Apple needs to fix their PowerBook DL trackpad software

Today i had the chance (misfortune) to use a friend's dell laptop...and the trackpad software was horrible. I was soooooooo glad to go back to my beautiful powerbook and know that my trackpad works perfectly compared to that dell crap. Apple is so amazing, in every way, and every time we use a windows box we are reminded of this fact.

ive got the latest 12" ibook and have had no problems with the trackpad scrolling - i love it! not sure how I ever lived without it

I've used 3 different 17" PowerBooks over the past year and haven't seen this problem once. Perhaps it is specific to the 15" PowerBook?

I have noticed that the "Ignore accidental trackpad input" makes the trackpad less responsive upon initial use, so just turned that setting off and have never had a problem since.

I complained about this in the Apple forums about nine months ago. They've known about it for over a year. I didn't like sidetrack but I did find a solution that works for me. I bought a USB mouse and set the Keyboard & Mouse system pref to "Ignore trackpad when mouse is present." This fixes the problem when a mouse is plugged in. Chaning the system pref is important because even if your powerbook has been idle for hours, the trackpad causes the kernel_kext to continually use ~7% of the CPU (at least it did in 10.4.2 and 10.4.3).

This is a big problem. I have a early 2005 Powerbook, when I was running 10.4.2, the default trackpad driver would cause my kernel_task to spike and then for some reason it would cause an emergency overtemp message in the system.log, and my PB would go into this deep sleep mode. This happened about four months of happy usage, and it would occur about every 20 minutes.

I was worried that I had a motherboard problem until I ran across the hint posted at MacOSXHints, then I started using Sidetrack, while not paying for it, just putting up with the occasional nag screen, and all was well.

Thankfully this was fixed with 10.4.3, then about two weeks ago the sleeping started happening again, also due to spikes in kernel_task usage. Crossing my fingers I installed 10.4.4, and so far things have been OK, SO FAR. I have provided feedback on Apple's site. i agree with David, any others out there with this problem need to alert Apple to this problem as well.

Now I am really wondering what is going on down One Infinite Loop, there is also a Sudden Motion Sensor problem with these PBs, as well as the lower RAM slot issue. Can you say "class action lawsuit?"

Rockin!
I like the idea of Home folder apps because it does give you a great way to back those things up. Thanks

Rob Knight: my basic rule is that any app that is a drag-drop install from a dmg or zip file is good to place in my home Applications folder. Haven't run into any issues yet, and I have over 88 apps in there, from browsers to games to stuff like Pixadex, CandyBar, Omni apps, NetNewsWire and more. Any big or pro apps, especially most things that require installers, I leave alone. So CS2, FCS, etc still sit in my main Applications folder. Haven't run into a problem yet, and I've been doing this for about a year now. If you wanna play around with this though, I have goofed around with moving the whole Photoshop CS2 folder to my desktop a few times and everything seemed to run just fine.

As far as when I wipe my machine, I never archive and install. I use some automated apps to back all my stuff up to an external hard drive and I do a complete erase and install. Hope this all helps!

While I have a problem with kernal_task, mine isnt high CPU utilization, but REALLY high Real Memory utilization...I am taking about like 150-200 MB!! That's NUTS!!
On a side note, another problem I have is when the system comes back from screen saver by mouse movement, if I type anything, the first button I press will not get printed....any clue?

I wonder if it has to do with the "Ignore intermittent mouse movements" setting in the trackpad preferences. I only had my Powerbook for a month (returned it to wait for Rev B. mBook Pro and the "lines" issue), but I kept that preference setting off and never noticed any mouse issues. The setting was meant so accidental touches of the trackpad didn't move the cursor.
It was a new setting in the Oct 2005 Powerbooks I believe, so if others are reporting the same problem in older Powerbooks, that may not be it.
David, when you're doing a "system wipe," do you do an archive and install or just an install over your current system? And do you get any conflicts running apps from your home folder? Are you talking about pro apps as well? You keep any 3rd party apps in your home folder?
Never thought of that.

Sean Finn: Yes, my issues is a bit different. In fact, the issues you're experiencing is (as far as I know) something exclusive to your rev's trackpads. When it happens, place your entire palm/hand on the trackpad for a few seconds. That forces a sort of reset, which should give your mouse its mobility back.