Debugging

Planted 02022-01-19

Tissue issues

I’ve spent a day trying to fix an issue.

My 2018 MacBook Pro suddenly stopped registering clicks. I could still move the mouse, use gestures, and use the keyboard, but I could not click.

A restart seemed to fix things.

Until the issue came back.

I reset NVRAM, PRAM, and SMC like any good Mac troubleshooting.

I unplugged my laptop and let it die.

Each time the issue came back after some time.

However, I realized it wasn’t that clicks weren’t registering; a click would randomly occur and never stop holding. And that held click rendered me unable to click anything else.

After spending half a day on this issue, I decided I was finally going to jump to macOS Monterey. I’ve enjoyed Catalina and don’t prefer the new UI “upgrades,” yet, I backed up my laptop, cleaned some space, and begrudgingly updated to Monterey.

Incensed, the issue persisted.

I began looking (dreaming) at new M1 MacBooks—no more butterfly keys, no more touch bar, no more issues.

And then, as I was running an Apple Hardware Test, I saw it…

The dumbest solution to an issue I have ever seen.

What had I struggled most of the day for? What had prevented me from clicking?

A tissue box.

A tissue box I had placed this morning.

A tissue box placed right on my Bluetooth Magic Trackpad—usually only connected to my 2012 MacBook Pro, but had connected to this one.

A tissue.