Help, my Mac's behaving oddly!

[chillwithcian]

After connecting my macintosh to the internet for the first time yesterday, i let it download some updates for itself. Unfortunatly, half way through when i came back to check on it the internet had stopped and the mac had frozen. I rebooted the Mac, it loaded perfectly and everything seemed fine. But the mouse (of which their had been no problems with beforehand) will no not work for me.

Ive tried putting it in to each USB port (even the ones on the keyboard) but the computer will not recognise it. I know that its a problem to do with the computer because the keyboard works perfectly fine in all ports.

Ideas anyone? i really want my mouse back!!!!

 

[Warbrain]

Do you have another mouse you can try?

Did you restart again? Could be that it needs to be just to get it recognized. Could've been a bug.

It could also be the mouse. Things break randomly. I only say this because you said the keyboard worked, but not the mouse.

 

[jessep28]

Try repairing permissions would be the first try if you haven't already, even though this sounds like a hardware issue. But it could be software related to the USB drive.

Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility

Select Hard Drive and then Repair Permissions.

Hopefully that helps.

 

[chillwithcian]

Do you have another mouse you can try?

Did you restart again? Could be that it needs to be just to get it recognized. Could've been a bug.

It could also be the mouse. Things break randomly. I only say this because you said the keyboard worked, but not the mouse.

I have 2 mouses and neither of them worked (but i know they work on other computers, i tested it on a friends)...... i have restarted the mac many times but to no avail.

 

[Warbrain]

I would then recommend to shut down the computer and let it decharge for a bit. That also means unplugging the power cord. Let all the components lose their charge, and then start it back up. I've had some issues with things like this before and this worked. I'd let it sit for a half-hour.

 

[chillwithcian]

I would then recommend to shut down the computer and let it decharge for a bit. That also means unplugging the power cord. Let all the components lose their charge, and then start it back up. I've had some issues with things like this before and this worked. I'd let it sit for a half-hour.

Thanks i will try that.
As for the reparing 'Hardware premissions' can you do this by keyboard commands only?

 

[Warbrain]

Thanks i will try that.
As for the reparing 'Hardware premissions' can you do this by keyboard commands only?

That I don't know. You'd have to ask the person who recommended that. I don't usually recommend that since I don't think that repairing permissions does all that much.

 

[mkrishnan]

That I don't know. You'd have to ask the person who recommended that. I don't usually recommend that since I don't think that repairing permissions does all that much.

If you can get a terminal window, then I think you can:

diskutil list

This command will list out your disk partitions... you want the big one, probably called Macintosh HD. On my iMac it's "disk0s3"

diskutil repairpermissions disk0s3

should then repair permissions for the HD.

But you must be booted off the system HD in read/write mode -- you cannot do this in single user mode (with the disk mounted read only) and you also should not do it booted off an install DVD, because the permissions will not be correct.

Repairing permissions may be relevant here because if the driver permissions are wrong, the system can fail to bring up the driver, leading to the mouse not working. So in this case it might actually be useful. In general I also think it's a waste of time because it rarely solves problems. But I think it's relevant here.

 

[chillwithcian]

Nope, computers unplugged for 1/2 hour and when i reconnect it its still the same situation...

 

[Buck Flashroy]

I have the answer!!!

At least, I had the same problem; I booted up my mac and it would say that it couldn't find a mouse (also the keyboard wouldn't work and the capslock remained on no matter how many times you pressed it). I tried booting from the install CD to see if I could repair the permissions (using the Disk Utility), and I could. Also, the mouse and the keyboard worked when booting from the disk, so I knew it wasn't a hardware problem. Anyway, when I rebooted from the Macintosh HD, the problem still wasn't fixed.

But the solution is...

I tried rebooting again (from the Macintosh HD) and held down Command+Option+P+R which clears the Parameter RAM. (For this to work you have to hold those keys down on boot up and keep them held down until the computer chimes for a SECOND time. After this, let go, and the computer should carry on booting up as normal). This seemed to work, and when the computer had booted up, I could use my keyboard and my mouse again and none of my files were wiped.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: This didn't work the second time around, but I explain something else that worked for me further down this page!

 

[JNB]

I have the answer!!!

At least, I had the same problem; I booted up my mac and it would say that it couldn't find a mouse (also the keyboard wouldn't work and the capslock remained on no matter how many times you pressed it). I tried booting from the install CD to see if I could repair the permissions (using the Disk Utility), and I could. Also, the mouse and the keyboard worked when booting from the disk, so I knew it wasn't a hardware problem. Anyway, when I rebooted from the Macintosh HD, the problem still wasn't fixed.

But the solution is...

I tried rebooting again (from the Macintosh HD) and held down Command+Option+P+R which clears the Parameter RAM. (For this to work you have to hold those keys down on boot up and keep them held down until the computer chimes for a SECOND time. After this, let go, and the computer should carry on booting up as normal). This seemed to work, and when the computer had booted up, I could use my keyboard and my mouse again and none of my files were wiped.

Hope this helps.

Um, that thread was almost 15 months old...

 

[redboard]

now thats what i'm talking about..answers no matter how long it takes..plus..who knows, chillwithcian may have been messing with it for the last 15 months.

 

[Buck Flashroy]

Um, that thread was almost 15 months old...

Better late than never, and now at least it's there for other people who are having the same problem now and are looking for answers - like I was!

Anyway, there have been a couple of developments since then - When I shutdown and restarted, I got the same problem of the USB ports not loading (or unloading or whatever) but the resetting the ram didn't work this time around. After tearing out my hair and trying everything under the sun, I eventually found something else that worked;

My Mac is set to startup from the hard disk (as most are by default) but if I left it to do this automatically, it made the USB ports not work. If I loaded from the install disk (insert the disk, then restart the computer and hold down C until it loads) then the USB ports would work. What I tried (more out of shear desperation) was restarting and holding down D, which makes the computer load up from the first partition of the hard disk (even though it was set to do this by default). Don't ask me why, but this seemed to work.

Note that when I say first partition of the hard disk, I only have one partition, but that's irrelevant.

I've been too scared to shutdown and see if it works again, but now at least I can finish backing everything up.

 

[redboard]

Is your computer that old? and what kind is it?