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User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

Constant and intempestive double clicking

Hi,


I have an iMac 21,5 purchased in October 2011.


My clicks have gone mad for 2 or 3 days now. It came out of the blue.


Whenever I click, it acts like a double click. I've been looking for information on internet but I couldn't find anything conclusive.

I have tried a trick in the System Preferences > Mouse > Double click speed, but it hasn't changed anything (I can go extreme slow or quick, same thing happens).


I have a Magic Mouse, a random and ultra super plain Logitech mouse (wired) and a common wireless Logitech mouse; the problem is the same for all mice. I also tried my roomate's mouse, and it does the same thing.


It is a deep pain in the *** since when I delete email I delete 2 of them. Opening a new tab? Here you go 4 of them. Clicking on a document? Oh no you can't rename it and it opens. Have an important text to type? Please, it's impossible de move the cursor without selecting an entire word or phrase or row. It took me 3 hours to clic on "Categories - Using your iMac Intel" because the box was instantly checked-unchecked.


Usually, when I have a problem I am super intelligent: I have this powerful tool called google and I type my problem in it, find the explanation and think of myself as a fool for not figuring it out on my own. Right now, I can't find any clue about my problem. I'm desperate.


Neurotically yours,


Uzume.

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 29, 2012 9:13 PM

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30 replies
User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 1, 2012 5:25 AM in response to X423424X

Hi !


How come ?


Seriously, I've always been super ultra care taking and now allt his happens to me 😟


I'm not sure I have a recovery partition... but I'm going to try to find some information about that, and eventually how to restore things.


Oh yeah, my computer is in hospital for my first day of holidays. Holidays I deserve !


New things:

- I do experience global slowliness of my computer (light but noticeable).
- I don't have the double clicking problem when I play (I play World of Warcraft. Oh yeah Now people are going to hate me, plus holidays+game+WoW= I'm making a 12 year old of myslef... meh)

- However I have some light slowing down while playing.

- I also feel slow-downs in Adobe Premiere Pro (did I win back some points? 😝)


I feel I'm cursed.


Anyway, I stop complaining and I'm going to find a way of to revor/restore.

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User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 1, 2012 5:56 AM in response to X423424X

Okay I could boot from recovery partition by pressing Option while booting, I ran the repair utility: the scan said "everything seems in good state". I launched a repair anyway, same conclusion.unfortunately,


I reboot, and unfortunately, same things happen:

- double clicking issue

- apparent Finder crashing-relaunching issue

I doubt the two issues are linked. But, hey I'm a newbie.


Plus I still have a finder window on the desktop when I boot, the folder MacOSX. Strange.

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User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 1, 2012 6:48 AM in response to Uzume

Well, deleting
Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist
and Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder/

did not change anything.


I ran another boot from Recovery disk to perform repair and permissions repair,

did not change anything.


Next step is to create a new user account.


Though I don't know how or how long it will take to move all my data from one account to another. Errrrr...

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User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 1, 2012 7:30 AM in response to Uzume

Well, time for a recap.


Issue#1: Every click (or 9 out of 10) is perceived as a double click.
- Happens everywhere in every kind of software (Finder, Chrome, Safari, VLC, Premiere, Word, Powerpoint...)

- Does not seem to happen when I am playing (I play WoW in Fullscreen)

- Playing with the Double click speed in System Preferences > Mouse doesn't change anything

- Disk Utility (Repair and Permission Repair) doesn't change anything

- Creating a new account doesn't change anything

- Using different mice doesn't change anything (they do not have software installed that could possibly mess, I simply plug them in)

- I can't navigate in finder, selecting files, renaming file, I delete 2 email in a row, open 2 tabs in a row, use word correctly since I can't move the pointer as I want (it selects text)...


Issue#2 : Finder crashing loop. My finder crashes and relaunches, visible effect is refreshing of the files have on the desktop or the closing of the window I am navigating.

- Happens every 30 seconds or so.

- Disk Utility (Repair and Permission Repair) doesn't change anything

- Deleting special files or filder as quoted in a previous message (and as found in another thread which linked is posted above) doesn't change anything

- Creating a new account does stop the problem, however when I switch back to my account the problem is here.


