Fixing mouse drift on a Dell Latitude C600 with a Sledgehammer
Read these updates, then read the post, then read all the comments. Then do it and/or comment. :-)
Update 2006-10-15: For reasons discussed below and in the comments, I am no longer allowing comments which say “I installed such-and-such-a-driver and it fixed it”. Thanks.
Update 2006-05-19: OK, will people please stop posting comments that say “on Windows you can just use the Synaptics drivers” or similar? Yes, I’m sure it’s true, but no, it’s not very interesting, since this post is about how to fix the problem if you’re not running Windows. Thanks. :-)
Update 2006-03-03/2007-02-27: someone has just added a comment pointing to these instructions which claim to fix the problem without cutting the cable. Instead, they involve inserting a small piece of plastic shielding (but see comment #92 for a warning why not to use an anti-static bag for this purpose). I haven’t tried this out (and can’t any more!) but if anyone comes here looking for a solution, and tries this out, I’d love to know if it worked or not. Also, I’ll keep a local copy of that page in case it ever goes away - again, if it does, please let me know and I’ll publish the instructions here instead. Thanks!
As reported previously, I now use a Dell C600 laptop for most of my computing. I’m running FreeBSD and it’s been a very agreeable experience. There has, however, been one fly in the ointment.
It started small - one day I was typing and the mouse pointer started slowly drifting to the corner of the screen. Odd. I pulled it out, and carried on with my day. Then it started happening more frequently… In my first lecture of the year, it went completely doolally, rushing up into the top-right corner and refusing to come out. Since then, every now and then it’s been doing this intermittently, sometimes just a little, sometimes so much that the pointer is unusable.
I’ve managed quite well for two months, because I use the mouse as little as possible. I do most of my work at the command line or in emacs, and only really need the pointer for web browsing, chat, drawing and painting.
Yesterday, however, I snapped. It was too much - the pointer dancing all over the screen like a drunken hillbilly, my blood pressure rising, clearly something had to be done…
I’d done my research. Googling for “dell mouse drift” and “dell pointer drift” and the like had led me to a number of pages with the following theories:
- It’s a software problem, update your drivers.
- It’s a firmware problem, update your bios.
- It’s a hardware problem, replace your keyboard.
- It’s a hardware problem, cut the cable from the trackpoint if you don’t use it.
Theory 1 was clearly out, as it was written by Windows users. I use FreeBSD and I’m seeing the same problem - definitely not an O/S issue unless you have a foolhardy confidence in the significance of co-incidences (on subject of which, I saw I Heart Huckabees last night and really enjoyed it - Isabelle Huppert, mmmmmm).
Theory 2 is also a non-starter, in as much as I’m at the latest version for this box.
Theory 3: this is doable, but unappealing. I have the Dell Latitude C600 repair manual (and BTW I have a local copy in case that link every goes away and anyone needs it) and I’ve already replaced my screen backing so I know this would be a doddle. But I don’t really want to pay for a new keyboard - especially if the problem is going to come back later.
Theory 4… Theory 4… This theory states that all of the mouse drift is caused by the trackpoint (the little thumby nubbin in the middle of the keyboard), which I never use. Disconnect the trackpoint from its world and the drifting stops, so they say. The catch: you can’t disconnect it, you have to cut the cord. No going back.
Sounds like the permanent solution I was looking for, right? Well, yes, except I was worried that I would somehow manage to screw the trackpad too (which I do use). So I held off doing this until my rage became uncontrollable. Also, I couldn’t find the right screwdriver.
Yesterday I took the plunge. It was an absolute piece of cake and has (so far at least) completely cured the problem without any undesirable side effects. I’ve clearly been worrying over this subconsciously, because last night I dreamt the drift was back, but I woke up this morning to find my dreams untrue.
Here, then, is a summary of how to fix the mouse drift on your Dell C600, by cutting the trackpoint cable:
- Turn off the laptop. :)
- Remove the hard drive. It’s in a slot on the left when you’re using the laptop. You have to unscrew one screw and then slide the whole thing out. Easy.
- Unscrew the 5 screws marked “K” on the bottom of the laptop.
- Turn it over again and open the lid.
- Prise up the “centre control cover” (surrounds the power button and has the word “LATITUDE” on the left, on mine at least), at its right-hand end. It should just snap out fairly easily (and back in when needed).
- Prise up the keyboard assembley at the blank space to the right of the up arrow (bottom right). With some gentle wiggling the whole thing will come up. It is connected to the main body of the laptop by a ribbon cable umbilical cord.
- Turn the keyboard over, and you’ll see two ribbon cables: a wide one connecting the keyboard to the main board, and a narrow one connecting to the trackpoint (in the middle of the keyboard).
- Cut the trackpoint cable.
- Reassemble (the reverse of the above).
Happy snipping!
You might recall my knackered bell laptop doing this, or at least having a mind of it’s own when in use. It’s an earthing problem apparently due to a well used trackpad. Happily though, i can disconnect my trackpad rather than irreplaceably chop it off ;)
When you say “trackpad”, do you mean “trackpoint”? I chopped out the trackpoint but the trackpad I can’t do without. :)
Ah yes, I remember now. You have one of those all in one jobs. Yes, kill the track point. Kill it dead. I hate the dam things.
