mouse problems

New to the forum, hoping someone can help out. I'll give you a brief summary of the situation.

I was using an imac- OSX(pre intel) desktop and loved it. Worked flawlessly for 6months to a year. All the sudden the mouse started tracking "funny". Shortly after the mouse would freeze from time to time. I would remedy the situation by unplugging the mouse (usb) and plugging it back in and restarting the computer. This worked fine until the problem got more and more frequent. I contacted a mac repair store and they advised I should try another mouse- I did.... same exact problems. I should mention I was using the mouse it came with. I was wanting to upgrade to a souped up mini anyway so I thought it would be a good time. The repair store said it was most likely the usb ports themselves that needed changed and that was $400.00 ish.. So I put the imac in the closet and have been enjoying my mini since.

Recently I had a thought.... the keyboard on the imac always worked flawlessly- and of course it's usb connected. So I dug the imac out and tried it again. Same problems.... Upon restart the mouse will work spuratically then freeze up. I did open up word and typed for a while and the keyboard worked fine. I've tried both mouse's (mice???) in different usb ports and had the same results. I even put the mouse in the keyboards usb port..let the computer go to sleep, and then I moved the mouse, clicked it and nothing... but I tapped the space bar one time and the computer woke up immediately.

I'd love to have this imac up and running as it's a nice machine and would be handy to have running. Any thoughts, similar problems or solutions would be appreciated- thanks in advance.

houndsound said:

All the sudden the mouse started tracking "funny". Shortly after the mouse would freeze from time to time.
I even put the mouse in the keyboards usb port..let the computer go to sleep, and then I moved the mouse, clicked it and nothing... but I tapped the space bar one time and the computer woke up immediately. Any thoughts, similar problems or solutions would be appreciated- thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

The 'no wake up' from mouse movement is not unusual on that model of iMac, the space bar will do the job anyway.

Not so much a solution as a test - purchase another USB mouse, a PC one, cheap as you like, and use it with your iMac. OS X handles PC peripherals with ease. If the PC mouse replicates the problem you've experienced with the Apple products, then the problem is likely to be the USB ports/connections. You may wish to try a PC USB keyboard as well (most of my USB peripherals are non-Apple, and they work well).

Check too the Sys Pref > Keyboard & Mouse settings. Fiddle about with them, and then re-test all your USB peripherals.

Third thing is to reset the PRAM, and repair permissions using Onyx (or similar).

One quick question - the mouse is plugged into a keyboard connected directly to the computer and NOT through a USB hub?

No, the keyboard has two usb hubs on it.... I've tried the mouse in the computers direct usb ports and in the keyboard ports with the same result, sorry I wasn't clearer on that..... but the keyboard, which is also usb connected to the computer functions fine.

I'll try a cheap pc mouse at walmart tomorrow, although I feel a little dirty bringing pc stuff into my house, LOL.

dk

O.K. .... good news! Although the imac now has a microsoft mouse on it... it works flawlessly. Go figure! Any idea why it wouldn't work with apple mouses?

houndsound said:

O.K. .... good news! Although the imac now has a microsoft mouse on it... it works flawlessly. Go figure! Any idea why it wouldn't work with apple mouses?

Click to expand...

Pleased the mouse function is working once again. As to why two Apple meece (new plural) wouldn't work, one can only speculate, but it would be an unhappy coincidence that both were faulty. Perhaps you might try using those meece on another Mac, if you have the opportunity, to check their functionality.

I confess to taking some mischievous delight in the fact that PC peripherals work so well with OS X. I started using them out of financial nece$$ity, and have not bought Apple peripherals for about 3 years now .

that is mischievous.

Thanks for the help though.

dk

pc stuff

Yeah I suggest you get PC keyboards an maybe upgrade the mouse to become amazing.