Mouse clicking/dragging problem

Hi folks,

This just started happening today on my (old) 12" PowerBook, and it's difficult to describe, but I'll try my best.

Basically, it seems as if my left mouse button is stuck on some sort of turbo mode. If I press the left mouse button, it will repeat the left click action very rapidly until I let go. This makes some things like dragging, highlighting text, etc pretty much impossible.

For example, if I click on the title bar of a window to move it, when I start dragging the mouse, the window minimizes.

In addition to this, my trackpad is messed up. If I move my finger from one side of the trackpad to the other, the pointer will move perhaps 1 cm on the screen. When I take my finger off the trackpad, the pointer will snap back to where it was before I started moving it.

This happens whether or not I have my Apple Pro mouse plugged in, or my Logitech MX700. I did not change anything that would cause this to happen, and I've tried the obivous things like downloading Logitech Control Center, disabling USB Overdrive, rebooting, etc.

Any ideas?

Re: Re: Mouse clicking/dragging problem

Originally posted by simX
I dunno about the mouse button problem, that's really weird. Does the problem persist even after restarting and/or repairing permissions (that is, if you can manage to do that). Does the same problem happen when you boot up off of your Mac OS X install CD -- if so, then it's probably a hardware problem.

As for your trackpad issue, that sounds familiar. Usually the problem that you describe manifests itself when the trackpad is really hot, and so it can't detect where your finger is very well. You can try to moisten your finger a little bit, and/or try to cool off the trackpad by using a dry/VERY slightly damp cloth. That usually does the trick.

Click to expand...

The problem does happen if I boot from the install CD. I will try to find out how to repair permissions and give that a shot.

The trackpad thing I'm pretty sure isn't heat, because it simply isn't getting that hot. Seeing as it happened the exact same time as the mouse problem, I'm guessing the two issues are related.