There are actually three flat cables in that assembly. One is the track pad, the other is the track ball (knob) and the third controls the entire mouse. I missed the third cable (smallest one) and sliced the wrong one. Now, I’m dead with no mouse control whatsoever. I recall thinking to myself, how stupid this feels to be cutting cables with scissors. Now I know why I felt that way…
Three cables? Really? I only remember seeing two, and what I saw matched the picture in the repair manual - I think. Hmmm, maybe I’m misremembering and I got lucky… I don’t think I’l disassemble the laptop again just to check. ;-) Sorry to hear about your trouble, and yes, I know what you mean about the clunkiness of using a blade for this…
As the scissors were cutting through a big gold cable in the innards of my laptop, I thought to myself, “hmmmm…perhaps I should have checked at least one other website, just to make sure this isn’t a joke.” Glad it isn’t. With a $5 investment in tiny screwdrivers and 10 minutes of time, the mouse drift that had rendered my Dell Latitude nearly useless is, thankfully, gone. Thank you for your help. [PS - I only had two wires coming off the keyboard, and it was very clear which was going to the mouse; perhaps seymansey has a different model?]
Hi Sparkes
Glad it worked out well for you! It’s interesting to hear that you had the same (2 cable) experience as me - I wasn’t just imagining it! I presume Darrell (not seymensay) either had a slightly different model laptop, or there were differences in the production run. If it’s the latter that’s a little worrying, however, because the service manual I have doesn’t seem to account for this!
In the interests of encouraging any further readers that yes, this really is a genuine tip and not a cunning ruse to make you destroy your laptop, here are other people saying this is a good idea (and telling you how to do a similar fix for the Inspiron 8600 as well).
Gimbo, I just wanted to say that I have been looking for this fix for about a year now. Like yourself, it has been driving me up the wall! I feel like I have a brand new laptop, now. Thanks again for this site.
Thank you Gimbo!!! I have had this issue on my Dell laptop for awhile and this morning I was about ready to drop kick the thing across the parking lot. I searched and found your suggestion, went to Dell’s site to see how to take apart my Dell Latitude C800 and then after some internal debate if I should cut the ribbon or not. I decided to and now I too feel like I have a new laptop.
Also I had 2 ribbons as well. Wide gold one running back under keyboard and thin silver one angling towards the trackpoint.
Thanks again for this suggestion, blood pressure can return to normal when working on my laptop.
JJ
Hello, I just wanted to say I like this idea, but I use both, because it’s easy to play video games using the point, do u recon there’d b a way to install some sort of switch without to much trouble - do u know how many wires r in the cable, etc?
Hi John,
I have no idea if it would be possible to install a switch on the ribbon but my instinct is that it would be extremely tricky, and quite probably not possible at all. On the other hand, I’m no hardware hacker. I’d say that if you were competent enough to do the job, you probably wouldn’t need to ask me how many wires were in the cable, you’d just look yourself, get on with it, and report the results here. :-)
If you do decide to do it, good luck!
Hi, gimbo . Had mouse drift problem with my Dell C600. Was getting worse over time. Was going to bite the bullet today by cutting the trackpoint cord as you did but decided to have one more look around on the web.
I found a software solution. I installed synaptics touchpad driver from :
http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm
After installation i disable the trackpoint in the device settings. No more problems !
The synaptics software also enable more control for the touchpad aswell
This contribution to humanity should be honoured along with Schindler, Mother Teresa etc.
For the benefit of others: takes 10 mins, works instantly and perfectly. If you don’t like cutting cables do what I did - use a soldering iron and tape up the free ends.
Peter W. Melbourne, Aus.
I found a way to disconnect the trackpad without destroying any cables, you simply open up the keyboard and disconnecting the cable from the motherboard, then open the connector that holds the cable to the keyboard and trackpad and remove the trackpad cable from the connector or whatever it is called, isolate it for safety reasons so it wont shortcut anything useful. Hope you understand.
I had the same problem. Fortunately for me I detest the trackpad as well, so it was an easy enough solution: disable the entire onboard mouse affair.
I’m thinking about a new laptop actually, because hardly any of my C600’s hardware still works.
Hi,
Searching for ‘mouse drifting laptop dell’ found your page first. 5 minutes work with screwdriver and scissors and I’ve got a useable laptop again.
Cheers
John
Hi all,
if you experience this problem and you use windows, then it may be easier to download the synaptics mouse driver from the dell website. Once installed, this gives you the option of turning off the trackstick and using just the touchpad.
Of course, if the laptop is still witihin warranty then dell *should* replace the keyboard for you. You could always buy another one on eBay and replace it - they only cost around $20 / £30 (people in the UK tend to get screwed for these :-( ).
Lodge
Thanks for the tips. I’ve got the ‘updated’ dull latitude d600 which suffers the very same problem. It’s been driving me to distraction and im on my 2nd hard drive thru thumping the stupid thing trying to stop the mouse wandering. Its a very similar fix except you only need to take off the keyboard from the top (1 plastic cover and 2 screws) and slice the smaller blue cable leading to the little noddle type mouse in the middle of the keyboard and its fixed. Obviously the noddle doesnt work anymore but the pad does and its a small price to pay…..Thanks again1
Violent… But VERY SATISFYING!
Works like a dream now!
:D
thanks for the tip worked great. i have a new problem though. my computer won’t acknowledge my power pack, the promblem is not with the pack, it’s the port at the back but i’m unsure of the best way of getting in there to look. it seemed from the manual i’d have to take the screen off which is something i’d rather not do as i’d never touched a screw on any computer before today. any help would be very much appreciated!
Good Stuff! i think you can be less violent and disable the trackerpad in the BIOS, press F2 when its loading up after you turn it on, and its on on of the pages. you can disable it and select SERIAL (for serial mouse use only)
Click
here for the Dell C600 and C610 Mouse Fix answer to this whole discussion. These guys specialize in refurbishing used laptops so they’ve got the most complete and correct details I’ve ever seen on how to fix this particular issue.
