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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Mouse Arrow

drfred39 - Aug 4, 2005 - 5:05 pm

Every session I have with my Mac usually involves the mouse arrow (sorry but I can't think of the proper term for the on-screen image), without ANY prompting from me, zipping of to either the upper right corner or the lower left corner. During the course of an extended session this may happen 15 to 30 times. What is the problem?

rubicon - Aug 4, 2005 - 5:35 pm

I've got a similar situation with my Ti PowerBook G4. I haven't isolated the problem but suspecting it's a dirty trackpad or a flakey optical mouse.

Are you using a desktop, laptop, what sort of mouse?

drfred39 - Aug 4, 2005 - 10:11 pm

I am using a G5. I gave up on the optical mouse because it was too buggy and went to the old wired standby. The system is about 2 months old. Could there be a relationship between the reflective property of the surface the mouse is riding over -- I have never used a mouse pad with this new Mac.

rubicon - Aug 5, 2005 - 4:48 pm

Do you have a mouse with an old fahsioned ball inside of it? Is that what you're using now?

drfred39 - Aug 6, 2005 - 12:40 am

No. This is a new system. This is a wired optical mouse. The system was purchased this past June.

rubicon - Aug 8, 2005 - 10:47 am

Yes, the reflective surface could be a factor. Try using a dull (normal) mouse pad with some image on it. You shouldn't (can't) use a single color surface because the sensor needs to see something to know that it's moving.

An older mouse with a ball (most PC users have at least 5 of them sitting in a closet somwhere but I realize we're talking Mac here) will tell you if the problem is the optical mouse's tracking, the surface, or if you have another hardware problem altogether.

Ball mice always track properly unless the roller mechanism inside has accumulated dirt. Perhaps you can borrow one from work or someone else?