# mac mouse



## glamrockchick (Jan 27, 2012)

this is really hard to explain but i'll try: basically, mouse at times can be really jerky, can't let go of windows they don't seem to stay still,
hoping someone can understand it

thanks


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## DeltaMac (Jan 27, 2012)

Which mouse do you have?
Apple mouse (standard white Apple USB mouse)
Magic Mouse
Magic Trackpad
built-in (multi-touch) trackpad
third-party wireless mouse
third-party USB mouse
something else?


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## glamrockchick (Jan 27, 2012)

i have a black macbook and the mouse is built into the laptop


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## sgould (Jan 27, 2012)

Do you mean the trackpad?  Not the mouse?


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## DeltaMac (Jan 27, 2012)

Ah, OK - an older trackpad... (that would be a trackpad - not a mouse  )
Probably your trackpad settings.
Does it make a difference if you turn OFF all the settings for clicking? That does mean that you can't tap on the pad to select, but the trackpad button will still work the same.
I always turn that off, because my fingers too easily make accidental clicks.
Do you have the "Ignore accidental trackpad input" off, or on?

If your trackpad doesn't behave, even after trying the different settings, you should try a different user account (make a new user just for this purpose) to see if the trackpad is a software issue, and the problem exists on any user account...

Another possibility is to take your main battery out, and check for any swelling in your battery. The reason I ask about that, is that a swelling battery (not unusual on MacBooks) can put pressure on the trackpad from underneath, making it intermittent, and often making the trackpad button hard to click.
That's just something for you to look at - it might not be an issue, but ...


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## glamrockchick (Jan 27, 2012)

not sure where the settings are, never had a problem before till few weeks though.. wotake it to apple shop.. it  highlights things to, very annoying


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## DeltaMac (Jan 27, 2012)

Trackpad settings are in your System Preferences (under Trackpad, eh?)

There's several things you can try before you take to an Apple shop, such as taking the battery out. I think it sounds more like a swelling battery, which can be the cause of your issues. You'll want to replace the battery, in that case, but you won't need to have much more done, because the issues will likely be fixed simply by replacing the battery (if that's it)


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## glamrockchick (Jan 27, 2012)

thanks will look 4 settings, no idea how to replace battery so if so id rather they do it


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## glamrockchick (Jan 27, 2012)

ignore accidental trackpad is on and also when using gestures to scroll or navigate is ticked


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## DeltaMac (Jan 27, 2012)

What do you have selected under Clicking/Drag/Drag Lock? Should be Unselected for your testing.
Two Finger Scroll / For Secondary Clicks ?
(both of those are very handy, if you haven't tried them.

A coin in the slot will unlock the battery compartment, and you can take your main battery out in 2 seconds - Turn the battery over on a flat surface, and you will immediately see if the battery is swelling. You can also run your MacBook for a few minutes on the power adapter only (no battery), which will tell you easily if the battery is causing your issue.
You can do this! It will save some time in the event that you do have an issue that needs service, and you will have helped the tech decide to look elsewhere for the cause.


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## glamrockchick (Jan 28, 2012)

the clicking tab wasn't even ticked, will leave battery when go there.. i usually used to leave the mac in the power adapter but now when its charged sometimes, take it out and use some of the battery..


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## glamrockchick (Jan 31, 2012)

happened again, text seems to delete and things getting highlighted when press mouse or trackpad over it , and I'm not highlighting it, hope other people have had this and can help!


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## DeltaMac (Jan 31, 2012)

Yes, a Mac repair tech can look at a few things.
You can eliminate the battery as a likely cause for the trackpad issue by taking out the battery, and looking at it. If the battery is swelling (which is all you need to see), it will be visible by placing the battery upside down on a flat surface - easy...!


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## glamrockchick (Jan 31, 2012)

dont wanna mess with that, so any things i could try? is it a common thing?


