Abnormal operation once booted

[stevef]

If an external USB mouse is available and access to the Dell BIOS is usable, check BIOS settings for an option to disable the internal touchpad (and enable USB support if necessary) to see if operation is stable.

[Jerry]

Point 6. was the strongest clue that it was hardware.

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[trinidad]

If the live system boots use the terminal and the nano text editor to investigate the issue with the installed sytem. Look for the two driver issue.

TC

[Rapidrob]

Thank you for the replies. I think I've got it down to the mouse pad. I ordered a new one anyway as it is pretty worn from age / use. If it does not solve the problem I'll try the live boot from a USB or wipe the drive and start from scratch.

[trinidad]

The BIOS screens mouse is also abnormal in operation... no matter if I shut down and pull the battery for several minutes, the same problem is present

That pretty much indicates a software problem. Dell laps have had touchpad issues even with OEM Ubuntu installs. I suspect Dell updates itself is the problem. If I had to guess I would suspect there are two drivers installed, though that is just a guess.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-ca/000150104/precision-xps-ubuntu-general-touchpad-mouse-issue-fix
Though the link is dated (Ubuntu 16.04) several of the solutions are commonly employed by Dell users with mixed success.
Suggestion: Open a terminal in the live session and use the nano text editor to make changes to the installed system.
TC

[stevef]

If you still have the original live media (disk or USB) that you used when installing the current OS, I'd suggest booting from that.

You'd expect the machine to operate normally while running the live media (other than being slower to load and run), but if the odd behaviour is still present, then suspect hardware.

[Rapidrob]

I'm running the latest LL OS always updated. Dell laptop has been running this OSs for several years now no real issues.
Today I booted the lap top up and noted that the home page is displaying some abnormal operations I'm not doing/requesting.
1. The mouse is jumping all over the screen or disappears all together.
2. The Battery Power Manager keeps showing up several times in a minute showing battery run times from normal to 6 moths run time.
3. A pop-up menu as if I clicked the home screen keeps popping up and going away by itself
4. Work spaces will cycle back and forth between each other.
5. If I go to the main lower left menu and try to open it it will not open. if it does open after several minutes of trying and I go to shut down,the laptop will not shut down instantly.It will take several minutes to recognize the command and then shut down.
6. The BIOS screens mouse is also abnormal in operation. It jumps all over the screen or goes away all together. I cannot get to the system info to post the version of LL.
I'm not sure if this is a LL software clinch or my laptop mouse pad has died? It was working normally last night and now no matter if I shut down and pull the battery for several minutes, the same problem is present.
I am not a computer expert by any means,but would like help with this problem please.