Hi all,
OK Im stamping this out on a clay tablet and flinging it at the screen - that’s the kind of user I am. Im still looking for the very small, flat people in my Dell C600 screen. Nevertheless. Here’s kind of, how I seem to have dissuaded my mouse from drifting: 1)sacrifice of e-cheese to the mouse gods 2) I just screwed around with it til it stopped - multiple times went to “disable mouse” in hardware of control panel (mouse icon), plugged in an external mouse, slowed down mouse and pointer, and finally toted my pc to somebody else’s house for a power point tutelage, and…it stopped. Mouse is as steady and reliable as a drafthorse. Maybe it was the brand of electricity at my friend’s house - don’t know - but no cables cut, and bad juju apparently lifted. For now.
Hey all. I have the synaptics driver installed on my laptop, and after reading the suggestion of cutting the cable leading to the trackpoint, which I was about to try, it occurred to me that I can disable the trackpoint without cutting the cable. I have done this and so far so good.
Hi all,
Wow, lots of activity here - this is easily the busiest of my blog posts!
There’ve been quite a few comments along the lines of “I didn’t need to hack it, I fixed it in the driver” or similar. I’d just like to say, again, that yes that can work, but only under Windows. If you want to run Linux or FreeBSD or whatever on your C600, that’s simply not an option. But if you run Windows, yes, that’s probably a better idea. :-)
Hi,
I fixed a friend’s Dell Latitude D810 (XP Pro) with the same problem. It was so bad that the pointer would drift into the corner as soon as you started the machine. I followed Tryax’s advice and installed the Synaptics driver. http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm (I couldn’t find a driver at Dell)
That did the trick and I didn’t have to disable the stick. Both the trackpad and stick work fine.
Thanks for the advice.
I’ll stick to my macs :-)
I fixed this issue on a Dell latitude C840 with a antistatic bag according to the article of laptopsunlimited.com. It’s a quite a lot of work since you have to open up your whole laptop and disassemble nearly everything. The service manual at Dell’s website has been a great help with this. (http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latc840/en/sm/index.htm)
I could have used a driver update since i run XP, but since static electricity causes the problem, it gives me a better feeling to fix it by isolating the right parts.
Synaptics pointer driver is a memory hog and also eats CPU power. Cutting the cable is the best solution here.
Hi,
Forgive me for asking the obvious - but in the synaptics mouse software. what or which bit do you have to disable to stop the mouse drift.
Cheers
No idea, Matt. I’ve never used it, and try not to use Windows if I can help it. I certainly wouldn’t sully my laptop with it… :-)
Chris,
In Windows XP, Go to Control Panel, Click on Mouse, and then click on “Device Settings” tab.
Then check the radio botton which says “Disable Point Stick”. And then the mouse drifting problem goes away. So if you are using Windows, get the Synaptics driver and disable the “point stick” mouse. No need to open the laptop and cut the cable.
–pradeep
Hi all,
i just did it!
Works like… like “whoa”…
And just two screws left :)
–Christoph
Hi there, regards to the Dell C600, how do you adjust the Screen Size as mine cannot be change at 640X480.
Im using FreeBSD 6.0 with KDE 3.4 any help apreciate.
Hi John,
Here is my xorg.conf for my C600, giving a resolution of 1024×768. Hope this helps!
-Andy
Has anyone else experienced this problem on
a Precision M20? Have you fixed it?
Started about a week ago, and its beginning to drive me nuts. Seems to be slightly temperature related, ie gets really bad as things heat up.
Hi Andy, your xorg.conf works for the resolution to view at 1024×768 but, it disable my mouse. Why is that so? and how do I make sure that the ps2 mouse/pad work as before.
Thank you
John: In the “mouse0″ section (one of the “InputDevice” sections), there are lines which specify the driver, the protocol, and the device. These are possibly all different under KDE — you should keep the settings which worked for you here. That file probably contains other things you don’t want (such as a lot of FontPath lines). Don’t use it blindly: use it as a basis for constructing your own version which works for you. :-)
Hope this helps!
I tried to follow PeterW’s advice for disconnecting the trackpoing cable from the connector, but could not figure out how to open the connector. I came up with an easier, also non-destructive fix. When you disconnect the cable connector from the motherboard, just put a tiny piece of electrical tape in the motherboard side slot that accepts the connector. As long as the tape keeps the trackpoint wires from connecting, the trackpoint is disabled.
Thank you, I cut the cable and my mouse works after months!
As mentioned above, I can confirm that disabling the track point using the driver interface fixes the problem as well. No need to cut wires. You will have to find the right utility for your distro.
Windows ONLY drivers:
http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm
Yo, I’ve had this dead Dell laptop for almost a year until I found so many of us with the same problem. ‘ghosting pointer’. Thanks a million, but please add to instructions to remove the keyboard only! not the whole top, which I almost tried to do… again, thanks for making my dell operable!
I just did the fix with the anti-static bag. Works perfectly! Took an hour or so to figure out how to disassemble it without instructions. I should have checked the Dell website- they have a service manual online. If you are adept with a screwdriver, this fix is the way to go.
Wait, I don’t think you have to cut the ribbon cable!!!!
On my C600, where the smaller ribbon cable connects to the motherboard, on the side of the connector that the cable disappears into there is a dark grey piece with flanges, slide this piece out (towards the ribbon cable, left when looking down on it) and the cable releases and slides right out. It works like a clamp. To re-connect, just make sure that piece with flange (which also has the slot for the cable at the bottom) is slide out towards where the cable goes in (left), slide the cable in (takes a little wiggling to get it in all the way), then push in that piece (to the right when looking down on it), and it clamps the ribbon cable back into the connector. Simple, enjoy!
hello! just to say thank you very much. mouse drift was driving me insane, and i know nothing about taking computers apart, but i did what you said and it now works perfectly. brilliant!