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## DeltaMac (Jan 31, 2012)

Yes - it's a common failure.
This is not difficult to do, all you are doing is taking out the battery, look at at, and put it back in. You would _leave it out_ if you see that it is swelling.
Which part of the instructions do you need help?
Turn your MacBook upside down. 
Unlock the battery with a coin in the slot - the battery will pop up slightly.
remove the battery, and look at it. place it on a flat surface to check if the battery is not flat.
If it looks OK, put it back in, and turn the coin lock to hold the battery in place.
That's all - and you can do it, too... (see - it's not messy at all!  )


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## glamrockchick (Jan 31, 2012)

id just rather leave it to people in mac to do if i take it, the experts but thanks anyway.. nothing else i can try settings wise or anything? the problem comes and goes though, isn't all the time which is one good thing


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## dodge2461 (Feb 3, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> id just rather leave it to people in mac to do if i take it, the experts but thanks anyway.. nothing else i can try settings wise or anything? the problem comes and goes though, isn't all the time which is one good thing



This might sound weird, but try putting in your mac restore discs( Grey discs with the name macbook and restore disc 1 etc.) and see if the mouse does anything weird when you screw around with it. Also, try repairing your mac OS X install using disk first aid in the restore discs or any Mac OS or Mac OS X disc( People say Macs never crash, but you may have a screwy mouse driver, but don't worry, I have had it too). Also, I don't want to sound mean, but you can pull out the battery without anything happening! My grandma who is 64 can pull out her laptop battery! look up how to eject macbook battery on youtube! It's not hard at all and there's no chance of damaging the laptop! 

Hope this helps!


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

the thing is i downloaded the mac software from the net so don't have a proper official disc.. the problem only seemed to happen when i upgraded to lion


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> the thing is i downloaded the mac software from the net so don't have a proper official disc.. the problem only seemed to happen when i upgraded to lion



you can try time machine(sort of like System Restore for windows but all GUI-Fied and Mac-y) to set the time back to before you installed lion to see if that fixes the problem. Did you download Lion legally or illegally(just a question. Not meant to be offensive)?


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

I've heard of time machine, that in applications? not too sure when i installed it, will look and see if i can find the date, so if i did that would it go back to the old mac os?


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> I've heard of time machine, that in applications? not too sure when i installed it, will look and see if i can find the date, so if i did that would it go back to the old mac os?



Yes, if you did a direct upgrade. If you formatted the HD(erased it), it won't.


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

so would i look for a day before i upgraded or something?
it said: Your Time Machine backup disk cant be found.


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> so would i look for a day before i upgraded or something?
> it said: Your Time Machine backup disk cant be found.



Oh yeah, you need a backup drive for the new time machine to work! This is our final chance to fix it before we give it to apple. Before we continue, I need to know a few things:
Did you buy the Macbook brand new or used?
Did it come with some grey discs?

All Macs have a special set of discs made for that model. These usually are;
*A set of Restore Discs(the number varies by each model)
*An Application Disc(includes iLife and games and such)
*A Disc labeled Hardware Diagnostic Disc(To help with diagnosing hardware problems)
*And last but not least, A Version of Mac OS X that was available when that computer was released(You said you had a black MacBook, so your computer shipped with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger through 10.5.6 Leopard)

 Using the System restore disc(s) sets your computer back to the day it was opened, no lion. 
 Using the Software Install disc won't make the computer restore, it will install the version shipped with the Mac.
 I would also recommend before using any system software-changing discs to use the hardware diagnostics disc. This disc will tell you if the problem is hardware-based(though from what has happened, I will bet it's Software-Based).

Hope you can get the thing running!


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

i do remember getting some disks yeah , not sure what or where they are.. i got my black macbook in about 2008, ever since I've installed the new mac os I've had the problem  , i bought the mac brand new in the apple store..so it could be to do with installing the new os or a program I've downloaded why it goes weird?


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

If you have upgraded to Lion, then you can use the Lion Recovery partition, which makes a reinstall of OS X quite simple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

page didn't open, I'm running 10.7.3 , what does the partition mean? what would it do and would all my files be gone?


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

Your hard drive has a partition for your booting system,which has all of your files, apps, etc. You have Lion installed now, which also creates a second partition, which is completely hidden from you until you try restarting while holding Command-R.
Your Mac will then boot to the Recovery partition, which will simply show you a menu with various utilities. Choose Reinstall OS X, and you will get a reinstall. Your files and apps will be safe (unless there is a major problem in the system itself)
As always, if you are nervous about your own files and music, etc. you should backup your files before you begin any major software work, or install system updates, etc.

