[SOLVED] Troubleshooting process help for a non-working touchpad and click board

[tomandtom]

I'm hoping people with more experience will help guide my next steps in how to troubleshoot a touchpad that has stopped working (buttons and mouse movements generate no response).

My laptop is an HP 14-df0023cl. I bought it refurbished in December 2019. My touchpad stopped working a week ago. My wife has the same laptop so my initial thought was to use hers to troubleshoot, which I did a few days ago. For clarity, I'll refer to my click board as non-working (though it's not a 100% settled).

I began by opening the insides of both laptops.
1. I took the non-working click board and inserted it into my wife's computer (2 zif connectors--one to touchpad and one to motherboard). Her computer was on at the time and her touchpad immediately stopped working.

2. I then took the working click board and inserted in my computer (same 2 connectors). My computer was off. When I powered on, my computer would not boot. I got the flashing caps lock light.

3. Not wanting to go further down the rabbit hole, I put everything back. Her touchpad is working fine. My computer boots fine but the touchpad remains broken (I don't mind using a usb mouse but want my touchpad back for the long term).

The clickboard is L24486-001.

What do people suggest for my next steps? Should I try the process again but different? What should I do differently? The clickboards seem to be in short supply. Should I buy one while they are still available?

Other information:

Windows 10 build 1909.

I uninstalled the touchpad driver via device manager and cannot get it back.

In device manger, the "I2C HID Device" has a code 10 error "This device cannot start". The error was there before I uninstalled the touchpad driver. I have tried updating the drivers to remedy the error (automatically through Windows, from the HP website, and in safe mode) but it remains.

I wasn't looking for it when laptop was opened up but I now think there was a ribbon glued to the touchpad (lightning port?) (for reference here's a disassemble video for the laptop--video will start at 1:50 and immediately shows the ribbons to the touchpad )

 

[Lutfij]

Her computer was on at the time and her touchpad immediately stopped working.
You should always disconnect components from any computer(be it a desktop or a laptop) when it's powered down and disconnected from all power sources.

You should be on version 2004 for Windows 10, that's what we're all on. You should also cross reference the BIOS version for your laptop with the latest that's shown on their support site. Following that, maybe check and see if you're in need of a firmware update for the Management Engine Interface(not just the drivers).

Flashing caps lock can mean many things as that is a diagnostic/error/warning LED, did you take note of the sequence in which it flashes? You could also try and reseat the ram after you've wiped the gold contacts with an eraser(wipe clean before reseating) and see if the laptop regains the trackpad functionality. Also, you might want to keep the USB keyboard and mouse disconnected while troubleshooting the trackpad. If possible, recreate the installer for the OS(using Windows Media Creation Tools) and reinstall the OS(after backing up critical content) and have the USB driven mouse and keyboard disconnected.

 

[tomandtom]

Thank you. Message received. I will begin with updating Windows 10 as well as check the items mentioned. And if I have to open the innards, I'll be more patient this time.