Thanks for the last two comments - I got in touch with Jeroen who posted the spinics forum post, and he said that the best way to confirm the problem was to either boot into Windows 8 safe mode or boot Windows 7 from USB and see what happened there.
Under Windows 8 safe mode there was no perceptible problem but as soon as I booted Windows 7 it was clear that there was an issue, and the cursor set off uncontrollably after a few seconds use. I called Lenovo and yesterday they fitted a new keyboard bezel (which contains a new trackpad) and over a few hours use yesterday I have had no further "lost sync" messages. This was definitely a hardware issue and I'd like to thank everyone for their help in sorting it out. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1268365 Title: [Lenovo Thinkpad t440s] Touchpad periodically stops working Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu: Triaged Bug description: Every 15 minutes or so, the cursor stops reacting to input from the touchpad or trackpoint. Unfortunately this machine has a "clickpad" instead of separate buttons and so it is impossible to use the machine without the touchpad, which means that Ubuntu is virtually unusable. In Windows on the same machine there is no problem. In syslog you see: Jan 12 19:08:43 mv8 kernel: [ 8460.304134] psmouse serio1: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1 Jan 12 19:08:43 mv8 kernel: [ 8460.305321] psmouse serio1: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1 Jan 12 19:08:43 mv8 kernel: [ 8460.306606] psmouse serio1: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1 Jan 12 19:08:43 mv8 kernel: [ 8460.307792] psmouse serio1: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1 Jan 12 19:08:43 mv8 kernel: [ 8460.309002] psmouse serio1: TouchPad at isa0060/serio1/input0 lost sync at byte 1 WORKAROUND: sudo rmmod psmouse sudo modprobe psmouse ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10 Package: linux-image-3.11.0-15-generic 3.11.0-15.23 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-15.23-generic 3.11.10 Uname: Linux 3.11.0-15-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2 Architecture: amd64 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/controlC1: jon 2119 F.... pulseaudio /dev/snd/controlC0: jon 2119 F.... pulseaudio Date: Sun Jan 12 19:42:27 2014 HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=b5d52deb-2d98-4e2e-bdd1-c34a0bd2d9f6 InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-12-04 (38 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1) MachineType: LENOVO 20AQCTO1WW MarkForUpload: True ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-15-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=c0877b82-2224-438f-be5b-11b343943067 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7 RelatedPackageVersions: linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A linux-firmware 1.116 SourcePackage: linux UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) dmi.bios.date: 11/12/2013 dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO dmi.bios.version: GJET64WW (2.14 ) dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available dmi.board.name: 20AQCTO1WW dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO dmi.board.version: 0B98401 PRO dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information dmi.chassis.type: 10 dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO dmi.chassis.version: Not Available dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrGJET64WW(2.14):bd11/12/2013:svnLENOVO:pn20AQCTO1WW:pvrThinkPadT440s:rvnLENOVO:rn20AQCTO1WW:rvr0B98401PRO:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable: dmi.product.name: 20AQCTO1WW dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T440s dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1268365/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp