Right Mouse Button in OSX

M

matt9b

Registered
Hello there, my right mouse button doesn't work in OSX. I have 10.3.9. MAC G5 DUAL etc................ Have researched, googled, can't find a solution. I have to ctrl click to get the right button to work. There are a billion other problems also, but I'll start with this one for simplicity' sake. It's none stop problems with these ol' macs.

Any help appreciated!
 
Have you checked in System Preference for the Mouse options? There might be something there where you can configure the buttons. Incidentally, what model mouse is this? All you said is that it was a two button mouse. If the mouse is damaged, then no matter what OS you have it won't work. If it's a non-Apple mouse, did you install the software for that mouse? If so, then you might have to check that specific software's settings.

I've used Logitech mice without installing any of the accompanying software, and it works fine with the two buttons right out of the box.
 
nixgeek said:
Have you checked in System Preference for the Mouse options? There might be something there where you can configure the buttons. Incidentally, what model mouse is this? All you said is that it was a two button mouse. If the mouse is damaged, then no matter what OS you have it won't work. If it's a non-Apple mouse, did you install the software for that mouse? If so, then you might have to check that specific software's settings.

I've used Logitech mice without installing any of the accompanying software, and it works fine with the two buttons right out of the box.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your reply,

The Mouse is logitech MX700. It's not faulty. It was working for some time as you describe, but now the mouse button has stopped working on OS X. It's an OS X problem. I of course checked the system preferences. There are no relevent mouse setting in preferences pane or anywhere else in OS X that I can find. I take it from the lack of posts, that no one knows a solution to this bug? I'm not prepared to format the mac.

The right mouse button stopped responding some time around when I de-installed USB Overdrive, but not specifically after as I recall (usb overdrive is buggy and only worked when maximised, but that is another topic).
 
I think the only mouse that supports a right mouse button without installing additional software is the Mighty Mouse by Apple. I'm about 99% sure that when you install some kind of driver software (like USB Overdrive as one example) that it will work again
 
Install the Logitech software that came with the mouse. Then you'll have the Logitech PreferencePane.
 
I don't know, but i'm currently using an HP mouse (which is Logitech based) on a G3 iMac running 10.2.8 and the right mouse button works fine. I get the context menus and everything. Even the scroll wheel works. I doubt Apple would have removed this option in later versions of OS X.

And this is without the Logitech software...just plug and play. I've also done this with a Microsoft Intellimouse.

Then again, this mouse is a corded mouse, not cordless like yours. I have noticed some issues recently with someone who had a cordless mouse on a G4 Mac and the mouse was a Logitech mouse (don't remember the model number though). The mouse would move for a little bit and then lose its connection. Of course, this could also be because the batteries might have been low.
 
I'm running a Microsoft wireless mouse on 10.3.7, right click, wheel, everything works in the applications that are optimized for wheel and right click. No software necessary. And Matt, if you're having a boatload of problems with your OS, you might want to think about an archive and reinstall... (check Keep Home folder) I've done it a few times with my 10.3.7 machine, and it's cleared up a few issues that were frustrating the heck outta me. It's a fairly simple process. You don't have to reinstall apps, import mail, etc. Just moves your System folder, to another, and reinstalls it.
 
I have to agree with Debaser... if you really do have a "billion other problems" then it may be time to consider reinstalling the OS so you can have a trouble-free operating system. Working with a buggy OS never gets better -- I can guarantee you it's only going to get worse. Things are not going to magically fix themselves, and may propagate to other areas of the OS, making your computing experience even worse.

There's nothing like a fresh OS where every single application works the way it's supposed to.
 
Does the button not work in all situations or just in some?

Interface Builder, for instance, only accepts Ctrl+clicking as a right-click, so I use USB Overdrive to map the Right Mouse button to a Ctrl+left-click.

Might be worth a shot.
 
Let's just get some facts clear here, too. Mac OS X offers basic 2nd mouse button support for any USB 2-button mouse. Out of the box. If it doesn't work for your mouse, some third party software is interfering - or there's another problem with either your OS X installation or some or other preference in your user's Library folder.

Logitech mice come with their own drivers. You can download the latest version from Logitech. You can either go with the OS X driver (by NOT installing Logitech software) or use Logitech's driver. If you use theirs, you have to make sure to keep up with the latest versions.

Or you could go with USB Overdrive. A 3rd party software that's been around for the Mac ever since people started to install 3rd party USB cards in PCI G2 PowerMacs running classic Mac OS (7.x or 8.x, don't remember...). (Did this myself back then.)

But I agree: If you've got millions of problems, you probably should start fresh. Backup everything, clean install Tiger and get things working from the ground up, isolating potential problems with third party hard- and software. Make sure you have the newest version of any driver and software!
 
matt9b said:
Hello there, my right mouse button doesn't work in OSX. I have 10.3.9. MAC G5 DUAL etc................ Have researched, googled, can't find a solution. I have to ctrl click to get the right button to work. There are a billion other problems also, but I'll start with this one for simplicity' sake. It's none stop problems with these ol' macs.

Any help appreciated!
Click to expand...


I'm using a Kensington Wireless Desktop (K64354) with OS X 10.4.2 Tiger and my right mouse button no longer works. When I click the right mouse button it reacts by turning the screen quite dark and separating the open windows so all are viewable. Everything worked fine with OS X 10.3 and below. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Kensington software to no avail. Wrote Kensington with the problem and they sent me a list of instrucitons which I followed and still no-joy. Would appreciate any/all help.
Thanx.
 
It sounds like the right mouse button is activating Expose. Somehow, it has the F9 key associated to it. If you reinstalled the Kensington software, you should be able to reconfigure the settings from there.

I just searched on Google and noticed that this is a keyboard/mouse combo (which you failed to mention). It might sound crazy, but check on the section for the Kensington keyboard if it has the option. It could be that there's a misconfiguration between the keyboard and the mouse.

Have you downloaded the latest version of the software from the Kensington website? If not, then here is the URL:
http://www.kensington.com/html/1385.html#mac26

Download that and install it. You might want to uninstall the software and any other associated apps/files you have currently installed just to be safe before you install the newly downloaded version.
 
Hi Nixgeek, thanks for your reply.

You are right on the mark when you identified my problem as looking like Expose. In fact the Scroll button acts like F-9 and the right mouse button acts like F-10. I've re-installed the software that Kensington sent me but still have the same problems. Kensington even offered to replace my keyboard/mouse but they work just fine on another system so that's not the problem. I'm sure it has to do with Tiger because it worked just fine on 10.3 and earlier.

Oh well, I'll keep digging around and hopefully will run across a work-around.
Again, Thanx,
Pakawala
 
g/re/p...
I feel so STUPID! Thanks for the reply. I've not had Tiger long enough to really get used to the new fetures (Expose for example) and hadn't even brought up the Preferences for this app. I've changed the mouse button settings to "-" and every thing works just fine.
Again, thank you for your input.
Pakawala
 
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