Switch 10 (SW5-011) touchpad problems

PeteB
PeteB Member Posts: 14 New User
in 2016 Archives

Hi - I upgraded our Switch 10 to W10; it had earlier been having issues with the touchpad mouse pointer going straight to the top left corner of the screen & not moving from there, which I thought I'd cured with the latest BIOS update.  The upgrade went fine (used a USB stick for storage), & W10 worked fine.  However, the Switch seemed slower, so when the touchpad started playing up again, & within the 30-day period, I downgraded it back to 8.1.

However, the touchpad mouse & buttons still don't work, & I have to use a USB mouse.  I've used the platform installer from Acer support; no pointer appears on screen, & the touchscreen works (I can scroll this window up & down, but only 'directly', not by using the scroll bars, & I can't load programs by touching their icons.  Oddly, Device Manager now shows 'Pluralinput' for both mouse devices listed.

Oh, & the Start button often doesn't work . . .

Any hints?  What should the mouse drivers be called in Device Manager?  Alps?  Synaptics?  They were just MS HID-compliant drivers under W10.

Thanks in advance for any help

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    It's always possible the problem is hardware, a loose cable can cause the symptoms.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • PeteB
    PeteB Member Posts: 14 New User

    Thanks Billsey - I took the back off last night & removed & replaced the two cable ends - no difference.

     

    I've now done a factory reset, having checked with MS that this wouldn't affect my W10 licence status (apparently the Switch's hardware is now logged somewhere as being entitled to W10), and the symptoms remain, which does make me wonder about a hardware issue.

     

    They are very specific symptoms, though:

    When starting up,the mouse pointer appears briefly at the top left of the screen, flashes momentarily to the centre, then disappears as the lock screen arrives

    It sometimes takes several swipes to remove the lockscreen - it doesn't always carry on moving after lifting my finger

    The touchscreen works, but only for things like scrolling across and tapping on the metro tiles; tapping on a desktop icon has no effect (apart from the circle highlight showing you've touched the screen), & there is no visible mouse pointer until I plug in a USB mouse

    Clicking on the Windows 'Start' button has no effect, even using the USB mouse which will open desktop programs from taskbar or desktop shortcuts - work perfectly normally, in fact

    The touchpad does nothing at all

    Device Manager now shows two HID-compliant mice under the Mouse category.

     

    Please tell me this set of symptoms rings a bell with someone!

     

    Thanks

     

  • PeteB
    PeteB Member Posts: 14 New User

    Update for anyone interested (& ideally able to help!):

    I re-installed W10, which went without a hitch, but unfortunately the same symptoms persist.

     

    A couple of new pointers to what might be wrong: I've discovered the Synaptics HID is now showing in Device Manager, but so is another HID-compliant touch pad, with a 2006 MS driver; disabling the MS one doesn't magically bring the Synaptics one to life, however.  The odd touch screen behaviour is demonstrated by the fact that, although it doesn't work for tapping on program icons etc, it does work if you bring up the on-screen keyboard.  Go figure, as they say.

    Here's a screen shot of Device Manager - I'd love to know how it compares to someone else's:

     

    Acer HID.jpg

    All suggestions welcome!

     

    Cheers

    Pete

     

    EDIT:  I tried disabling the non Synaptics HID touch pad & touch screen, & now the touch screen doesn't register at all, BUT I've no longer got the pointer hovering in the top left corner all the time, and the Switch now goes to sleep after a few minutes, as it should - before I was having to manually turn it off.

  • PeteB
    PeteB Member Posts: 14 New User

    Right.  Next update - the touchpad is now working again . . . but only after disabling the 'HID-compliant touch screen' entry in Device Manager. No annoying pointer stuck in the top left corner, no needing USB mouse.  The touch screen now doesn't work at all, obviously.

     

    Anyone know why the touch screen should conflict with the touch pad like that?

     

    Can someone else with a working Switch please putup a screenshot of their HID section of Device Manager?

     

    Cheers

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