USB Problems
- September 15, 2003
- 6 comments
I’ve been having some USB problems lately with my 17” iMac. A few months ago, my Microsoft wireless, optical mouse suddenly died on me. Well, it didn’t quite die, it just went “dark”. The laser turned off. I restarted the computer, and everything worked again. I figured it was the mouse, so I replaced it with an older Microsoft optical mouse I had.
Things were going fine until about 2 weeks ago. I had a beta version of Panther on my iMac at the time. For some reason, the mouse AND keyboard would go dead. If I unplugged the keyboard and moved it to another port, then it would work again. But after half an hour or so, it would crap out again. I would eventually have to restart in order for all ports to work again.
I thought maybe it was Panther acting up, so I wiped the drive and installed Jaguar back on it. It still happened. So I went looking in support forums. No one had the same problem I did, but some reported having problems with Microsoft mice. But they had the Intellimouse preference pane installed. I never installed it.
I eventually tried plugging the mouse directly into the back of the iMac, thinking maybe it was the keyboard crapping out on me. It looked like it was working, and then BAM! The mouse goes dead again!
Unfortunately, my iMac is one-month out of warranty now. Of course! So I decided to crack the Mac open today and see if I could find the problem. It was relatively easy to do. (On a side note, it’s amazing how Apple crammed all of those parts into such a small frame!) There was a TON of dirt inside. It had been over a year since I had it, so the dirt wasn’t really a surprise, but the amount of it was. I cleaned it all out and replaced all the covers. Plugged everything back in. Turned it on and not three minutes later, the mouse does it again!
The last thing I tried was using the Apple Pro Mouse that came with it. Amazingly, there have been no problems at all… so far. There’s no cursor jumping or skipping as there was with both the Microsoft mice. All three are optical, so it can’t be some deal with the optical technology.
Has anyone else had this problem? Has anyone figured out how to fix it? I hate having to use a one-button mouse again after getting used to a five-button mouse. That’s another thing… why hasn’t Apple come out with at least a three button mouse? That is so stupid that they’re still using a one button mouse!
Anyway… I’m rambling.
Chris
January 12, 2004
Sylvie
February 1, 2004
I’m having exactly the same problem with my Microsoft optical mouse. Not only does it goes dead on my Titanium powerbook, but I’m having the same problem when I plug it on my Dell computer! My husband has a wireless Microsoft mouse and he also experiences troubles on his Titanium… I guess the only solution will indeed be to buy a new mouse. If someone has an explanation for these Microsoft mice behaving erraticaly, I’ll be interested to hear it.
Chris
February 1, 2004
I’ve looked around and can’t find much of anything on Microsoft mice dying frequently. It’s good to know I’m not alone with this problem, but I’m sure it’s a pain for you.
Like I said, I ended up buying a Kensington optical mouse and haven’t had one single problem with USB since then.
A side note, I’m currently using the old Microsoft mouse with my Powerbook running Gentoo Linux, and it craps out on it too every now and then. Perhaps Microsoft just made some crappy mice?
Graham Howes
February 12, 2004
Well, I also have one of the snazzy (well, snazzy-looking) chrome-and-white wireless keyboard and mouse. It worked just fine at first.
Recently, the mouse has ceased (maybe, deceased?) responding. I’ve tried replacing battery, replacing mouse (!), replugging in control unit to USB hub on my Mac, yelling at it, pushing the channel reset button on bottom of mouse and phoning MicroSoft tech support.
The last was quite frustrating: I’ve only had the product (bought new) under 6 months but they say it isn’t supported.
Any ideas?
By the way, the keyboard has continued to work non-stop.
Thanks,
Graham
Chris
February 12, 2004
I never figured out why my Microshaft mouse would work sporadically like that. All I know is it must be the mouse itself and not the keyboard or port crapping out because they’ve both worked flawlessly with a Kensington optical mouse.
I know what MS tech support can be like. Loooong waits. My friend waited on MS Tech Support for 45 minutes. When they finally got to him, they said they could help him immediately but they’d charge him $35/hour or he could wait another half hour and pay nothing per hour! What is up with that?!
Hi-
I’m having the same problem with my MS optical wheel mouse. Did you ever find a solution? My problem started on a monday morning out of the blue. I hadn’t done any software upgrades recently. Tried re-installing driver, restarting, zapping pram, tossing finder and MS mouse prefs, to no avail. The mouse tracks erratically then goes completely dead, including the red led in the back of the mouse. Unplugging and replugging it into the back of the computer fixes it, then it goes dead 5 minutes later. I’ve always plugged it into the back of the mac instead of the keyboard, which caused problems before….Please reply if you have any news. Thanks!
MIke