Touchpad no longer working after plugging in USB mouse, driver not installed - Aspire S7-392

I've been googling for days and haven't found a solution so if someone else knows a fix for this I would really appreciate it.

I plugged in a USB mouse a few months ago and my touchpad stopped working. Touchscreen and USB mouse work fine. I've tried the following from this article - https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/77-touchpad-troubleshooting

Remove connected devices - no change when combined with any of the below
Enable/disable your touchpad - Mine is Fn + T, no change and no hud popup to notify that it toggled anything
Restart your computer - yes I've done this well over 50 times in between trying all of the other things listed
Reset BIOS or UEFI to default settings - My BIOS does not have an option for anything related to touchpad. Many individuals problems are fixed from switching it from 'advanced' to 'basic', I don't even have a selection. I still reset all to default settings with no change.
Reinstall touchpad drivers - I've installed the latest elantech and synaptics drivers from here https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/4821;-;Aspire. I don't know which manufacturer I actually need, as in device manager there is no driver except the USB mouse listed under Mice and other pointing devices, even with 'show hidden devices' on. Installs of both manufacturers drivers say they were successful with no changes to device manager or response with the touchpad.
Restore Windows- I initially had the problem when I was on windows 8.1, and I upgraded to windows 10 and have restored wiping all data and the problem still persists.

Any other suggestions?

Accepted answers

JackE

>>>I plugged in a USB mouse a few months ago and my touchpad stopped working.>>>

This seems like a mere coincidence. Because Windows can't detect touchpad hardware, I think your touchpad ribbon cable connector has likely come loose from --- or needs to be reseated on --- the mainboard. 11 screws must be removed from the base cover and battery pack removed to access it. Jack E/NJ

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All comments

JackE

Click Windows start icon. Click settings. Click devices. Click 'mouse & touchpad' in left pane. Scroll down and click leave touchpad on when mouse is connected to the on position. Jack E/NJ

greedygoose

JackE said:

Click Windows start icon. Click settings. Click devices. Click 'mouse & touchpad' in left pane. Scroll down and click leave touchpad on when mouse is connected to the on position. Jack E/NJ

Thanks for the response. In devices I don't have a "mouse & touchpad" setting, it only says mouse. And there is no option for leaving touchpad on in that page or in advanced options

JackE

Open DeviceManager. Do you see any red or yellow warnings? If none, do you see any touchpad and multiple mouse entries under HID or Mouse folders? Jack E/NJ

greedygoose

JackE said:

Open DeviceManager. Do you see any red or yellow warnings? If none, do you see any touchpad and multiple mouse entries under HID or Mouse folders? Jack E/NJ

No warnings. Under HID I have 5 entries that aren't hidden, HID-compliant device, HID-compliant touchscreen, HID-compliant vendor defined device x2, and USB input device. There are 6 hidden entries, duplicates of the ones listed above.
I don't have a mice and other pointing devices listing when my USB mouse is unplugged as it currently is with default settings. When it's plugged in there's only one entry, HID-compliant mouse, which is a hidden device listed when unplugged.

JackE

>>>I plugged in a USB mouse a few months ago and my touchpad stopped working.>>>

This seems like a mere coincidence. Because Windows can't detect touchpad hardware, I think your touchpad ribbon cable connector has likely come loose from --- or needs to be reseated on --- the mainboard. 11 screws must be removed from the base cover and battery pack removed to access it. Jack E/NJ

greedygoose

JackE said:

>>>I plugged in a USB mouse a few months ago and my touchpad stopped working.>>>

This seems like a mere coincidence. Because Windows can't detect touchpad hardware, I think your touchpad ribbon cable connector has likely come loose from --- or needs to be reseated on --- the mainboard. 11 screws must be removed from the base cover and battery pack removed to access it. Jack E/NJ

Thank you, that was it. I opened it up and the cable wasn't secured. Popped back in and on boot it worked again. Had to update the driver to get full functionality for two-finger scrolling, and all seems to be well now. I appreciate your help.