Regarding my post above, I realized afterward I was working on a Latitude CPx instead of the C600. So note, if you have a CPx, you can easily disconnect the mouse stick cable without cutting it, as I described above.
You guys rock, the instruction to stop the mouse drifting worked like a charm. The instructions were easy to follow.
Thank A Million
Thanks for this info! I actually fixed the problem with a good slap. So far, so good, but I am definitely bookmarking this page!
All the best to you and thanks again!
D* Goddess
After wasting hours attempting to find a Dell customer service representative, finallly getting one via IM, and then having them tell me that my drifting cursor was a software problem (!!!) I found this site. I can’t thank you enough!
I followed your procedures with my Latitude D800–since I couldn’t find any screws marked “k” I visited the Dell site to see how to snap off my keyboard. Now my computer no longer appears as if it’s been posessed by the devil. Thank you again!
I’m on my 6th laptop with the DELL C610 as my latest. My last machine, a C600 had a terribly drifty mouse. I removed the keyboard, WASHED it through with Contact Cleaner and the drifter never returned. The machine served 4 hard years in an Aviation Mfg plant and now two at home with family and no more drift.
Regard, Paul.
Pradep: Thanks for sending me to the control panel and to the mouse menu to disconnect the stick. You have restored sanity to our laptop, which is an Dell inspiron 8200 with Windows xp home edition.
3 Cheers for Pradep!
I was just about to put the hammer to my dell laptop with perpetual stick point drift when i googled something that lead me here. 10 minutes and a cut cord later the laptop is back in busines. thanks for the tip!
I’m afraid some of you may have been a bit hasty!
Many people have said that the trackpoint, and only the trackpoint, can be disabled in windows, leaving touchpad working fine. I was therefore convinced that this would be possible in Linux.
A quick look through man synpatics and I found this:
I came home, checked the symptoms on my machine, pressing around the touchpad and was getting crazy mouse movement - it was especially bad when I pressed the trackpad buttons.
So, convinced I had the same problem as everyone else I applied my fix.
I immediately discovered that it disabled the trackpoint successfully and heartened I started X without the PS2 mouse I have been using for nearly a year connected.
I was able to use the touchpad perfectly and no matter how hard I press around the touchpad I cannot replicate a single pointer wiggle.
Maybe this won’t work for everyone but it’s gotta be worth a try before vasectomising your trackpoint! It could also be a recent feature.
Good luck! I can finally use my laptop on the road again! Fingers crossed at least!
Well, I had the same problem on an inspiron 8200, and I found a way to disable the trackpoint without cutting the cable. On this model, the trackpoint and keyboard use the same connector, and if you pull the connector from the board, you can use a small straight bit, and pull the connector apart, releasing the trackpoint cable. You put the keyboard cable back in the connector, and you have disabled the trackpoint without cutting the cable.
WOW! Ten weeks of laptop hell fixed in ten minutes! Thanks to your sage advice, the senseless bludgeoning of my laptop was avoided! Well done!
cursor drift fixed!
i just downloaded a driver that conveniently has a window for disabling the nipple and the nipple buttons (fun to type) - so put away the sledgehammers and the scissors
link
No mikko, I will not put away the sledgehammer and the scissors because — get this! — I DON’T RUN WINDOWS!!!
Geez, how many times do I have to say this? Can’t you people read? It’s, like, the first paragraph of this post: “I don’t use Windows, don’t tell us about Windows drivers on this page, thanks”.
From now on, any comments which say “Hey guys! You can fix this on Windows by installing this driver!” will be deleted, not posted. Fair warning.
Sorry to be snitty, but it’s just dull and a waste of my time. Learn to read. (Also, mikko, you might like to learn to use capital letters properly too while you’re at it — when you write like that, you look like a child.) Thanks.
ok, here a a few solutions we used to use at my previous job in tech support for this problem.
firstly, tighten up all screws on the laptop and ensure non are loose, as uneven pressure can cause this.
secoundly go into the bios as select PS/2 mouse in the bios’s mouse options. This option means that when an external mouse is plugged in the internal one will be disabled(but will otherwise work normally), For some reason selecting it seems to solve alot of the mouse drift problems with Dells. Alternatively depending on you model you may be able to disable the trackpoint in the bios and use only the touchpad.
generally this is a problem with all track point mouses, they occasisionally recalibrate. the best thing to do is leave them for ten secound and it usually stops. However from you description you are having a more regular problem, which suggests an error.
The shielding solution from Laptopsunlimited worked like a dream on my C610.
I also found some synaptics drivers for Linux, but since my symptoms were exactly as described in the laptopsunlimited page, I knew a hardware fix was necessary.
It was a very fiddly job, even for a tinkerer like me, but the combination of the laptopsunlimited explanation and the online service manual helped a lot. No screws left over at the end!
just starting to have the problem.. they guy who sold this comp to me had this synaptics pointing device thing installed so i can switch it off simply… - IS IT ME, or DOES USING THE THING TOO MUCH MAKE YOUR MIDDLE FINGER BEND BACKWARDS?(permanantly)
a place to get a good trackball would make a nice addition :P
or an eyetap for that matter
Snipping the cable finally solved two months of frustration and head banging with my mouse drifting Inspiron 8200. It was easy and the cutting itself was curiously satisfying.
I remember having this problem with a number of Latitudes where I used to work. I had forgotten about the problem (and how I fixed it) until I bought myself a second hand C610 which had this problem.
