MBP behaving weird. Often mouse pointer goes erratic, then freezes...

After half a year usage, my MBP starts to behave strangely. The problem starts with mouse pointer gets erratic. That means, it does not respond to my finger stroke on the trackpad. When it does it moves really fast. Then the computer freezes and I have to force shut down. I still can't quite find the pattern of it. I often run cocktail clean up. I use disk warrior the graph the state of the hard drive and it shows 36% if items are out of order. Is this the main cause? I will try to rebuild directory with diskwarrior later. I only have about 8-9 gb of free space left on a 120gb HDD. I gave 32gb to windows partition. Would it be the culprit of the problem?
Could someone help? I really want my MBP back to the way it used to be - STABLE, FAST.

Could you explain more about what DW says about 36% of items out of order? And what does DU say about your SMART status? And what brand of hard drive do you have? I am beginning to wonder about the state of your hard drive. If you have directory problems that Disk Warrior cannot fix, then maybe that is why you can't create a bootable clone. And maybe there are problems with your hard drive that go beyond just the directory.
There is a little program cqlled S.M.A.R.T. Utility you can download and run several times for free that can tell you quite a bit about your hard drive if your drive is supported:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/32454
You might also try running the Apple Hardware Test and see if anything shows up in the form of an error code.
I assume that you have verified both permissions and the drive and have attempted to repair both. And that there is something that cannot be repaired. Is this right or have I misunderstood you?
If your problems are being caused by your hard drive going south, then that could happen with any computer, including a PC. I have heard about some Seagate models failing prematurely. Also some unfavorable comments about Hitachi drives. Check out what you can about the health of your hard drive and post back before going to the trouble of a format and reinstall.
Good luck!
Message was edited by: S.U.

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Mouse pointer going crazy

My mouse pointer started doing weird things about a month ago and I hope someone can help.
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Any ideas?

Hi macjack, thanks for the response.
I haven't tried another browser lately, but will do that. I should add that I had been using Camino for a while before the problem with the pointer started, so am a little doubtful that it's the browser. But...I could be wrong.
I'll give another browser a try and see how it goes.

Mouse pointer goes for itself

My mouse pointer will jump quickly to the corners of the display while working with it. I've made different adjustments to the mouse tracking speed to no evail. Does anyone have the answer? It is quite annoying when in the middle of a graphics project.

Hello,
While the problem is more related to the perception of the optics in the mouse, than it is the mouse pad; a good mouse pad will make a difference.
I have been using Optical mice for a couple of years now. And, the problem you point out has been consistent in all of them (various brands and models).
Apple's optical mice are very sensitive about changes in the texture of the surface they are on. Patterns need to be very consistent, and very regular.
The problem has to do with how sensitive your optical mouse is to changes in the surface that you are moving over. You will have your best results on Mouse Pads designed for optical mice.
I finally found a mouse pad that minimized the problem for me.
I was in Office Depot in the Seattle, Washington area, and noticed these excellent pads.
I am very particular about the Pads. I will not use a cloth pad, or anything with any thickness to it at all.
I don't like cloth pads because they get disgusting and nasty. Furthermore, I don't like pads that are thicker than a single sheet of fine paper. I find thick pads uncomfortable.
So, I had been specifically looking for a good mouse pad that was not only suitable for optical mice, but also extremely thin. I used to have a thin one, but it wasn't good for optical setups.
So, with all the above in mind, I set out looking for a new mouse pad for my optical mice.
I looked around my local area, and couldn't find anything suitable for optical mice that was also extremely thin.
So, while in Washington, I stopped by every store we passed that might have something suitable. Finally, Office Depot had it.
They are round mouse pads, as thin (or thinner) than a sheet of paper), and have a pattern that optical mice like.
They are called "WOW!PAD"
The company that makes them is at:
http://www.microthin.com
My pad is "Dots 007" if you look at the pictures on the page at:
http://www.microthin.com/prod_wowpaddesigns.htm
You can read more about the pads by going to the following page, and selecting the different options in the selection box:
http://www.microthin.com/prod_wowpad.htm
I've found that it almost completely eliminated the pointer problems on my Microsoft Mouse, and 100% eliminated the problems on both my Apple Pro mouse and Mighty Mouse.
My Apple mice don't jump around at all now. So, give that a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

Mouse pointer goes to corner

I've been having a problem with my USB apple mouse (not mighty) on my imac G5 where suddenly the pointer goes to one corner (not specific one) without doing anything in particular. I don't think is the surface, I've changed and made some test with different ones, Any ideas?

My cheapo basic Microsoft optical mouse did that on one of my Macs. Strangely, it did not do it on my other Mac, so I just switched the mice. It might just be a mechanical defect. Also, the older clear top USB Apple "Pro" mouse had a design weakness where the cable at the mouse body would start to fray inside from repeated bending. There might be a short circuit developing because of this issue. I fixed one of those using the instructions on the web. If you think that might be the problem (and it gets worse), take a look...
http://www.sewardweb.com/applepromouse/

Mouse pointer is erratic.

