Apple Mouse scrolling ball has lost its mojo

[Kevin Monahan]

Yes, all my Apple mice have knackered scroll wheels.
The way I fix them is to spray a bunch of compressed air onto the ball.
Then, press really hard down on them (like you think you might break it!) and roll them slowly.

That should work in the short term. In the long run, you might want to think about replacing that mouse.

Kevin Monahan
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro

[Zane Barker]

Take a alcohol wipe and holding the mouse up side down, roll the mouse ball over the alcohol wipe over and over and over.

Hopefully that will clean the dirt off of the sensor in the mouse.

There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[Bob Cole]

Thank you. The ball just began working again, seemingly on its own. I still don’t know why, but within FCP, it stopped scrolling for a day or two. Maybe it was a piece of dust.

Just to be sure I’ve stated the problem correctly: the “ball” I’m talking about is the one on top of the mouse. It’s an optical mouse so no ball on the bottom.

[Stace Carter]

Also had this problem recently; other forums advised it was some kind of dirt issue, and the only thing to be done would be to forcibly roll the ball around, which seemed to clear it up.

Cheers,
S

Apple Certified Trainer
Final Cut Studio Master Pro

[Devin Crane]

Apple suggests taking a piece of paper and turn the mouse upside down and roll the scroll on it in all directions. This has worked well for us.

[David Bogie]

That’s not a ball, it’s a “nubbin.” Well, some folks call it a scrollball, scroll ball, scrolly, nipple, miniball, or little doodad.

A monitor wipe or any damp (not soaked) lint free cloth with something volatile on it will clean the thing. The problem with using air or just shaking it is the dust bunny can fall back into place and make you think it’s a blown mechanical system.
If you ever destroy one of the mighty mice and take it apart, you’ll see how fragile the sensing system is but it’s also nearly bombproof.
https://weblog.mrbill.net/archives/2005/11/24/apple-mighty-mouse-repair-a-success/

bogiesan

[Peter Mcauley]

Just my 2 cents, but I think the original design of the ball is too small. I think it should be the size of a pea (twice the normal size). Better for me functionally and less likely to have dirt, chips,beer etc. to gunk it up. Like they say the same speck of dirt on 35 mm is 4 times the size on 16 mm.

Peter McAuley
AXYZ
Toronto

[Bret Williams]

This has worked perfectly for me for years. Weird how apples own intructions work wonders.

But apple cmon, make the thing user serviceable. It’s by far the best mouse I’ve ever used other than that.

[Randy Lee]

I’ve often had luck with just restarting the computer. Off and on (not often, but more often than I would like) the mouse will quit scrolling down, but will still scroll up and side-to-side, and a quick restart will get it going again. Explain that one.

[Bob Cole]

[Randy Lee] “I’ve often had luck with just restarting the computer.”

The trick that has worked most often for me is to write a post to the COW. Either (a) the process of describing the problem gives me the inspiration to solve it or (b) someone else with the same problem answers it.

In this case, I think it was the regular process of a computer restart that solved my mouse problem, just as you experienced.

Thanks. Good to know that my situation is not unique.

Bob C