Mouse ball inconsistency

Does anyone have a solution for a mouse ball that won't behave well? It is a wireless mouse, running on a MBP at 10.5.1. When the machine boots it works great. I can scroll up and down and left and right using the wee ball and all is fine, then, after an hour or so, I lose the ability to scroll DOWN. I can whirl it UP and the page goes UP, left and right also are fine, but no DOWN at all. It is particularly aggravating if I hold Option and twiddle it up, I have this configured to zoom in on the screen, and lo - I can no longer zoom out and must live with a twittery screen until I reboot.
Is this a mouse problem, should I go and buy another? Don't really want to do that unless I know for sure, I have had the mouse nearly two years so it is no spring chicken, but it works at start up.
Thanks - Lawrence

Try vigorously rubbing the mouse ball on your shirt/sweater/pant leg/whatever for 10 seconds. Works for me.

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I want to program my mighty mouse ball click button

How can I set up my Mighty Mouse ball button to open a URL in a new tab. I don't know how to write an Applescript to do this, or is there another way. Apple didn't make this an option in the system preferences.
Thanks for any help,
Jeff

Jeffrey Hughes1 wrote:
How can I set up my Mighty Mouse ball button to open a URL in a new tab. I don't know how to write an Applescript to do this, or is there another way. Apple didn't make this an option in the system preferences.
Thanks for any help,
Jeff
Welcome to the Apple boards:
Since there are millions of possibilities, and everyone wants a button to do their favorite action, you should learn to write or modify an apple script and customize your mouse yourself. It's educational and fun.
If you select "Other" for the button action, you will be in the script folder, which is where Apple wants you to be. If you look, you will see thousands of actions you can assign to your button.
If you open one of these scripts manually (they are in the system library folder) and read it you will see how easy it is to modify or create one.
All you are looking for is to assign the key combination "Apple-T" to the button, correct?
You can also create a script with Automator which is even simpler. And just as much fun.
Message was edited by: nerowolfe

I am on v6.0.2 with a Vista O/S, why can I not scroll the Web page with my mouse ball?

I am on the latest version of Firefox and I run Vista OS on my desktop. Why does the mouse ball function for scrolling not work with Firefox?

Hello jaybearden,
Thanks for the question. After reviewing your post, it sounds like you are not able to restore the iOS device since you get an error 9. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.
Resolve iOS update and restore errors - Apple Support
Check your security software
Related errors: 2, 4, 6, 9, 1000, 1611, 9006. Sometimes security software can prevent your device from communicating with either the Apple update server or with your device.
Check your security software and settings to make sure that they aren't preventing a connection to the Apple servers.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

Blackberry Mouse ball

I've had my Curve 8330 since August 2009. The mouse ball stopped working when I move it in the down direction. It works fine going up, left or right, just not down. It did this a few months ago, then miraculously started working again. This time, it started working again for about 20 minutes, and stopped again. I have pulled out the battery and put it back in to do a complete reboot, but to no avail. 2 questions:
Is there any way to fix this?
Will warranty cover this?
JW
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi there,
There may be a relatively easy way to fix this. Chances are that the trackball has simply gotten dirty over time and is now no longer responding. One way to fix this may be to clean the trackball. To do this, remove the battery from your device, and grab a Q-Tip (or other cotton swab) and moisten with rubbing alcohol. Using the cotton swab, clean the surface of the trackball and then rotate the trackball to clean the next section. Continue doing this until the trackball moves smoothly in all directions. Please note, to avoid any problems with moisture, avoid soaking the cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and allowing the alcohol to seep into the device - once you pull it out of the rubbing alcohol, simply dab it along the edge to remove excess drips first.
Once that is done, simply reinsert the battery and wait for the device to reboot. Does that help?
If not, then it may be a problem with the sensors under the trackball, in which case a repair will likely be required.
Now then, if your device is still under warranty (e.g. if you purchased an extended warranty with your phone), your warranty will indeed cover this. In this case, you can simply contact your carrier or the location that sold you your device to inquire about a warranty repair/replacement.
I hope this info helps!
If you want to thank someone for their comment, do so by clicking the Thumbs Up icon.
If your issue is resolved, don't forget to click the Solution button on the resolution!

Might Mouse ball trouble

The past couple of days, the tracking ball on my new Might Mouse only funtions fully 50% of the time. By that I mean that it can scroll up, left, and right, but not down. I've tried different USB ports, and the mouse ball just won't scroll down. Does anyone else have this problem? Surely I can get a new MM if needed right?