My solution was similar to yours, but I hate cutting cables I cannot replace, so what I had done was to stick a piece of thin adhesive tape to prevent the conductors from making contact. This had solved the issue. I will give it a go on my new C610 and will let you know how it goes.
I tried the shielding solution and now my laptop works as it should, with all functions intact!
“…and the online service manual helped a lot. No screws left over at the end!”
I really should have lookeds for a service manual. I was pretty convinced that I would never get the thing back together again, but I managed without any parts left over. Quite an adventure :)
OMG it worked! I was very sceptic, but because my D800 lattitude was next to useless and the fact that I don’t use the trackpoint thing anyway I didn’t mind giving it a go. I wanted to go for the less destructive instructions but to get to the touchpad is much harder than the back of the keyboard. There were two ribbon cables like Gimbo said. The narrow blue one had 4 wires in it.
It does feel - as people are saying here - like a new laptop.
Thanks Gimbo.
I hated cutting the cable as was very skeptical, but amazingly it worked. Thanks for the info.
Too much work for me to disassemble the entire laptop for the shield solution, so I just removed the keyboard assembly. It appears the trackpoint cable is detachable, for me anyways. The ribbon cables all connect to a plug in socket marked “LCD” on the top. I removed that plug, and pried off the hooks on each side of the jack. The trackpoint ribbon cable just came loose at that point and I was able impermenantly disable it.
Just cut the cable this morning for my pointer stick on my Latititude D800. Took 5 minutes and ended months on frustration with a drifting mouse. Thanks is not enough. I owe you !!!!!!!
This worked on my Inspiron 4100. Thanks very much!
Cut the cable on a D800 and the drifting has gone away. Question though, in cutting this cable, did it also disable the touchpad from working? I know for a fact that the pointer does not work now, but is the touchpad not suppose to work?
Answer from Gimbo: I don’t know about the D800; I only know the C600. On the C600, if you cut the right cable, it disables the trackpoint but the touchpad still works.
I have a Dell D800. Pry up the center control cover on top, remove two screws at top of keyboard, look for blue ribbin that goes to the center of the keyboard, cut it, put it back together, turn on. Works great!!!!!! thank you!!
Happy Halloween! Woohoo!!!
Just violently massacred the cable(s) on my 3 year old inspiron 8500. Using hedge clippers and a ballaclava I made it a bit more fun! heheh.
Take it from the experienced people on this page:
***THIS IS THE SUREST WAY OF ELIMINATING THE SPOOKY POINTER PROBLEM!***
I had fixed the problem somehow before but couldn’t remember how and the problem just came back out of the blue!
I have advised many people not to buy dHell cause there is a problem with the batteries, the adapter (which actually has its own driver (that you can’t even access or update!)), the track stick or wotever it’s called, etc. etc.
Seems dHell just can’t get it right or intentionally sabotage their systems.
Who ever uses or used the stupid track stick anyway? it’s such a fiddle!
Anyway, problem solved, moving on to find a way to recalibrate the battery - only lasts about 5 minutes when i pull the plug - any ideas greatly appreciated!
Happy Halloween everyone! And Dell… go to Hell!
This sure does work…After searching for months through google and yahoo links, i stumbled across this page. Having 2 Dell latitude C610’s here at home (one mine, the other my girlfriends) we frequently had this problem…Anyway, i read some of the positive feedback in the comments (after reading the page and thinking “Nahuh, no way am i doing that, this must be a sick prank”) and decided to go ahead and try it on my C610 before i try it on my girls, and amazingly, after doing as told, the problem stopped with no repercussions!
I then proceeded to do it to my girls.
We are both now very happy with our laptops and touchpads, we never used the stick anyway…
Thanks much for the procedure, it works perfectly!
-LMo + Vampsy
Holy Smokes!!! I just want to say that “MIKKO” (above) is a GENIUS! His posted driver link worked like a charm. It corrected the problem on my D600 almost effortlessly. THANKS.
Shielding the Bar under the touchpad worked great for me. Now both the button and the touchpad work fine! It was definitly a mechanical problem! Thanks! Oh by the way you can lift up the cover enough just using the P screws, without removing the display cover!
Thanks alot for the fix, the dell c600 is a good laptop and this was my only problem, but now its fixed :) thanks.
I previously tried putting the anti-static material and it worked for a few months, however the problem re-surfaced and again the MOVING POINTER…but then I tried the download of the driver http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm and sofar it has corrected the problem. So easy! Thanks for the tips!
Hi all, just read all of your comments. Thanks, because I’ll use the “driver” solution asap (Ive got Bills software running). The only problem is that my wife just called me in panic (She’s in Spain today, I’m in Holland) and didn’t know how to continue on our Lattitude C610… Because to get the download you would have to go on the net, and try to do that with only your keyboard… Therefore, a new question: Anybody got some success or experience with turning on and off the pc several times, so the drifting will (at least for some while) stop? That way, I can help my wife by getting the driver in place… Thnks.
I had a diffrent experience all together! I was going crazy with my Inspiron 4000. The pointer was shooting all over the place. Finally I slapped it so hard I broke some keys and gave up and bought a new keyboard, thinking that it was a trackpoint problem. Well, no such luck. After about a week, the demon pointer was back! One day during a particularly violent bashing, I noticed that hitting the top 2 buttons (the clicks you would use if you where a trackpoint user) made it stop. I pried the button off the left clicker and have never had the problem again. It looks a bit funny, but it works a treat!! Hope this might help someone out there.
I understand that gimbo is no longer allowing comments which say “I installed such-and-such-a-driver and it fixed it”.
