Weird touchpad death (not a simple Fn+F7 issue) - HELP!!!

Hi all,

I'm an Italian user (sorry for my bad English) that recently bought an AA0-A150L, and I've used it for two weeks without any problem. Yesterday my touchpad stopped working all of a sudden, while I was normally moving the mouse pointer in Windows XP. Before that problem, I've used also an USB mouse when needed in combination with the touchpad.

My touchpad wasn't deactivated through the famous Fn+F7 keyboard shortcut, it simply stopped working. After a reboot I'm not able to use my touchpad any more. It also disappeared from Device Manager list. I tried to deactivate the AA1 Fan Control to avoid any conflicts, without results.

In addition, Windows XP doesn't boot normally... I have to press Fn+F7 to "disable" my touchpad to resume the boot (it stops with a blinking cursor), and if I try to press it again to enable the touchpad my keyboard stops working (Fn+F6 shortcut excepted), but it's still listed in Device Manager.

To exclude possible OS-related software causes I tried also to boot the preinstalled Linpus, and I obtained two error messages (translated from Italian):
- Failed to initialize HAL
- Cannot initialize GSynaptics. You have to set 'SHMConfig' to 'true' in xorg.conf or XF86Config to use GSynaptics

I've tried to reset the CMOS through "FLASHIT /C" command and to flash different bios versions (that initially was 3305), such as 3114,3307,3308 to remove any internal touchpad-related bios setting, with no effect.

However SiSoftware Sandra 2009 lists my touchpad as present, so I checked all phantom devices in Device Manager... and finally I found my touchpad, being listed as not working (Error code 24). Serial and Parport devices have the same problem too. I uninstalled the touchpad and even if it was recognized after a reboot, Device Manager still reports a "code 24" error.

On the hardware side, I think that the touchpad cable could be the main cause, but I don't want to void my warranty trying to open my netbook.

Searching with google I found some MSI Wind owners with the same problem, and their faulty touchpad is a Synaptics like mine. Have you got any idea about my problem? I'm trying all the possible solutions to avoid sending my AAO to Acer to get it repaired, because during Christmas period I will not be at home and the Acer assistance service could be on holiday, and I really need my netbook.

Thank you in advance for your help!!!

 

I'm also having the same issue. If I start the system with the USB mouse attached I can then access the touchpad, but if I start w/o it or even unplug the unit, I get the same happening. The only thing different was that I never used the usb mouse before I had the problem with the touchpad.

I reloaded Win XP then it worked again, the only issue as soon as I turned on the WiFi the touchpad went back to not working again. I have owned my unit for exactly 34 days. Wonder what a full sized acer will do?

 

It could be a driver problem... however, my touchpad doesn't work in both cases, with or without an external usb mouse.

I don't understand why new units have to break this way... my AAO has lasted for 17 days without any problem.

 

You should be covered by a warranty from the place you bought it or from Acer itself. Keep us posted as to the quality of service you get if you decide to pursue that avenue. I hope the AAO is not having quality control issues.

Good Luck!

 

Contacted Acer support and was told to ship the unit to them for repair. It appears as if this is a known issue, as they appear ready to repair any and all units after calling them and tell them of your issue with the touch pad.
I'll keep you posted on how the repair pans out. Definitely not looking forward to having to send my unit in for repair. But here goes.

 

Thanks for letting us know what's going on with that. I hope you get the AAO back quickly.