Touchpad on Swift 3 (SF314-52G) stops responding after using it for a while

Brandon_Gui123

The touchpad on my Swift 3 (SF314-52G) appears to stop responding after using it for a while. I noticed that the usable duration before the touchpad stops responding is decreased when using it to zoom and scroll windows.

This problem happened last week when I was using my device. It never ran into such a problem in the past.

I made several attempts at trying to solve this problem. I tried updating the driver but Windows has determined that my current one is the most suitable. I tried toggling on and off the touchpad (my touchpad was configured to remain on when a mouse is plugged in btw) but it didn't do anything. I tried disabling and enabling the touchpad (it's HID-compliant touch pad) in Device Manager, but it did nothing. Re-installing it had no effect as well. Restarting my laptop appears to fix it, but the problem comes back after a while of usage.

However, disabling and enabling the I2C HID Device in Device Manager seems to fix the problem. However, after a while, it just stops working again.
There is a "Power Management" tab for the I2C HID Device (not the touchpad) and unchecking the first box ("allow the computer to turn off this device to save power") doesn't solve the problem either.
Uninstalling and restarting my laptop (so that Windows can detect and re-install the driver) also has no effect; the touchpad stops responding after a while.

I tried using Acer Care Center to help me check for updates, but there don't seem to be any.

Is there anything that I can do to solve this problem so that I can use my touchpad reliably again?

JackE

>>>This problem happened last week when I was using my device.>>>>

If system protection was enabled, check Control Panel and search for "restore point" about the time this happened. Might be due a Win10update, a major one was released in early October. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

Also, I think I may have stumbled upon a solution (but with trade-offs) while in the BIOS.

My BIOS version/date is Insyde Corp. V1.09, 23/8/2018 and in it, there is an option for the touchpad under the "Main" section. Change the option from "Advanced" to "Basic", then "Exit saving changes". You should notice that your tracking speed of the touchpad has dropped significantly if it was high previously. Next, you will have to log into Windows.

Under "Settings" (the one that came with Windows 10), notice that you no longer have options for advanced gestures. That's ok. After a while, you should get a prompt telling you that windows needs to restart to finish installation of the "ELAN Input Device".
Restart your laptop.

After logging in, search "Control Panel" and open it. Head over to "Hardware and Sound" and select "Mouse" under the list of options. You should be able to see ELAN in there.

And from there on... it is just a matter of configuring the sensitivity and controls. While you won't be able to do some fanciful touch gestures, the touchpad is at least somewhat responsive after using it for quite a while.

JackE

>>>This problem happened last week when I was using my device.>>>>

If system protection was enabled, check Control Panel and search for "restore point" about the time this happened. Might be due a Win10update, a major one was released in early October. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

Tried it. Problem still persists.
I noticed that this problem happens when I try to zoom in with the touchpad. Zooming in is fine, but when I move my fingers, it stops responding till the next reboot. Disabling and enabling I2C HID driver will fix it but after performing above said tasks, it fails to respond.

I guess it’s because the system thought I’m still trying to zoom in so... maybe the touchpad works but the detection is glitched?

Btw, sorry for accepting your answer, JackE. I thought they meant “did it answer your question” (question is topic-related), not “did it solve the problem”. It would be appreciated if someone could remove that’s “Accepted Answer” because it is not the right solution.

JackE

Are there any other restore points earlier than the one you tried? You might have to checkmark the box that says show more restore points. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

The earliest restore point was on somewhere around mid-October (I guess its the 10th of October). Restoring to that did nothing to solve the problem. I believe its a software issue because the touchpad still works fine until you touched and moved on it for a while.

Speaking of problems, I recently sent my device for repair due to it being unbootable. I forgot to mention about the touchpad problem and so... well it still persists. They told me they have updated the BIOS and the OS. Looks like re-installing didn't help so I believe it is a software bug.

I think I should take it to Microsoft.

JackE

Open Device Manager. Click on the HIDs folder. Uninstall the HID-compliant touchpad. Exit without re-installing. Reboot and let Windows auto re-detect and re-install the driver. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

Did not solve the problem. The touchpad works for a while, then stops responding after some time of usage.

Also tried letting Windows re-detect and re-install both the touchpad and the I2C HID device, but it does nothing.

