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Level 1

8 points

Mighty Mouse Problem - Jerky And Jumpy

I seem to have developed a problem with my cordless Mighty Mouse in the past few days. It's become really erratic - seems to jump around the screen. When I'm moving the mouse to a certain position on the screen, it will just "jump" way over to one side for no apparent reason.

I cleaned the mouse, changed the batteries, checked all the settings. I made a few changes in the Keyboard and Mouse control panel and saved the changes (just to update the preference file) and then reverted back to the old settings. I've tried a different surface (you'd think that would be the main problem - the surface it's on - but that's not the case). Restarted numerous times. Ran YASU. Nothing changes - it just seems to be really "jerky" and "jumpy" all of a sudden.

Has anyone else had this happen and do you have any suggestions on how I can fix this problem? Is this maybe a defective mouse? I've had the mouse for 3 months now.

Maybe this is a system software problem? I haven't changed anything on my system in a few weeks - no updates or anything at all.

Thanks so much,
Gerard

iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - 4 GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 17, 2009 6:00 PM

101 replies

Apr 6, 2009 6:34 AM in response to C.B.Powell

After a solid month of experiencing a jumpy mouse myself (swapping mouses, clean re-install of OS...nothing helped) I've found a solution for why I was experiencing it!

DVI video connection to 3rd party monitor = bad!

Because connections to monitors over DVI are digital, encrypted and doing funny stuff that normal analog VGA connections don't do (for copy protection reasons mostly I believe) I began to suspect that with all the recent updates Apple's been doing to fix display issues on the new MacBook Pro and 3rd part monitors connecting over MiniDisplayPort to DVI connections that that might be the problem. Sure enough, I switched out to use a MiniDisplayPort to VGA adapter and hooked my 24" Acer up via VGA instead of DVI and everything is SMOOOOOOOOOTH again. 🙂

I had spent weeks reading threads, uninstalling stuff, trying new hardware...none of it worked. This worked 100% and was instantaneous.

STU9000

Level 1

11 points

Apr 6, 2009 8:57 AM in response to Brock Gunter-Smith

So what are you saying, it's monitor/graphics card issue?

Apr 6, 2009 9:37 AM in response to Brock Gunter-Smith

Good grief, Brock, you are absolutely correct. I was connected using DVI to my Dell 24" LCD; merely substituting a VGA cable (along with a DVI->VGA converter) completely cleared up the problem. This is astonishing.

I can now draw circles with the mouse and it doesn't skip around; I can move the mouse vertically and horizontally with perfect tracking. This is, of course, at the slight quality expense of analog VGA -- but I will live with it until Apple fixes it. Maybe they'll have a fix in 10.5.7...

A thousand thanks for your idea, you've lowered my stress.

Chris

Apr 6, 2009 10:52 AM in response to C.B.Powell

I have the same problem with my "Mighty Mouse" - no dvi connected... just upgraded to the new iMac and have the problem. My old iMac never had the issue...

Wired USB "mighty mouse" works fine... bluetooth issue??!!??

Fireware issue?? what's going on?

Apr 6, 2009 11:22 AM in response to STU9000

I think it's not hardware, I think it's software, something like Brock postulates.

Note that if you hold down ALT during boot (to choose a boot volume, even if you have only one drive) you'll note that the mouse works fine on that screen.

The folks in this thread are in the same boat:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1830794&tstart=0

Apr 7, 2009 8:04 PM in response to Gerard James

Turn Airport Off and the mouse issue goes away. There is an issue with the AirPort Utility and using the bluetooth mouse at the same time.

I switched to a wired connection and have not had the issue since... a work around but not a FIX

Gerard James Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2009 3:41 PM in response to bigvideodj

AirPort is off and always has been. I ended up sending my wireless mighty mouse back to Apple and getting a new one in exchange. A few days later, the same thing started to happen with the new one. Like one of the posters above said, when I use a memory intensive application (like PhotoShop CS3) - it can be very erratic, jumping all over the place. Zapping the PRAM works for a while but the problem always comes back eventually.

I think there's a bluetooth software glitch somewhere in 10.5.6 and earlier versions of Leopard. I've switched to a wired connection for now and hope this is something that may be resolved in the 10.5.7 update - whenever it comes out.

Thanks for all the feedback - I hadn't checked in on this post in quite a while and I didn't realize how active it had become. Lots of people experiencing the same issue...

Gerard

Apr 11, 2009 5:26 PM in response to Gerard James

Interesting... so you did send your mouse back to apple... and the new one you received you think is no different? I have been having the same problem with my new wireless mighty mouse. was contemplating on sending it back for a replacement. The mouse is jerky and jumpy even in the windows xp partition so how could it be software related? Look forward to your reply

Apr 16, 2009 9:46 AM in response to Gerard James

I just started having this same jerky problem with my USB mighty mouse and any other USB optical mouse i plug into my iMac... This isn't only plaguing the wireless mice... the USB mighty mouse and any other USB mouse work just fine in my PowerBook G4 with Tiger... This behaviour just began for me within the last week...

Apr 17, 2009 11:57 AM in response to Kowalski400

Couple weeks ago I switched my airport off and have not had one issue since!

Apr 20, 2009 3:14 AM in response to Gerard James

Received a brand new replacement Apple wireless mighty mouse today. So far, it has been playing very nicely. No erratic jerky cursor movements. let's hope it stays that way. I am glad I contacted Apple early to arrange a free replacement.

Apr 20, 2009 5:51 PM in response to Poison_Apple

Just thought I would report to y'all. Second day now (with my new mouse) and it still works like a charm. This is what I love about Apple. Their impeccable service keeps customers like me happy and loyal. Good on ya!

Apr 21, 2009 2:20 AM in response to Gerard James

I'm sorry; bad news.
Just replaced bluetooth 'little' board of my mac pro from an apple technician.
Nothing has changed, same problem with wireless mighty mouse.

Apr 21, 2009 12:54 PM in response to Brock Gunter-Smith

Excellent catch Brock. I've been frustrated with mouse jerkiness on my Mac Pro with two 24" Dells hooked up for weeks. Switched them to DVI->VGA converters and everything is as it should be. Crossing fingers for a 10.5.7 fix, because I do notice a bit of loss in sharpness.

iomatic

Level 1

40 points

Apr 22, 2009 11:37 AM in response to aquarajustin

Did you all file a bug report?

Mighty Mouse Problem - Jerky And Jumpy