Cursor freezing and multiple keystrokes

[steveball]

Mac Pro 3.1 2.8 GHz 8-Core - A1186 MA970B/A Early 2008 24GB RAM

Wired USB mouse connected through Apple full size keyboard. Mouse and keyboard work perfectly on my other Mac Pro (1.1) running 10.6.8 and have done for years.

Mac shows usual desktop after booting and usually results in the stuck cursor. Sometimes the keyboard and mouse have no power, other times they do. When they work I move the mouse 1mm and after a few seconds the cursor moves quite a large distance across the screen (the cursor also sometimes disappears and reappears somewhere else). When I try to input text one keystroke results in 7 x that character autofilling. Means I can't sign in as admin to try to sort this out. If I try to click on any finder menu it drops down and immediately disappears so can't select anything.

I've only had this mac for 2 days during which it worked ok. After connecting to the net for the first time I opened Chrome and about 5 small pop up windows appeared. I just closed them without thinking but later thought they may be malware or a virus so I then downloaded Avast free for mac and did a scan. The next time I booted the problem started and have to hard shut down everytime.

Things I've tried:
1. PRAM reset
2. Reset SMC
3. Safe mode restart
4. Unplugged all leads before booting again.
5. Connected mouse direct into mac (every USB port).
6. Used another wired non mac keyboard. Message then appeared saying bluetooth keyboard could not be found!
7. Looked for hours online for a solution!

Any help appreciated.

Update- Deleted Avast after starting from external HD but cursor still not working properly. Very small movement of mouse results in a large movement of cursor after about a second delay. Keystrokes still autofill 7 times and can't select from menus.

 

[steveball]

The only one in the list with no replies! The search continues.

 

[chscag]

Do you have a spare video card that you can try? Since you're experiencing basically the same problem when booting from an external hard drive, we will assume the drive is okay. A bad or intermittent video card in a Mac Pro can cause some strange things to occur so if you can come up with a spare to swap in, that would eliminate it as a cause if the same thing happens. Let us know.

 

[Rod]

Have you tried plugging the mouse direct rather than through the keyboard? My wife had a problem like yours years ago and it turned out tho be the keyboard.

 

[chscag]

He's already tried attaching the mouse directly. He mentions that in his first post.

 

[Rod]

Oh, must've missread that.

 

[Rod]

Yes sorry I see it now. So, this is a second hand nearly 11 year old MacPro and although you don't mention it (I've checked) I assume you're running 10.6.8 on this device too?
I'd be tempted to run the Hardware Check although I think you will need the original installation disks for this. Do you have them, they should be plain grey disks I think?
If it is the video card as suggested by chscag at least this is a relatively easy model to access but this may come down to trial and error.

 

[steveball]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try another graphics card but tried 2 already. I read somewhere that importing files from another mac using migration assistant can cause problems so I'm in the process of using another internal HD with a bootable system to delete everything off the offending HD and start again.

I have 10.9.5 on the 3.1 mac pro with the problem but it didn't come with installation disks.

I ordered a bootable USB stick with 10.10.5 to install on another internal HD I bought but it wasn't recognised by the mac (circle with diagonal line across, denied)! It said it was compatible so I have to try and return it and get another and try again. Never had a problem take so long to solve in 20 years.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Steve, anomalies where the cursor gets momentarily stuck, and/or where keystrokes give unusual results, especially where you have BOTH happening, is usually a sign that there is either a lot of odd processing going on in the background slowing things down in fits and starts, OR that something in your system is being accessed, but that access is unreliable and intermittent.

You would troubleshoot it almost exactly as you would a persistent rotating beachball or a nasty slowdown. I have two Web pages that will allow you to do that:

Macintosh Beachballs
Macintosh OS X Beachballs!

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions
Macintosh OS X Slowdown Solutions

I can usually guess what the likely culprit will be, but in this case I'm not sure. I'd first try booting from a known good clone backup to rule out a corrupted OS or a system conflict. But I wouldn't be surprised if the problem turns out to be bad RAM or a failing hard drive. Both can be easily tested for. Good luck.

 

[steveball]

Thanks for the reply Randy, I'll check out the links.
The 3.1 has a defective battery holder which shows the wrong time on start up but fixes itself after about 20 sec, I guess this is the reason I can't boot from the USB. This is the next thing to investigate.