Problems with (wired) Mighty Mouse...

[karlbenitez]

Hi fellow Mac-ers,
I just got a MacPro (OS 10.4.8) and it's been working great....except for my stupid Might Mouse!
A couple of things:
1-I am not a computer newbie (I knew a little something 'bout a little something), and though my Mac expertise is not as vast as Windows, I can still get my way around the OS pretty well.
2-This has nothing to do with the anti-Mighty Mouse people out there who are "having problems with the right click." I really don't see what the big issue was with not being able to hit the phantom buttons properly, but that's me...

THE PROBLEM:
Ever since I've had the mouse, the fourth (side) button it will, for seemingly no reason, click on it's own. When ever you squeeze Button 4 on the MM, you can actually hear a faint click, and my mouse is malfunctioning, I can actually hear a fast, machine gun like clicking sound coming from the mouse. Currently, my dashboard is set to Button 4, so this means that it is constantly zooming in and out on my screen (making it very difficult to get anything done). And I don't even have to be touching the mouse, it will start the fast clicking even if my hand is hovering over the MM (like the touch sensors are all going off at once or something...). I've tried getting a new mouse from Apple (same problem), and I've tried plugging it into different USB ports. It seems to be happening for absolutely no reason, with no sort of consistency....

If anyone has ANY insight, I would really appreciate it....

Thanks for the help,
-Karl

[mathius]

I have the same exact issue. Check this: the mouse works perfectly when plugged into my Powerbook, but when I plug the powerbook into the wall... BAM it acts up again. I think it has something to do with some sort of power interference???

[trevor]

The workaround (which is unsatisfying, but does indeed work around the problem) is simply to turn off button 4 in the System Preferences pane for the Mighty Mouse.

Trevor

[Raven]

Or if your still under warranty and have an Apple Store close, just drom by with the MM and your computer serial number to show them the issue. They should replace it with no questions asked.

[Jay Carr]

I wonder if this points to a broader issue though. Two computers with the same problem, and the only thing they have in common is that they are plugged into the wall? That sounds like a really serious issue, espcially if a power influx is affecting performance. If it's screwing with your MM, what else could it be screwing with? I think both of you should send a joing Email to an Apple Rep and explain what's going on. They need to know about this.

[dawsonj]

I had same problem and took mouse back and swapped for another and same problem.

I bought a new mouse and same problem.
I moved the computer upstairs and problem dissappeared.
I opened the blind one day and problem came back.
I took iMac back to original spot and TURNED the LIGHT OFF and problem dissappeared.

Whenever you are in a high light situation (upstairs under a window and downstairs was a halogen light bouncing off the wall) the problem is there.

The infra red or laser or whatever it is gets interference I suspect because the mouse does not seal against the table surface properly.

My local apple store had button four disabled on all machines and when I told them we tried turning off the big apple sign in the middle and the problem went away.

The might mouse has a design fault and I am surprise that so few people have discovered it.

[DigitalCarnivore]

I'm having a similar problem. Making the room low light (ie, trying it at night, with no lights on) did not help. I can hear the rapid fire clicking.

I just recently moved to a new place, when I moved I started having the problem. I replaced the mouse, but still had the problem. I also switched rooms. There is a radio tower near the new place, so I'm wondering if that could be it?

I not only get the fourth button (which I'ver turned off) clicking at random, but I also get where it thinks I'm left clicking and trying to multiple select things. It does this both in OS X and in windows XP (via boot camp).

It's very odd, and I'm not sure what to do next other than buy a conventional mouse.

[DigitalCarnivore]

It might be that the mouse isn't grounded properly:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=345970&tstart=0

A good test is to touch the base of your iMac or G5. That should stop the problem from happening if it's static.

[Stephen22]

Friends,
Buy yourself a microsoft mouse or a logitech mouse...wireless of course since the cord on a conventional mouse is way too long to plug into the Mac Keyboard usb port. I went through 3 weeks of torment, being run through the mill with Apple tech support, clearing pram, repairing permissions, isolating drivers of my printer and scanner in case there was a conflict between their drivers and the mighty mouse button 4. I even erased and reinstalled the operating system twice. I returned the whole Imac a few days after I bought it and got another one, I bought new extension USB cables, Norton Antivirus to check for viruses. There was something strange going on with the mouse button 4 and I didn't buy the story from the guy at the genius bar at the Apple Store that I was accidentally always pressing the sides of the mouse where buttons 4 are.

