Mouse Trackpad Cursor Issues

My cursor will randomly go ape for no apparent reasons. I used to only occur when I played starcraft II and used an external mouse connected via IR, however recently it has been occurring sporadically. I have reset my PMU and PRAM once before and that temporarily fixed it. I don't know what's causing the issue.
Also of note, if i boot into my windows partition it will still happen. It happens moreso in OS X, though.
Thanks,
Chad

Similar Messages

Trackpad, Cursor issues

MacBook Pro circa 12/2009 - 13"
Just started.... only left side of trackpad clicks - when I type in documents and email the cursor moves .. For example if I try to type "the dog eat the cat" --- it will come out differently each time but something like " he god act the"
Also when I try to move the cursor to cut and paste - it picks up everything off the page
when try to scroll down a page it - copies everything
alread reset PRAM
advice needed - trying to get this message was a great feat
thank ouy

Hi, I believe I'm having the same problem as you, Zaby, with the jumpy keyboard / letters / unexpected insertion points. Creating any document on my 2008 MacBook, including in email, I'll be typing and after a dozen or so keystrokes, the letters randomly fly to a line somewhere above and the sentence continues there. Sometimes this overwrites previous sentences (argh!) and sometimes things are suddenly highlighted and overwritten, gone! Spontaneous combustion. (Apple Z restores but it's a horrendously frustrating process.) Then I have to go to the lines above and drag the middle of the sentence back to where it started. And repeat.
There's no discernable pattern. I tried making the lines very short because it happens somewhere into a line but this doesn't always work due to the randomness. Maddening!
My thumbs stay off the trackpad.
When I brought this problem to the Genius Bar, they pointed out that I had a "Crackpad" (which I had figured was normal wear and tear) and told me there's a quiet recall of the cracked keyboard/mouse/trackpad part. They said this could fix the problem. If not, the next step would be repairs to some cable beneath the keyboard costing $500 -- some kind of shorting between the trackpad, cursor and keys type deal.
So the top of the MacBook was made new again (which also fixed my "white key syndrome").
Problem with insertion points persists... up to now?
I've been reading the Forums for about an hour to find suggested solutions to this issue not costing $500. The problem is not so well documented (that's why I'm going into great detail). Aside from reinstalling SMS (?) and PRAM there was no consensus on why this happens or how to fix it. HOWEVER I just followed a suggestion to go into System Preferences and click "ignore random input" in the Trackpad section. I also slowed down the keystroke rate and the repeat rate in the Keyboard preference.
Suddenly I'm able to type this at my normal speed without the flying letters! I know this doesn't work for everyone and I'm quite skeptical that this will last more than an hour. But if the fix was that easy I'll be thrilled.
cheers

Mouse & Trackpad cursor not showing up after sleep (MBP)

This is happening more consistently and its getting frustrating. When waking my MacBook Pro from sleep, the cursor doesn't appear. I can tell its moving around, but no cursor is visible. Unplugging and replugging the mouse in doesn't help on either USB port. Force-quiting the finder doesn't work either.
Anyone experiencing this? I searched a bit, but didn't see a similar issue listed, although there seem to be plenty of other waking issues.
Thanks,
Matt

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Unfortunately I am at work right now and can't try any of them yet. Here is some more info about my system. I am anxious to get home and try to resolve this issue.
I recently bought this system used. The previous owner stated there were no problems with it. As soon as I received it, I upgraded to 10.5.2, so I don't know if it was doing this before then. I do have an external hard drive attached via FireWire (not USB). The only other things attached to this system is the monitor, keyboard/mouse and a printer.
Any other tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for the insight!

Mouse cursor issues (changes back to arrow)

I keep having this annoying issue with the cursor of my mouse. It works just fine for a while, but after few hours (usually working with PS, Illustrator etc.) there is this thing happening - if I want to resize a window, an Illustrator object, or if I move the cursor over a hyperlink - cursor changes from an arrow to a hand or whatever desired sign - but just for a second and goes back to arrow! It is highly annoying. :/
Idk the source of this problem, but I might add that I once installed a patch for Yosemite, which changes Helvetica system font for Lucida Grande. I uninstalled it though...
I use the latest MacBook Pro 13-inch with Yosemite.
Many thanks.

