HP 840 G3 - mouse buttons not working

[Koldov]

I have a teacher complaining about the mouse buttons on the touchpad not working.

 

Initially I think software, but the drivers for this are Synaptic and appear to very limited in functionality (doesn't seem to be anything special relating to the buttons ).

anyway) and nothing in the Win 10 options. Anyway, I have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver and it made no difference (it installed the same driver that it has always had anyway).

 

There are 2 buttons above the touchpad and these do work as right and left click but are related to the 'TouchStyk' in the keyboard (so useable but annoying).

 

The buttons also do not work in the bios, so...

 

Then I move on to hardware, not easy to get into really so I didn't want to dig too far but initial investigations show nothing untoward, no unplugged or trapped cables and no liquid damage or otherwise - the laptop really only ever gets minimal use and only ever gets moved from his desk to his cupboard (I know the teacher well as he sits in the office next to me) so annoying really!

 

Anyone have issues with the touchpad buttons on this model and find out was able to find a solution that didn't require a new touchpad?

[ste78564]

may sound strange but we have some laptops and if the staff members double tap the mousepad it disables it (a small orange led light appears on the top left of the mousepad) if you double tap the mouse pad again it enables it again.

 

i cant remember if you had to double tap at the top left of the mousepad or anywhere but the tiny orange led should enable you to see if the mousepad is enabled

 

orange led lit was disabled and unlit led enabled.

[6Foot2]

Link: HP Notebooks with Synaptics TouchPad - How to Disable the "Double Tap to Enable or Disable TouchPad" Feature | HP® Customer Support

 

[Koldov]

Thanks, I did see the setting for double-click to disable the touchpad, yes it is top left and an orange light does come on.

 

I'm presuming this would disable the entire touch pad though.

 

So, not the case here and the rest of it is working, just not the 2 bottom buttons.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Koldov

[6Foot2]

The HP hardware forum thread (linked below) is too long to screenshot, but it looks like it might help you:

 

Link: Solved: [EB 840 G3] Top touchpad buttons do not work - HP Support Community - 7177054

[Koldov]

Thanks, yes I saw that post.

 

It appears they actually had the opposite problem with the 'top' 2 buttons not working (which are used in conjunction with the 'TouchStyk').

 

Also, they mention the buttons work pre-boot (presumably in the bios) and alas the ones on this laptop don't.

[6Foot2]

Component failure? Do you have another laptop you can experiment with/swap out from?

 

*I never swapped out a glide pad, so I honestly don't know how useful this suggestion might/might not be.

[southhamster]

Does it work in BIOS setup? May also be some setting to enable/disable in there?

[Koldov]

Nothing in the bios, but no not working in there...

 

Looking like hardware failure if I'm honest but a really strange one (normally one button goes or there is a a damaged/loose cable or something) there aren't any others on site unfortunately.

[Oaktech]

I had exactly this with an HP synaptics device and the fix was a specific windows 8.1 driver I found by googling the hardware ID.

[Koldov]

Thanks, I might try a few different driver versions if I can get the laptop back from the teacher, but I wonder did it just start happening or was it like that from the beginning?

 

It has been working fine for over a year and the drivers haven't been updated (laptop is on WSUS - NO drivers), it just stopped working yesterday. He said he was using it, went off to teach, came back and the buttons didn't work anymore...

[Oaktech]

Has the driver reverted to another installed version due to an update?

[Koldov]

Sorry, I meant did yours just randomly happen (when previously working ok)?

 

Might explain it but I don't think any updates have been pushed out to the laptops recently.

[Oaktech]

Sorry, I meant did yours just randomly happen (when previously working ok)?

 

Might explain it but I don't think any updates have been pushed out to the laptops recently.

 

Ours all went a couple of days after building and we identified the sequence went: working (but no 2 fingers scroll) PS2 basic driver -> reboot after building: working automatically installed synaptics driver -> several days later: non-working windows update installed driver.

 

We tried rolling back the driver but that didn't seem to work, but the random one we found on the HP site does and hasn't been overwritten by windows update!

[6Foot2]

Has the driver reverted to another installed version due to an update?

 

If it does turn out to be an updated driver issue, this may help the same problem reoccurring:

 

Link: How to Prevent Windows from Automatically Updating Specific Drivers

[Koldov]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered a new touchpad.

 

Not too much of a faff to replace and it all went ok (and more importantly the new one worked).

 

However, as for the old one, upon removal and inspection a fair amount of detritus fell out when given a blast of air... I'm guessing food as the user sits at their desk a lot of the day and eats/works...

 

I should have possibly refitted the old one to see if that had in fact actually fixed it, but I couldn't be bothered taking the laptop apart again (so I will file that one away in 'learning experience' and have it possibly 'spare' in case it ever happens again).