Mouse Accuracy Problem

Question

Level 1

9 points

Mouse Accuracy Problem

I'm a graphic designer and have been for 10 years. I've used both PCs and Macs. Recently my department switched from PCs to the new G5s running OS 10.4.7 Dual Core, 2.3GHz 2.5 gig RAM, so now we use both.

My last Mac was running OS9 and the PC is running XP.

After plugging in this beautiful new expensive machine the very first thing I noticed was how horrible the mouse felt. It was like the cursor was stuck in mud! The lack of accuracy is making it impossible to work. I go home every night with my wrist hurting.

I've read several posts on many boards regarding this problem and I'm not alone. Those who have switched from a PC to a MAC notice it immediately since the PC mouse is so accurate. Those who have been on Mac for a while or don't need to accuracy of a designer seem to think I'm crazy.

I can't believe we've spent this much money on these nice machines for them to be almost unusable! What happened between OS9 and OSX to cause this problem?

I've tried the following to fix the issue:

MouseZoom
USB OverDrive
SteerMouse
iMouse Fix
Intellimouse Drivers
Logitech Drivers
Different Macs
Different USB Ports
Bluetooth Mice
Wireless Mice
and even the new $100 Logitech MX Revolution Mouse! NOTHING HELPS and several of those programs actually made to problem worse.

I've e-mailed Apple but received no response.

Please understand that I'm not talking about OSXs weird acceleration curve, where the cursor seems to slow down as you get close to the icon. iMouseFix solved that problem.

I'm also not talking about tracking or speed of the cursor. The default drivers in OSX for the mouse speed are fine for me. Several of those programs would allow me to change the acceleration at will.

I'm only talking about ACCURACY!

Here are several Message Board Posts I've found where people are having the same problem:

http://macosx.com/tech-support/mac-osx-mouse-lagacceleration-driving-me-upwall/6 620.html
http://macosx.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6972.html
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=456
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-155911.html
http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-456.html

If you read through those posts you'll see that I've tried every solution suggested.

Check out this illustration someone did to show how much the cursor jumps and it's lack of accuracy when compared to Linux.

http://www.toastyx.net/images/mouse.html

Does anyone have any other ideas? Am I all alone in this. Maybe if enough of us write Apple we'll have some effect and they can fix the problem in Leopard.

Please help, I just want my Mac Mouse to feel like my PC Mouse.

Dual 2.3 G5 - 2.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Sep 15, 2006 3:22 PM

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Answer 1

Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Sep 16, 2006 10:59 AM in response to Carson4k

Hi, Carson.

You wrote:

"If you read through those posts you'll see that I've tried every solution suggested."

No one has time to read through all that to identify the steps you have tried that are omitted from your list. 😉

The one thing that is missing from the steps you've outlined is the surface on which you are using the mouse. Did you get a new desk or make other changes to the surface on which you use the mouse with your new Mac?

The color, texture, or pattern of the surface on which an optical mouse is used can sometimes affect accuracy as well as cause tracking anomalies. Have you tried using the mouse on a plain, white piece of paper?

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Answer 2

Sep 16, 2006 1:28 PM in response to Carson4k

The real problem is that the OSX Mouse Preferences do not allow adequate tracking speed settings for certain mouses. What you see is a slider from slow to fast with 9 increments. The slider works well with some mouses and fails with others, depending on the tracking hardware. On those mouses, any settings above the second increment is drastically too fast while any setting below is much too slow.

The solution is to open the file ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist and edit the value for com.apple.mouse.scaling to about .008. To do this download the application Property List Editor from http://Gnarlodious.com/Apple/PropertyListEditor.dmg and open the .plist file in question. Quit System Preferences first, and find the key for mouse.scaling and set the value to .008. Your particular mouse may take some adjustment. Relogin to activate the new settings. Remember if you ever use the prefpanel slider it will overwrite your custom settings.

I will try to write an applescript to do the job without Plist Editor, if I succeed I will post a link here to the script.

In addition to that, there is a Mouse Accelleration setting which adjusts the differential between fast and slow mouse motion. I don't believe Windows has such a setting and it's worth playing with.

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Answer 3

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Sep 16, 2006 5:55 PM in response to Incontrovertible

Incontrovertible --
I very much hesitate to speak for the Doc.
He knows volumes more than I can even imagine.
I thought his point was extremely well taken.
It's very easy to overlook the basics . . .

If the OP has used many different mouses (mice?)
with the same results, then his mousepad, if it has decorations
or patterns on it, may in fact be the cause of his problems.

Using a very plain piece of white paper will in fact
tell the user if his/her mousepad is a problem.
If it works on paper, then it's the mousepad.

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Answer 4

Sep 16, 2006 5:19 PM in response to Dr. Smoke

@Dr. Smoke: True that, I use a Razer eXactMat Gaming Surface with Control/Speed sides and a gel rest. A mouse can only do so much on a normal pad, having a surface such as mine drastically increases accuracy.

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Answer 5

Sep 15, 2006 3:44 PM in response to Carson4k

I see no difference in mouse movements from OS X to XP using a variety of mice including Apple Pro, Mighty Mouse, stock M$, MX500 and G7 mice. But then again I'm just a FPS gamer, what would I know about accuracy?

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Answer 6

Carson4k Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 19, 2006 7:56 AM in response to Gnarlodious

Thanks Gnarlodious! I'll give that a shot. Thats the first suggestions I've had of that type.

I'm not much or a programmer, but I'll give it a shot.

As for the type of surface...Well guys, I've tried 3 different mouse pads of 3 different types, Plain white paper, the plain grey desk, nothing works. This problem is with OSX not the surface of my desk or mouse pad.

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