Same problem.
My setup:
MBP running OS X 10.9
Apple TV running 6.0 (6646.65)
Samsung HD TV
It's only happening when I have mirroring turned on (not extended desktop), and when I have the mirrored resolution set to match the TV. The TV has a larger viewing area than my Macbook Pro. My MBP screen resolution is set to "Scaled: Best for retina"
This started happening after the update to Mavericks.
EDIT:
This solved it for me: I had Air Display running in the background, and the new version of Air Display automatically tries to connect to devices when it's running. My iPad is out, and I think Air Display might have been trying to connect to it. I quit Air Display and the cursor issue is gone.
Message was edited by: brassknucklenerd

My mouse/trackpad are completely out of control. The cursor/arrow is flying all over the screen and closing/opening windows. What is the solution to this? Downloading windows for Mac?

So far I'm dissapointed with Mac O/S .....so many areas lack common sense, require unnessary extra clicks and is not as customizable as Windows. It's like Apple thinks you are a child and not entitled to choose for yourself so that they can control your info for you.
The mouse/trackpad problem is a major issue that Apple should be proactive in offering a solution for. If anyone has a solution to this I'd be greateful to hear it.
Thanks,

Is this the first time you're using a Mac?
If so the learning curve is somewhat steep - but, if you put in the time and use this knowledge base whenever you run into issues you'll be up to speed soon enough.
With regards to the trackpad/mouse, you can adjust the sensitivity by:
1. Click the Apple Logo on the top left hard corner of your screen
2. Click System Preferences
3. Click Trackpad
Adjust the tracking speed to your specifications.
Also familiarise yourself with the gestures (activate the ones you can remember)
To go back to the menue by clicking Show All
4. Click Mouse
Adjust your mouse settings to your specification.
And why use mac?
It just works...
(most of the time ;p)

Mouse, trackpad or what else to optimal control for Logic ?

mouse, trackpad or what else to optimal control for Logic ?
give precise models if you have suggestions ty

skanner21 wrote:
i just talk to an apple store guy who told me magickpad was a pain in the *** and very tiring comparing mouse dealing with logic and other audio editors.... ?? so hes stupid ? how can you explain this opposite opinion please ?
I don't know if that guy at the Apple store is stupid because frankly, I don't know him.
But seriously, if he can work better with a mouse then he should use one. I'm sure there are still some people out there who don't like to send email and type a letter with a typewriter then put that piece of paper into another piece of paper (envelope), carry that to the post office which puts those pieces of papers from one truck to another to finally get it to their destination. You get the idea.
The bigger issue is that people don't realize that they get accustomed to a device that is a a compromise to begin with, the mouse. Just think about it what it takes to scroll down in a window on your screen.
In perfect world: You would take your hand and scroll down the window (or tell the computer the command)
Instead, you take your hand, grab a thing (A) that has nothing to do with the window. Now you move that thing A and you see that it corresponds to another thing (B) on the screen, the cursor. No you have to move that second thing on to a third thing ( C), the scrollbar. And now, instead of moving down the scrollbar, you have to move it up in order to move the actual page down. How many un-intuitive (or counter-intuitive) steps does the brain have to learn and process? This is insane.
People are used to it and they don't question it as long as there is no better solution.
Instead of moving a thing that moves a thing that moves another thing. You just move THE thing. The original solution is touch the thing that you want to move. That's why kids use the iPad or iPhone with no problem. It is intuitive and you don't have to learn a compromise. The Trackpad is at least half way there.
Remember when Apple changed the direction of the scroll bar recently. Another great example, where people get p**** when something get easier but they want to keep their old way "moving something up in order to move something down".
I don't say that the Trackpad is perfect (it has other issues) and yes it requires some "un-learning" of old habits. It is still a compromise. My first computer was a Commodore64 about 25 years ago and I used mice all those years but I didn't' have a problem dropping that "thing" in a second.