Hi folks.
I have a problem in Logic where the mouse pointer doesn't always show the correct icon for the underlying control, this can make simple tasks like selecting volume nodes, or mini notes difficult.
It's not a show stopper but I wonder if there is a way to fix the problem. I've had the problem since installing and through a couple of updates.
Macbook Pro
Logic 9
Everything is always updated to latest versions.
Cheers.

Thanks for the reply.
I usually work in full screen mode, but it happens in sized mode too. Is this more to do with the OS?
Cheers.

Mouse pointer moves but system freezes

I had this problem for the past 2 months.
What would happen, was that anything I tried to do by clicking mouse pointer would not work. Pointer would move, but that was it. If I hit ctrl/alt/del, then cancel, it would recover and work fine for a while.
Tried various solutions, uninstalled untilities etc etc, with no luck.
Finally realized what was different over past 2 months. I have been using Hotspot to share wifi connection. As soon as I turned that off, everything back to normal.
Hope this helps someone.

can't test it because I don't have xfce, but here is my xorg.conf for that intel card, keyboard+touchpad is handled by policykit.
$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Xorg Configured"
Screen "LVDS"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dri"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel GM965"
Driver "intel"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "LVDS"
Device "Intel GM965"
DefaultColorDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x800"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Works well with following packages.
local/intel-dri 7.4.1-1
Mesa DRI drivers for Intel chipsets
local/xf86-video-intel 2.6.3-4 (xorg-video-drivers)
X.org Intel i810/i830/i915/945G/G965+ video drivers
local/xorg-server 1.6.1-1 (xorg)
X.Org X servers
local/xorg-server-utils 7.4-5 (xorg)
X.Org utilities required by xorg-server
local/xorg-utils 7.4-4 (xorg)
Collection of client utilities used to query the X server

MBP behaving "weird", many symptoms- don't know the cure

Hello all and thanks for reading this.
Bought refurbished from Apple on 12/2007
15” MBP Santa Rosa
Mac OS X V 10.5.8
2.2 GHz Intel core 2 Duo
4 GB memory
Backing up 2 with Copy Carbon Cloner+ Time Machine to 2 OWC 1 TB Mercury Elite Pro "Classic" Quad Interface
I don’t know if the following info is relevant to solve the problem, but I surely hope so…
About 2 wks ago noticed some kind of noise inside for a while, it looked to me that it was coming from the HD (Fujitsu MHW2120BH, Available 28.92 GB), it was like some kind of rhythmic clicking noise. Went away after a while, back for a little while after about a week.
Then there were other "abnormalities", not all at the same time, so, whenever one of them occurred I either rebooted and it solved the problem, or it just stopped. Sometimes the computer was just sluggish and/or "delayed" (when typing/copying and pasting and so there was a short delay), other times the fan was overworking, others the memory was full too soon, windows, or part of them froze for a bit (or longer), the CPU was working very "hard", my computer is set up to wake up in the morning and lately instead of doing that, logging and start apps, it freezes at the “purple northern lights screen” (need to restart), and so. Since each of those can be acting like that while everything is OK, and then getting back to normal I wasn't worried, just monitoring.
At this moment, I am not running any "hungry/heavy" applications. I have Firefox with 2 windows open and about 20 tabs, none of them running videos or any other heavy graphics, Word, Excel each of them with 3-4 documents, none with heavy/consuming stuff, 1 Password and VMware with Windows XP and Palm Desktop running.
This "load" shouldn't be a problem usually.
Currently the CPU is working on: User around 57%, System 16%, Idle 37%, the fan is CONSTANTLY running on higher speed (both, L & R around 6000 RPM), Temps: HD 106F, CPU 202F) and memory: Wired around 800MB, Active 2.04GB, Inactive 376MB and Free 830MB.
I turned the computer off, let it cool for some hours and just turned it on again without any apps running except Word. Currently the CPU is working on: User around 1-4%, System around 2-4%, Idle around 92-97%, the fan is running at (both, L & R around 2000 RPM), Temps: HD 92F, CPU 102F and Memory: Wired around 450MB, Active 600GB, Inactive 70MB and Free 2.9GB.
Any direction I can take, any suggestions will be very appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Saul

Thank you all for the advice. I appreciate it!
"I would replace the hard drive, as most, if not all, the symptoms point to that."
Louie and BB, thanks. It's the first thing I thought. Since it started I started backing up twice a day instead of once a day and decided that if that is the problem I will let it die, unless all the other stuff around will be too much to put with.
Allan, thanks.
"Make certain that Activity Monitor's "Show" window reads "All Processes"
It does.
"Two big hitter are unneeded virus protection programs and third-party automated backup schemes. I don't find that Time Machine contributes to this mayhem."
No virus protection programs.
I do now twice a day backups. For the 1/2 hr. that it takes I quit Fire Fox and WMware (2 quite resources hungry apps) and for this 1/2 hr. or so the fan goes up, but when the bkp is done they get back to normal.
(Since I wrote this post the MBP went back to it's "quiet/nice" behavior)... (?!)
"...FireFox with all its bells/whistles seems more taxing than Safari or Camino"
I am sorry, but I don't succeed to get used to Safari (tried, but...). It may be something I "brought" with me from my PC-user-times.
"...physical arrangement of the computer and your usage patterns... The case bottom is part of the heat dissipation system and needs need air."
I indeed use it on my lap, but between my lap and the MBP there is a Lapinator Plus (using it for about 3 yrs and just LOVE it!!!)... .
In addition, I glued 4 (in each corner 1) 3/8" rubber spacers (come w/the Lapinator) AND in addition the back is resting on a 3/4" pad. So, there is plenty of air underneath (which, of course, doesn't mean that the MBP doesn't get hot from time to time (after all it IS a MBP)... .
If you also think that all the other stuff, beside the noise may be just part of the HD problem, then I will start relaxing. I am worried that when the time will come I will replace the HD and it won't solve the problems.
Should I start relaxing, or start worrying?...