Use the instructions in this article to clean the mouse.
(16105)

Mouse ball broken

The ball on my mouse will only roll up. I cant scroll down on pages anymore. Im guessing i just need to get a new mouse although i just got this computer. Any tips?

Hello,
You're ball may need cleaning.
This is a common problem with ball-type controllers.
The oils from your fingers get on the ball, and transfer to the mechanism.
I used to have this problem with the "track-ball" controllers. That's why I switched to mice.
The balls would get slicked-up and require cleaning frequently. So, I switched back to mice which required less frequent cleaning. But, the Apple Mighty Mouse's scroll-ball has this same problem.
The cure is simple enough. I have a young daughter, and just grab one of her baby wipes (diaper wipes), and use the wipe between my finger and the scroll ball on the mighty mouse while scrolling in each direction several times.
After several turns, the ball will be clean, and the ball should regain it's functionality again.
A soft slightly damp (not very wet, but just lightly damp) wash-rag should also work fine. Don't use any harsh chemicals. I would recommend water (very little of it) or at the strongest maybe rubbing alcohol (again very little of it).
You only want to have the rag damp enough to wipe the oils from the ball. You don't want enough liquid to cause problems (such as dripping inside the mouse).
I do this every couple of weeks on my mighty mouse. I find that it is good for a couple weeks at a time. While I am at it, I also wipe down and clean the bottom of the mouse (where the gliding surface is). This removes dirt from the sliding rails and edges that cause the mouse to drag a little as you move it around.
Let us know if this fixes the problem for you.
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.

Apple mouse ball non-functional

Is there a way to disassemble Apple Mouse to clean out the roller ball? Tried rolling it on cloth many times but no longer works.

I have a later USB Apple mouse, and the roller collects enough dust to become annoyingly non-functional in one direction or another within a period of 4-6 months. After the first time it happened, I realized that since the outer bezel was glued on, Apple did not intend for me to service the mouse, even though I knew exactly what was wrong. I took it in and the Apple Store gave me another one. The same thing happened again, but I am now nowhere near an Apple store, and the mouse is out of warranty anyway, so I fixed it myself. What a nightmare. Unlike the mouse shown in the video, the cables connecting one circuit board to the other are much shorter, and unplugging and re-plugging them is like trying to add mustard to a fully assembled ham sandwich without removing the bread.
In the good old days of user-serviceable mousies, all you had to do to clean the tracking ball and its contacts was turn a bezel 1/4 turn with your fingers and out popped the ball. Now of course since the Apple mouse uses a laser instead of a ball to track movement, that's no longer necessary. But the scrolling ball could easily be designed for simple removal. Having to break open a glued-together component and go through the virtual equivalent of micro surgery just to clean a ball and rollers (in a ridiculously complex assembly) that are just going to get dirty and start malfunctioning within months is absolutely ridiculous. The scroll wheel, being on top, will collect dust internally no matter how operating-room clean you keep your office.
This mouse is obviously designed to be non-user serviceable. And frankly, what computer service technician would go through all that hassle without charging you $50 (the cost of the mouse) anyway? So essentially the mouse has a tricky bit of built-in obsolescence that would force all but the most determined do-it-yourselfer to just go out and buy another one. I thank you for the video anyway, but this operation is not for the faint of heart, so I'm quite sure that very few people will actually try to clean their scroll wheel assembly, which is a shame and a waste.

Mighty Mouse Scroll Ball always breaks

Hi, I have a 2 month old iMac, and This has been a problem for about 6 weeks, but I haven't gotten around to posting it. My mighty mouse scroll ball breaks repeatedly and I have been fixing it, but it is a real pain. Don't suggest not using my mighty mouse, because I love and hate it, I love how it has multiple buttons, but hate how the scroll ball breaks all the time, can someone help me?

It just needs cleaning. Use a damp cotton rag and vigorously move it across the mouse ball. Do this for about 30 seconds. BTW, there are instructions in your owners manual about this. This is from page 63 of your Users Guide:
*Cleaning Your Mighty Mouse*
You may need to clean your mouse from time to time to remove dirt and dust that has
accumulated in the scroll ball area. Hold the mouse upside-down and roll the scroll ball
vigorously with the cloth that came with your iMac, or another clean, soft, lint-free
cloth, to help dislodge any particles that may interfere with proper scrolling.

