I've got a jinxed serial port -- every trackpad I put on it sooner or later begins acting up. It's probably static electricity. Generally I take the trackpad apart and stare at it, then for good luck I ground it on a water pipe. I don't know if it's the embarrassment of being stared at or the grounding therapy, but that seems to take care of it.

Now everything from the wall plugs are properly grounded, including the wall plugs themselves -- I've tested them. So I'm not sure how a serial port can accumulate a static electricity charge, if that's what it is. Someone has suggested the various fans might be a source.

In any case, when I went to minister to the current serial-port-attached trackpad, I discovered when I had pulled off the four sticky pad feet that they had used tiny Torx screws to attach the bottom plate to this one!

Now what kind of anal compulsive idiot uses Torx screws to attach a trackpad base plate? I mean, what the hell is so sensitive about a trackpad that it needs to be protected from prying by unapproved users? My feeling is that if a user wants to open up his/her duly purchased trackpad, then he/she should be allowed to do so. After all, how many users are going to want to do this? What's the big deal? Those screws had to add a penny or so extra cost to each manufactured unit.

What really torques me off about this is that they used incredibly tiny Torx screws -- I don't know the exact size, but I think it's either a T-6 or a T-4, because the smallest bit I have is a T-8 and it seems to be like a blunderbus compared to the screw head. Where am I going to get a T-4 Torx bit late on a Sunday night?

Oh well, I just grabbed my smallest jeweler's Phillips head and jammed it in there and twisted as hard as I could. I may have twisted a little harder than necessary

This assertion of seigneural right seems to have done the trick, however.

Bruce

PS: After the fact, I wonder if I could just as well have grounded the serial plug to the water pipe and saved myself the time, aggravation and rant?