FWIW, even for Windows, updated driver (allowing one to disable touchstick) is *not* a perfect solution because the activation of the disabling occurs not at boot but during user login, when touchpad tray icon appears. In other words, touchstick is enabled during boot, and sometimes will interfere with Windows startup. You see blue background, but hear ding-ding-ding-ding… and login panel never shows up.
(this observed in Windows 2000 Professional)
It is not so much a ’shielding’ issue, but rather a ground loop issue. Immediately after I placed insulating plastic and a cloth tape over the small bar under the trackpoint, the bugger worked perfect. I think that even a thin strip of duct tape would even do the trick. Getting to that spot was the real task! Thanks for the great link and tips!!
Hi, I just wanted to add to the comments by Tony beelow to be even a bit more specific,
Tony’s comments copied:
Added info from me Terry:
I have a Latitude c600 with windows xp Professional. Make sure once on the above mentioned site or link for correction you download the windows xp version that also says windows 2000 unless you definetly have the xp version 64.
Once you download the file and open it you have to click on the setup icon that looks like a “blank rectangle with knobs or dots above.” Double click it, then click run when it asks you if your sure you want to run it. After it installs the new pointing device drivers and after re-starting your computer, it automatically brings up a screen that gives you the option to “Go to the device settings.” Choose it then poroceed to the ‘Device Settings tab in the open window. Select (left click) ‘Yes Pointing Stick—-Ps2′ in the upper open window. After it is obviosly selected (turns dark blue), then select the ‘Disable’ button, then OK to exit.
No cutting or snipping a clean deal!!
Blessings, Terry O
Just worked the trackpad fix as described…awesome!
Thanks
Great, saved me from buying a new laptop!!!
This worked great and easy to do… I was skeptical and thought it was a joke.. I was going to get a new computer… but no need now.. Thanks.
Same problem here….
Will operate tommorrow….drivers won’t help if you run FreeBSD and Linux… :)
Niklaas
Many thnaks to Gimbo and all that have posted their comments. i cut it and it works like a dream. just wanted to add a comment. For those that uses synaptics software to solve the problem let it be known that i too solve this using synaptics the first time it occurs. after abt a year, the problem came back, no software can help me this time. luckily i found this web page and the rest is history.
i own a dell latitude c600 laptop which experiences mouse driffting when typing at word, it also drifts after booting the system, pse advice on how to solve
the problem.
thanks
Um… Not sure what to say, Sachibu. Perhaps read the post and the comments and follow the advice contained therein? I personally found the cable-snipping method worked well, though if you’re only using Windows it sounds like the Synaptics drivers might be worth seeking out. But seriously, all of the answers lie above, I think. Good luck!
Does anyone know how to fix a keyboard problem on the C600? My bottom row only works after the computer warms up–I changed keyboards 3 times with BRAND-NEW boards, but the fix only lasts for about a month.
Thank you also for this forum–I used the snip-snip method to fix my drift problem on the first board (the new boards do not have this problem).
I was given a Dell C800 (although I think it has a new motherboard from a different model). The mouse would drift, and some keys stopped working. A diagonal line of keys passing through the trackpoint, and once I removed the keyboard the bottom line of keys stopped working.
I cut the small ribbon to stop the mouse drifting, but it never helped the dead keys. I realised that if I moved the cable I could get the keys to work, so after experimenting I discovered that if I jammed a piece of folded cardboard between the plug for the keyboard and the plug for the trackpad it solved the problem and all the keys are working.
Ryan,
I have had the same problem with keyboard, bought a new old c610 and now the problem is reemerging. Together with the mouse drift.
I have the feeling that they are have common cause. I am about to try the fix described in Post 22 - http://www.laptopsunlimited.com/dellmouse/dellmouse.htm
Good luck
The instructions given on http://www.laptopsunlimited.com/dellmouse/dellmouse.htm (which shows how to overcome the hardware glitch by inserting the sheilding) has made both my touchpad and nipple work perfectly together!
I must insist that anyone with this problem should follow those instructions. I literally used a plastic CD wallet for the anti-static sheilding and mine has worked perfect for over a month now.
Thanks for making this webpage, I wouldn’t have found that link if it weren’t for this page. It’s VERY MUCH appreciated.
OK, I have to comment at this point. People keep throwing around the words “shielding” and “antistatic” when discussing the laptopsunlimited solution. If the problem is actually mechanical (pressure on the bottom of the pad) then the padding is simply distributing the load more evenly. The problem can’t be static electricity on the metal bridge, because static only collects on an insulator, not a conductor. And finally, DON’T use antistatic material as an electrical insulator! It is designed to conduct electricity, that is how it works. Stuffing chunks of antistatic plastic where they could come in contact with electrical connections, like the bottom of a circuit board, is probably going to cause erratic failures at best. Nitpicking aside, thanks, you guys definitely shortened my investigative work on a possessed latitude C840.
The laptopsunlimited solution worked a treat on my Inspiron 4100, using a piece cut from a plastic carrier bag to make the padding.
Note for Windows users - I did try the Synaptics driver, but although disabling the touchstick in that way does prevent the drift, the touchpad was still really jittery and unresponsive. Reverting to the standard PS/2 mouse driver and going with the padding has made things as good as new!
Dude, you, in a word, rule. I’ve been pulling my hair out and almost throwing the damn laptop across the room. My wife even gave it to me and bought a brand new laptop because of it. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Hi, was having the same problems/frustrations with my inspiron 8500. I read through this page, and then spent quite some time on the dell website to try and find a driver for my touchpad so I could disable the track stick. Finally found the Alps driver for my touchpad, installed and disabled the track stick. So far it’s seems to have worked a treat.
Thanks to everyone for their help!
