How come my mouse occasionally doesn't work?

How come my mouse occasionally doesn't work?

If it is a mechanical mouse, it may need cleaning. Open up the bottom
panel by rotating it, and remove the mouse ball. Clean the mouse ball.
With a Q-tip, clean off any grime on the rotors inside the mouse.

However, if it is an optical mouse, read on:

Eugene Kramer points out that type 3 and type 4 optical
mouse pads only work in one orientation (long side in the width); if the
pad has been rotated, the mouse will only move in one axis, and will appear
to be broken. It may not be; just rotate the pad 90 degrees.

Alternatively, you may have an old mouse. martin@gea.hsr.it (Martin Achilli)
writes:

Sun optical mice P/N 370-1170-01 have two LEDs on the underside.
One is a normal red LED, the other is an infrared LED. Old mice
(4+ years) can have trouble tracking horizontal motion. Cleaning
the mouse pad with a solvent may improve things slightly but not
completely. I have replaced the red LED on the mouse PCB for eight
of my twelve optical mice and the problem has gone. All you need
to do is purchase a red LED of the type than focus the beam, NOT
the unfocused type that are normally found as indicator lights on
equipment. Open the mouse and remove the PCB by unplugging the
small black connector. Be careful with the two small spherical
lenses which can fall out and easily be lost. Mark the PCB and one
of the LED's leads to note the orientation, then desolder the LED
marked L1. Pull out the leads from above and pull the LED out of
the black plastic mounting. Be careful since the mounting is only
glued to the PCB. Check for polarity before inserting the new LED,
I noticed that for all the LEDs that I installed, the longer lead
must go into the PCB hole close to the letters L1. First fold the
LED leads like the ones of the one you are replacing, and then
insert it into the mounting, solder the leads and close the mouse.
After this, horizontal motion should be much smoother. Disclaimer:
I will not take any responsibility for any failure or damage
arising from the above procedure

Thanks to Martin Achilli .

Finally, the wire inside the mouse cable may be suffering from fatigue,
usually where the cable is attached to the mouse. If you turn the mouse
over, and wiggle the cable where it is attached to the mouse, and if you
see the visibly lit LED flickering while you do this, this is your problem.


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