E6400 touchpad dead zone and funny noises

I'll start off with a quick "thanks" to everyone here for all the great info - was a big help when selecting a laptop to purchase! Now my issues...

Just got a refurbed E6400 in the mail from Dell Outlet. First odd thing I noticed is that it sometimes randomly makes a quick succession of rapid clicking type sounds (sounds kind of like HDD activity) followed by a beep that doesn't come from the laptop speakers because they are muted. This little pattern happens anywhere from 3 to as much as ~12 times. Nothing bad seems to come of it yet, but its annoying and would be somewhat disrupting to classes if I use it for note-taking. This has happened maybe 4-5 times in the 3 hours that I've had the computer. Any ideas what this might be? Note that I recently got a BSOD (yes, within HOURS of using the machine!) and since then I haven't experienced the noises, but then again the BSOD was only ~30 mins ago.

Second issue is that the top area of the touchpad seems to have a dead spot. If I run my finger right along the edges on the left, right, and bottom, such that my finger is touching the outer bezel surrounding the touchpad, but still touching the pad itself, it is sensed. But if I run it along the top in the same manner, it is not sensed until I move my finger down a bit (maybe a half-cm). Is that normal?

While I'm talking about the touchpad: I also notice a slight delay when I initially rub my finger across it. It's slight - maybe a quarter of a second delay - but it's noticeable. Is this typical with the E6400? Or with ALL laptop touchpads? (I really don't have much experience with laptops!)

Here's a few specs if it helps:
160GB 7200RPM HDD
P8600
2GB DDR2-800 RAM
non-backlit keyboard

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

The latest A09 touchpad drivers are somewhat sluggish. I think you'll find the A08 much better in that regard. This is quite simple.

1. Create a system restore point. If not sure how, type 'System Restore' in the Start search box, select the program and follow the prompts to CREATE a restore point.

2. Download the Dell A08 Touchpad drivers

3. Uninstall the current A09 touch pad driver from the control panel. Type 'Programs and Features', select the program. Then select the Touchpad drivers from the list and uninstall.

4. Install the downloaded Dell A08 drivers.

5. (optional) follow these instructions to unlock/make viewable the native touchpad controls that are masked by the Dell software to make any special adjustments for scroll/swipe zones, enable back/forward swipe..etc.

Just be sure to revert the reg entry back when done so it doesn't conflict with the Dell software on rebooting.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply, but unfortunately it didn't seem to resolve my issues. I reverted to A08, and the delay I mentioned may have improved a bit, but I definitely still have dead spots in the touchpad. The strange thing is, I tried loading diagnostic mode at startup, and the touchpad works perfectly on the top there, but then there's an area near the RIGHT side that is dead! Same behavior on an Ubuntu live disc, and now in Vista again the right side works fine and the top is dead like I originally explained.

I haven't noticed the noises at all today, but I've been in rather noisy places with the laptop, and the clicking/beeping it was producing yesterday was pretty faint.

I've also noticed now that often times after putting the computer to sleep, when I try to resume it, one of three things happen: the screen just stays black, or it goes to the desktop and quickly freezes up followed by a BSOD saying something about "BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER", or it comes back nicely like it should.

Anyone else have any of these issues? Or did I just get a lemon?!

Mike

EDIT: The "screen staying black" thing is actually occurring even when just closing the lid and reopening it a few minutes later without putting to sleep or hibernating (and yes, I have it set to not sleep or hibernate when the lid is closed)

 

Hi, I'm having this touchpad freezing problem with my Dell vostro 1510.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=366185

Like I said, it seems like there are too many dell laptops with the alps touchpad that have this problem. It's about time dell finds a solution for this rather than giving the same bs suggestions.I installed a A08 driver (its for latitude but works on my vostro) after reading this thread and the problem has mitigated but its still there.

 

OK, the click-beep-click-beep thing happened again just now... It clicked and beeped at least 20 times in a row. The sound is DEFINITELY coming through the SC card slot on the left. Anyone know what's located over there? I would take it apart myself and look, but since it's brand new (to me) and MIGHT be returned soon, I'd rather leave those little screws alone for the time being!