Touchpad and trackpoint not working after cleaning laptop

Hello,
I just cleaned my laptop like I usually do. This time I used compressed air.
When I put everything back, the touchpad and trackpoint would not move at all...
I am concerned i ruined something critical and do not know what to do...
I think it must be the hardware since an external trackpoint works.. is there any hope for it? Or is it gone?
Its a Thinkpad R500...

 

When you put your laptop back together, you may have improperly connected the touchpad cable.

You also need to be careful with compressed air. I use an electric air compressor and if there is enough humidity in the air, it will spray some moisture along with the air. I have not had this happen with compressed air canisters, just with electrical air compressors. I use a filter now which helps but sometimes moisture builds up in the filter and gets sprayed out. Also, some industrial air compressors can compress air to really high bar or psi levels, which can physically damage components.

 

Im afraid its the latter since the connection seems to be ok...

 

Does the connection involve a ribbon cable? Those cables can get damaged easily. If it does use a ribbon cable, remove it and inspect the pins on either side for damage. Also, if the cable is bent, inspect the bend(s) in front of a light source. A big enough bend can actually sever the wires.

EDIT: What kind of air compressor did you use?

 

Hello,
I used a regular canned propane container.
I may have done it too close, or perhaps did it too much..
What makes me worried is that the trackpoint and touchpad are connected.separately but both dont work... so maybe the problem isvmore severe?

 

R500 and all the older ThinkPad have seperate connections for the keyboard/touchpad. The Trackpoint is part of the keyboard. I would remove the palmrest and the speaker grille and reseat everything again. It's likely the keyboard/touchpad ZIF connectors aren't plugged in fully.

 

Thanks. Perhaps this is the problem, though I find it a bit surprising that both the touchpad and the trackpoint would fail at the same time from bad connectors...
I think I am done opening my laptop for now. In a few days I'll send it to an IBM lab and see what they say.. Hopefully it is as trivial as you say - but I am worried it may not be...

 

Sometimes when I put my ThinkPads back together the touchpad or Trackpoint/keyboard don't work fully. Thus I don't fully assemble them until I test that first. Then I clip fully the palmrest and screw everything back together. Just an old habit with the older ThinkPads.

 

I doubt you did any damage with the air canister. I think there's a bad connection somewhere or perhaps a damaged ribbon cable.

 

It's most likely not plugged in right, I've almost NEVER seen a damaged ThinkPad keyboard/touchpad connector. If it was damaged, replacement ThinkPad parts aren't terribly expensive.