Wireless Mighty Mouse - Tracking Problems

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Wireless Mighty Mouse - Tracking Problems

Hi,

I am using a Wireless Mighty Mouse with my MacBook Pro's built in Bluetooth. When I first got I used it straight on my wooden desk. Then, to make things a bit smoother I bought a Everglide Titan mouse pad, which is a 'gaming' mat designed for optical and laser mice.

All was well until about a month ago. Then my Mighty Mouse started having trouble tracking on the mouse pad. Cursor movements were jerky, but clicks are picked up fine. Using the mouse straight on the desk was fine - it just had a problem with the mouse pad. Now it's started having problems on the desk surface! Switching back to the mouse pad results in no cursor movement at all.

I've tried new batteries and cleaning the sensor, to no avail.

My 'old' wired Logitech MX518 optical mouse has no problems at all tracking on either surface - and I thought that laser mice were meant to be superior to optical mice?

This is very frustrating, as I'd grown rather fond of my wire-free desktop.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Guy

MacBook Pro 15", Mac OS X (10.4.10), 2.0GHz Core Duo, 2GB, 80GB, 128MB X1600

Posted on Oct 21, 2007 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 21, 2007 11:02 AM in response to Tinlad

Hi Tinlad-

Any other sources of possible BlueTooth interference nearby, as in a cell phone?

Will it track on a plain white sheet of paper?

if it was working and then stopped, and since you took care of the obvious troubleshooting steps, perhaps you have a defective mouse.

Is your machine covered under warranty or AppleCare? If so, have it replaced under that coverage.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 2

Tinlad Author

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Oct 21, 2007 12:16 PM in response to DaddyPaycheck

Thanks for the reply.

The Bluetooth on my mobile (cell) phone is switched off. I am using an Apple Bluetooth keyboard also, but the mouse displays the same symptoms if that is switched off. Incidentally, both the keyboard and my phone are working fine with my Mac's Bluetooth.

I've read that Wi-Fi can cause interference with Bluetooth (since they both use the 2.4GHz spectrum), but switching off my wireless network has no effect.

The mouse won't track on a blank sheet of white paper either; it's about as bad as it is on the mouse pad.

Unfortunately I didn't take AppleCare out on my machine, and it's out of it's complimentary warranty. AppleCare is something I'll think about very seriously when I get my next Mac!

I'm beginning to have the feeling that I'm going to have to write this mouse off as defective.

Thanks again,

Guy

Message was edited by: Tinlad

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Answer 3

Oct 21, 2007 1:25 PM in response to Tinlad

Hi Tinlad-

This document may be helpful: Keyboard + Mouse.

If nothing works you may be correct to write-off the mouse.

FWIW and as I am sure you know AppleCare is a very good investment.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 4

chasan

Level 1

10 points

Oct 31, 2007 11:45 AM in response to Tinlad

Hi Tiniad,

I'm having exactly the same problem with my wireless Mighty Mouse. It worked flawlessly for 9-10 months and I've tracking problems. Tried several surfaces, battery changes, etc.

I hope someone can find a solution, I like this mouse, but right now it's almost useless :-/

Carlos

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Answer 5

Tinlad Author

Level 1

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Oct 31, 2007 12:46 PM in response to chasan

I haven't found a solution. Upgrading to Leopard didn't make any difference (not that I expected it to - I'm certain it's a problem with the mouse).

I've given up and sold the mouse on eBay for spares/repair and got almost £15 for it which takes the edge off the disappointment 🙂

chasan: If yours is only 9 or 10 months old it should be covered under warranty. Unfortunately mine wasn't.

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Answer 6

chasan

Level 1

10 points

Nov 5, 2007 8:49 AM in response to Tinlad

Thank you. I bought the mouse ~11 months ago, I will check the warranty with the local reseller.

I found a pseudo-solution. My Mighty Mouse likes shiny surfaces 🙂 the tracking work for a few days until the "improvised" surfaces that I have tested become opaque. The problem now is to find a proper mouse pad (or durable surface) shiny enough for the mouse :P

I guess it's a problem with the mouse's laser or something.

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Answer 7

chasan

Level 1

10 points

Nov 22, 2007 2:48 PM in response to Tinlad

For anyone interested, here's what (I think) solved the tracking problem of my Mighty Mouse:

1. Switched to a mouse pad designed for optical mouses (the surface is reflective, not opaque).

2. Now I use a single rechargable battery instead of two (I don't know if this matters).

3. When I turn on the mighty mouse (sliding the switch at the bottom), I put the mouse immediately over the pad and wait a few seconds (without moving the mouse) until it's detected by Mac OS X.

4. I turn off the mouse (sliding the switch again) when I won't use it again until the next day (I don't either know if this matters).

That's all.

The important thing is that the mouse shouldn't be moved while it's being initialized and detected by Mac OS X. I guess that the mouse's laser is being calibrated, so it's important to not mess around with it (I used to watch the led at the bottom of the mouse while I was impatiently waiting it to be detected, thus probably ruining the calibration since the laser scanned my face instead of the mouse pad :P).

(BTW, I used the have tracking problems with this optical mouse pad, so step #3 is what actually solved the problem, I think)

Hope it helps.

Carlos

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Answer 8

Suchanek

Level 1

9 points

Nov 24, 2007 7:23 AM in response to chasan

chasan,

I started noticing tracking issues with my Mighty Mouse when I switched to rechargeable batteries. I wonder if this could be a common thread? Also, I use my mouse on carpet - no shiny surface here, and after cleaning the sensors have apparently gotten rid of the twitchy mouse syndrome.

Others may want to swap out their batteries to see if that makes a difference.

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