Mouse won't click certain things, hardware problem?

[Snakedog]

Hi,

This problem has gradually gotten worse over the last week, and it is application dependent. With windows the problem seems erratic. At times I can't click on the taskbar, but can click on icons, or vice versa. Pressing ctrl alt del and closing the task manager fixes the problem temporarily. With Firefox I can't click until I press ctrl alt del, then I can click a link once before the problem repeats. With Chrome I can surf all I want, but can never click the wrench and page icons next to the address bar. I can play games like Team Fortress 2 with no problems.

So far I've tried a different mouse, also USB, in different ports. I've tried multiple virus scans. I've tested the RAM, and I've reformatted the harddrive and reinstalled windows.

What else can I try?

My computer is about 1.5 yrs old with:
Q6600
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
8800GTS
Soundblaster X-fi

Thank you!

 

[Snakedog]

Oops, I posted to say it was working with a PS2 connection, but the problem just started again. I think the issue is that it is clicking by itself. It's not the mouse; I did try another one.

 

[mpilchfamily]

This is a common problem. Its from the information in the CMOS getting currupted. No big deal reall, these things happen.

Its a simple fix too.

Just reset teh CMOS. This is ussually done my turning off the computer and moving a jumper on the motherboard. Check you motherboard manuel for the position of the CMOS reset jumpers. Or you can unplug the power to your system and remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes.

Just remeber to go into your bios afterwards and redue all your settings. Don't forget to set the proper date and time there too. Otherwise you could run into some problems with windows when the date and time are behind that of the time stamp on many of your files.

 

[Ksyder]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
This is a common problem. Its from the information in the CMOS getting currupted. No big deal reall, these things happen.

Its a simple fix too.

Just reset teh CMOS. This is ussually done my turning off the computer and moving a jumper on the motherboard. Check you motherboard manuel for the position of the CMOS reset jumpers. Or you can unplug the power to your system and remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes.

Just remeber to go into your bios afterwards and redue all your settings. Don't forget to set the proper date and time there too. Otherwise you could run into some problems with windows when the date and time are behind that of the time stamp on many of your files.

This is interesting... how does the cmos get corrupted and cause the mouse to do odd things?

I was thinking more along the lines of a software related issue such as too many background programs but I have a hard time buying that this would happen on a q6600.

Just curious because I've never heard of this.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The reason is unkown. A single bit writen to the chip may have been lost. No one knows for sure but it happens. When it does it causes all sorts of USB and PS2 problems. Similar to those described above. But simply clearing teh CMOS can generally fix these types of issues. Now this may not be the main problem. There may or may not be more going on. we'll know once the CMOS has been reset. Since its such a simple procedure to do there is no harm in trying it.

 

[Ksyder]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
The reason is unkown. A single bit writen to the chip may have been lost. No one knows for sure but it happens. When it does it causes all sorts of USB and PS2 problems. Similar to those described above. But simply clearing teh CMOS can generally fix these types of issues. Now this may not be the main problem. There may or may not be more going on. we'll know once the CMOS has been reset. Since its such a simple procedure to do there is no harm in trying it.

excelente

 

[Snakedog]

Thanks for the advice. I pulled the battery, reset the bios and I'm back in Windows. Unfortunately it did not fix the problem.

Maybe it's still a motherboard issue. That won't be very easy to test though, right? Tomorrow if I can find a video card at work I'll try running off of that.

 

[Ksyder]

I can't say I have an idea what is causing this problem so I'm just going to give some ideas of things to try.


Try some different sticks of ram, or take one out if you have 2, maybe try reseating them. Also check the contacts on the memory for any burnt pins. Same goes for pci-e slots/video card. Also check for bad caps, although I can't see this being a problem on a modern mobo. Also, what about safe mode? Does it do the same thing then?

In that situation I guess the only thing you can do is keep swapping parts until you get it to work right. According to Scott Mueller, even power supplies can cause odd behavior in pc's due to voltage inconsistencies, unclean power, etc (if i recall correctly)

 

[Snakedog]

This is very strange, but I've been using the computer this morning for an hour without the mouse problem. Before I went to bed it was constantly having problems. How did it fix itself overnight?

