How to fix mouse problems in OS X

August 28, 2009 3:09 PM

Why doesn't OS X recognize my mouse's middle button click and why does it slow down over clickable objects?

I've got a Logitech Bluetooth MX Revolution (part of the Logitech MX 5500 Keyboard/Mouse bundle). The keyboard works fine, and the mouse gets recognized fine, and generally works, but:

1) If I mouse over a clickable object (link, icon in the dock, etc.) the mouse slows down - as if it's aiding me in being able to click (not quite snapping-to the object, but slows down when I mouse over it). I haven't changed anything in Universal Access, and for the most part nothing seems out of the ordinary there (mouse keys off, nothing checked, Initial Delay and Maximum Speed are both on the far left).

2) My middle mouse button doesn't work. It worked briefly, but now not at all - I can scroll just fine with it, but clicking does nothing. I downloaded Steermouse, and the middle click is not being registered there either. I've used the mouse on a Windows machine, and the middle click is fine.


Other notes. I'm running a Fall 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro. I just upgraded to Snow Leopard, and was hoping that'd fix the problem, but no. In Steermouse, problem 1 goes away, which is great, but I'd like to get this working without Steermouse if at all possible. The mouse's other buttons all seem to be fine in Steermouse.

Mostly question two is the one I'd really like answered, as I can live with spending the money on Steermouse if need be. Thanks.

posted by backwards guitar to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Have you set the middle mouse button to actually do something in the Control Panel? (I set it to expose the desktop.)
posted by @troy at 3:41 PM on August 28

Which Control Panel? I don't see anything like that under System Preferences / Mouse. In Steermouse, clicking the middle button does nothing - unlike the other buttons which, when pressed, highlight which select box I need to edit.
posted by backwards guitar at 3:44 PM on August 28

Have you downloaded and installed the Logitech Control Center? If so, it should be at the bottom of the System Preferences panel, under "Other."
posted by lore at 4:00 PM on August 28

Click System Preferences
Then Expose & Spaces

Then in the bottom of that window you can see mouse shortcuts. I too have my middle mouse button set to expose.
posted by special-k at 4:00 PM on August 28

Are you running DoubleCommand? When my MBP was stolen I got a MB and my Time Machine backup was transferred seamlessly. Except I had weird slowdown issues with the keyboard, trackpad, and any external mouse connected: typing and moving the pointer was laggy. The problem turned out to be DoubleCommand was mapping a key that no longer existed (the small enter key on the earlier MBP/MB was later changed to a second alt/option key on the right). Once I mapped the correct key the problem disappeared.

That took me awhile to figure out. So I'm just throwing the idea out there.
posted by 6550 at 4:32 PM on August 28

Some Logitech mice don't have middle buttons. The middle click mechanically switches from smooth hyperscrolling to regular clicky scrolling. I bought one of these and it took me forever to figure it out.

I ended up mapping left/right scroll to middle click.
posted by chairface at 4:34 PM on August 28

Okay, I installed Steermouse, and solved problem 1. I did a bunch of fiddling and managed to get the middle mouse button to be recognized, but I am not sure how. I did check "Enable access for assistive devices" in Universal Access to accomplish something in Steermouse, so maybe that had something to do with it?

Thanks for your help - if I can ascertain what exactly I did to get it working, I'll update here.

Also, I didn't install Logitech Control Centre, as I've heard some not-so-great things about it. I had it installed at one point under Leopard, and I think that's what actually killed my middle click.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:06 PM on August 28