The problem was that whatever program was assigned to button 4 of MM popped on and off as I used the mouse. Dashboard was bad enough and expose was a killer with windows spreading out all over the place. The mouse occasionally went particularly crazy and even when button 4 was turned off, it made an annoying electrical sound.

Do you know what the problem is caused by? I certainly do. The side buttons (4) work by capacitance. What the brilliant designers of the mighty mouse didn't count on is that occasionally the user's body builds up an electric potential and as your hand touches the mighty mouse, the gismo inside is activated by static electricity flowing through your hand. Apple knows that the problem exists I am sure and they are keeping it quiet because it is a big flaw in the mighty mouse design. And its the only mouse they sell with thousands of Macs! When the button 4 really goes crazy, it can affect the function of the left click and freeze certain keys on your keyboard. The tab key on my keyboard didn't work in Quicken nor could I left click in one of the cells of that program until I rebooted.

Apple has known about this problem since 2005. It appears mainly on the intel based Imacs, etc. I feel that it almost approaches a breech of ethical conduct on Apple's part not to admit to their problem with the mighty mouse. The static electricity which travels through the user's body was an unforeseen unfortunate failing of a good invention by Apple. I bought my Imac on October 12, 2007 and have been playing ring around the rosy with Apple Procare for weeks. I have called peripheral vendors to check out conflicts, etc. Then I called my brother and he typed "Mighty Mouse problems" in Google. In an Apple discussion group, 15 people were reporting the precise symptoms that were destroying my faith in my computer and in Apple's competence to help me for weeks. I was dumbfounded and a bit angry too.

I love my Imac. It is beautifully built. But there is an unfixable flaw which comes as an unfortunate side-effect of the capacitance principle which makes the Mighty Mouse work. Apple stores simply turn the button 4 off. They know what the problem is but it is as well-kept a secret as when Leopard would be released and Apple doesn't care who gets disappointed with their product. They have too much at stake to tell all so they just plain lie! The problem is a simple physics problem. The user is a source of potential voltage. When the problem occurs with button 4, just hold on to the base of the Imac which is made of metal and it will act to ground the static electricity your hand emits while touching the mighty mouse and the problem will magically go away until you "recharge"...but I don't think Mighty Mouse can be fixed. Buy a nice USB notebook mouse from a third-party and plug the "card" transmitter device which comes with the mouse into one of the two USB ports located on the sides of the Apple Keyboard.
Download a utility such as the Logitech Console Installer for Mac which will set up in system preferences and allow you to set up the buttons on your new mouse and you will solve the problem. You can assign expose to the roller button on top or Dashboard. The wireless Mighty Mouse might not have the same problem because their isn't a wire grounding your hand through the Mighty Mouse...but it still works on the same principle of capacitance so I am not sure if it suffers the same problem.
Stephen

[Pygmy]

This is a fascinating and very scientifically informative discussion, even though I wasn't having this particular problem w/ my Mighty Mouse (MM). I did replace it though, because I had other weird problems -- it was making my wrist and shoulder hurt a lot all the time, and sometimes it exhibited sudden random scrolling behavior. It also seemed to get dirty quickly (the laser underneath) and malfunctioned badly when this occurred. I switched to a Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball -- their cheapest model. Very good if you just need the basics -- two buttons and a large scrolling marble. The marble doesn't work like the scroll on the MM, which was actually pretty cool. No great hardship though -- I use the keyboard up/down/sideways keys for the same thing, and it's easier on the hand.

[MacMonkeyMan]

I ended up here because I Googled might mouse button 4 problem and was pleased to see people with the similar issue. I just wanted to confirm what the last 2 posters were talking about. It does indeed seem to be static electricity buildup. My iPhone in my pocket was creating an issue since the touch screen is based on static. My 4th button was also going nuts when I was using my desktop iMac and had my Powerbook in my lap. When I took my POwerbook and set it on the floor and touched the metal base of the iMac the problem disappeared. I hope we can save some people trips to the Apple Store or software reinstalls.