dying mouse

iggy8n

So I'm still using this old P4 on a gigabyte 915PL motherboard when everyone else at home needs a computer. The USB mouse dies in about the time it took to write this. The led goes out and the mouse freezes. I've been able to revive it by plugging it into another USB port once. Sometimes it just comes up frozen after a reboot. The best luck has been to remove the CMOS battery and start over. But, eventually, it dies again. Power supply? No other parts go bad. The hard drives used to not appear on the BIOS until I wiggled the SATA cables. That doesn't happen any more.
I'm waiting for Bulldozer and Sandy Bridge to come out and be evaluated before I replace this box. Anyone know how to proceed?
Ooops, I'm in the dead mouse situation right now. There has been a draft saved, so I should be able to post this after I reboot and have a mouse for the minute I need. Sheesh!

It took 3 times to reboot and have a moving mouse. It's not heat - it's cold everywhere. It just doesn't cooperate.

Knuckledragger

have you inspected the mobo for indications of loose or damaged components?

iggy8n

There are no caps that have grown in girth - as far as I can see without taking the board out. No resistors have burned - I'd be able to smell that. I'll take a closer look at all the electrolytic caps.
This mobo has been in operation for about 5 years. Only 1 Gb of DDR memory. It hasn't had any accidents like coffee or oatmeal.
I know it's time to get something newer - I'm just interested in how it can become so unpredictable and flakey.
Sometimes, the mouse will last all day. I wish it would just break already.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

I wonder if "power saving technology" is the culprit here. Does the mouse work okay in another computer?

cyclo

PC might be infected with malware... that can cause freeze-ups too.

genoski

The most obvious answer is a bad mouse, try a ps2 mouse and see if that works.

iggy8n

I have done some malware testing and didn't come up with anything. I have swapped mice with the same results - no change.
If it was hardware - like a cap - I'd think that it wouldn't be so widely unpredictable. From working fine the whole day, to
not lasting a minute. The one thing that is common, is that the red LED that lights up under the mouse does sometimes flicker as
it boots. It appears that the USB power for that LED is the dying when it freezes. But, the 5 Volt supply shows up good all the time when I monitor
the system in BIOS. Maybe I can use some other voltage monitor program.

The wife has been using that computer for about 3 hours today with no trouble. She just got off with no mouse problems. Weird!

Cngevpxhaqrefpber

Do you have any other USB devices plugged in that have the same issue? Also what happens when you unplug then plug the mouse back in (sorry if you said you tried that already).

iggy8n

No, there are no other USB devices plugged in. No other USB items have any problems.
It worked all day yesterday - what problem?
It's been like that for about a month. Sometimes we want to watch a DVD in that room. By the time Ubuntu is up
and it asks for a password, the mouse is frozen. I usually get the Swiss Army knife and pop out the CMOS battery.
Then reboot. That fixes it for the movie. The mouse does eventually freeze up again - or not.
But, by then, the screen size has been clicked and Play movie has been selected.
The movie plays - but I can't rewind or jump ahead. I can space-bar to pause it. It's still usable until
Bulldozer or Sandy Bridge because we don't really use it that regularly.

iggy8n

Knuckledragger

jaysaul

I live with my mother, I don't have a job and I want a Porsche.

Knuckledragger