This link is a good one for more information about reinstalling Lion - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

link still not opening, so if i try that would it stop this annoying thing from happening? 
started when upgraded to lion.. is command the one with the apple sign or the K kinda button?


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

Sounds like you have an older Apple keyboard?
Yes, the Apple key is also called "command"
So, there's two steps:
Restart, while holding Apple-R
You'll see a menu screen. One of the choices will be "Reinstall OS X"
Choose that one. It does NOT erase your hard drive. You will NOT lose all your files. It simply installs a fresh OS X system. Follow the prompts to get that started.
It will take quite a long time to complete, and it will need your internet connection.
Expect the reinstall to take at least an hour - depending a lot on the speed of your internet connection.
When that completes, run your Software Update, to assure that your system is completely up-to-date.

Did you look at your battery yet, to see any obvious swelling?
The task is way too simple to wait for a tech to show you how easy it would be.


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

ok thanks will try that and leave battery, not tried it


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> ok thanks will try that and leave battery, not tried it



Don't 'leave the battery'
when you take it out, then look at it - you can immediately put it back in...

I continue to offer this as a choice for you, because it might be causing your problem, and it's too easy to do, and will help you eliminate the battery as a source of your trackpad problem - and you won't have to wait for someone else to tell you that the battery is not your issue. You can see that for yourself!

Why are you choosing to ignore this "no-brainer" task?

I'm just trying to help  - do you have physical challenge that prevents you from turning your MacBook upside-down?


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

would rather they see in apple if i can , if i need to go there.. would re installing help you think?


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> would rather they see in apple if i can , if i need to go there.. would re installing help you think?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRTTTXIK0I

There's a video on how to remove the battery. C'mon! This is a simple task! it's not like you have the no visible battery design! 

Anyway, here's the other solution I thought of: If you don't have your grey MacBook discs, really your only DIY way would be to buy a disc copy of snow leopard. Here's a link from where I'd buy it

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A

I don't know if you're in walking distance to an Apple Store, but you can try going there to pick it up yourself!


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

not sure where discs are now and i don't wanna buy one, can't afford it.. yep saw the video if battery was bloated and u said i should leave it out, how would i use my macbook? i just don't wanna do it but see what u mean that u say its not hard


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> not sure where discs are now and i don't wanna buy one, can't afford it.. yep saw the video if battery was bloated and u said i should leave it out, how would i use my macbook? i just don't wanna do it but see what u mean that u say its not hard



Ok. So you just don't want to deal with it? I don't want to sound mean but Apple will make you pay a buttload of money to fix it! So now I'll let you decide: Do the battery experiment yourself, or have apple make you pay a lot of money and tell you the battery's the problem?

You can run the computer from the AC adapter cable you use to charge your MacBook.


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

so id turn my comp off and take it out of the charge if gonna try and would it be really obvious if its bigger? if battery the problem, would  i need to buy a new one?


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> so id turn my comp off and take it out of the charge if gonna try and would it be really obvious if its bigger? if battery the problem, would  i need to buy a new one?



Yeah, turn it off, remove the battery, plug in the AC adapter, examine the battery, turn on th ecomputer and test.


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

so id leave the battery out? the problem doesn't always happen straight away when turn on, so how would i defo know to test it?


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> so id leave the battery out? the problem doesn't always happen straight away when turn on, so how would i defo know to test it?



Just do the things that triggered it. Hopefully this will be the end of it


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

thanks, just does it on its own, no idea why, things highlight randomly etc


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> thanks, just does it on its own, no idea why, things highlight randomly etc



Wait, so you just did it with the same results?


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

nope not done anything yet, just told u how the problem occurs.. will try the re-install when a disc has stopped copying and see


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

tried the re-install and said i didn't purchase lion with my apple id account so couldn't proceed any further cos i downloaded lion from a torrent site


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

Ah, well that would explain it all, won't it?
No sympathy here.... Other than I can hope you can learn a timely lesson about torrents.