JackE

>>>They told me they have updated the BIOS and the OS. >>>

Run msinfo32.exe. Please post a screenshot of the result if possible. I'm interested in Windows version number and BIOS version number. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

Here are the specs:

Commodore_1995#

JackE said:

Open Device Manager. Click on the HIDs folder. Uninstall the HID-compliant touchpad. Exit without re-installing. Reboot and let Windows auto re-detect and re-install the driver. Jack E/NJ

@Brandon_Gui123 Do the same procedure indicated by JackE, but this time select the "delete driver" option of mouse and restart the notebook:

Then go to windows update and let windows download the appropriate driver!

Brandon_Gui123

Also, I think I may have stumbled upon a solution (but with trade-offs) while in the BIOS.

My BIOS version/date is Insyde Corp. V1.09, 23/8/2018 and in it, there is an option for the touchpad under the "Main" section. Change the option from "Advanced" to "Basic", then "Exit saving changes". You should notice that your tracking speed of the touchpad has dropped significantly if it was high previously. Next, you will have to log into Windows.

Under "Settings" (the one that came with Windows 10), notice that you no longer have options for advanced gestures. That's ok. After a while, you should get a prompt telling you that windows needs to restart to finish installation of the "ELAN Input Device".
Restart your laptop.

After logging in, search "Control Panel" and open it. Head over to "Hardware and Sound" and select "Mouse" under the list of options. You should be able to see ELAN in there.

And from there on... it is just a matter of configuring the sensitivity and controls. While you won't be able to do some fanciful touch gestures, the touchpad is at least somewhat responsive after using it for quite a while.

JackE

I vaguely recall that post. Might work. Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

@egydiocoelho No option for that available. Checked both "Human Interface Devices" and "Mice and other pointing devices" drivers. Only the "Launch Manager Wireless Device" has that.

Brandon_Gui123

Ok, update to this issue.

So today, I did "sfc /verifyonly" in an elevated command prompt and noticed that it found integrity violations. So I followed the steps on Microsoft's website(https://support.microsoft.com/en-sg/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system) and managed to successfully replaced the missing/corrupted system files (is this even related to the problem?).

I grew tired of the basic touchpad functionality, so I went into the BIOS and changed the touchpad setting from "Basic" back to "Advanced" and saved changes. After booting into Windows, the touchpad worked fine for a while, but stopped after a period of using it.

I decided to go into "Device Manager" and checked both the I2C HID Device (under "Human Interface Devices") and the HID-compliant mouse (under "Mice and other pointing devices" and btw I had no mice connected). I attempted updating both but only the HID-compliant mouse is updated; it's name changed to "ELAN I2C Filter Driver" (version is 13.6.9.4).

After the driver was updated, when the touchpad is stuck, I can recover it by attempting to tap and move on it repeatedly with 2 to 4 fingers or by waiting for a while (strange). But still, the freezing over is annoying and the moving over the touchpad repeatedly with 2 to 4 fingers to unstuck it won't always work immediately. I believe somewhere, the system thinks that I'm trying to zoom in with the touchpad, and then it got stuck there. This may explain why can't I click on anything with the touchpad when it is stuck.

JackE

Still the same changing it back to Basic mode? Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

JackE said:

Still the same changing it back to Basic mode? Jack E/NJ

Nope. Works for a while but now the touchpad stops responding and cannot be recovered. So I reverted back to the "Advanced" mode.

I guess this is just the quirks of technology.

JackE

You said earlier >>>Change the option from "Advanced" to "Basic">>>   Do you mean it now works better in advanced mode? Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

JackE said:

You said earlier >>>Change the option from "Advanced" to "Basic">>>   Do you mean it now works better in advanced mode? Jack E/NJ

Yes. But then the problems associated with it come back, though this time it can somewhat be recovered from, as what I mentioned earlier, wait a while when the touchpad gets stuck and then it will work again, only to stop responding after a minute of usage.

JackE

Perhaps we've tried this but out of curiosity what happens when you toggle the FN+F7 combo on & off when it gets stuck? Jack E/NJ

Brandon_Gui123

JackE said:

Perhaps we've tried this but out of curiosity what happens when you toggle the FN+F7 combo on & off when it gets stuck? Jack E/NJ

Fn + F7 combo did nothing. Turning the touchpad on and off in “Settings” does nothing as well.

JackE

>>>I guess this is just the quirks of technology. >>>

Well, I still have 4 laptops. And XP Gateway, 2 ACERs and an HP. I solved ALL my touchpad problems with ALL of them. Just like I did with my long-goneThinkpad touch button eraser problem.  I think you probably already know my solution.   Jack E/NJ