tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post2004565411697863260..comments2023-03-16T07:04:17.903-07:00Comments on My Thoughts on the Changing World: The Touch Pad Mystery - Part 2Ed Lakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-57273638732512626682015-02-25T13:32:03.170-08:002015-02-25T13:32:03.170-08:00GROAN!! This afternoon (Feb. 25), I pulled the mo...<b><i>GROAN!!</i></b> This afternoon (Feb. 25), I pulled the mouse transmitter tab out of its USB socket to see if the touch pad would turn on. It wouldn't. I don't know why, and I'm at a loss as to what further I can do to figure out what the problem is. Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-79184782863779731822015-02-24T07:05:23.006-08:002015-02-24T07:05:23.006-08:00On Tuesday morning (Feb. 24), I pulled the mouse t...On Tuesday morning (Feb. 24), I pulled the mouse transmitter tab out of the USB port to see if the touch pad would turn on, and it did. <br /><br />That seems to mean I don't know and can't tell if I still have a problem or not. It APPEARS that the problem has gone away.<br /><br />The only time I would use the touch pad is when traveling, and I have no plans to do any traveling. I'm only worried that the touch pad won't work <b>IF</b> I suddenly find I need to travel and take my laptop along.<br /><br />The original problem with the touch pad was that the "two finger scroll" would stop working. But, I can get along with that.<br /><br />So, I'm not going to post any more updates until something happens to indicate that the touch pad won't reliably work when I absolutely NEED it to work.Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-7094826453943166432015-02-23T13:50:06.920-08:002015-02-23T13:50:06.920-08:00In the afternoon (Monday p.m.), I again pulled out...In the afternoon (Monday p.m.), I again pulled out the mouse transmitter tab to see if the touch pad would start working. It did.Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-19459657592896673062015-02-23T08:31:30.752-08:002015-02-23T08:31:30.752-08:00Byteman,
I'm not sure what "the normal s...Byteman,<br /><br />I'm not sure what "the normal shutdown mode" is. Everyone I know and everyone on TV seems to shut down their laptop computer by closing the lid.<br /><br />I have tried pressing the on-off switch to shut down the computer. It didn't seem to have any different effect on the touch pad problem. It just makes it necessary to start up all my various apps again. The same with going to the "charms," the SETTINGS and shutting down the computer there (and restarting). It didn't seem to have any different effect on the touch pad problem. <b>I did all those things yesterday afternoon in an attempt to get the touch pad working again. None had any effect.</b><br /><br />There are so many options and so many ways of doing things that it's going to take a long time to check them all out. <br /><br />I KNOW I didn't turn off the power switch or use the SETTINGS method of turning off the computer last night. I just closed the lid. Yet, this morning I was able to turn on the touch pad. <br /><br />EdEd Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-18413893836066307832015-02-23T08:17:58.698-08:002015-02-23T08:17:58.698-08:00Something to consider, Mr. Lake:
In the past, c...Something to consider, Mr. Lake:<br /><br /> In the past, closing a laptop lid puts it into "sleep" mode, without actually turning the computer off. Have you tried using the normal shutdown mode while testing different sequences to see if there is any difference?ByteMannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-36759861843103102732015-02-23T07:24:27.761-08:002015-02-23T07:24:27.761-08:00Yesterday afternoon, the touch pad refused to turn...Yesterday afternoon, the touch pad refused to turn on when I disconnected the mouse transmitter tab. <br /><br />But this morning, the touch pad worked again. Here's the sequence of tasks I performed this morning:<br /><br />1. I turned on the mouse.<br />2. I turned on the large monitor.<br />3. I opened the laptop lid.<br />4. The laptop monitor came on, not the large monitor. <br />5. After signing on, I pressed F4 and switched to the large monitor.<br />6. I did morning "chores," checking statistics, emails, etc.<br />7. I pulled the mouse transmitter tab out out of the USB port.<br />8. The touch pad (with "two finger scrolling") turned on immediately.<br />9. I put the mouse transmitter tab back in the USB port.<br />10. The touch pad stopped working immediately.<br />11. I wrote a comment for my web site about all this.<br />12. I again pulled the mouse transmitter tab from the USB port.<br />13. The touch pad again worked immediately.<br />14. I put the mouse transmitter tab back into the USB port.<br />15. The touch pad immediately stopped working.<br /><br />I can't think of anything that I might have done differently yesterday. But, it's possible I turned off the mouse before pulling out the transmitter tab or something like that.<br /><br />At least I know that things CAN be made to work again. Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-90390006085245086042015-02-22T06:39:08.503-08:002015-02-22T06:39:08.503-08:00There aren't any more tests to do. One thing ...There aren't any more tests to do. One thing I learned yesterday is that making changes while my laptop is "asleep" can have unexpected results. <br /><br />For example, if the lid is closed (and the laptop is "asleep") when I disconnect the laptop from my 23-inch large monitor and take it into the living room and connect it to my 46-inch TV, all the colors will be wrong on the TV when I open the lid and "wake up" the computer. <br /><br />It will apparently not "know" that the monitor was changed. I need to disconnect the TV and reconnect it while the lid is open in order for it to "know" that a new monitor has been connected. <br /><br />This is probably related to the situation where I got different results if I turned on the mouse before opening the lid, versus after opening the lid.