Wow! Thank you to all of you that have contributed to this long list of ways to fix the crazy cursor! I finally, after weeks of frustration, took apart my latitude c600 and got my handy scissors out and snipped the gold ribbon that goes to the trackpoint.
I debated whether to do this or not. I tried downloads (several) and none of them were fixing the problem. I took out the handy scissors and in fact, if you cut the gold ribbon that is in the center of the keyboard you will still have a full functioning keyboard and internal touchpad that works.
You all have been lifesavers and computersavers!
I reinstalled the Dell restore disk to my D800 and the pointer was out of control.
I guess the previous owner had disabled the track point.
I cut the cable with 4 wires and all is now back to normal.
What would we do without the Internet. Thanks guys.
I wished I would have seen your blog on this before I got so mad I ripped the keybord out and crunched it like a tin can:(
I just performed the instructions linked in “Update 2006-03-03/2007-02-27″ and it worked perfectly. I agree that antistatic bag is NOT the material to use. I was able to slip a piece of paper in after removing the bottom screws and disk drive only. Prob seems completely corrected. I even tried flexing the laptop.
thank you, thank you, thank you. IT WORKED
Ok, I am by no means a computer tech. But my Dell 510/610 Windows 2000 systems has been driving me nuts with the “drifting pointer.” THANK YOU! Literally, it took 10 minutes (if that!) to open the laptop up, clip the ribbon on the trackpoint and save my laptop! Like others have said, it is like a new laptop. You have to try it to believe it. Who would have thought that a computer issue could be resolved so easy. BTW. It felt great to cut that cable! I booted it up…and it works perfectly. Don’t bother searching for drivers! Just cut the darn ribbon! Thanks so much!
The connector, at least on my C840, is two sided. Just unplug the connector and put a small piece of paper on the side associated with the 3-wire connector going to the trackpoint. Works like a charm and the keyboard and pad are unaffected. If I ever decide to try something else I can just pull that small piece of paper out and I’m good to go.
I used the trick with the antistatic bag on my Dell C600 and IT WORKED.
Tried before to software disable the trackpoint, but the problem soon reapeared.
About cutting the ribbon…oh well, that was too radical for me.
About the antistatic bag: I read comment nr92 and got really concerned about the posibility of breaking my laptop; so, I took the rest of the bag and measured its electrical resistance using my multimeter. The verdict: it does not conduct electricity on either side, and it is without any doubt antistatic material (it came with my motherboard and it’s labeled as antistatic)
So, it should be safe to use in my opinion, at least this kind of material.
I just wanted to thank Tony(post 12) and Terry (post 80)for their workaround. It’s working AWESOME for me and didn’t require opening of the case. Try this first. If it doesn’t work, try the other..
Every dell laptop I have ever used has this problem. I am so glad to have solved it. Both of them that I dissembled had 4 wires, but I just cut them all off. This worked on a Latitude D610 and another Dell as well.
Comment 92 needs to be omitted from this site forever! As a computer engineer who did use a anti-static bag to fix this horrible affliction, I can tell you that it should be obvious to the most casual of observers that if #92 were true, we would not be putting electrostatic devices in them to PROTECT them from static discharge in the first place. Comment 104 is right on!!!
A way to fix this problem *without* installing drivers AND *without* opening up your case BUT it means your trackpad is not usable.
Go to the BIOS -> Change mouse type to SERIAL/disable mouse/use whatever option you find here. -> Ensure USB is still enabled. -> Plug in your USB mouse. -> Bingo
Just fixed this problem on my borthers C600. It’s not neccessary to actually cut the cable. You can do the following instead:
- unplug the connector (that the two ribbon cables connect to) from the motherboard
- open up the connector (clips on each end of the plug) and remove the smaller ribbon cable from the plug
- re-assemble the plug so that only the large ribbon cable is inserted
- plug the connector back to the motherboard
Although this involves a few additional steps, it does mean you can undo the job if it turns out the trackpoint was not the cause of the problem, e.g. if it was the touchpad instead.
Thank you!! Thank you!!! I have been searching everywhere and thought it was a software issue. I went and bought an external drive to back up everything and a copy of xp because I was going to just wipe out everything. Luckily I found your post…Worked like a charm and super EASY!!!!
I agree with Witchhaven. I have done the same thing. Only instead of opening up the connector I used ‘brute force’ to pull the small ribbon cable out.
Damn it Gimbo, you’re a genius. I too thought about disassembling the connector but hadn’t read the most recent posts about it. In any event the rush I got cutting that gold flex cable was worth it!! :-)
Works like a dream and the piece of snipped flex cable is now hanging on the wall as a memory of all the bad times….
One of my colleagues suffered the same problem and it cost him £140 for a new keyboard (/me smirks!)
Its GRE8T, Its resolve my prob too. But no need 2 cut the cable just pull the connector and detach the Trackpoint cable.
Thanks a ton — not only for providing a solution, but not being a Windows user. It’s tough finding help troubleshooting when everyone just says, “Install the new XP drivers.”
I got a used C810 at auction, tried to use it with Puppy Linux, and the spooky pointer was driving me nuts — and rendering the computer unusable. Then, I found this page. I’m not a sledgehammer kind of guy, so I followed dtw’s advice (reply #52). I put the following line in my xorg.conf file, under the section in Input Devices for the touchpad (”Synaptics Mouse”):
Option “GuestMouseOff” “true”
It didn’t work — at first. Then, I realized that there was another input device, Mouse0, listed above the touchpad in the file. So, I inserted the following line into the section for the touchpad:
Option “CorePointer”
Since then, the touchpoint doesn’t work, the touchpad does, and no spooky pointer. Couldn’t have done it without this page! Thanks!
