Mouse question

[cleo]

I'm using a new iMac 800 with the standard Pro Mouse. Occasionally (probably 5-6 times an hour) the cursor will just skip to somewhere else entirely on the screen. I notice it the most when I'm about to click on a button, scroll bar, etc, and wind up clicking in my dock.

I've ruled out:
- software conflicts - it's been doing this since day 1, it's just starting to get really obnoxious as i'm doing serious work on the machine
- weird pattern under the optical eye - i've tried using no mouse pad (desk is brown fake wood), multicolored mousepad, and plain white mousepad, and it does it under all circumstances

Can anyone think of anything else that might work? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Rower_CPU]

Try a different mouse on your machine and, if you can, try your mouse on a different machine and see if the same thing happens. It might just be a dodgy optical sensor on your mouse.
At least you can narrow it down if you try different combinations.
Good luck!

 

[King Cobra]

Re: Mouse question

Originally posted by cleo
I'm using a new iMac 800 with the standard Pro Mouse. Occasionally (probably 5-6 times an hour) the cursor will just skip to somewhere else entirely on the screen. I notice it the most when I'm about to click on a button, scroll bar, etc, and wind up clicking in my dock.

I've ruled out:
- software conflicts - it's been doing this since day 1, it's just starting to get really obnoxious as i'm doing serious work on the machine
- weird pattern under the optical eye - i've tried using no mouse pad (desk is brown fake wood), multicolored mousepad, and plain white mousepad, and it does it under all circumstances

Can anyone think of anything else that might work? Has anyone else experienced this?

My best guess is that the Apple Pro Mouse has a special distance sensor in it, which detects how far the sensor is from the surface below the mouse. When the mouse glides along a surface and the distance from the sensor to the surface is within a certain range, the cursor on the computer screen moves, just as the optical mouse should.

The wierd thing is that the mouse does not have to touch the surface in order for the distance from the mouse sensor and the surface to be out of range. If you move the mouse when it is close enough to the surface below it (even if it does not touch the surface) the cursor on screen moves as well. It is almost as if it glides.

Sometimes, I re-adjust the mouse position on my mousepad, and the sensor range sees the movement as an intent to move the cursor on screen. So I try to adjust the mouse accordingly.

This is the best answer that I can give. I know about this because it happens to me when I use my half Gig Cube with the Optical Pro Mouse (black).

 

[newmanium]

another stubborn mouse? haha, have you tried fiddling around with mouse settings from the system prefs? lower the tracking speed, disable the trackpad options, anything that looks suspicious. and if all else fails, take it outside and rough it up a bit.. that'll teach em a lesson

 

[blakespot]

I had trouble like this with a few optical mice. It's the surface you're on. I had to switch mousepads to a foam/cloth one (from a plastic surface) to get the proper tracking. My mouse never skips anymore. Anything with _any_ degree of glare to it is less than ideal. That's any kind of plastic, finished wood, etc.


blakespot

 

[mischief]

ummmmmmm................

what other USB devices do you have hooked up?

 

[mymemory]

I guess that first stock of iMacs are really cheap.

 

[evildead]

Originally posted by blakespot
I had trouble like this with a few optical mice. It's the surface you're on. I had to switch mousepads to a foam/cloth one (from a plastic surface) to get the proper tracking. My mouse never skips anymore. Anything with _any_ degree of glare to it is less than ideal. That's any kind of plastic, finished wood, etc.


blakespot

I have had simmilar problems with simmilar results .

Cleo - Try a new mouse pad.

 

[Beej]

Yeah, like everyone is saying, try a different mouse pad.

I'll let you all in on a secret. I use paper as my mouse pad. It's great. I just sticky tape a few sheets to the desk, and when the top layer gets a bit dirty (as it will over time), I just rip the top layer off.

It's particularly good because you can write notes on it, too.

I'm not sure why, but paper just makes a great mouse pad for an optical mouse. Before paper, I was having random jump issues too. But now my mouse life is full of white, fibery bliss!

 

[britboy]

not being cheap or anything, but i use paper as my mouse mat too! It works a treat

 

[Rower_CPU]

I've used optical mice for a while now, and I've never seen the "random jump" issues you all are talking about. I've used them on crappy Dell mouse pads with reflective surfaces, desks without mouse pads, and even counter-tops. Nothing funny.
Yes, I agree that lifting and repositioning the mouse occasionally causes involuntary movement, but nothing like the symptoms described.
What kind of mice have you seen this with? Microsoft mice seem to work fine for me.

 

[cleo]

Thanks to all for the suggestion of a *cloth* mousepad - picked up a $3 one at Staples today and it completely took care of the problem!