Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Geek Speak => Topic started by: MikeS on 02/03/2012 08:06:38
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Periodically, (anytime between a few weeks and a few seconds) my mouse pointer and keyboard input lockup. I am using a wireless mouse/keyboard. I notice when this happens that the keyboard and mouse are not communicating with the PC. Eventually, I discovered that unplugging the wireless bit (USB) of the mouse/keyboard thingy and plugging it back in again cured the problem (until the next time).
Anyone any ideas as to what could be causing this problem and how to cure it? At present I am running win 7 but I had the same problem running win XP on the same hardware. When a ran XP I had a multiple operating system using Hyperos but experienced the same problem on all individual systems. Changing the wireless keyboard/mouse has no effect.
Thanks
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I have found that the position of the wireless receiver can have quite an influence not to close or to remote about half to one meter suits mine best.
I use a microsoft 2000 mouse and also have an old wired mouse plugged in but thats another story.
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Sounds more like the problem you get from alike a screensaver timer, does that happen when you haven't move the mouse and keyboard, you may be locking the screen and STDIN recieving a hardware change of status message may be akin to using a special key or mouse button action to resume.
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Maybe there is someone nearby using the same wireless frequency. There is usually an option to use an alternative frequency from a limited range. I used a cheap (though nice looking) wireless mouse/keyboard which frequently went wrong. I've now got a microsoft one which has been completely problem free for several years and I've only ever changed the batteries once.
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Thanks for your replies guys.
I don't think it is due to distance as that would probably affect it all of the time. Whilst it is working it is totally reliable until it locks up completely. (It never cures itself.)
I don't use a screensaver and never get any error messages.
I don't think it is due to interference as unplugging and re-connecting the USB plug cures the problem for a while.
It sounds like a driver problem to me but I don't understand why unplugging and re-plugging temporary cures the problem?
I have had the same problem with two separate sets of wireless hardware (keyboard and mouse). Plus, it has now happened on two separate computers (separate hardware).
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Might possibly be static. Is the humidity low and are you on a nylon carpet?
Does it quit working while you are using it, or does it seem to have stopped working when you come back to it?
If it's a static problem, it's most likely to happen when you approach the keyboard or mouse after you've been moving around. If it suddenly quits in mid-session, it's unlikely to be static related.
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I have had a few of these that would do so, at random. Most likely the batteries were making poor contact, or the clock drift between the transmitter and receiver finally got big enough that they would lose lock. Rekeying ( unplugging did not cure it) worked every time, unless the batteries were too low, when it would need new AAA cells to work again. Got tired eventually of them and when they had coffee dropped on them ( not my keyboard and mouse, mine are leaded and always will be) they were replaced with the wired ones. Problem solved forever.
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Humidity 60%. Laminate floor, no carpet.
Always happens when using either mouse or keyboard.
Think I might have to 'upgrade' to a cabled keyboard n mouse.
Thanks again guys.
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this may be of help ... http://www.ehow.com/how_4460971_solve-pc-mouse-freeze.html
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Probably a driver bug, look-up the company sites "bug database".
Meanwhile have a cigarrette :
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Have you considered that the USB socket to which you connect your radio transceiver for the mouse/keyboard it might be slightly faulty ?, do you always use the same one ?.
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Thanks again guys.
Have tried different USB sockets. Am inclined to think there may be an element of interference causing the problem.
Problem solved I have replaced both wireless keyboard and mouse with cabled Ps2. Apart from solving the problem it has now improved the speed at which the mouse can 'drag'.
Thanks again for your help.
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Unfortunately many manufactures are no longer supporting the PS2 ports.
Personally, I prefer a wired mouse... a lot harder to loose it. As far as the wired keyboard, it doesn't seem to make much difference. Recently I tried a wireless keyboard. Perhaps I had the broadcast dongle in the wrong place, but it would periodically pause, a big pain.
Many of the functions like "dragging", or moving, can be configured using your control panel.
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Clifford
My PC is a bit like me, a bit long in the tooth. It's a work in progress like George Washington's axe.
The pause using a wireless keyboard/mouse was what I meant by the speed at which the mouse can drag.
I have found another major advantage of this Ps2 set-up. When using a boot manager on a multiple operating system and using a wireless set-up I have found there are stages in the boot process when the wireless set-up is disabled leaving you with no functionality of keyboard/mouse. The Ps2 set-up has cured this. I purposely chose Ps2 in preference to USB as I thought it may be possible that the original problem may have been down to using a USB port. My reasoning was Ps2 being older is probably simpler and hence more reliable.
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It is big problem. It can happen because of your bad USB pot.
You should change all the USB pot line. I think it will be okay.
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Windows search indexing can do this, simply in it's regular scanning to see any "changed" info in the file system. Annoying when it happens, and can be turned off, as it is only there to make any search in windows you make a few seconds faster, by making a cache of indexed keywords beforehand.