Why does my Microsoft BlueTrack mouse work almost nowhere?

March 8, 2013 4:35 PM

Microsoft advertises their "BlueTrack" mice as being able to work on almost any surface, with only a few exceptions (mirrors and glass, if I remember correctly). But mine works on almost no surface.

I've found that it works on a small glossy sticker that came on my laptop (in the area below the keyboard). Other than that, it works nowhere, and I mean nowhere. I have tried my couch cushion. I have tried my pants leg. I have tried my actual leg. I have tried a piece of paper. I have tried a piece of cardboard. I have tried a piece of plastic. I have tried a hardbook cover. I have tried a paperback book cover. I have tried a glossy magazine cover. I have tried a glossy book cover that seems to me to be just as glossy as the glossy sticker. I have tried an old-school mouse pad. I have even, in desperation, tried a mirror (which they say it won't work on).

The area that the glossy sticker is on is very close to the USB plugin thingy on my laptop, so I thought maybe everything else was just too far away, but that's not the case: I've tried parts of my laptop not covered by the sticker, but even closer to the USB plugin thingy; I've tried a book cover very very close to the USB plugin thingy; I've even tried a piece of paper that I taped down over the glossy sticker.

And I've tried different USB ports, including ones that were significantly farther away from the glossy sticker.

I've tried regular batteries. I've tried rechargeable batteries. I've tried freshly recharged rechargeable batteries. I forget whether the mouse came with batteries or not, but if it did, I certainly tried them.

Embarrassingly enough, I even bought a second mouse of the same type! And had the same problem.

When I say that it works on the glossy sticker, and does not work anywhere else, it's like night and day. It is perfect on the glossy sticker. It does not move my cursor one single iota on any other surface.

I haven't seen anything but praise for BlueTrack, and I haven't heard of anyone else having problems like this. And I've had nothing but good luck with Microsoft mice in the past - I've been using their mice for, I don't know, fifteen or twenty years? And have always been very happy with them, before this.

posted by Flunkie to computers & internet (11 answers total)

Your mouse is broken. Return it for a replacement.
posted by Jairus at 4:38 PM on March 8 [1 favorite]

As I said, though, I've purchased a second mouse of the same type, and have had the same problem. Did I really get two broken mice out of two?
posted by Flunkie at 4:39 PM on March 8

Well, I mean, it's not impossible. I have a tiny little BlueTrack mouse that runs on a AAA battery and I really can use it anywhere. On my leg, on a couch, on a chair, on the wall, pretty much anywhere. Can you maybe find a store that will let you plug it in to a laptop to test before you walk out?
posted by Jairus at 4:41 PM on March 8

Can you still return both? They do seem to be defective, after all. My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX (not the newer model, which is inferior). The Darkfield laser on that thing works on every surface I've thrown at it, including glass.
posted by roomwithaview at 4:46 PM on March 8

the Sidewinder X8 only operates wirelessly, sending the data from the mouse to the puck, which then talks to the PC via 500Hz USB.

I'm wondering whether that 500Hz could be too fast for your mouse controller, and whether the glossy sticker has some repetitious pattern on it that makes the input seem slower (because the frequency of the peaks in output is taken as the frequency), and therefore interpretable.
posted by jamjam at 5:02 PM on March 8

At least at the macroscopic level, the glossy sticker doesn't have a repetitious pattern.

Also, a little additional data point that I should have mentioned: Clicking the buttons works fine no matter where the mouse is. It's the tracking and only the tracking that doesn't work.
posted by Flunkie at 5:06 PM on March 8

clean it. Blow in that little hole like an old Nintendo cartridge.

Is there a sticker on it? take it off.
posted by bensherman at 5:14 PM on March 8

I've blown in the little hole a bunch of times; it hasn't helped yet. I don't see a sticker.
posted by Flunkie at 5:16 PM on March 8

I had a similar problem with a Logitech mouse (with blue light). It worked on nothing except the matte black plastic backing of a CD case or on a very cheap, reflective mouse pad. Any other reflective surface did nothing and I never figured it out why.

Also: test both mice on another computer.
posted by matlock expressway at 5:27 PM on March 8 [2 favorites]

If you have a wooden cutting board, try that. I've found that cutting boards make excellent mouse pads. Wood has nice continuous texture which mice like.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:44 PM on March 8

Perhaps the problem is with the drivers. Maybe try the mouse on another computer. Check for updated drivers?
posted by at at 7:19 AM on March 10