Final outcomes - my C600/C610 wandering pointer

Question

For those who may still be interested, here's what happened with my
C6x0's wandering pointer:

- Loaded Synaptics driver/software, disabled pointing stick. RESULT: Wandering
stopped immediately, but touchpad response was sluggish at times and
occasionally became completely unresponsive. Pressing/wiggling
trackpad/trackstick buttons and area around touchpad would occasionally
"unstick" it, but sometimes a reboot was required. Very frustrating!

- Got spare keyboard from a relative's junked machine, swapped with
wandering pointer machine's keyboard, re-enabled pointing stick. RESULT:
Worked perfectly - trackstick functioned and touchpad seemed much more
responsive; would describe as "good as new" except I never had the machine
new :)

- Put remaining keyboard into DIFFERENT machine; appeared to work normally
at first, but eventually problem recurred, exactly as in first case.
Raised keyboard and cut pointing stick's cable underneath, insulating cut
portion with piece of electrical tape. RESULT: pointing stick completely
disabled (of course) but touchpad now works perfectly without
sluggishness; pointer no longer wanders.

Looks like it's definitely the pointing stick causing the trouble. If you
have the wandering pointer problem on a C6x0, if you don't want to lay out
the $ for a keyboard swap, and especially if you are a
pointing-stick-hater, cut that narrow cable! It will give you much relief
and great results!

dbplanchon · Answer

Engineering defect.  Pointer Stick WILL cause a 'run away mouse' issue, eventually.  In the absence of a replacement keyboard, remove the keyboard and physically CUT the 4 conductor ribbon cable.   Bye Bye Pointer Stick, but also bye bye run away mouse ..

microwiz · Answer

Absolutely agreed. I'll use a pointing stick if there's no other alternative (some Toshibas, most Thinkpads) but if there's a trackpad, that's my preference. Malfunctioning pointing sticks like this one also helped turn me back to trackpads - though I've never heard of them happening except on some models of Dells!

Thus, to reiterate: if you've got a runaway pointer, cut that little cable! :) If you don't want to use the pointing stick, it could save you the price of a replacement keyboard.

hugop · Answer

Thanks for the tip - bye bye daft IBM-invented trackstick rubbish - hello pointers without wandering problems.

On Inspiron 8600, cut the blue ribbon under the keypad - easy to take out by folding the screen flat, lifting the power strip with a small screwdriver on left hand side, taking care to GENTLY pull up the right hand side as the connector ribbon is delicate. Then unscrew the two retaining screws and again GENTLY lift the keyboard and pull out the connector ribbon. Flip it over and carefully cut the blue ribbon, sealing the ends with tape to avoid electrical contact. Job done!

Similar process for most Dells.

Message Edited by hugop on 11-21-2005 06:16 PM

Hinfie · Answer

Found a other solution: Tape a piece of static shielding bag over the mousepointer on the bottom of the keyboard.Fixed the problem for me.

Pradeep Paudyal · Answer

Guys,
If you are using Windows Operating System,there is no need to open your laptop and cut the cables. Just install the latest Synaptics mouse software. And then,
Go to Control Panel
Click Mouse
Click on the "Device Settings" tab
Click on the radio botton which says "Disable Pointing Stick".
Press "OK" and Exit the "mouse" configuration window

Voila! You will be all happy with this mouse drifting problem solved. Credit to the solution goes to the some of the commentators in the page
http://gimbo.org.uk/archives/2005/11/fixing_mouse_dr_2.html

--
Pradeep Paudyal from Nepal,
currently in Barcelona, Spain

Message Edited by Pradeep Paudyal on 04-22-200606:20 AM

microwiz · Answer

No, using the Synaptics driver and disabling the track stick is not a solution to the drifting pointer problem.

I and others have experienced serious consequences from it - laggy or unresponsive trackpad behavior and whole-machine slowdowns lasting up to five minutes which are EXTREMELY frustrating.

Signs seem to to indicate that the initial problem is that the trackstick hardware generates some kind of electrical noise that causes the pointer to drift. Disabling it in the Synaptics driver does address the drifting, but doesn't address its effect on the other half of the pointing hardware.

So in sum, the official Synaptics trackpad driver is helpful, but no solution. Replacement with a brand new keyboard or cutting the trackstick's leads are the only solutions that seem final.

hugop · Answer

Microwiz is correct, as per my earlier post. This is the only way. Sorry Pradeep.

jlmorris · Answer

Found a other solution:

Tape a piece of static shielding bag over the mousepointer on the bottom of the keyboard.
Fixed the problem for me.

I know this is a very old thread, but this worked for me. Thank you Hinfie, if you're still out there. :)

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Final outcomes - my C600/C610 wandering pointer

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