How to Troubleshoot an Optical Mouse

Aside from being lightweight, more sensitive and accurate, you are also not restricted to requiring a mouse pad when using an optical mouse. There are basically two kinds of optical mice: One that uses infrared or laser beam; it has a light emitting diode (LED), commonly blue or red in color on the mouse bottom to track movements. The other kind uses optoelectronic sensor to take rapid images on the surface it moves on to calculate motions. Above devices eliminate the use of a roller-ball (which can be heavy, and less precise), like that used on the older, conventional mouse.

Despite that, optical mouse can have other problems. If you find your mouse pointer self-jumping erratically on your computer screen, at times stuck, or is slow responding, there are reasons for why it is acting that way. Determine the kind of optical mouse you have, and follow some troubleshooting tips for optical mouse >>

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. -- For All Optical Mice --
   
   • Check the connection if it is a wired kind, make sure the mouse receptacle is secured in the receiving port on your computer. On wireless mouse, be sure the batteries are good and the remote sensors on the computer and mouse are working. There should be a battery monitoring graph on your screen that was installed with the mouse software that came with it.
   
   • Update your mouse driver. When you use a newer type mouse, your old operating system driver for the mouse device (e.g. Windows 2000 or XP) may be outdated; rendering the O.S. not properly recognizing the mouse. Contact your operating system manufacturer for an update.
   
   • For wireless mouse, try to keep both mouse and the receiver away from other metal materials or wireless devices that may block, weaken, or mess the signal. Also, move the mouse closer to the remote receiver on your computer while in use.

2. -- For Infrared and Laser Kinds --
   
   An infrared or laser optical mouse requires a surface that can reflect the outgoing beam from the infrared or laser diode back up to the sensor in the mouse. There would be no issues as long as the surface can reflect the light back to the receiver.
   
   • Try this for an experiment: You can raise your optical mouse in midair and point the laser beam towards a wall nearby, or even your computer screen, the pointer will work. If you are using infrared or laser optical mouse on a transparent surface (e.g. on glass surface desk), the beam will not be able to reflect back to the receiver on the mouse. This can also cause problem if the surface under the mouse has a refractive and shiny pattern.
   
   • Your mouse pad may be causing the issue. Try placing a folder or a few sheets writing paper under the mouse and see if that solves the problem.
   
   • Try out different surface materials, surface colors and even surface patterns; see what works best.
   
   • Always use optical mouse on a clean, free of dust and crumbs surface.

3. -- For Image Sensing Mouse --
   
   This kind of mouse detect movement by taking surface images using a tiny camera under the mouse itself. The lens can take as many as 1512 frames per second, depending on your hand movement while using the mouse. The mouse on-board processing chips then translate the images to movement using an optical flow estimation algorithm on two imaginary axes.
   
   • Try not use image sensing mouse on a dark surface (i.e. black-color mouse pad). Dark color surface can confuse the processing chips in the mouse as if the mouse is static while in fact it is moving. The chips compare and rely on images from the lens to estimate pointer position and speed of movement.
   
   • Avoid using on uneven surface, i.e. carpet/bed cover. Uneven surface can cause the chips to miscalculate the distance between the "bumps" on the uneven surface from the images it take.
   
   • Always use optical mouse on a clean, dust and crumbs free surface.

4. -- Cleaning and Maintenance for All --
   
   • Dust, spills/crumbs, and other debris are troublemakers of input/output devices. Clean the ports and receptacle connecting the mouse when needed.
   
   • Use a damp lint-free towel, damp cotton swab or baby wipes when dust and other debris that have accumulated on the optical window, don't forget the window edges as well. Lightly and carefully blot clean the sensor window on the bottom of the optical mouse. Do not scratch the optical window surface or leave finger prints on it. Wipe clean other bottom surface on the mouse.

5. Take the mouse along with your computer to a repair service for a more detailed external/internal inspection, if these tips do not help in restoring the mouse functionality.

Tips & Warnings

• There are combination optical mice on the market: using both the laser and image processing technology in one.
• Do not point laser optical mouse beam towards your face and eyes (or other living creatures') when using.

Resources

• How do Optical Mice Work - www.howstuffworks.com

[godfather25]

on 11/14/2009 Great article on troubleshooting an optical mouse.