Mighty Mouse Scroll Ball

[maclovin']

Has anyone else ever had any problems with the scroll ball on the Mighty Mouse? Every once in a while, the scrolling in one direction or another will stop working for a period of time. The ball still spins, but nothing happens on screen. It will eventually work itself out and work flawlessly again, but it's just weird how it stops sometimes. So I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and what causes it?

 

[basesloaded190]

yeah happens all the time. its just from dust and dirt getting in there. a trick is to turn it off and flip it over and just run the ball in all directions and you can get some of the crap out of there. i also use twisty ties and just slide it in there and kind of pull the dirt out of there as well. either should work and your going to have to do that a lot cuz it will just fill right back up with dust and have the same problems

 

[ProstheticHead]

The Mighty Mouse scroll ball is a terrible creation. Good concept. Terrible execution. Two scroll balls that I have had contact with (mine and a friend's) have become unusable due to the issues with dirt and so on. I've just turned mine off using the mouse control panel in System Preferences.

 

[kingpikey]

How to clean your mighty mouse:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302417

 

[ProstheticHead]

How to clean your mighty mouse:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302417

If you want to clean your scroll ball, this is the right way to go about it.

However, I still stand by the "turn it off" approach. Saves me the time of cleaning it over and over.

 

[maclovin']

How to clean your mighty mouse:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302417

Thanks, I'll have to try this next time it happens. So what are the chances of them releasing a better mighty mouse since this is such a problem? I mean, sure you can just go buy just any mouse, but it doesn't feel the same as an Apple one.

 

[clyde2801]

...Good concept. Terrible execution. Two scroll balls that I have had contact with (mine and a friend's)...

<reads posting, looks at name of poster, shudders, and quickly moves onto the next thread>

 

[HLdan]

Thanks, I'll have to try this next time it happens. So what are the chances of them releasing a better mighty mouse since this is such a problem? I mean, sure you can just go buy just any mouse, but it doesn't feel the same as an Apple one.

Um, I have 5 Macs, all with the Mighty Mouse running in our office and not one of them have issues with the scroll ball. There's no known issue with the MM scroll ball. A lot of problems people have are simply from them not keeping their hands clean.

 

[takeabyteoutta]

a small sq. inch touch pad would pretty much eliminate the need for cleaning and would be pretty sexy.

 

[maclovin']

a small sq. inch touch pad would pretty much eliminate the need for cleaning and would be pretty sexy.

That's a pretty good idea. I'm not sure how they would make it look good, but it would be pretty darn cool.

 

[Fonzijr1964]

its just dirt you could take it apart but i wouldn't recommend it unless its over a year old

 

[pilotError]

I have 3 small kids who do nothing but muck up that little ball!

I find that taking a damp paper towel and rotating the mouse ball in all directions while pressing down usually clears it right up.

 

[clyde2801]

I'm not having problems with my MM's ball; it's in a desk drawer. My MX revolution with steermouse puts both varities of the MM to shame.