Ghost in the mouse - phantom auto-scrolling

JaggedOne

New Member
NOTE: I posted this on the LogiTech forums yesterday, but after a disappointing 24 hours without a single reply, I am posting it here. Therefore, "yesterday" in the note below would now be day before yesterday.

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I have a G5 Laser Mouse (corded) which is a couple years old, and much loved by me. Yesterday, it started scrolling on its own!! I initially thought this was a Firefox problem, since I had just gotten a Firefox update (3.6.2) a few hours earlier, and further because the scrolling continued even if I unplugged the mouse, but as I began to diagnose the problem, it became clear that it was mouse-related, not Firefox-related. Let me describe the problem as best I can:

1. The number of lines that are scrolled down is controlled by the Mouse settings in the Control Panel. I have set the Vertical Scrolling value under the "Wheel" tab to 1, which is the lowest value allowable - this is the least irritating. It would a nice work-around if I could enter a zero here, or click a button to turn off mouse scrolling, but it does not let me do that.

2. The problem occurs in Firefox, Notepad, my old programming editor (Ultra-Edit), the Windows Start Menu, and even in World of Warcraft!! What is really maddening in WoW is that the mouse scrollwheel controls camera zoom in/out, so this problem causes the camera to slowly zoom in until it is at its closest, which means you can't see anything. I initially thought the problem did not occur in MS Windows Explorer, but after I used it a bit - scrolled up and down a bit - the problem started happening there, too!! This "phantom auto-scroll" even occurs horizontally in the right pane of the Windows File Manager, if a horizontal scroll bar is present!!

3. The problem "stops and starts". I have been unable to determine the details of this - sometimes it will stop scrolling for a while, but it always starts back up at some point. I'm pretty sure that it has to do with mouse focus, though, because I have determined that if I move the mouse cursor out of the window where the scrolling is going on and click on some other item outside that window, the scrolling stops (I have to actually click on something else - if I just move the cursor outside the current window, focus remains in that window, and the scrolling continues - further, if I return focus to the problem window with Alt-Tab, leaving the mouse cursor outside said window, the scrolling starts up again!). Another reason that I say it has to do with "mouse focus" (this may just be a term I made up, but if so, you should be able to determine what I mean) is that the problem continues if I unplug the mouse. My theory is that this is because the "mouse focus" still remains. Sorry for my home-brewed technical jargon, but I am just trying to describe what is happening.

4. I kinda want to say that typing stops it. I just typed the paragraph above this one, and there was no "phantom scrolling" while I was typing. I then sat back and began to proofread what I had written, and after 42-43 seconds (I tested this 3 times and timed it), it started scrolling again. How's that for strange?!?!?!?


As I said, Firefox upgraded itself to 3.6.2 yesterday. The only other recent changes to my system are that I also got a Java Console update yesterday, and Windows Update installed "Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Vista (KB980182)" at 0332 this morning. I am running Windows Vista Home Basic SP2 on a Toshiba Satellite L355 with a Celeron 2.2 gHz CPU and 3 GB of RAM. I originally went to the Logitech site thinking that I might download a new mouse driver from it, but I cannot find any information on that. I did the automatic mouse detection, but the page it left me on, although it says "Support + Downloads" above the picture of my mouse, does not offer any downloads or driver information that I can find.

Anyway, this is having an extremely deleterious effect on my computer use. Browsing is a pain, reading email is maddening, and - oh noes - playing WoW is impossible. I would appreciate any help I can get on this problem. Surely I am not the first to suffer from this, and it is a known problem....<crosses fingers>.

Thanks in advance!!!!
 

My Computer

I know this will sound very obvious but have you checked for dust and crumbs around the scroll wheel of the mouse? This to me sounds like the most likely cause of this problem.

This is a good place to start, be thorough with your cleaning and also check for any kinks in the mouse cable.

Post back with any results.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS)
    External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
Try a good Virus and Spyware scan, if your using free versions use one of the online ones. Also if it comes out clean what I doubt try Ccleaner or a similar software
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Build
    CPU
    AM2 Black
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte S-Series
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    G/F 9600 GT
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22in LCDX2
    Hard Drives
    to many to list
    PSU
    Home Build
    Case
    God knows
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    yes with Buttons
    Mouse
    yes got one and a Cat
    Internet Speed
    1.5mb
I use AVG Anti-Virus. It does a full system scan every day at 0500. The log shows that scan has been performed daily with no problems found. I also use SuperAntiSpyware. I just updated its files and did a system scan, which came up clean except for 5 tracking cookies, which I deleted.

