as you will appreciate the information. For myself, I'm leaning heavily back toward Toshiba. I've had to make more calls to tech service on this not-quite-four month old computer than I did with Toshibas from 1988 to 2003! That, sir, is excessive!
Message Edited by Spunky Warrior on 06-15-2003 02:17 AM