T41p UltraNav Mouse Keeps Dying

[Jucius_Maximus]

Edit: Clarifications added.

I am asking this question for my dad who is overseas and is having problems with his IBM T41p (model 2373-GGU) notebook.

The issue is that the UltraNav mouse and trackpoint keep dying. They no longer respond. This is a recurring issue and before he left home, IBM warranty service replaced almost everything in the notebook except the palm rest. Now the problem has returned. However an external USB mouse does work normally.

Also, he has booted using a Linux Live CD and the UltraNav + trackpoint do not work in that OS either.

Does anyone have any ideas on the cause of this problem?

[Harryc]

It sounds like everything was replaced except for the part that is causing the problem .

[Jucius_Maximus]

It sounds like everything was replaced except for the part that is causing the problem .

How do you figure that a non-electronic part like a wristpad would be causing this problem?

Also, when the other parts were replaced, the mouse did start working again normally for several weeks. This makes me think it is some other factor.

[Harryc]

How do you figure that a non-electronic part like a wristpad would be causing this problem?

What? The touchpad (part of Ultranav) is built into the palm rest on a T41.
http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/healthycomputing/trkpnta.html
See part# 20 at the following link -
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46474

There is a way to disable the touchpad as a test, but since it fails in linux it is most likely a hardware problem. Is it a problem with the touchpad or with the trackpoint or both? In other words, if the trackpoint dies, does the touchpad also die or does it work?
Disable Touchpad

[Jucius_Maximus]

@Harryc

You are absolutely correct, I did not realise that the wristpad and UltraNav were one piece because I have not personally looked closely at this machine.

It is both the UltraNav and the trackpoint that keep dying simultaneously. The IBM tech said that since it was both, the problem is not in either of those parts but elsewhere.

The tech replaced the keyboard, motherboard and HDD. Both the trackpoint and ultranav worked again after that. Now they suddenly stopped working again.

[davidspalding]

From time to time my TrackPoint and TrackPad buttons lose functionality, but the pointers work. I find I can double-click with a double-tap, but right-clicking is out fo the question. After a few minutes, they come back. I've tried things like switching from Point to Pad, the Pad to Point, with no effect. Again, after a few minutes, they come back. I figured it's a driver issue.

If I understand, your dad booted into Linux once, and the pointers didn't work. I'm not sure that establishes anything ... unless he's done that before using the same steps, and they did work.

[Jucius_Maximus]

My dad told me today that he went into the BIOS and disabled the ultranav, and then later re-enabled in Windows XP using the Thinkpad Configuration application.

After this, the ultranav and touchpoint briefly started working normally for just a few minutes, and then they suddenly died again!

To me it sounds like some kind of weird configuration or BIOS problem. What do you all think?

[richk]

I would try some sort of dos application that can use the mouse, like drive fitness test. If that doesn't work with trackpoint AND touchpad, with both enabled in the BIOS, my guess that there is something that is sick in the touchpad circuitry that is causing the motherboard to fail, like an intermittant short. They should have replaced the touchpad when they replaced the MB.

[davidspalding]

Think you should have a service technician look at it.