Haunted MouseWheel?

[Dave Sell]

OK I have 2 Microsoft mice, different models. Each has 2 buttons and a mousewheel. One I use at work, the other at home. They both exhibit the same wierdness: the mousewheels are both haunted.

Evey once in a while, maybe like 5-10 times/day, the mouse wheel will just kick in as if I nudged it up or down. I think its mostly down, but I haven't really kept track of this.

The thing that's wierd is it seems to be both my mice... Can I really be that unlucky?

Anyone else have this issue? It can be quite frustrating. It affect every kind of app I use, even if playing a game.

[LaVolpe]

Yeah, mine will scroll from right to left; always in that direction. So not related to the wheel, but haunted nonetheless.

I used to try to grab the mouse and shake it a bit. Sometimes it would stop other time's it would just continue. Now I just let it do its thing.

Glad it just moves; if it was clicking on its own -- exorcism.

Edited: Note that the only mouse I have this problem with is one that is connected to a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch box. Changing the ports on the KVM has no effect; mouse still wanders every now and again.

[mendhak]

Are you using an optical mouse on a woodgrained table?

[kleinma]

Yeah, if you use an optical mouse on a woodgrained table, it totally screws up the mouse wheel scrolling

[Dave Sell]

Are you using an optical mouse on a woodgrained table?

Never. Always wired, and on a mousepad of some sort.

I should add: The mouse can be completely idle just sitting there and this can still happen.

[Dave Sell]

Yeah, if you use an optical mouse on a woodgrained table, it totally screws up the mouse wheel scrolling

[Dave Sell]

Edited: Note that the only mouse I have this problem with is one that is connected to a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch box. Changing the ports on the KVM has no effect; mouse still wanders every now and again.

The one at work plugs directly into my laptop. The one at home plugs into a USB-KVM. By the way I hate my USB KVM. It's haunted too Maybe it should be it's own post...

[kleinma]

I am assuming these are the types of mice that have a click to the wheel? Can you tell if those clicks are starting to get worn away? I have had mice where the clicks in the wheel would give up, and sometimes when you would scroll the wheel it wouldn't sit quite right, and then would slide back to the previous click, and that would cause a scroll to happen.

Not sure why you would see this on 2 machines with 2 different mice unless it has something to do with how you use them causing the same issue.

[Dave Sell]

I am assuming these are the types of mice that have a click to the wheel? Can you tell if those clicks are starting to get worn away? I have had mice where the clicks in the wheel would give up, and sometimes when you would scroll the wheel it wouldn't sit quite right, and then would slide back to the previous click, and that would cause a scroll to happen.

Not sure why you would see this on 2 machines with 2 different mice unless it has something to do with how you use them causing the same issue.

Like many years ago I used to rely heavily on the mouswheel click feature; I had it mapped to double-click in control panel and oh that was so sweet.

I dunno exactly when/why but I stopped using that completely many years ago. So, no, I don't know if it's worn out, but I never ever click the middle wheel on these mice. The only time that happens is if I accidently click it while scrolling, which can happen but it's a really rare occurence.

I really think this is hardware related which makes me wonder if I can really get that unlucky, or if this is a common problem.

[kleinma]

Sorry, when I said click, I didnt mean clicking the button in as in a mouse click, I meant the click of the wheel as you spin it up or down. Sort of like it is notched..

[Dave Sell]

Sorry, when I said click, I didnt mean clicking the button in as in a mouse click, I meant the click of the wheel as you spin it up or down. Sort of like it is notched..

OK I know exactly what you mean now. To answer: uh, maybe, but kinda doubtful but kinda possibly.

What I mean to say is the physical large plastic donut thingys do not seem to move at all, physically.

That is to say that there may be another physical phenomenon at work, directly related to the donut. I have not dissected these mice, but perhaps the physical innerworkings of the mousewheel encoder unit may be fundamentally flawed. That's why I'm wondering if this is common.

BTW someone asked if they are optical mouse and I misunderstood to mean wireless.

Yes these are both optical mice, wired, with physical rubber mousewheels, and always on mousepads.

Also, I don't know for sure but I think this has been an issue for the entire lifespan of these mice. I have a 3rd similar mouse but I haven't really tried using it.

[bflosabre91]

this way Razer mice are the best. They aint haunted none.

[kleinma]

However it looks like they do not teach proper grammar, something my Logitech MX518 does well

[bflosabre91]

haha half of my grammer mistakes were on purpose, the other half, i have no idea what happened. ill leave it how it is and let everyone decide which was my stupidity and which was my attempt at being southern.

