Mac Pro 2019: Mouse CURSOR freezes every few minutes

Cursor-position updates are done at low priority in the background. So the first suspect is that you are running something, such as a virus scanner, or third-party file syncer that is using up all the spare CPU cycles, leaving no compute power to update the cursor.

We have been surprised at how badly some of this junk-ware responds when its drive is suddenly 100 times or more faster than the drive used to create it. Really weird things happen. In a Mac as powerful as the 2019 Mac Pro, while it is possible to use up all the CPU cycles, it does not seem likely.

Next is the likelihood of a bad connection of your wireless pointer devices. Bluetooth uses the very crowded and interference-prone 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band, but does frequency-hopping to dodge the 2.4 GHZ Wi-Fi data. If you live in an apartment building with lots of neighbors' Routers close by, this could be an issue.

Next on the list is USB-3. This technology is known to create noise on the 2.4GHz band in ordinary operation, and poorly-shielded peripherals and cables are a known problem that has no easy fix.

Too close to Your Router could contribute to this issue, as the signals very close to the Router are really "loud" and moving just a few feet away may provide relief.

Certain Displays, including some by LG, have been known to emit a very high level of noise in the 2.4GHz band, so getting away from the display and its cabling may help. [LG had an earlier recall so they should be especially sensitive to this issue, having been burned before.]

To cut down this list, you could try removing some possible interference generators.

If no joy, test with a WIRED pointing device and keyboard.

I have a very similar problem. Brand new Mac Pro 2019 with a Kensington Trackball. This is a recording studio machine in a school, we've been shut down since last march so haven't had much usage yet. Very little added software, mostly just Pro Tools and plug-ins, all audio related stuff. This problem has been from day 1 however, when you move the mouse, every so often the cursor stops tracking for a second or 2, then lurches back to normal.

I have included a screen recording of the mouse cursor, if it doesn't work, just use this link to see what I mean. : www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRg5nyQkDTI

Please understand, this is a video of me moving the mouse in a circle CONSISTENTLY, I am not changing at all the circular motion of my hand.

Also, the trackball is clean, works fine on other machines, and I have 3 identical Mac Pro's in different control rooms all running the same OS, all with the same problem with the same trackball.

Kensington Expertmouse (trackball)

Catalina 10.15.7

3.5 GHz 8-Core Intel Xeon W

32 GB 2666 MHz DDR4

AMD Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB

Wanted to share my experience and lack of resolution as well.

I have a 2019 mac pro, 8 core processor, 256 GB ram, 2x LG ultrafine 5K monitors (27")

I have had issues with the mouse freezing randomly for some time, but also had many months with no issue at all. When I use a apple trackpad or included mouse/keyboard there are 0 issues. Always work even during a lockup on my primary mouse, a Logitech MX Master 2. I could literally reach over to trackpad and the cursor moves immediately while the primary mouse was unresponsive.

Currently I'm in a week where the mouse doesn't work at all, just locks up and jumps all over the screen.

I went so far as following a lengthy guide by Logitech to troubleshoot the connection which basically included, resetting pram/nvram etc. disconnecting everything, resetting the bluetooth and bluetooth module via Option+Shift click on the bluetooth icon in the menu bar. This had to be done at the apple store as I've long retired any usb input devices. They also ran a full diagnostic. At the apple store it worked fine after this process was completed. Came home and sure enough by the next day all the problems have returned. I'm back to using an awful magic mouse and questioning my mac purchase once again (sarcasm).

Hoping this is somehow remedied but unsure what to turn to as we are such a small sample of owners I doubt much attention will be paid by Apple.

Hi Flakstone,

From your post, it sounds like your cursor randomly freezes. Can you try using just the trackpad or just the mouse to see if the issue is isolated to one of them?

Try starting the computer in safe mode and see if the issue persists: Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Take care.

Why do I have difficulty with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices when USB 3 devices are attached to my computer?

Some USB 3 devices can generate radio frequency interference that can cause Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices operating in the 2.4GHz band to have issues communicating with your computer. Here are some tips to avoid this issue:

• If your USB device has a cable long enough that you can move the device, place it away from your Mac—and make sure not to place it behind your Mac, or near the hinge of its display. The antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are located there, and USB 3 devices placed there might interfere with your wireless connections.

• If you're using adapters or dongles on a Mac computer with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, plug them into the front port on the left side of your Mac, or into the ports on the right side (if your computer has them). These ports are the farthest away from the antennas, making interference less likely.

• To avoid interference on the 2.4GHz band using Wi-Fi, try using the 5GHz band instead. You can change this on your wireless base station. Bluetooth always uses 2.4GHz, so this alternative isn't available for Bluetooth.

from:

About USB on Mac computers - Apple Support

Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201542

Respectfully you seem to be spamming stock answers that aren’t very helpful.

a realistic pro work station uses multiple displays, hard drives and peripherals at all times.

clearly there seems to be a further issue with Mac Pros specifically based on this thread.

Thank you for following up with us. Do you have any other Bluetooth or wireless devices nearby that may be causing interference? Try moving those devices further away or disabling to see if the issue persists.

All the best.

The Expertmouse is wired, usb to a powered USB3 hub.

Ethernet is wired, there is no router or wifi as we are on a gigabit LAN.

I had the same problem with an Apple Cinema display as I do now with a Samsung HDMI display.

There is no virus scan software or anything running significant background processes.

This has been the way it acts right out of the box, latest Kensington software installed on a fresh OS.

It does not look like memory or CPU is the Issue, BUT For those displays to be useful for these purposes, you have to select "ALL Processes" not the "My processes" you are showing.

Also, if you click on the "percent CPU" column, it will sort by that column, bring the highest to the top of the list.

OK, here is a new screen recording with All Processes showing: https://youtu.be/PkwVxqQrfKw

Both this and the previous video are sorted by % CPU colum with the highest on top.

Looking like it is some kind of USB problem maybe?

themightyrumpus -

That does not appear to be a problem of too few CPU cycles.

What does the Energy display suggest?

what is the picture of the RAM memory display? all green, or do you dip into swap/paging?