Author Topic: dead mouse - ideas please?  (Read 2233 times)

Michael Rolls

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dead mouse - ideas please?
« on: Jul 19, 2020, 07:13:37 AM »
The mouse for this computer has just suddenly stopped working. I've only had the mouse a few months - bought to replace one that expired after five years or so. Assuming the batteries needed replacing I did just that, but still no joy. I have borrowed the mouse from Veronica's computer and that works fine, so the problem must be with the mouse itself, but it does seem odd - sequence of events was that I switched the computer off to unplug the external HDD (the HDD takes forever to allow you to unplug it normally, so when I want to remove it, I turn the computer off). Machine off, unplugged HDD. Up to that moment the mouse was working perfectly. Turned the machine back on and the mouse was dead. Replaced the batteries, still dead. Is there any way in which something in that sequence turned the mouse off? Unlike my other mice, it doesn't have an on/off switch.
I have previously gone through the same sequence whilst using this mouse with no problems - first of each month I plug in the HDD back up the files to it (this is over and above by daily back-up to a pair of USB sticks) turn the computer off, unplug HDD, turn computer back on - no problems
Any ideas? Easy enough to get a new mouse - oh, BTW all my mice are wireless - but it is irritating that this one is only a few months old,.
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #1 on: Jul 19, 2020, 07:17:10 AM »
In fact, checking - I've only had this mouse 6 weeks. It only cost £4.49 so can't be bothered to chase up the seller and moan - life's too short
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #2 on: Jul 19, 2020, 07:30:12 AM »
Oh, and as well as changing the batteries I did wriggle them around in case it was just a faulty contact
Mike
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Diasi

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #3 on: Jul 19, 2020, 07:32:50 AM »
Out of all the numerous possible reasons I would put £4.49 at the top of the list.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #4 on: Jul 19, 2020, 07:48:40 AM »
I reckon you are right - I'll replace it after taking a deep breath and spending more (last of the cheapskates, that's me)
Thanks, Phil - trust you and your good lady are 'as well as can be expected' as they say
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

Diasi

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #5 on: Jul 19, 2020, 08:01:42 AM »
I reckon you are right - I'll replace it after taking a deep breath and spending more (last of the cheapskates, that's me)
Thanks, Phil - trust you and your good lady are 'as well as can be expected' as they say
Mike

I've wasted a few quid on cheap £12 keyboards which haven't failed mechanically but where the letters have worn off the keys, which is a problem if, like, me you have to look at the keys when typing.

My current keyboard cost around £40 & the keys are etched & not printed & it's made out of aluminium so it doesn't flex.

Thanks, we've had the results of my wife's Xray which has shown several very small fractures in one area of her lower back. Her ex-husband subjected her to various forms of abuse including sexual, physical & psychological, which have led to her present day issues.

The physical abuse was where he'd push her against a kitchen worktop with the small of her back in line with the sharp edge of the worktop.

Anyway she's now on a course of bone density tablets & has been referred to an orthopaedic consultant.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #6 on: Jul 19, 2020, 08:22:24 AM »
Bone density treatment can be very helpful - it arrested Veronica's incipient osteoporosis about 8 years ago pretty quickly (just about four months to halt and reverse a condition that had bene worsening for a couple of years
Mike 🤞🤞
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

Cee Gee

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #7 on: Jul 19, 2020, 08:48:20 AM »
Mike I dont think it is the mouse, it is a communication problem that can be fixed in the computer. I had the same problem but cannot for the life of me remember how I fixed it. ::) 

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #8 on: Jul 19, 2020, 08:55:18 AM »
CG thanks for the thought, but I think it must be the mouse - borrowing the mouse from another computer and it works fine - trying the dead mouse in that other computer - no joy. It does seem odd, though - but it must be the third time I have a mouse die on me (without a mousetrap in sight!), The one this mouse replaced must have lasted at least five years, perhaps more and back in the days of wired mice I had one fail - must be over 15 years ago - in fact, I think it was before we moved up here in 2003, so for electronic devices I guess that's not too bad
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

richmond62

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #9 on: Jul 19, 2020, 09:08:08 AM »
Having had computers with mice since 1993 (they didn't exist with BBC Micros) I can cheerfully state
that wireless mice are b*ll*cks and things just waiting to go wrong.

I now have 2 ergonomic mice (helps with the w*nker's cramp): a left-handed one (err, on the left) and a
right-handed one (you guessed where) that are connected to my machine with wires.

Mind you, I once had a computer with termites inside: but that is another story.  8)

Sorry, could only find a photo of a wireless ergonomic left-handed mouse.

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #10 on: Jul 19, 2020, 09:15:18 AM »
Whilst waiting for a replacement, this computer is using the mouse from Veronica's machine, which is making do with the wired mouse from the desktop in the workshop. The desktop and its mouse predate our move up here - can't remember for sure but probably over 20 years old and the combo still works, although to be fair they have had very little use in the last couple of years
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

richmond62

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #11 on: Jul 19, 2020, 09:16:22 AM »
"It only cost £4.49"

Um, well, you do tend to get what you pay for.

Wired mice are cheaper (mainly because they don't need as much 'magic' inside them).

This looks fine:

Michael Rolls

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #12 on: Jul 19, 2020, 09:36:13 AM »
Yes, I'm sure you are right, but wireless is so much more convenient in the locations I have the computers
Mike
Thank you for the days, the days you gave me.
The older I get, the better I was!

klondike

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #13 on: Jul 19, 2020, 09:38:25 AM »
Is it bluetooth or more likely wireless with a little plug in receiver. If bluetooth check if that has somehow been turned off on your computer and if a USB plugin receiver try taking it out and putting it back in. If it is windows then the device manager will show if the receiver is connected. If Apple then I'm afraid google is your friend.
So long and thanks for all the fish

Diasi

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Re: dead mouse - ideas please?
« Reply #14 on: Jul 19, 2020, 10:10:18 AM »
Bone density treatment can be very helpful - it arrested Veronica's incipient osteoporosis about 8 years ago pretty quickly (just about four months to halt and reverse a condition that had bene worsening for a couple of years
Mike 🤞🤞

Thanks for that, my wife asked me how long it would but all I could say it won't be immediate.

Did Veronica actually feel the difference?
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)