Magic Trackpad Cursor Jumps or Moves Without the Trackpad Being Touched

Magic Trackpad Cursor Jumps or Moves Without the Trackpad Being Touched.
Try turning off your Bluetooth mouse or other nearby devices, especially if you find the cursor on your screen jumps or moves without the trackpad being touched. The cursor may also act strangely when the trackpad is touched.
The closest I found to a solution was in an old support article from March 2009 (TS1449), but it was through pure luck and MacGuyverism that I figured out my wireless Mighty Mouse was still on, nearby and thought it might be interfering with the signal to/from the Magic Trackpad. Sure enough. Turned it off and the problem instantly went away! Turned it on and the problem came back. Not sure if more distance would make a difference, but I saw no need for both on my desk anyway.
Message was edited by: MadEffinDog

I have the same issue, but my mouse is turned off. I put the pad off to the side just to make sure. I just tried removing my mouse from the Bluetooth preferences. I've never had trouble with the mouse jumping before, but I do with the Magic Trackpad.

Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse/Trackpad won't automatically connect after installing Boot Camp

Hey guys!
Another peculiar thing happened to me today with my 3-week-old maxed-out 2012 iMac (other than it kernel panicking when I powered it down the other day...did I mention this was 3 weeks old?).
After installing Boot Camp which I will never do again, my iMac (on the OS X side) no longer recognizes my stock Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse automatically, until I press a button on the keyboard and wait 5 seconds, click the trackpad and wait 5 seconds, or click the mouse and wait 5 seconds.
(The Windows 8 Boot Camp side pairs with the devices immediately after Windows boots, which leads me to believe that the bluetooth devices are defaulting to look for Windows.)
One of my huge fears I had when considering purchasing an iMac is that the Bluetooth devices wouldn't immediately connect. Being a power-user with former Mac notebooks and working understandably fast having owned a web development company for 8 years now and not having to worry about Bluetooth device pairing, I'd like to think this fear is substantiated. But after first use (before installing Windows 8 with Boot Camp Assistant) it functioned normally and the iMac would automatically discover my peripherals and connect them by the time time computer turned on. I also had no trouble holding the Option key on boot to select a boot device....
Now, ever since I set up Windows 8 on the Boot Camp partition and paired the keyboard/mouse/trackpad to Windows, the Mac side completely ignores the keyboard/mouse/trackpad until I click a button on each.
I'm trying to keep it together but this is raging me out.
I went into Windows, immediately unpaired the 3 peripherals from windows and now use a wired keyboard/mouse with Windows (yay, desk space!), deleted the items entirely from the bluetooth panel, then booted to Mac and did the same thing. I then re-paired the devices to the OS X side andddd...no go! Still doesn't find them automatically. I am extremely upset by this and can't seem to fix it.
To summarize, my two issues are:
A. The iMac in OS X does not automatically recognize my bluetooth peripherals until I click a button on each and wait a couple seconds for them to pair.
B. I cannot hold Option to select a boot device (or choose Windows/Mac for example) because the computer doesn't recognize the keyboard until OS X boots and I press a key.
Please...for the love of god...someone help me, and stop me from formatting my entire computer over this issue.

I don't have a logitech mouse, but is it possible that the mouse is going to sleep during the reboot, and is thus unavailable when the OS is looking for it?

Mouse/Trackpad/Trackpoint acceleration: How to get it right?

I fail to get the acceleration for my mouse, trackpad and trackpoint right. It seems like having 100 interdependent knobs and trying to find some secret combination of values.
I decided to use xset and xinput. For example:
xset m 5 1
xinput --set-prop 'device1' 'Device Accel Profile' 2 # Polynomial
xinput --set-prop 'device1' 'Device Accel Constant Deceleration' 3
xinput --set-prop 'device1' 'Device Accel Adaptive Deceleration' 2
xinput --set-prop 'device1' 'Device Accel Velocity Scaling' 5
... 'device2' ...
... 'device3' ...
After having tried a bazillion of different values in different combinations, I'd be extremely glad to receive a KISS recipe on how to get it right.
Last edited by Markus00000 (2012-04-09 05:14:20)

