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General discussion

Sticky Mouse

Oct 21, 2005 2:47AM PDT

My virtual mouse, which came with my G4, sticks now and then when I am working. Sometimes, I can just wiggle the ball and it will come back on. Most times, it will unstick by itself but the scanner resets itself right after. Does anyone know what's going on?

My system is:
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Machine Model: PowerMac3,5
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 867 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 2 MB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.2.5f1

Discussion is locked

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Strange
Oct 21, 2005 3:16AM PDT

"Virtual Mouse"
Did I miss something here.
Does the pointer on the screen stop moving even though you are dragging the mouse around?
If this is the case, you will need to remove the bottom cover and remove the ball. Inside you will see a number of rollers, usually white but could be any color, that almost certainly have a ring of crud around them. Remove the crud with a pair of tweezers and some rubbing alcohol on a QTip. The crud will be firmly attached.
If this is not the problem, try replacing the mouse with another. Any USB mouse will do. I note that you have told us everything about your machine except one of the most important things, What OS is is running?
If it is running OS X, then you might enjoy a two button mouse with a scroll wheel.
OS 9, can still use a two button mouse but with limited functionality without specific software for it.
I have no idea what the scanner is doing or how it is connected or anything else about it.

Let us know how you get on

P

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Strange
Oct 22, 2005 5:06PM PDT

May be a progammed mouse. Happened to one of my co-workers last month. Still driving him up a wall.
How do you un-program a mouse?

-Kevin

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Sticky Mouse
Oct 26, 2005 4:09PM PDT

Thanks. The arrow does stop moving and the red light at the bottom goes off. I am running Tiger. I guess I mistakenly thought these types of "mice" did not need cleaning. I must say, my tablet mouse never does this. Additionally, the virtual mouse is only one button. I have to option-click instead of right clicking to get a dialogue box. The mouse came with the keyboard to my G4. The scanner is connected via USB.

I will certainly take your advice and clean the mouse.

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Of Mice and Men
Oct 26, 2005 9:57PM PDT

What you have there is an OPTICAL mouse, not a Virtual Mouse. A virtual mouse would be a "pretend" one.
The traditional mouse has a ball underneath it which, when moved, rotates a series of little rollers inside the mouse. This, in turn, does a load of neat stuff and the result is a moving arrow on the screen.
Sometimes, these rollers get a build up of dirt on them. Over time, the build up can get so bad that the ball does not rotate the rollers very well. Now you have a cursor that stops moving or jerks across the screen.
The newer type are optical. They use a light to track movement over a surface and the electronics part figures out which way and how far. The result is the same, a moving cursor on the screen. This type does not have any moving parts and is not as susceptible to dirt.
Try unplugging the mouse and plugging it into a different port on the Keyboard. This sometimes helps. USB ports do go bad occasionally and so do mice. You could always purchase another, two button(or more) USB mouse and see how that goes

P

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Optical mouse
Oct 28, 2005 7:29AM PDT

It could also be the keyboard itself causing the problem. I have received two Apple keyboards that, right out of the box, had intermittent USB ports. If the light is going off on the optical mouse, it is not getting power from the keyboard. If the scanner is going off, and it is connected to the USB port on the keyboard, it could also be a problem with the USB ports on the keyboard. When the mouse goes off, does the keyboard still function? If the keyboard itself is shutting down, everything connected to it will, too.

Has the scanner been connected since you started having the mouse problem? Maybe the scanner is drawing too much power and needs to be connected to a USB port on the CPU itself, not the keyboard. I don't recall seeing a scanner that gets ALL its power from the USB ports, but I have installed a few that get cranky when connected to keyboard USB ports.

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Similar problem
Nov 14, 2005 10:19PM PST

I have a similar problem with an optical mouse under 10.2. It sticks constantly, to the point where I have to use a different machine. Disconnecting and reconnecting the mouse to the keyboard usually works, and if not then disconnecting and reconnecting the keyboard to the mac does, but I have to do this every 15 seconds or so.

It seems to be worse when the machine is thinking, so maybe memory has something to do with it (although using the machine as a remote drive has no problems).

It happened about 18 months ago, gradually getting worse and worse. It was fixed somehow by an engineer while fixing something else, but is back again.

Which files/software controls the mouse and keyboard, and can these be reinstalled? I've tried removing preferences but to no avail.

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Try connecting
Nov 14, 2005 10:47PM PST

the mouse to something other than the keyboard. Preferably directly into whatever type of mac you have.
If the problem goes away, then the keyboard is faulty. If it doesn't, it may be time for a new mouse.
If you do not have enough USB ports, you can add them via a PCI card, depending on what type of Mac you have. (see how difficult this is when you don't part with information)
What was the engineer fixing when the short term fix happened. The keyboard and mouse are controlled by a Control Panel in the System Preferences. You could do a search in the Users/Your_name/library/Preferences folder for anything referring to a mouse and delete it.
If you were to part with a little more information about your setup, we could probably help a little more

P

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Tried your solution
Nov 15, 2005 12:21AM PST

Thanks, I switched the mouse to the other port on the keyboard and it only sticks occasionally. Much better function than when I first asked. I am able to go all day sometimes without the sticking problem.

To answer your other questions, the scanner was connected way after I first started having the problem and it is connected to a usb port. When I switched the mouse ports, the scanner functioned properly and has only acted up twice since your post.

The keyboard functions properly regardless of what the mouse or scanner does. When I bought the scanner, I also purchased a new usb hub and recently a heavy duty surge protector that everything is plugged into now.

Your advice gave me much more workability and I appreciate your help.

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Of Mice and Men and bad wires
Nov 16, 2005 2:14PM PST

Pete, The optical mouse problems one of my co-workers had with the mouse turned out to be a problem at the head of the mouse and the cord. The cord was shorting out or loose and would not work well. The solution: a new mouse. AOK now. Has been happening with a number of optical mouse units within our company lately. I hope Apple has fixed this problem with their newer optical mouses.
Any problems with the newer two-button mouses from Apple?

-Kevin