(rant) I can't understand why folks put themselves at risk with torrent downloads of any operating system, or any software, for that matter.  Lion especially - which is only $30 as a download from Apple, and you know your download is the up-to-date, no-malware version. No way to be sure about either of those with a torrent. The major plus with that $30 download, is that if you need to download again, you can do that without purchasing it again - and the download is the current version, not always the same version that you originally downloaded, and for no additional cost, other than your time. You get what you paid for.... (end rant)


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

annoying yeah but didn't wanna pay for it, so guess only thing to be done is the battery and what if not that?


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

If there is an actual hardware problem, and it's not the battery causing the issue, then you would have to replace the top case, which includes the keyboard, trackpad, and the rest of the top panel of your MacBook.

BTW, it's not really annoying to me, as I choose to not put myself at risk, as you did. And - as it turns out - it's annoying to you, and not the best choice you ever made.
Don't get me wrong! I am not implying that the torrent caused a hardware problem on your system. I AM suggesting that a torrent can often have corrupted files, or even (not unusual) some form of malware purposely added to the image. That's my point - you often get what you pay for, when trying to avoid purchasing software legally, you can end up on the wrong end (again!), and there's no one else to blame... (sorry, fell into a rant again...)


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## glamrockchick (Feb 4, 2012)

i understand so no worries.. ahh so if it was a case of apple replacing all that would it cost a lot? since an average macbook is about £1000 . is it to do with me upgrading to lion or just my actual mac, do you think? your a kind person with helping me anyway


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## DeltaMac (Feb 4, 2012)

Battery from Apple, probably still about $130, I think. The top case is maybe $150, plus labor to replace that.

But, neither would be needed if the problem is simply a software glitch (or corrupted file somewhere)
And - during the time you are wasting on questions that may not need answering yet, you could take 2 minutes to check if the battery appears to be swelling, and perhaps causing your whole issue.
Why don't you take the moment to try that? If it's not the battery causing that, then you move on to something else. If you need a battery, that may be the only need - and the only cost. And, you'll also see how easy it is to replace yourself..............


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## dodge2461 (Feb 4, 2012)

glamrockchick said:


> i understand so no worries.. ahh so if it was a case of apple replacing all that would it cost a lot? since an average macbook is about £1000 . is it to do with me upgrading to lion or just my actual mac, do you think? your a kind person with helping me anyway



Well, Illegal downloading caused the problem, huh? Well, I hope you know that not paying and downloading illegally is bad.

Now we have to somehow try to pinpoint the problem. Did the battery fix the problem?


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## glamrockchick (Feb 5, 2012)

well i looked at it with my mum and if the big one is the battery looks like theres sticky stuff holding it down, is that the battery? theres also a lil thing near it with like 2 locks kinda thing.. and a little hole.. not sure where to put the coin


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## DeltaMac (Feb 5, 2012)

The slot points to the 'locked' symbol, which means the battery is locked in place. put a coin in the slot, and turn the lock to the 'unlocked' symbol. The battery will simply lift out..
Or, is there just a hole in that area of the lock symbols, and the lock is missing because it's broken, and the battery is just held in place with some tape....
If that's what you see, then, yes, continue with your plan to have this checked out by a tech.

"sticky stuff" ?  Do you mean like syrup? or glue? The case bottom might accumulate a variety of substances that can simply be wiped off. Does it actually feel sticky? Or, is the sticky stuff just tape?


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## glamrockchick (Feb 5, 2012)

ah right ok so the slot is where i need to open.. never tampered with it so should be fine..big thing feels sticky underneath , not sure..


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## glamrockchick (Feb 5, 2012)

taken battery out and working normal as i would  to see if it happens,is it bad to work with no battery? looked online and other people seemed to have trackpad issues with battery too


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## DeltaMac (Feb 5, 2012)

Yes, and that might happen because the battery is swelling, thus pushing from underneath the trackpad. That pressure can prevent the trackpad and its button from operating properly. That's what this is all about.
You can certainly operate with no battery installed - you just have to be careful that you don't accidentally unplug the power plug, because your MacBook would cut off instantly.

turn your battery upside-down on a flat surface, and see if the battery is flat. If you can rock the battery at all, then it's swelling..........


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## glamrockchick (Feb 5, 2012)

ok thanks so while testing need to remember to keep it plugged in.. ah i see, well so far so good, if it is the battery, would save up to buy another.. can't seem to tell if its swollen or not.. guess will know if problem comes out or not with no battery in?


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