<br /><br />So, at the moment (Sunday a.m., Feb. 22), everything seems to be working as it is supposed to work. To verify that, I'm going to pull the mouse transmitter tab out of the USB socket right now.<br /><br />Well, that didn't "verify" anything. The touch pad did <b>NOT</b> start working as soon as I disconnected the mouse transmitter.<br /><br />I then disconnected the mouse transmitter AND closed the lid on the computer. When I opened the lid again, the touch pad was working.<br /><br />When I plugged the mouse transmitter tab back into the USB port, the touch pad immediately STOPPED working -- as it was supposed to do, according to the switch I set yesterday.<br /><br />So, once again, everything is working the way it is suppose to work. I just need to understand the sequence in which things have to be done. Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-61515124870749475212015-02-21T07:25:58.386-08:002015-02-21T07:25:58.386-08:00I just did another experiment. Turning off the mo...I just did another experiment. Turning off the mouse does <b>NOT</b> cause the touch pad to start working. Pulling out the mouse's transmitter from the USB port <b>DOES</b> cause the touch pad to start working.<br /><br />So, everything is still working as it is supposed to work. The only additional test I can think of to try is turning on the mouse before turning on the computer to see if that causes the mouse AND the touch pad to both work at the same time. I suspect it won't. <br /><br />I'll try that later today or tomorrow morning. <br /><br />The biggest chore right now is trying to understand HOW I fixed things. But, I better "knock wood," since things may stop working again. Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-88619893021298881142015-02-21T07:12:16.992-08:002015-02-21T07:12:16.992-08:00On Saturday morning, I turned on the mouse AFTER I...On Saturday morning, I turned on the mouse AFTER I turned on the computer and checked to verify that the touch pad wasn't working. It wasn't working. I also noted that the large monitor came on first.<br /><br />After completing my morning chores on the computer, I turned it off again. Then, about ten minutes later, I turned on the mouse, turned on the monitor, and then turned on the computer. Following the past pattern, the computer monitor came on first, and I had to press F4 to switch to the large 23-inch monitor. Also as expected, the touch pad worked when I tried it. And the two finger scroll also worked, because yesterday I'd set the switches for it to work. <br /><br />Then I went to the control panel and the settings for the MOUSE, where I turned on the switch that turns OFF the touch pad when the mouse is connected. It immediately turned off the touch pad.<br /><br />I then turned off the mouse, I pulled the transmitter out of the USB port, and I tried the touch pad. It <b>WORKED</b>. The two finger scroll also worked.<br /><br />So, I CAN operate the touch pad when the mouse is not connected.<br /><br />Next, I plugged the transmitter back into the USB port and turned on the mouse. The mouse worked and the touch pad had stopped working (which is what was supposed to happen).<br /><br />So, at the moment, everything is working the way it is supposed to work.<br /><br />To verify that, I pulled the transmitter out of the USB port and the touch pad immediately started working again.<br /><br />Since I much prefer using the mouse, I once again plugged in the transmitter, causing the mouse to work and the touch pad to stop working.<br /><br />The next test will be later today or tomorrow morning when I turn on my computer again. I'll see if turning on the mouse before turning on the computer changes anything.Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-24944347344224287752015-02-20T14:30:59.634-08:002015-02-20T14:30:59.634-08:00On Friday afternoon, things worked the same way. ...On Friday afternoon, things worked the same way. The touch pad would not work if I tried it before turning on the mouse. AND it still wouldn't work after turning on the mouse. <br /><br />So, I've changed some switches in the touch pad control panel (I turned the "two finger scroll and similar options back on. See the comments I added to the text at the top of this thread). I'll see if that affects anything when I turn on my computer tomorrow morning. Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-65900192336938102012015-02-20T06:19:36.262-08:002015-02-20T06:19:36.262-08:00On Friday morning, things worked the same way. Th...On Friday morning, things worked the same way. The touch pad would not work if I tried it before turning on the mouse. And it wouldn't work after turning on the mouse.Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4894710819080074713.post-45012682564753357952015-02-19T13:19:51.090-08:002015-02-19T13:19:51.090-08:00Okay, I'm now doing the following procedure to...Okay, I'm now doing the following procedure to start up my computer:<br /><br />1. Turn on the large monitor.<br />2. Open the lid on the computer ("waking it up").<br />3. Test to see if the touch pad works.<br />4. Turn on the mouse.<br /><br />Both times that I followed this procedure today, the touch pad did <b>NOT</b> turn on. That is consistent with past experiences. I'll do it a few more times before altering the procedure in some way (like removing the transmitter from the USB port or changing the "disable internal pointing device" switch).<br /><br />I noticed that the large monitor activated, instead of my laptop's monitor. When I was turning on the mouse first, the laptop monitor would usually activate first, and I'd have to press F4 to shift to the large 23-inch monitor. <br /><br />I also accessed the device manager and it showed that the touch pad is "working properly," even though it isn't working at all.Ed Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517078636884309733noreply@blogger.com