There is a new (maybe related) problem I've discovered though. Every time I try to open VLC media player the computer freezes solid and I have to hit the power. I tried to open my nvidia control panel, which has some kind of graphical rendering on the first screen, and that also froze my computer. Maybe this is just an issue with the latest drivers? Videos do work with other media players...

 

[Snakedog]

Well the mouse problem came back. I tried an ATI video card and I had the same problem with VLC and a game. Before the video card drivers are installed and I'm running low res VLC actually works, but I sometimes have the mouse problem. Then once the drivers are installed VLC stops working and I sometimes have the mouse problem.

I think this must be a motherboard issue. Any ideas?

 

[ronach]

Just a thought..is anything running in the background that shouldn't be when you checked task manager ? Have you tried to run your sys without your sound card plugged in ?

Good writeup Ksyder.

 

[Ksyder]

Good writeup Ksyder.

Thanks!

OP, did you try flashing the bios, perhaps? How about installing chipset drivers, etc? Since it has been days since you first posted, did you solve the problem?

I had a similar problem recently (general system instability) and it turned out to be bad video memory.

 

[Snakedog]

Alright, I solved the problem, and it is quite embarrassing! It was the mouse after all. When switching the mouse, the problem persists until the computer is rebooted. I must not have rebooted the first time I tried a different mouse.

The video problem was an unrelated issue that arose when I installed different firewall software after reinstalling windows. PCTools firewall caused the freeze.

Thank you very much for all your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[mastconnoisseur]

Hello,

Sorry to bump this old thread. But I came across this topic when searching for a solution to my mouse problem, and I want to make sure other people have access to the solution too.

My mouse is a Logitech MX400 connected to a laptop, and I noticed the problem after spilling some water on it. The symptoms of the OP's mouse is identical to the problems that I was having: I could click inside Firefox sometimes, but then I couldn't click in Pidgin. I could click on the Windows desktop, but then I couldn't click on the taskbar. Ctrl+alt+del would allow me to click again. Essentially, my mouse won't click in certain applications.

But the weird part was that these problems were also manifested with my touchpad. I followed the OP's advice and rebooted the laptop without the mouse connected; everything worked again. But when I plug the mouse back in, all the problems came back for both mouse and touchpad.

Rather than getting a new mouse, I instead updated all my drivers for both mouse and touchpad as a last-ditch attempt. Lo and behold, problems solved! Mouse and touchpad both work fine again.

Regarding the source of the problem, I still have no clue. Water damage can be repaired by updating your drivers?

 

[Harvey]

Regarding the source of the problem, I still have no clue. Water damage can be repaired by updating your drivers?

Probably not, but once the water dries, it may have left some non-conductive residue on the contacts that eventually chipped or wore away by clicking the mouse.

If the construction of the switch allows direct access to the contacts, electronic contact cleaning spray sometimes works to remove such residue, and I've also found that WD-40 sometimes works as a last ditch attempt to rescue a failing mouse, keyboard, etc.

The other side of that coin is that WD-40 can attack some plastics, which is why I said it's a last ditch effort.

 

[mastconnoisseur]

Probably not, but once the water dries, if it may have left some non-conductive residue on the contacts that eventually chipped or wore away by clicking the mouse.

I see. This is probably the case because I noticed that the problems did get better as the day wore on.

But I wonder what caused the OP's problems. And I also wonder why the water issues with an external mouse would also affect the performance of the touchpad. Maybe the water damage and mouse problems are just coincidental?

 

[ledzeppelin69]

some web pages and even my email acct and trying to unsubscibe to from emails mouse wouldnt respond to clicks, didnt work........even in Vista or XP ..........switched from google to google chrome ........all is fine now.......seems Google is phasing out orig google........I guess thats one way to get ya to switch to chrome.....even if I dont like it.........

---

Hi,

Welcome to AnandTech Forums. I locked the thread because the last previous reply was almost four years ago.

Our members refer to such posts as "necro" posts, and some of them tend to post replies ranging from sarcastic to hostile, including possible accusations of spamming, whether warranted or not.

You are welcome to continue posting on our forums. Thanks for understanding. We hope you enjoy yourself on our forums.

Harvey
Senior AnandTech Moderator/Administrator

 

[Smoove910]

way to update a 4 year old thread!