But when it arrived, the buyer claimed it was not working properly. He said the trackpad was unresponsive. I was surprised by this, since I sent it off in perfect working condition. After some skepticism, I offered him to refund his money once I got the laptop back. He was hesitant about this, as I was hesitant about refunding his money without having the Macbook in hand.

Anyway, he sent it, I got it, and I returned his money.

What do you suppose happened to the Macbook? The pointer wouldn't move at all or sporadically. The keyboard was also unresponsive. There was no outward sign of damage to the box, the buyer said. I did send it via USPS though.

Probably a loose connection from rough handling

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Probably a loose connection from rough handling

Is that a fairly easy fix? It is a 2014 model.

quote:

Originally posted by ml1209:

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Probably a loose connection from rough handling

Is that a fairly easy fix? It is a 2014 model.

Google this, there are a lot of solutions out there, one of which is resetting the PRAM which is easy to do.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:

quote:

Originally posted by ml1209:

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Probably a loose connection from rough handling

Is that a fairly easy fix? It is a 2014 model.

Google this, there are a lot of solutions out there, one of which is resetting the PRAM which is easy to do.

Tried that. Didn't work.

My mom has an older Macbook Pro. About a year ago the trackpad started doing weird stuff and didn't work correctly.

I did some research since Apple wanted way to much to fix it. On her there where two problems that could likely cause this.

Battery swell pressing on the back side of the trackpad or the trackpad just went bad. I opened her's up and the battery looked fine. Bought a new trackpad from Amazon. Installed it and it worked fine.

I've taken a few macbooks apart and replaced drives, memory and the trackpad. Now really hard to do if you have a few tools and watch some videos online.

Pretty sure on that model the trackpad connects to the motherboard with a square/rectangular snap on connector. You would have to take the bottom panel off and take a look.

Before you do that, take a slightly dampened cloth and wipe the trackpad and test it again. Sometimes they get a coating of skin oil and it causes intermittent behavior.

The keyboard attaches to the motherboard on most of these Macbooks with a locking ribbon connector. You can usually look at the connector and see if the ribbon appears to be fully plugged in/even across the socket.

There is a latch (be very, very careful) at the rear of the socket that locks down and holds the ribbon in. To release the ribbon you gently flip the little flap UP. Be very gentle with the keyboard ribbon as it is easy to bend it and damage the ribbon.

Despite what the Apple Genius will tell you the keyboard CAN be changed without replacing the entire top of the case. (Which is what you are normally quoted). It is a royal PITA.
There are over 52 tiny, tiny screws that hold it in place and you have to remove the logic board, the illuminating portion of the keyboard and then finally the keyboard.

The fact that it is both the keyboard and mousepad would lead me to believe it is a connection thing if your pram reset did nothing.
Don't give up hope!

You have demonstrated, though, that this is an honest group. I can't imagine a problematic transaction being resolved this smoothly elsewhere. Thank you for your civilized behavior!

quote:

Battery swell pressing on the back side of the trackpad or the trackpad just went bad. I opened her's up and the battery looked fine. Bought a new trackpad from Amazon. Installed it and it worked fine.

When that happened on a 2007 MB Pro, it was battery swelling that caused it; it was really swollen; replacing solved the problem (battery was under trackpad and replaceable in that model).

Rough handling, extreme altitude, pressure, humidity and temperature changes in transit, many hours of severe vibration in the back of a commercial cargo hauler all conspire to damage sensitive electronics.

I imagine the back of a trailer passing through Phoenix these days as being very hard on li-ion batteries.

Manufacturers package computers very well for shipment from the factory, and many times this isn't enough.

If stuff gets under the edge, they stop working right. Or the cable came loose-ish.

Go to ifixit.com and follow the prompts. It's not awful to get to - at least not on the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 models I've done it on.

Pull it completely, clean the edges of the trackpad and the slot it rides in, then reinstall and secure the cable properly.

If you open the case and the battery is bulging, get a replacement from macsales.com and replace it. Don't use it in the meantime - a swelled battery can burst and ruin your day.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
You have demonstrated, though, that this is an honest group. I can't imagine a problematic transaction being resolved this smoothly elsewhere. Thank you for your civilized behavior!

I even paid for return shipping.

I don't want anyone to feel like they just paid all that money for a paper weight. That's got to be a really bad feeling.

I had a battery and Track pad replaced by an expert, but be warned those little screws require a very precise tool to avoid stripping them!

Just curious, did you send via one of those made-for -computer foam boxes?

quote:

Originally posted by ml1209:

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
You have demonstrated, though, that this is an honest group. I can't imagine a problematic transaction being resolved this smoothly elsewhere. Thank you for your civilized behavior!

I even paid for return shipping.

I don't want anyone to feel like they just paid all that money for a paper weight. That's got to be a really bad feeling.

Please send me an email with your snail mail address.

I think I have something that belongs to you...