Leopard stops receiving mouse input

[Fromethius]

I bought a mac pro a couple months ago, ran the OEM installed operating system, and downloaded normal software such as Adium and Burn. I also use the Apple keyboard and mouse, so I figure this must be some sort of Leopard bug, but I have yet to read about it.

I can just be chatting on Adium or browsing on Safari and all of a sudden, Leopard stops receiving mouse input. When hovering over an application on the dock, the name does not come up, when pressing a button, the click does not register, etc. I can move the cursor still and switch between applications using command tab and closing them, etc. The keyboard still works fine, but the mouse does not.

I tried switching mice to a Dell mouse, but the same problem occurs, so I doubt it is a mouse issue.

This just happens out of the blue. Last time it happened was after I switched Spaces using control + right arrow.

Again, the issue that occurs is that I can no longer use the mouse. I cannot scroll with it, I cannot click buttons; all I can do is move the cursor, rendering the mouse useless.

The only solution I have found to this periodical problem is simply quitting every program using command q and command tab to navigate to them and then using the shortcut to log out and in.

Has anyone found this problem or know any solutions?

 

[Fromethius]

It has just happened again.

 

[Nero Wolfe]

This happenes to me once a month. Both my new 24" iMac and my old 20", so a reinstall may not help you. Probably a common Leopard bug; I hope they fix it in 10.5.5.

Until then you don't have to go through all that to fix it. Just turn the mouse off (the slider on the bottom) for about 5 seconds then back on. It takes a moment for OS X to recognize it, but then it should be good again for a while.

 

[Fromethius]

This happenes to me once a month. Both my new 24" iMac and my old 20", so a reinstall may not help you. Probably a common Leopard bug; I hope they fix it in 10.5.5.

Until then you don't have to go through all that to fix it. Just turn the mouse off (the slider on the bottom) for about 5 seconds then back on. It takes a moment for OS X to recognize it, but then it should be good again for a while.

I'm sorry but what do you mean by slider at the bottom?

 

[Nero Wolfe]

I'm sorry but what do you mean by slider at the bottom?

Oh, I assumed you were using the wireless mouse. That's what I have and how I fix the issue. I take it then that unplugging and re-plugging in the mouse doesn't fix things?

 

[Macmonter]

This may not be your problem, but I've noticed that the mouse cursor on my new Mac Pro often does not register to a click when its size was increased in the Systems Preferences - Universal Access. When set to normal size (smallest), the mouse never fails.

 

[Fromethius]

Oh, I assumed you were using the wireless mouse. That's what I have and how I fix the issue. I take it then that unplugging and re-plugging in the mouse doesn't fix things?

It does not.

This may not be your problem, but I've noticed that the mouse cursor on my new Mac Pro often does not register to a click when its size was increased in the Systems Preferences - Universal Access. When set to normal size (smallest), the mouse never fails.

It is set to the smallest size.

 

[Fromethius]

I have found the problem (and solution!)


It happened again just now and I was looking at what key I pressed, and it turns out that while scrolling through my mail pressing the down arrow key quite a bit, I pressed 0 on the Num Pad by accident, and I noticed this locked up the computer.

I was looking for a way to remedy this and I tried pressing keys next to it and the period on the Num Pad made it go away.

So I ask, why is it that when I press 0 on the Num Pad on a standard and up-to-date Apple keyboard does my operating system stop receiving mouse input and the period remedies this?

 

[clickless]

I have OS X Tiger and often have the same problem. My non-Apple mouse will sometimes only move the cursor but cannot click or scroll. In the past, I've connected this to a Universal Access "Mousekeys" issue, as it often happened after I had been using Mousekeys, or accidentally held down the Option key for too long (pressing it five times can turn on Mousekeys).

Mousekeys seems to need "num lock" turned on to work. Or turned off. I'm not sure. Anyway, the number pad on my Logitech keyboard can be erratic. For a long time, I could not type numbers with it no matter if "num lock" was on or off. This is probably a system or software issue rather than a fault with my keyboard.

What has corrected the mouse issue in the past has been to turn Mousekeys or "num lock" on and off. Some combination of both or pressing them in a certain order seemed to work.

Somehow I can't make it work today.