Might Mouse Scroll Ball Problem

I have a wireless mighty mouse, and the ball sometimes the scroll ball stops working. Either I can't scroll down, or I can't scroll up. It seems to me there is gunk in the wheel, just like inside an old mouse with a mouse ball on the bottom.
Naturally, I want to clean out the gunk, but I can't figure out how to open then mouse to clean it. Is there some way to take out the ball, or open up the mouse to get the dirt and gunk off the wheels?
Thanks.

Actually, my mouse is still under warranty. I'm near Toronto, Canada, so we might have different warranty coverage up here. I believe mine's for a year. I just wanted to try to fix it on my own before taking it to the mac store (a half hour drive away) before giving up and returning the mouse to Apple.
I also watched the little video, and my mouse still was not performing to my satisfaction. After a few days, though, it seems to be fixing itself. It's still not perfect, but it's certainly better than it was. I guess having enough dirt free of the sensors lets the scroll ball dislodge any remaining debris. At the moment it seems to be almost totally back to normal.
Perhaps I just need to clean it regularly. I'm still a little frustrated that nobody seems to know how to take it apart. To me, the ability to open (and fix) a product just makes sense. I'll perform a simple cleaning/repair like that any day rather than bother taking it to the store.
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Mouse scroll ball only works downwards

The scroll ball on my mouse (which came with the computer) only works when scrolling downwards. It was OK yesterday. Any suggestions?

Cleaning the ball is temporary at best. Most of the time the problem is not only a dirty ball but dust and dirt on the sensor below the ball. This is what works for me every time:
Place a piece of clean white printer paper on your desk. Disconnect the mouse and turn upside down on the paper. Push down on the mouse so the ball compresses on the paper. Now virtuously move the mouse ball on the paper (fast, up and down, in circles for about a minute). You should see little bits on crud on the paper when finished.

I JUST INSTALLED MOUNTAIN LION, NOW THE SCROLL BALL ON MY MAGID MOUSE SCROLLS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAN IT DID BEFORE. I NOW HAVE TO ROLL THE BALL UP TO SCROLL DOWN

I JUST INSTALLED MOUNTAIN LION, NOW THE SCROLL BALL ON MY MAGIC MOUSE SCROLLS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAN IT DID BEFORE. I NOW HAVE TO ROLL THE BALL UP TO SCROLL DOWN.

If you go into System Preferences> Mouse. There is a box at the top of the screen that states Scroll direction: natural.
Be sure to uncheck the box after installing MOUNTAIN LION, then the mouse ball will scroll in uthe normal fashion.
Thanks for all the help...
TRAIN MAN

My wired Apple Magic Mouse is frozen and I am unable to move around on my Mini Mac. I receive a window saying the computer cannot locate a wireless mouse. How do I get my mouse to work again.

My Magic Mouse is frozen. How do I get it to work again? Also I keep getting a window that says it cannot locate my wireless mouse. I do not have a wireless mouse.

Got confused between your header question about a wired mouse and the main question about a wireless mouse. You said your magic mouse was frozen and added you do not have a wireless mouse. Problem is ... the magic mouse is wireless. The original mighty mouse was the corded version.
The wired mouse is a regular problem. After two to three years it tends to clog up. You can clean it (to a degree) as follows.
Using an alcohol moistened, not wet, cotton bud, scratch at the mouse ball for a minute or so. Then turn it upside down and on a clean piece of thick white paper or card on a firm surface, vigorously rub the mouse ball on the paper in a regular figure of eight. Do this for a minute or so and occasionally tap the mouse on the paper. This will help dislodge bits of fluff etc. Then try again

Undo bug, mouse pointer disappears?

Is just me or everyone has that annoying "undo" bug?
That's what happens: when I press UNDO speedgrade starts to behave strangely.
- If I press undo after clicking right mouse button (and I'm moving a color wheel with mouse) comes out a message "optimizing timeline" and timeline thumbnails are shown under the timeline. Sometimes there is a worst scenario: mouse pointer disappears and I have to quit SG and reopen to get my pointer back.
- Pressing ctrl-z without right mouse button clicked (outside wheel edit mode, or whatever it is called..) sometimes works, sometimes appears the annoying progress bar "optimizing timeline" and several steps of undo are taken, even if I pressed cmd+z just one time.
I use undo A LOT, and now I'm not confident using it because of this strange behavior (I'm on osx).
Are you experiencing the same problems?

