Mac Classic Acting 'funny'

[Tempest]

My Mac Classic has started to ask strangely. It boots up just fine from the internal HD or from a disk and everything looks alright but I can't click on anything reliably with the mouse. Sometimes if I click fast enough I can get something to open, but I can't move anything. I also can't open any menus, they just display briefly (a flash really) and then disappear as if I had turned them off. It's like the mouse isn't acting right somehow, but I've tried two different mice and even tried getting rid of the keyboard, but still nothing. It moves correctly, but the button isn't working right. It worked correctly before, I have no idea what's happened since then.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this? It doesn't seem to matter if I boot from a disk or the HD so I'm guessing it's a hardware problem. But the mouse worked before and the other mouse is doing the same thing. Could the port be bad? If so, why would the keyboard work just fine? I'm at a loss to explain it.

Tempest

 

[Mac128]

possibly cracked solder joints under the ADB jack. Try re-flowing the solder. Check the fuse at F2, it may need to be replaced. If both check out, try re-flowing the solder to the transceiver chip leads at UJ6. If the chip is bad, you'll have a problem as there are no replacements for it and are difficult to remove from junk boards without damaging them.

It could also be a software problem. I've seen that behavior particularly in a PowerBook. But usually a restart would fix it. Did you try booting from the ROM System RAM Disk? If it still won't work with known good mice, it's definitely a hardware problem.

 

[Tempest]

Ok I tried both the internal OS and a different keyboard, same issue. I guess something might have gotten knocked loose when I was cleaning it. I'll try and reflow the solder this weekend and see if that helps.

Tempest

 

[Tempest]

Good news! It was a bad mouse after all. Everything is working now. I think I may have fried the one mouse by hot swapping it when the Mac was on (I know that's a big no-no). Won't do that again.

Tempest

 

[trag]

It could also be a worn-out switch in your mouse. The switches are not hard to replace and are generally the same as found in PC style mice (or were years ago, not sure what's in USB mice these days). Anyway, I used to pick up cheap three button PC mice so I could steal the switches for Mac mice. Bought separately the switches were upwards of $10, yet, I could get a mouse with three switches for less than that.

The switch is supposed to do something both on the down and the up and it sounds like its doing the up part as soon as you finish the downward motion.

Sorry, I'm so vague, but I don't remember the details. It sounds like the button being held down is not being detected. When you hold the button, the computer thinks the button was simply clicked, and this is a possible failure in the switch, which is the component of the mouse most prone to failure.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

It could also be a worn-out switch in your mouse.

I've had mice that do that. It is the switch. This is called a "micro-switch". Here's a replacement:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370198562470

This particular one comes with a bar across the top. This would need to be pulled off. These same switches were used in Apple UniDisk 3.5" disk drives.

 

[trag]

I've had mice that do that. It is the switch. This is called a "micro-switch". Here's a replacement:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370198562470

This particular one comes with a bar across the top. This would need to be pulled off. These same switches were used in Apple UniDisk 3.5" disk drives.

Dennis is that the correct switch for an ADB mouse? I ask because the original Macintosh Mouse used a larger microswitch than the ADB mice. The ADB mice used the same switch as most (all?) of the PC mice, so that's probably the correct, later switch, but it's always good to check the dimensions before ordering.

 

[Osgeld]

aye the m1k mouses have rather large, today, "microswitch"

electrically they are the same, but mounting could be a problem for a solid button

if you have a dumpy mouse you already rebuilt just use the closest thing you can find in a spare pc mouse and mount with epoxy putty (after soldering connections)

ps a member has some brand new old stock, maybe the wrong color tho (case swap!)

http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12084&p=117946

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Yes, the original pre-ADB mice have a larger microswitch (thus the awesome loud deep click) but I was under the impression that this thread was about an ADB mouse, or ADB mouse II, which I'm fairly sure all have the smaller one.

These miniature microswitches can be had from all sorts of gadgets. I found several in a laser printer once for example.

 

[trag]

I didn't mean to confuse the issue.

Yes, this thread is about an ADB or ADB II mouse. The smaller switch you linked to is the correct switch for that mouse. I was asking about it because I wanted confirmation that it was not the larger switch used in an original Mac mouse (pre-ADB).

Thanks.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

I didn't mean to confuse the issue.
Yes, this thread is about an ADB or ADB II mouse. The smaller switch you linked to is the correct switch for that mouse. I was asking about it because I wanted confirmation that it was not the larger switch used in an original Mac mouse (pre-ADB).

Thanks.

No harm done. I just didn't read carefully as I've often been known to do.

 

[Quadraman]

Or maybe your mouse is all gunky inside. the first thing you do in that case is remove the ball and clean it then find the rollers, there should be three of them, and scrape them with a wood or plastic toothpick or something similar to get all the gunk off. Don't use anything made of metal. You'll have to rotate the rollers while you scrape to clean them all the way around. Then you have to get inside. The screws may be hidden under a label that you'll have to poke through to access them. Some mice have clear plastic slides that elevate the mouse slightly above the surface. If there is a screw under one of those you'll have to remove it and reattach it later but don't use anything too strong to reattach it or you'll never get it off again. Once the mouse is open you'll be amazed at the amount of brown slimy gunk, hair, crumbs, etc that can build up inside. Clear out any dirt you find, close it back up and then if it still doesn't work it's probably time for a new mouse.