Piece of crap Mighty Mouse

My mighty mouse decided to start crapping out. It still works, buttons and all. It scrolls horizontally and up, but doesn't scroll down. Anyone else have this problem? Any fix?

I hate buying a $50 mouse and then it starts breaking....

It's probably just a bit dirty... What I do...

Hold it upside down, spin the scroll bar while blowing into it... maybe a couple taps on it.

Mine does that from time to time. It's a spinning ball so it's going to have all of the wonderful problems that ball mice used to have.

Yeah, as RIDE said, spin it around, blow inside, etc. Something needs to be knocked loose is all.

To get the oily dirt out, I use a moistened Q-Tips with rubbing alcohol on it and roll the scrollball on it and it works great after that. Our skin releases oil that we are not aware of. Plus if you eat at your computer, etc.

That happened to me once. I just pressed harder. That must have getten the gunk unstuck. it never happened again.

Seems both Ride & MacHeadcase saved me from this one too. Never looked back, just a blow and a tap and off you go. I think you owe your Mighty Mouse an apology! he he

Same problem - only up!

I think I'm on my third mighty mouse (warranty comes in handy) because of the same problem - only it doesn't scroll up.

To be honest - this is a design flaw with the mouse and it should be rectified.

I've tried tapping, blowing and rolling - none seem to work. What are Q-tips? Are they like cotton buds (U.K!).

I really don't want to send away for another one. The delivery driver is sick of coming to our house - it's quite embarrassing.

So any more tips? I do feel Apple should sort this minor issue out.

Edit: Just got it working. Go heavy on it - roll really hard with a clean damp cloth very fast - in all directions - upside down!

Q tip:

beattie41 said:

Just got it working. Go heavy on it - roll really hard with a clean damp cloth very fast - in all directions - upside down!

Click to expand...

That worked very well. Works like new again .

"Sowwy Mighty Mousie"

beattie41 said:

I think I'm on my third mighty mouse (warranty comes in handy) because of the same problem - only it doesn't scroll up.

To be honest - this is a design flaw with the mouse and it should be rectified.

I've tried tapping, blowing and rolling - none seem to work. What are Q-tips? Are they like cotton buds (U.K!).

I really don't want to send away for another one. The delivery driver is sick of coming to our house - it's quite embarrassing.

So any more tips? I do feel Apple should sort this minor issue out.

Edit: Just got it working. Go heavy on it - roll really hard with a clean damp cloth very fast - in all directions - upside down!

Click to expand...

The delivery driver is paid to deliver to your house, be it one time or ten times, he has no reason to be "sick" of coming there; "delivery driver" - the job description is self-explanatory, and you as a consumer are entitled to have as many replacements as it takes, to satisfy you, no matter what BS people try and feed you. He should be happy to get so much work!.

Take apart, and clean your (not so) Mighty Mouse:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2732413817292366113&q=clean+mighty+mouse&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

iBeldar said:

My mighty mouse decided to start crapping out. It still works, buttons and all. It scrolls horizontally and up, but doesn't scroll down. Anyone else have this problem? Any fix?

I hate buying a $50 mouse and then it starts breaking....

Click to expand...

Can you try using a pc mouse? I used a $4.50 Genius USB mouse and it works fine with my Mac. Been using PC mouse for 2 years now, both on powepc and intel base macs.

Happens pretty often to all Mighty Mouses (from my experience at least). The only reason I'm still using one is because I love the 360º scroll wheel.

My method:
Get a piece of plain paper and put it on your desk (or wherever really). Take the mouse, turn it upside down and press the ball firmly onto the paper. Now rub like crazy in all directions. You'll be surprised how much crap comes off it.

There's a few videos on youtube showing different way to clean a Mighty Mouse but this one seems to work best for me.

beattie41 said:

I think I'm on my third mighty mouse (warranty comes in handy) because of the same problem - only it doesn't scroll up.

To be honest - this is a design flaw with the mouse and it should be rectified.

Click to expand...

I'd call it an inherent vice, rather than a design flaw. It's just a miniaturised version of the old style ball that mice use to track. If it's 1/10th the size, it takes 1/10th the gunk to stop it working.