Other curious things that happened or happen.

- When I use some .app it acts like it is the first time. "You are about to use VLC.app for the first time"... Why?

- When I boot, there is a Finder window corresponding to the folder MacOS that is opened in the middle of the desktop. Why? This window is not opened when I boot into the new account I just created.

- I am experiencing slow-downs in everything I do

- Everytime I boot, Chrome is launched (little light under the icon in the dock), however I always quit everything before shutting down or rebooting the computer + uncheck the box "re-open open windows". Why is Chrome launched?

- Is it linked or not with every god **** things that happen all of a sudden? I don't know. I having HEAVY slow-downs/freezes in YouTube when I try to watch something higher than 480p. Why?


Is my best solution to throw my iMac through to window?

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User profile for user: X423424X
X423424X
User level: Level 6
14,265 points

May 1, 2012 11:36 AM in response to Uzume

Did you try running under that new account? Does the finder crash there? If not then there is something wrong with just your account that needs fixing. It it wasn't the plists you tried to remove then it is something else. But you first would (have) need to determine if it is specific to your account. Using another account would have indicated that.

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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
141,234 points

May 1, 2012 12:06 PM in response to Uzume

The fact this occurs in Safe Mode yet it does not with a new account is bizarre but I suppose you surmised that already.


You have several courses of action from which to choose, one or more of them will result in the problem being fixed. Observe the results after each step.


  • Check your account login items and compare them to the new account. Obviously a process is running in your account that is not in the other one, though it is unlikely to be apparent in Login Items. Disable any suspected ones anyway.
  • Move your entire ~/Library/Preferences folder to the Desktop. Log out, log in again. If this does not help move the folder back to its original location (most or all of your application preferences will need to be reset - this includes license information for programs requiring it).
  • Repeat with ~/Library/LaunchAgents and ~/Library/Application Support. Same warning applies.


In the above ~/Library refers to your home folder Library. To find it go to Finder, select the Go menu with a single click and hold the Option key. The folder that appears (Library) is it.


If all else fails you can always gradually migrate everything in your original account to the account that does not misbehave. If the problem recurs you should be able to correlate it with the cause. When you are certain that everything is working correctly you can always delete your original account, after which you can rename the new one to your liking.


Reinstalling OS X is always an option but may not fix the problem, is probably overkill if it does, and you will never know what caused it.


If you can demonstrate the behaviour to the Apple Genius bar people they will regard it as a curious specimen for a while, after which they will probably reinstall OS X and perhaps wipe your account anyway, problem solved as far as they're concerned. They only have so much time to devote to determining the cause and no one but you will really care what's on your computer.


It will probably behave normally at the Apple Store anyway; a corollary to Murphy's Law.

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User profile for user: Uzume
Uzume Author
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 9, 2012 5:35 AM in response to John Galt

Dear X423424X and John Galt,


I'm sorry I lacked reactivity answering here, but I was away for 10 days or so. I hope you did not think I was a thankfulness empty user 😝


So, I have some news: the "Finder Loop Crash" has stopped. In fact, just before I left for my days-off I just delete the folder Preferences in the Librairy. The crash loop immediately stopped. I was a little worried at the beginning because everything was very slow: when I was using an .app such as Word for instance, it was REAALLLLLLY slow to launch, but right now everything is fine. I guess it was just the necessary time to re-create the Preferences files.


So, this worked fine and the Finder Crash Loop is not a problem anymore 🙂


However, this manipulation did not put an end to the Double Clicking issue. 😟


My days-off were trouble free and put my mind to rest 😝


Yesterday, when I came back... the double clicking problem had disappeared... yeah, true story. In fact, honestly I did not notice it (it was off my mind) until the problem went back. I was just fooling around using my computer, doing random tasks and stuff without any issue. Then... it... did... it... again. And again. And now it's constant and intempestive (:p) again.


I am clueless, again.


Neurotically yours,


Uzume.

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Constant and intempestive double clicking

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