Chromebook 516 GE: Trackpad has intermittent response to scrolling gesture

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Answers

  • HenryMac
    HenryMac Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Well my touchpad scrolling got stuck again. I didn't even have a lot of browser tabs open, just gmail and calendar. So I think we can forget about Beta channel, or disabling Memory Saver, as being reliable solutions for this issue. As usual, restarting the chromebook relieved the problem for the time being, but that is too much of a nuisance to consider it a real solution.

    I tried an online chat with Acer support. The first thing he suggested was to do a hard reset. This is not as severe as a factory reset - your settings are preserved. However it does reset the hardware in some manner. It is described here: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/3227606

    After the reset, everything is working fine. You could try this and see if it helps. If the touchpad problem recurs on my system, I'll report back here.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    That's the problem when someone camps out on an existing thread… It's easy to get caught up in trying to answer one person when they are experiencing a different issue than the other. From your part number it looks as if you have a CBG516-1H-53TY model number Chromebook. The CBG516-1H series uses either an Elantech or a Synaptics touchpad and Chrome OS handles which drivers to load for them. Acer shows both versions as available for your SKU, so they are not differentiating between them.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1221170#Comment_1221170

    billsey, thank you. I know HenryMac means well, but it is true that while we have suffered the same symptom, this could be an entirely superficial resemblance, and the fix may not be the same. Plus, we need to follow a rigorous and systematic troubleshooting method, as with any such issue, and I don't agree with changing unrelated settings, unless there is an actual demonstrated connection to the root cause.

    At any rate, you are correct, billsey: CBG512-1H-53TY is my model number according to the sticker on the bottom. I dug into crosh a little bit and I found out about the command "gesture_prop devices" (this needs a DBUS service enabled first.) Running this command confirms that my device has the "Elan Touchpad".

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    edited August 2023

    OK, so at least we know which hardware is installed. I assume you have already gone through the settings Google lists here?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

    Greetings, billsey and observers. Thank you for the link.

    Yes, I have tried these things:

    • Disabling any and all settings in the "Device → Touchpad" preferences.
    • Cleaned touchpad and entire surface of Chromebook. It is like-new, with no dust or dirt obstructions.
    • Pressed ESC several times
    • Drumroll of fingers for 10 seconds
    • Turned Chromebook off/on again multiple times
    • Deleted and re-added accounts (both accounts having the same trouble).

    Now, I was not able to perform a hard reset. I was first instructed to do this by a tech support rep from Acer over the phone, but this tech only described a key sequence and refused to tell me its effects or what it was called! I refused to try it at that point, fearing a powerwash type situation. Of course, the tech had not diagnosed anything that would warrant a hard reset.

    At any rate, I was unable to perform the hard reset as instructed. The key sequences do not work. I tried holding "Refresh" while tapping the Power button. I tried holding "Back + Refresh + Power" for 10 seconds. There was no discernable change in the status of the Chromebook; notably, all the files in my Downloads folder were still there; none had been deleted.

    How does one perform a hard reset on the 516 GE, and how does one know when a hard reset has been performed? Does it have some sort of message or effect? I just kept logging back into my account and restoring windows as usual.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    You have turned the Chromebook fully off before trying the key presses? Do a full shutdown then hold the refresh key while turning it on with the power. It should give you a text menu…

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited August 2023
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1222155#Comment_1222155

    It does not.

    Acer Support is positive that there is no indication whatsoever of Hard Reset activity. Contradicting themselves, they said "If it doesn't work, try this…" and then I asked how I would know it didn't work, and they said there's no way to know it doesn't work. I've been warned that some files in Downloads may be deleted, so I tracked how many files were in there, but it's holding steady at 109. (Why do screenshots save to Downloads? They are not downloads.)

    They also told me I should unplug every cable from the device, which isn't mentioned in Google's documentation, and I did that, and encountered the same results.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓

    That is so weird… I can't think of any reason off hand why the reset procedure isn't working, and I don't have a CBG516-1H to test with. It works normally with my other Chromebooks.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Answer ✓

    Okay, you know what? I looked closer, thanks to billsey being stumped (does anyone ever stump billsey for long???)

    So I experimented with the hard reset sequence and I was watching the amber/blue power/charge LED while I did it. And I did confirm that there is a different effect.

    When I'm holding down Refresh, the blue LED blinks on, then off, then back on again and it powers up. If I'm not holding Refresh, the blue LED does not blink off but comes right on and stays that way.

    So I am led to believe that I have now done a hard reset innumerable times and it was just escaping my notice.

    What I have not determined is whether the scrolling bug persists, because frankly I'm nearly immune to it by now! So I'll be paying attention over the next week and report back if there's any noticeable change in behavior! Thanks!

    Also thanks too, HenryMac, for a helpful PM. We didn't mean to chase you off the thread, but we just need to focus here, you know?

  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited August 2023

    Okay, it's been like three days, and hopefully I'm not premature, but I'm going to call this resolved!

    The scrolling has sort of glitched a bit but I think it was unrelated weird HTML UI issues, and not the hardware.

    If the touchpad is fixed at this point, then I believe with confidence that it was the hardware resets that accomplished it.

    I'm grateful to everyone for the patience, suggestions, and encouragement throughout this, and HenryMac, I certainly hope that you will forge ahead and find a solution that works for you as well!

    Thanks billsey for definitely the most helpful advice, and you're clearly an MVP around here, so while I hope I don't need you again soon, I can't wait for us to meet again!

  • Eleison23
    Eleison23 Member Posts: 28 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

    Woah, hold the phone a minute!

    The glitch just occurred again a little bit, but I think I made a breakthrough!

    It failed while I was using one finger on each hand to scroll. If I switched to a single hand with two fingers, it immediately worked again. If I switched back to two hands, it failed again!

    This is extremely logical due to the capacitative nature of touchpads. I can see that some weird electrical difference in my very body could cause it not to recognize two fingers as such, when they are attached to different arms!

    I wonder if this is a known phenomenon already. Surely it must affect a large swath of capacitative touch devices other than the one I have. And it certainly doesn't affect other touchpads I've used, such as my current Lenovo.

    Well I'm going to play more with this, but I thought I'd come back to share!

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Aha! You put that big resistor (your body) between the two fingers. :)

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.

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