Re the mouse, the cable is unkinked and I blew the wheel best I could with canned air, and visually inspected it.
 

My Computer

Perhaps if it is definately a software issue you could use a system restore from before it started to scroll randomly.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS)
    External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
I use AVG Anti-Virus. It does a full system scan every day at 0500. The log shows that scan has been performed daily with no problems found. I also use SuperAntiSpyware. I just updated its files and did a system scan, which came up clean except for 5 tracking cookies, which I deleted.

Re the mouse, the cable is unkinked and I blew the wheel best I could with canned air, and visually inspected it.


I would still concider using an online scanner, I used AVG before and it can miss some things.
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=DNUFEPGEVVSDUXLXRHY
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Build
    CPU
    AM2 Black
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte S-Series
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    G/F 9600 GT
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22in LCDX2
    Hard Drives
    to many to list
    PSU
    Home Build
    Case
    God knows
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    yes with Buttons
    Mouse
    yes got one and a Cat
    Internet Speed
    1.5mb
Reinstall your drivers. But beofre that, uninstall your drivers first and see if your cursor still scrolls. Try plugging in another mouse.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
This can happen when there is physical damage to the cable from mouse to computer. If this is the case, and none of the other suggestions work, there is not much you can do.

Richard
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    Stock Dell 0TP406
    Memory
    4 gb (DDR2 800) 400MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512 MBytes)
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 x Dell 2007FP and 1 x (old) Sonic flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200 and 1280 x 1204
    Hard Drives
    1 x 640Gb (SATA 300)
    Western Digital: WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0

    1 x 1Tb (SATA 600)
    Western Digital: Caviar Black, SATA 6GB/S, 64Mb cache, 8ms
    Western Digital: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device
    PSU
    Stock PSU - 375W
    Case
    Dell XPS 420
    Cooling
    Stock Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell Bluetooth
    Mouse
    Advent Optical ADE-WG01 (colour change light up)
    Internet Speed
    120 kb/s
    Other Info
    ASUS USB 3.0 5Gbps/SATA 6Gbps - PCI-Express Combo Controller Card (U3S6)
at least try reinstalling the drivers, buying something new is last resort when you know taht it cant be fixed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
at least try reinstalling the drivers, buying something new is last resort when you know taht it cant be fixed.

Yes I completely agree. My first post is not a suggestion, and *IS* a last resort. I would definately recommend reinstalling the drivers, it is a good suggestion.

Richard
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    Stock Dell 0TP406
    Memory
    4 gb (DDR2 800) 400MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512 MBytes)
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 x Dell 2007FP and 1 x (old) Sonic flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200 and 1280 x 1204
    Hard Drives
    1 x 640Gb (SATA 300)
    Western Digital: WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0

    1 x 1Tb (SATA 600)
    Western Digital: Caviar Black, SATA 6GB/S, 64Mb cache, 8ms
    Western Digital: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device
    PSU
    Stock PSU - 375W
    Case
    Dell XPS 420
    Cooling
    Stock Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell Bluetooth
    Mouse
    Advent Optical ADE-WG01 (colour change light up)
    Internet Speed
    120 kb/s
    Other Info
    ASUS USB 3.0 5Gbps/SATA 6Gbps - PCI-Express Combo Controller Card (U3S6)
This also happened on my Logitech mouse. I figured out that the horizontal scrolling sensor went bad so if I barely tilted the scroll wheel to one side, it would constantly scroll until I pushed it the opposite direction. I took apart the mouse and found that the plastic cover on the sensor was worn. Hope this helps!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Hobbit (ME)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus P6T Deluxe V2
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 PC10666
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA NVidia 9800GTX+
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 26' VP2655WB
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 Seagate Barracuda 120GB 7200RPM SATA in RAID0
    Keyboard
    Razer Lycosa
    Mouse
    Logitech G9x Laser
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