Mouse pointer has gone mad on NB100

Started a download from the iTunes store, came back 30 minutes later to find my mouse pointer jumping erratically in a vertical direction. Had to disable the synaptics pointing device driver and plug in a USB mouse. After rebooting and restarting the mouse driver it appeared to work mostly correctly again until today where it's doing the same thing.
Has anybody else experienced this? I'm coming to the conclusion that the touchpad and keyboard on this device are just very poor indeed.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I uninstalled the Synaptic driver and installed the Microsoft one. Still does it, although it is intermittent. When it happens, if I tap the touchpad in the right place it stops. So, it does look like there is something wrong with my touchpad.
Once I back my HD up I am going to revert back to the original factory install. If it still does it then - and I'm fairly sure it will - I guess it's off to Toshiba to get repaired.
I wouldn't mind so much had it not been for the fact that the netbook has had very little use indeed - maybe as little as 100 hours in total as I tend to only use it when on holiday / visiting the parents.

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any suggestions?
thanks

Hi, ojnab -
A couple of other things to consider or try -
• According to Apple KBase Article #58649 - Apple Pro Keyboard: Devices Connected, the keyboard won't handle passing much power through. Try connecting the mouse to a USB port other than one on the keyboard.
• The Apple Pro mouses had a defect - the wires inside the cable can fray at the point the cable leaves the mouse body, causing random open and/or short circuits in the USB bus. One test for that is to use a different, known-good mouse - after restarting with that replacement in use, if the problem disappears the fault is probably with the original mouse.

Windows 8 Freezes after last "Lenovo Settings Update" anytime the pointer goes to a corner

After the most recent "Lenovo Settings Update", my Windows 8 freezes for a few minutes (minimum of two) anytime the pointer hits one of the hot corners. The system also freezes for a couple of minutes or less when certain apps are started or the mouse clicks on certain apps. This is a repeatable error. I can restore the system to the setpoint previous to the "Lenovo Settings Update" and everything works fine. re-Install the update and the problem comes back. The system also freezes for 5-10 seconds when an e-mail message comes in and the notification appears. Also happens under other different circumstances but the worst is when the mouse pointer goes to any "Hot Corner". I can reset the system to the last restore point and have everything work fine but anytime I go to "Lenovo Settings", it forces the update which then creates this problem.
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For now I will go back to the latest restore point but would like to see the issue resolved.
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I had the exact same issue with the same computer (Thinkpad Twist)! Am very happy to have come accross this page through a web search.
After installing some updates through Lenovo Update App (because of a message that critical updates are available on the Lenovo Support App from Startscreen), my whole system would freeze for about two minutes when moving the cursor over any corner. This is very troublesome not only because it effectively disables the Windows 8 "hot corners" (which I didn't use much anyway, preferring to launch the tasks thus accessible differently), but mostly because it is necessary at times to access the corners, notably to close any document, webpage or other instance of any program that was open in full screen (which usually all of my docs/programs are, considering the Twist's small screensize...).
Afer reading rbagnall's post I first tried uninstalling updates through the Lenovo Update center. But there, once installed, updates don't seem to be removable. Why Lenovo? You can look at the list of installed updates but not make any change. Now I have followed rbagnall's advice and restored my computer with a restore point, sufficiently far back, as I didn't know exactly which update caused this. It worked! Not exactly pleasant, because I had to reinstall some programs and change some settings again, but the problem got resolved.
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For now I have uninstalled the Lenovo Support Startscreen App (which seems to be more annoying than helpful), and will refrain from updating any Lenovo drivers from now, which seems to do more harm than good (everything was working fine before the update)...

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I have my mouse pointer acting up for about 2 month now.
Iets start to say yes i do download movies alot and burn them or delet them onces im done with them.But my mouse pointer begain going nuts ie:
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HI,
It would be helpful if you could provide us with the following information:
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Which version of Labview are you using? I ask so that you can find the tools palette. In LV7.1 and older, it was under "Window" menu, with LV8.x, it is under "View" menu.
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Message Edited by JoeLabView on 01-11-2008 11:03 AM
Attachments:
toolsPalette.PNG ‏4 KB

Weird mouse pointer behaviour

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MBP behaving weird. Often mouse pointer goes erratic, then freezes...

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