Thanks very much! My mouse doesn’t drift anymore with the cable cut on my old C600. And my keyboard is working perfectly again. A litlle clean up is alwalys helpful…
No drift, touchpad works fine - thanks.
Running Ubuntu 6.06LTS
I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 which I use heavily for work - both at the office and on the road - and have been dogged by this same drifting cursor issue for over two years. When this computer was under Dell’s Gold Warranty program, their techical folks helped me disable the eraserhead mouse (aka “trackpoint mouse”). They also worked with me to reinstall the mouse drivers . Though this helped with the problem, it never totally went away and recently the problem has become completely disabling - that cursor will just drift and will start selecting from various menus (largely associated with the lower lefthand or upper righthand corner)with any pressure on the keyboard. Yesterday I was convinced that the best use of my computer would be as a frisbee or perhaps a hockey puck. The computer has also been thoroughly cleaned of viruses, spyware, trojans, etc.
Knowing that the fix to this problem was going to be rather complicated and perhaps not logical, I tried working through our company help desk and then independent service techniciens in my area. But in each case it was pretty clear that none had an adequate grasp of the root of this problem to deal with it properly. Frustrated and ready to punt and buy a new computer, I searched around the web for some last straw and found your posting that suggested cutting or disabling the trackpoint cable. Given my experience with this secondary mouse control earlier, it made perfect sense to me to go this route.
I engaged my mechanical engineer husband and his handy set of tiny screw drivers earlier this evening. Though not a computer geek, his computer expertise derives directly from disassembling his toys as a child - pretty handy stuff really. Though getting behind the keyboard on my computer proved a bit more complicated, we eventually found our way there. The narrower (and in my case blue) ribbon was found and just disconnected - we just pulled it from the connector that attaches the keyboard ribbons to the main computer frame.
I am so thrilled to report that this fix appears perfect, stable, and bomb proof. It certainly saved us a good chunk of money and perhaps even the cost of buying a new computer. Thanks for this GREAT advice!!
Hi there,
I’ve fixed in a different way, no software, no cutting.
1. Remove battery for safety
2. Remove 5 K screws and push keyboard out (keep hard disk, keep centre control cover)
3. You’ll see the double flat-cable for keyboard and track stick: don’t cut it, disconnect it from the base
4. The female connector in the base have two sides, one big (keyboard) and three small (stick in the centre, two unused)
5. Put a small isolation tape covering the small centred (five pins) connector.
6. Connect the cable again, close the laptop and happy padding.
Thanks guys,
Nothing else I found on the web even addressed this issue on my C610__it was so very bad that i nearly threw the laptop across the library several times. The original onslaught began when I loaded XP in place of the original W2K Pro installation 6 months ago.
Switching to a PsP2 optical mouse I had laying about ’solved’ the problem. THEN i got a legitimate XP Pro SP2 o/s, and it all started again WITH the same mouse!! I have been reading your site and am not doing the cable nip bit YET, but will try the drivers first. Will fill you in later!!
Thanks again,
Bob Creacy
Just to add, another success story (though I desoldered the cable, just in case, and wrapped in insulating tape).
Many thanks
I am so glad to have found this page. I LOVE my dell, but this drifting cursor problem has been driving me nuts. I had originally thought it might be a virus. I also worried that my constant pounding of the laptop on a hard surface (a fix that was working with decreasing effectiveness) would eventually damage something vital. I cart my laptop around in a padded case quite a bit and had noticed that the float always seemed to happen (and was most severe) after the laptop had spent some time in a non-horizontal position. Then I realized that it was occuring after the laptop got “flexed” in any fashion. It became clear that it had to do with the trackpoint (eraser mouse control) but I still didn’t know how to resolve. Since I have XP, I am going to try the driver fix first, but if that doesn’t work, I’m scheduling my laptop for “surgery”.
I have found a software solution to disabled TrackPoint (not the touchpad). If trackpoint is disabled, the mouse not drift.
I have a D800 latitude but i think it is the same problem for others (kernel linux 2.6.21).
I see that the /dev/input/mice is use for trackpoint and other mice (like USB mice).
The trackpoint device is (for my computer) /dev/input/mouse1 (only trackpoint)
The USB mouse is /dev/input/mouse3
So in the Xorg.conf file i just replace /dev/input/mice by /dev/input/mouse3 in core pointer section (Mouse0).
I hope this solution can be help you.
Extract of my xorg.conf file :
i had the ecact same problem and i fixed it by doing this: when the dell loades up on start press f2 and that should take you to setup press alt+p untill you see something to do with a mouse (cant remember what it said) the only way round this is to use a plug and play mouse so select that from the options you have (if it doesnt work the first time you try go back and choose another one (there should be 3 choices)) and if you picked the corrct one your mouse should stop drifing away but you will have to use the mouse you instred because the touchpad and the purple thing in the middle are disabled
oh and i do use windows xp sp2
I was in the same boat. I’m running Ubuntu 7.04, and probably could have disabled it in Xorg.conf (reading posts from above), but I had already taken the keyboard off, and since it was malfunctioning anyway I figured I would fix it permanently. I have a Latitude C810 which has one main ribbon cable that plugs into the main board, and a smaller silver ribbon cable that plugs into the main cable. After straining by eyes, I realized that the main connector (the black piece that plugs into the mainboard) could be taken apart, and the smaller ribbon cable could be easily pulled out without cutting. There are two pull-back tabs on each of the narrow sides of the main connector. If you have a small optical screwdriver or something similar, stick it between the tab and the connector block and you should see how it comes apart. Do the same on the other side, and the small ribon cable can be removed.
Put it all back together, and you’ll have a non-functioning pointer stick (trackpoint), but a fully funtional touchpad(mouse