Less than one month old Acer Aspire A315-42 trackpad stopped working randomly

Hi all,

I was browsing the web, when all of a sudden my Windows 10 S Acer Aspire A315-42 laptop trackpad stopped working. The pointer just froze. I tried to restart my laptop, and this made the pointer completely disappear. Also, when I restarted the computer, it put me back through part of the Windows first-time installation screen, which I had to navigate with the keyboard. The left and right click buttons also do not work.

I then plugged in a USB mouse, which I sometimes use and which is working fine to allow me to ask this question.

I've tried pressing all the FN key combinations (including FN-F7, which appears to be the correct one) to see if I disabled it accidentally. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, I've tried using an older version of the ELAN driver. I've also tried using a generic trackpad driver (HID-compliant mouse). Nothing seems to bring the trackpad functionality back. It's certainly not hardware - or at least I doubt it. This computer is less than a month old and I've never spilled anything on it.

I've seen advice to reboot and go into BIOS to look to change the trackpad option from Advanced to Basic. I've tried that, but there is no option for trackpad whatsoever, so I cannot perform this action, sadly.

I really appreciate your help here.

Accepted answers

All comments

Commodore_1995#

There is a bios update that corrects something on the touchpad, see:

1. Correct device manager touchpad information error when hybrid shutdown.2. Modify touchpad reset timing. https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.08_A_A.zip?acerid=637247754021004414&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE A315-42&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

NickNeedsTechHelp

egydiocoelho said:

There is a bios update that corrects something on the touchpad, see:
1. Correct device manager touchpad information error when hybrid shutdown.2. Modify touchpad reset timing. https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.08_A_A.zip?acerid=637247754021004414&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE A315-42&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

Thank you for this, I appreciate your help. Do you know how I can install this once I have downloaded the file?

Commodore_1995#

Yes, follow these procedures:

a) uninstall the antivirus such as norton for example and disable windows defender;

b) disconnect all peripherals from the USB ports;

c) let the battery be charged 100%;

d) connect the power adapter;

e) run the bios file. don't touch anything. do not force shutdown and wait for the bios to be updated. hope that there is no power shortage during the procedure.

NickNeedsTechHelp

egydiocoelho said:

There is a bios update that corrects something on the touchpad, see:
1. Correct device manager touchpad information error when hybrid shutdown.2. Modify touchpad reset timing. https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.08_A_A.zip?acerid=637247754021004414&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE A315-42&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

I have installed it and restarted the computer. Unfortunately, this BIOS update did not fix the issue, which still persists. Thank you for your assistance in any event.

NickNeedsTechHelp

egydiocoelho said:

Yes, follow these procedures:
a) uninstall the antivirus such as norton for example and disable windows defender;
b) disconnect all peripherals from the USB ports;
c) let the battery be charged 100%;
d) connect the power adapter;
e) run the bios file. don't touch anything. do not force shutdown and wait for the bios to be updated. hope that there is no power shortage during the procedure.

Thank you for these instructions. The installation worked fine. I have installed it and restarted the computer. Unfortunately, this BIOS update did not fix the issue, which still persists. Thank you for your assistance in any event.