[LaVolpe]

haha half of my grammer mistakes were on purpose, the other half, i have no idea what happened. ill leave it how it is and let everyone decide which was my stupidity and which was my attempt at being southern.

Your fault, or a haunted keyboard

[5ms?]

I Have a wireless optical microsoft mouse, on a woodgrained table, it's gr..8, no probs.

[kleinma]

As is my woodgrained mouse on my wireless optical microsoft table. No problems there.

[Dave Sell]

I'm glad my wireless table doesn't jump up and down as if haunted.

[5ms?]

On this PC I have a wired optical dblue mouse, the mousepad is the bottom of a cd drive, it's gr..8 two, no probs.

[mendhak]

Did I miss something - you're describing the cursor moving about, which doesn't have much to do with the mouse wheel itself. Symptom of a haunted mouse wheel would be the page moving about.

Or do you folks not know how computers work?

[5ms?]

As is my woodgrained mouse on my wireless optical microsoft table. No problems there.

[Dave Sell]

Did I miss something - you're describing the cursor moving about, which doesn't have much to do with the mouse wheel itself. Symptom of a haunted mouse wheel would be the page moving about.

Or do you folks not know how computers work?

Ya, as the title states, it's a problem with the mouseWHEEL having the jitters.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Ok, what you are seeing is the built in Ouija functionality that has come with every version of MS since ME. Basically, computers became so fast, and operating systems became so powerful that it was beyond human capacity to maintain them. Therefore, starting with ME, MS enlisted the aid of a powerful, malevolent, spirit from the 4.5 level of hell (it's a couple steps up in the split-level ranch house layer of hell, and Apple had already retained the services of the demon from the wholesom 3.1415... level).

As you might expect, the demon behind ME was a bit confused about its role in an OS, which led to the constant abuse heaped on that OS. However, as time and versions progressed, the demon became more comfortable in its new home, and is now trying to reach out to you through the computer screen. If you were to build an app that displayed a keyboard on your screen, you would find the cursor floating from key to key until it had typed out the explicit instructions you would need to perform to unleash the uber powerful Market Share demon onto the land (you only need to worry if you happen to be a sheep farmer, as the demon is only interested in eating RAM).

If it isn't that, I don't have a clue.

[mendhak]

Ya, as the title states, it's a problem with the mouseWHEEL having the jitters.

[FunkyDexter]

I assumed this thread would be about exercise wheels for haunted mice.

[EntityX]

I have a mouse cage with a mouse and a mousewheel in the cage. The mousewheel spins by itself when the mouse is nowhere near it. Does that qualify as a haunted mousewheel?

ok. I admit funkydexter gave me the idea obviously.

[Lord Orwell]

i've had my page jump around like that but it's usually because of something else: Character jump from keyboard input. Sometimes a program steals the carat while i am typing and the next letter i type the document will jump to that letter i type. Gives the same results as a scroll down

[minitech]

Similar things happen on our school computers - the mouse will move to the left... sloooowly... without anyone near it.

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's because it is trying to get away. If you leave it long enough, it will reach the edge of the screen and disappear into the innards of the computer. You might notice a little lump moving down the video cable if you are using one of the older VGA cables.

[dilettante]

I've seen this very thing. The window or control can scroll down or up in a jump (by itself) or sometimes even jitter up and down until I finger the wheel.

I suspect it hangs on a detent in the wheel (the "notch/click" thingy) or else there's dirt in there of some sort.

This one is a wired USB optical Intellimouse Explorer.

[Dave Sell]

I've seen this very thing. The window or control can scroll down or up in a jump (by itself) or sometimes even jitter up and down until I finger the wheel.

I suspect it hangs on a detent in the wheel (the "notch/click" thingy) or else there's dirt in there of some sort.

This one is a wired USB optical Intellimouse Explorer.

I have ruled out the physical movement of the wheel notch. I have carefully noted the wheel does not need to move or click for this to occur. I have had the wheel actually move a notch on rare occasions, but the issue I am having is something else going on...

Also, I have the same issue on totally different mice on totally different PCs! It's like the problem follows me!

[Shaggy Hiker]

Perhaps you have dual peronality where the other half is psychokinetic.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

I think I've spotted the problem.



Broken USB port.

[Siddharth Rout]

Similar things happen on our school computers - the mouse will move to the left... sloooowly... without anyone near it.

Happened with me as well but I caught it in time....

[minitech]