Faulty Synaptics Touchpad Driver on Split x2 13-m121sa Causing Freezing and Mouse Unresponsiveness

[Clapflam]

Edit: I found a solution, scroll further down.

I have been having problems with my new Split x2 similar to those already explained in the forums by other users. The symptoms are as follows:

1. Unusual hanging or freezing of the mouse pointer on the screen and temperamental use of gestures (two finger scrolling, zooming, etc.)

2. Slowing down of computer generally; acting sluggish and freezing during only light use and/or after screen being closed.

The symptoms seems to change depending on the length of time the computer has been switched on, and are affected by disconnecting/reconnecting the screen from the dock.

Being quite good with these things I decided to investigate and have uncovered the following:

The root cause of both of these problems is the Synaptics Touchpad driver. While the newest version (17.0.10.9) available from the HP website seems to solve any unusual freezing of the pointer it has a significant memory leak. In other words, as you move the pointer around the touchpad uses up the computer's memory. This is normal, but the problem is that the driver for the touchpad does not give the memory back; it cannot be reallocated. This means after a couple of hours of using the computer (or having the screen closed) the memory reaches saturation point and the computer grinds to a halt.

If you are having the same problem have a look for yourself: Open task manager and look at the performance tab. Under the Memory heading you will see a value for 'Non-paged pool'. With the computer idle this number shouldn't increase, but move the mouse around and you will see it gradually go up without returning. I have confirmed this to be the Synaptics driver by using the Windows tool poolmon.exe - the culprits are Irp and SynT.

Regarding solutions, I have tried many - but there is no absolute fix.

You can uninstall the Synaptics Touchpad driver and the problem will go away - no more freezing or high memory usage. But without the driver the computer reverts to using the standard Windows driver - therefore there is no multitouch gestures like scrolling or zooming.

I have tried installing the generic Synaptics driver available from their website, and the computer won't allow it. Regardless of this, I forced the driver install but the generic driver does not work with this Touchpad anyway (Error code 10). I have tried the latest version (17.0.19) and an older one (16.2.21) with no success. Even earlier versions (e.g. 15.x.x) refuse to run on the grounds of incompatibility.

HP Support suggest a system 'refresh' back to factory setting, but apart from the huge inconvenience of time and losing files - I know this won't work either. Apparently a clean install has worked for one user - but for this you need a Windows install disc or USB which I do not have - and I'm sceptical that it would work anyway.

So now I'm using the standard Windows touchpad driver without being able to scroll, zoom or use the swipe-in gestures of Windows 8.1.

If a HP representative is reading this, I would strongly suggest that this problem be escalated. A simple update from Synaptics could solve this problem which is causing people's computers to freeze up and wasting your support staff's time.

TL;DR: HP's Touchpad driver is faulty and causes a memory leak. Synaptics own generic drivers do not work. And Windows standard drivers are unsatisfactory.

[SuperMario1]

Hello Clapflam,

I just sent you a private message. If you are not sure how to check your forum messages, this post has instructions.

[Clapflam]

Edit: I found a solution, scroll further down.

This problem has still not been fixed, and the driver on the HP website has not been updated. I am still unable to use the multi-touch gestures for scrolling and zooming, nor can I use the swipe-in gestures utilised in Windows 8+.

I am very disappointed that while the low-level tech staff and PR team seem interested, nothing has actually been done about it further up the chain.

To reiterate my point from my previous post: The Synaptics touchpad driver bundled with this laptop (Split x2) and available from your support website is faulty (at least with Windows 8.1). It has a significant memory leak which causes the laptop to gradually become more resource consuming until it eventually freezes or crashes. Alternative options are either unsuitable (i.e. generic Synaptics drivers) or unsatisfactory (i.e. Window's default touchpad driver).

I honestly believe it is in the organisation's best interests to address this matter as I suspect many 'faulty' units and customer returns are due to this issue. My fiancée certainly wasn't happy with the laptop until I uninstalled the driver!

[Clapflam · Accepted solution]

SOLVED!

Through my own research I have found a solution. While the official newest driver listed under this model is 17.0.10.9 there is in fact a newer version which does not have this problem: version 17.0.10.16!

I am still disappointed that HP didn't suggest this solution themselves, considering this driver was published back in November 2013! HP if you're reading this: please allocate this driver to this model in your support pages.

Anyway, the solution is as follows:

1. Open the Device Manager (Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager)

2. Under 'Mice and other pointing devices' open 'Synaptics HID TouchPad'

3. In the 'Driver' tab click on 'Uninstall'

4. The pointer will disappear - reboot the computer

5. Download the new driver from here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=uk&lc=en&softwareitem=ob-127354-1

(if this link goes down try searching online for 'synaptics driver 17.0.10.16')

6. Open and install the driver

I hope this helps. HP, please send my consulation fee via PayPal(!)

[lindainthevalle]

I became excited when I finally found a solution to the problem of mouse and screen becoming unresponsive.  However, I've followed your instructions but under 'Mice and other pointing devices' I don't have 'Synaptics HID TouchPad'.  Any other ideas, help would be most appreciated.

[mathjunkie]

I have been struggling with this issue for years. This solution fixed the delayed/frozen touchpad issue. Amazing. I thought HP Update Assistant was supposed to look for these driver updates.....The driver on the computer was 5/15/2013. It is 12/21/2015 now. What is the Assistant doing if not updating drivers?? Amazing.....SMH...disappointed with HP.

This did not fix the problem of disappearing cursor though. Still looking for solution that does not include F5, CNTL, or "hide pointer while typing".

Please forward details of your pay pal account so you can be properly compensated for your Tech Support!!

[Clapflam]

Haha thanks. Yeah my pointer does still disappear from time to time too. Sometimes I need to rub my fingers together or moisten my fingertip slightly before the touch pad will pick it up. Other times I touch the screen directly to bring back the pointer and continue with the touch pad. Fees can be sent to <my username>@yahoo.co.uk 😉

[thetundrawolf]

I just wanted to say, thank you, I was about to trash this tablet, my second tablet from HP that has had issues, I was about to say NEVER AGAIN.

You did it... that was the problem. I didn't believe it. Who is responsible for this? I uninstalled it from the control panel and from the programs list and installed the driver you suggested and it worked. If you turn the computer off then back on again it wont work, you need to "Restart"

I remember my iT teacher showing me that a complete turn off and on is the only way to start fresh thats what I always did but with windows 10 it wants a restart. 

Again... thank you so much. You saved my tablet.