You won't believe this but just cleaning a mouse can improve performance... read the following:
How to Clean a Mechanical Mouse
This article explains when and how you should clean a mechanical mouse. It does not apply to the the Apple Pro Mouse.
You should clean a mouse if it is does not track smoothly, or if it jumps or skips. A mouse contains a small ball that must roll smoothly for the mouse to work properly. You should keep this ball free of dirt and oil by using the mouse on a clean, lint-free surface, and cleaning it occasionally.
Use the following procedure to clean a mouse:
1. Turn off your computer.
2. Turn the mouse upside down and rotate the plastic ring on the bottom counterclockwise to release it.
3. Turn the mouse right side up with one hand and catch the ring and ball with your other hand.
4. Clean the three small rollers inside the mouse with a cotton swab moistened with water. Rotate the rollers to clean all around them. If there is a build-up of material on the rollers that the cotton swab does not remove, you can use your fingernail to gently remove the material.
5. Wash the mouse ball in soapy, warm water with a mild soap such as a dishwashing liquid if oil from your hands has collected on it. Be sure to dry the mouse ball thoroughly.
6. Gently blow into the mouse case to remove any accumulated dust.
7. Put the mouse ball back in the mouse case and replace the retaining ring.
If cleaning the mouse as described does not correct your issue, the mouse may need to be replaced. Have an Apple Authorized Service Provider check it for excessive wear or other failure.
If that doesn't do the trick, if this is a mouse that required 3rd party drivers, you might try reinstalling the drivers. Also, try going back to default Mouse preferences on all Users, see if makes a difference.
Carolyn

Mighty mouse has lost functions!!

Hi everyone, i havent been able to find warranty info on the corded mighty mouse that came with my machine... How long is the mouse and keyboard warranty? Well the main problem.. is that the side buttons.. (default to Expose) and the 3rd click when you just click the mouse by pushing the scroll ball makes the dashboard work.. well those two functions quit working, i reset pram.. mouse isnt dirty.. scroll wheel works fine and left and right click work. but no side buttons or button on mouse, i did find one strange thing. if im in safari... and i click down on the mouse ball.. like i want to make dashboard come up.. and start to move the mouse around the entire page moves. (kinda like a PC) any ideas??? Any help would be appreciated.. I am running leopard.. 10.5.1 I am under my year of warranty... can i just take the mouse in to my apple store and swap it out??

ok, i went into the apple store and they did replace my mouse with the newer non grey buttons on the side.. they are now white.. But it still didnt fix it.. Leopard was messed up, i did a fresh install of leopard and everything works fine.. I still wonder though... what got corrupted??

Mouse pointer disappears and makes strange movements

First: I'm afraid my English is not good enough (I speak Spanish).
So,
Sometimes the mouse pointer disappears but it's still able to click. It reappears when I do right click. Also, sometimes the pointer have a strange behavior, like crazy movements very fast. I just wait 10 second and it work fine again. I don't know if anyone here have this problems too.

You won't believe this but just cleaning a mouse can improve performance... read the following:
How to Clean a Mechanical Mouse
This article explains when and how you should clean a mechanical mouse. It does not apply to the the Apple Pro Mouse.
You should clean a mouse if it is does not track smoothly, or if it jumps or skips. A mouse contains a small ball that must roll smoothly for the mouse to work properly. You should keep this ball free of dirt and oil by using the mouse on a clean, lint-free surface, and cleaning it occasionally.
Use the following procedure to clean a mouse:
1. Turn off your computer.
2. Turn the mouse upside down and rotate the plastic ring on the bottom counterclockwise to release it.
3. Turn the mouse right side up with one hand and catch the ring and ball with your other hand.
4. Clean the three small rollers inside the mouse with a cotton swab moistened with water. Rotate the rollers to clean all around them. If there is a build-up of material on the rollers that the cotton swab does not remove, you can use your fingernail to gently remove the material.
5. Wash the mouse ball in soapy, warm water with a mild soap such as a dishwashing liquid if oil from your hands has collected on it. Be sure to dry the mouse ball thoroughly.
6. Gently blow into the mouse case to remove any accumulated dust.
7. Put the mouse ball back in the mouse case and replace the retaining ring.
If cleaning the mouse as described does not correct your issue, the mouse may need to be replaced. Have an Apple Authorized Service Provider check it for excessive wear or other failure.
If that doesn't do the trick, if this is a mouse that required 3rd party drivers, you might try reinstalling the drivers. Also, try going back to default Mouse preferences on all Users, see if makes a difference.
Carolyn

Mouse ball inconsistency

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