I reckon given that, and the fact it is more exposed and manipulated by potentially greasy / dirty fingers, it is bound to be a problem.

This one comes up frequently. Personally I solved the problem by getting a different mouse. The Mighty mouse is anything but, and now rests peacefully in a drawer with a bunch of one button mice that have never even been plugged in

jonnyd said:

I'd call it an inherent vice, rather than a design flaw. It's just a miniaturised version of the old style ball that mice use to track. If it's 1/10th the size, it takes 1/10th the gunk to stop it working.

Click to expand...

I don't think the ball itself or how it works are the design flaw, I think the lack of an easy method to remove and clean it are the design flaw. Apple went with aesthetics vice practicality in this case. Not a big surprise, but they could have gone that extra bit and had both. I ditched my MM over a year ago and have never looked back.

Take it from a designer; it's a design flaw, pure and simple. Why should you need to CLEAN a scrollball; noone ever needs to clean scroll WHEELS, on PC mice!. If something needs constant cleaning (maintenance) just WEEKS after it has been bought, and then needs subsequent cleaning, at very short intervals, then you'd hardly call it a winning product!.

A domed touchpad would have been a better tracking method; that would need virtually NO cleaning, and it's solid state!.

Using such an outmoded and outdated method of tracking, is sheer madness, hence all the complaints. The paper corner trick is NOTHING more than a temporary displacement of the gunk that accumulates inside the tracking unit.

I use a laser mouse (£9.99) with VERY high resolution - I gave up on the (not so) Mighty Mouse, after owning one which drove me mad. What gives, Apple - did Jonny Ive run out of Koolade the day he conceived this?.

glosswhite said:

Take it from a designer; it's a design flaw, pure and simple. Why should you need to CLEAN a scrollball; noone ever needs to clean scroll WHEELS, on PC mice!. If something needs constant cleaning (maintenance) just WEEKS after it has been bought, and then needs subsequent cleaning, at very short intervals, then you'd hardly call it a winning product!.

A domed touchpad would have been a better tracking method; that would need virtually NO cleaning, and it's solid state!

Click to expand...

Agree totally, my experience of the wireless mighty mouse was such that (along with a faulty mini DVI dongle that failed within 3 months) it's made me wary of any Apple peripheral. I now use a Kensington optical trackball - at <£20 posted excellent value.

foxwelljsly said:

Agree totally, my experience of the wireless mighty mouse was such that (along with a faulty mini DVI dongle that failed within 3 months) it's made me wary of any Apple peripheral. I now use a Kensington optical trackball - at <£20 posted excellent value.

Click to expand...

I do find it pretty amazing - arguably Apple have been doing it wrong with mice for years. They doggedly stuck with the one button monstrosity for YEARS after it became perfectly clear two buttons were better, and that's what a lot of people wanted.

So when they finally cave in and produce a two button mouse (artistically done, of course), they carry on the tradition by adding a new infuriatingly crap device on the top of it :lol:

foxwelljsly said:

Agree totally, my experience of the wireless mighty mouse was such that (along with a faulty mini DVI dongle that failed within 3 months) it's made me wary of any Apple peripheral. I now use a Kensington optical trackball - at <£20 posted excellent value.

Click to expand...

Mighty Mouse has a design weakness - that's explained that. Having a DVI dongle go bad, is hardly justification for being wary of Apple accessories, however. Do you know how many of these dongles, Apple churn out?. Would you not buy a light bulb, because ONE blew, prematurely?.

It's called MTBF; Mean Time Before Failure - it means the average amount of time you can expect an item to work as expected, before it fails, and it is precisely that - an AVERAGE figure!.

glosswhite said:

Mighty Mouse has a design weakness - that's explained that. Having a DVI dongle go bad, is hardly justification for being wary of Apple accessories, however. Do you know how many of these dongles, Apple churn out?. Would you not buy a light bulb, because ONE blew, prematurely?.

It's called MTBF; Mean Time Before Failure - it means the average amount of time you can expect an item to work as expected, before it fails, and it is precisely that - an AVERAGE figure!.

Click to expand...

I'd agree. Generally speaking, Apple kit is very well made. How many Ipods are out there?

They just didn't quite get this one right, in mine and it seems a lot of other peoples opinions.