Hi Hickrock,
1) Your material is 16 by 9 - drop a Compressor preset on there and it will recognise this and encode 16 by 9 which DVDSP will then recognise. Not sure how you got 4 by 3 in there unless you manually changed it to this.
2) Get a bitrate calculator (Google it) and calculate the maximum allowable bitrate - depends on length and type of audio. I generally never use CBR and haven't noticed the difference.
3) I usually get flickering on photos and graphics which I overcome with gaussian blur. Your flickering might be something to do with fields - try setting field dominance in Compressor to none rather than auto. Also switch on Frame Controls.
This was just a fairly quick answer, there is more to it and I'm sure others will chime in.
I personally have been having issues with Compressor - very good quality but occasional odd pixellation. The only reliable solution I have found, and it has been much discussed on this forum, is to use the Cinemacraft MP plugin.
Good luck

Different cursor issue in CS4 and Window7 x64 Ultimate....

My first post, as I am frustrated and looking for help. I am seeing three ghostly cursors (pointing hands or fists), when I mouse-over some choices in PS4 (11.01, the latest version); like the selections at the bottom of channels or when "transform" is active.
I have built a few PCs and have been doing computers since the early 80's. This is pissing me off! I've tried everything and done a lot of research.
I have Windows7, 64 bit Ultimate, with the latest updates. I have a almost new MSI (Nvidia), 9800 GT graphics card and fancy dual monitors. Photoshop PS4 (version 11.01), and... what else? A PC that was not giving me issues (in Photoshop), till I loaded Windows7!
I tried installing the latest Nvidia driver, 196.21, many times. The last time I saved the files in the nvidia folder in the program files area. The last time it took longer and my screen flashed and it said it was installed (but it always says it is installed), and after that no change in the Windows driver specifications. It still says I have the old Nvidia driver, "8.17.11.9621" What the hell kind of number is that?
I cannot get the 196.21 driver to install. Windows says I have the latest.
Now, I have read about people with partial cursor issues in PS, but nobody with my problem. Such a pisser that you don't know if it is Nvidia, Windows7 or Photoshop.
Lastly, I tried turning off "Enable OpenGL drawing".

The 3 cursor problem could by this advice supplied recently by dec9. "You have your computer Display settings set higher then 100 DPI. Change it to 100 percent or lower." That worked for the other poster.
I have seen posts that stated user had to go in and "scrub" out the old drivers as an update was just not overwriting the old one completely. Not a computer geek so hope this helps.

Bluetooth mouse/trackpad sometimes lagging

I've been using my Apple Wireless Keyboard and Trackpad for as long as I've had my 15" Retina Display MBP, and they've worked great. Just in the last few days I've been experiencing brief lags with both keyboard and trackpad. I'll be typing along, and suddenly characters aren't appearing on the screen. Several seconds later, they pop on, and I can keep typing.
I haven't changed a thing on my system that I can think of to have caused this. I've changed batteries and it still happens.
Any ideas what could suddenly be causing this?

Please use Apple Troubleshooting wireless mouse and keyboard issues located at http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3048

Cursor issues in Word and Outlook after Adobe 9 pro trial download - any advice - really annoying!

Hi, have downloaded Adobe Professional 9 as a trial and am looking to buy it (work with a charity). Did use Foxit phantom Pro and had no issues much considering its a cheap copy, but had to change to adobe so it was compatible with a colleagues system.
So heres what happens, i can now only navigate in a word document using the cursor arrows on my PC, can not click with a mouse in a document to change location or use the scroll on the RHS of the screen, can only scroll down with the cursor keys. Same issue in Outlook documents.
Getting very annoying!
can also only highlight text for copy and paste using arrows and shift - not mouse click hold. have to then cut and paste using edit not RH mouse click.
I run windows vista home and office version 2003,
help or i'll have to go back to foxit!
thanks,
Georgie.

Hi and thank you!
I had a trial of Adobe a year ago, maybe more. It did the same thing then i remember. Then i bought the Foxit subscription and completely got rid of adobe and the cursor issue went away. I am 100% sure it was the Adobe download that did it.
G.

My trackpad cursor freezes on my imac

Since downloading Maverick the trackpad cursor freezes periodically. Does anyone know how to fix it?

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.
Isolating an issue by using another user account
If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.
Safe Mode
Safe Mode - About
Trying running this program and then copy and paste the output in a reply. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read.
Etrecheck – System Information

Trackpad + CD issues. Help greatly appreciated.

Hi.
I'm having two major issues with my iBook:
1)
The mouse trackpad freezes after a certain time of use. The only thing that helps is restarting the computer, after which the mouse gets progressively worse untill it freezes completely again. This takes about 30 min. each time.
Everything else is working fine, including keyboard shortcuts. It's just the mouse that stops working (and that includes the button to, btw).
I've tried resetting the PMU , but that didn't help. Eventually I deleted my entire computer, and reinstalled the system. Didn't help either. I noticed the problem was still there even when I booted from the install CD.
2)
I'm having problems reading burnt CD's. Even CD's that I just burnt on my own computer, and that are supposed to be fine.
They'll ususally work for the first couple of times after burning, but eventually if I try to insert it, my computer tells me that the disc I inserted is empty(!). But they're definetely not empty, you can see it clearly on the back of the CD to. This is a problem that has always been there, more or less, but I've gotten to a point where I'm really fed up with it. In general the CD/DVD station is really sluggish. Makes a lot of noice to.
DVD's work fine, normal CD's (not burnt) work fine. Burnt CD's usually don't.
Sometimes it helps trying to insert the CD a number of times.
Help appreciated.

Thanks to both Ronda and Barry for replying.
Good news first:
As for the CD-issue, I followed the instructions provided on another thread:
hey all you are not going to believe this. I turned the ibook upside down with the drive open and there is a small metal disk all i did was clean this with alcohol and cottton. Fixed it must be some sort of electrical or magnetic switch. i hope this helps
I can confirm that works. Been with this problem for almost 2 months on my Toshiba combo drive, and tried everything (hardware and software) but cleaning the little metal contact made the problem go away. It seems like it is an electrical connection that fails when dirty.
All you have to do is open the tray, and look for a little circular metal contact near the center of the tray (in the opposite side of the tray from the one you put discs into, this is, the bottom side). Clean it with a soft cloth and you're all set! Insert a disc and it will play.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.68aa52cb
And it worked! As for now, my computer is recognizing the same CD's that it wouldn't right before I cleaned it. So I think that problem is gone now.
To Barry:
I was having bigger problems reading CD's burnt on other computers than for those burnt on my own. Those from my own computer would usually work for a couple of times (or untill the next time I restarted my computer). But who knows, maybe the solution above will work for you sons computer as well.
Now the mouse issue:
I haven't booted from OS 9, but I guess booting from a CD gives me the same info. And the problem was still there when I booted from the CD.
I also tried the instructions provided on another thread, but sadly it didn't work for me:
scott raymoure, "dead trackpad", 08:45pm Jun 5, 2005 CDT
But I still have a feeling it might be a software issue:
1) Rebooting the computer helps, after which the mouse works for about 30 min. Wouldn't this be more random if it was hardware?
2) It often happends just as I perform some kind of task on the computer. Eg, open another tab in Safari, open mail......basicly when I run several small processes at once. At least I think so, of course it could be my imagination.
3) After erasing my computer and installing everything again, the mouse issue actually got WORSE. If it was hardware, I suppose it would have stayed the same. But the issue is signigicantly worse now.
But one thing especially bothers me:
When I hit the computer to the left of the trackpad, it fixes the problem for a short while. I suppose this is consistent with a Logic Board Failure. But the problem is, I just had my Logic Board exchanged about 2 months ago. Could it be broken already now? If so, can I expect having to change the Locic Board six times per year?
Thanks again for replies to both of you, and good luck to Barry with the CD-issue.
P.S.
I bought the computer new almost 3 years ago and I do not have apple care protection plan.

HT203171 Trackpad/cursor erratic when MacBook Pro plugged in

I have had trackpad issues and have followed the advice of the community. For 3 weeks the Mac has been problem free. Today once agian the trackpad/cursor are acting on their own and it is now apparent that the issues happen only when the Mac is plugged in. I have a Apple AC adapter. Under battery power the trackpad is fine. Any ideas?

I had this problem when plugged in to a 3rd party power adapter but when plugged into my original apple one or on battery power seems to work just fine.

Mouse Trackpad Cursor Issues

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