Hi! Another person and I got tired of windows software rendering our hardware useless, so like many others, we are refugees from windows.
However, she has been having issues with her mouse/track pad (she only uses the USB wired mouse) for months, since a Windows update. We installed zorin 16-something as our first Linux distro about a week ago, and we were hoping to resolve the issue, but it didn't.
The mouse is still moving randomly from wherever it was to the menu in the bottom left and opens it. By itself. Repeatedly. If you're typing, it stops your typing. Whatever You're trying to do, it will go to the corner, stop everything you're doing and open the menu.
I'm working with gateway NE56R41u that's all I know about her computer.
Worth noting that it does the same thing regardless of using the track pad or USB mouse, concurrently or separately. Also does it on virtual machine portion of the bootable.
Please help. I'm millenial tech support and I have little Linux/Ubuntu/zorin knowledge. Its really aggravating to have the mouse keep doing this.
Interesting, never heard such issue, but since it happened on Windows and now even on Zorin OS I think it's like if the computer is set to save some energy and so after some seconds of mouse idle it restores it, the computer stops mouse port energy output and so cursor moves to the corner. But can be a hardware damage. I suppose you already tried plugging the mouse to another port, even with another mouse, for testing more accurately and exclude a defective mouse.
Yes, the mouse has been plugged into a different port, I've even run just the track pad, plugged in mouse and disabled track pad...it's just the navigator in general, regardless of source. We don't have another mouse to try.
I thought of hardware damage, but idk how to confirm that, and I don't know how a Windows update could have damaged it, because updates are software...
I know it's a far shot, but maybe there's something in BIOS that can change it?
She said it was a Windows update, not a gateway update...oye. but she isn't very tech knowledgeable at all...so it could've been a different type of update..."firmware" update? Maybe that's the word.
As well as fundamentally amazing.
I would suspect the hardware itself right off the bat given four things that you have said.
regardless of using the track pad or USB mouse, concurrently or separately.
the mouse has been plugged into a different port
and disabled track pad.
persists across Windows or Linux
That last bullet is a big one. What happens on Windows stays on Windows. This is generally true with Mice, as Mice do not carry any onboard memory. There isn't a way it can carry from Windows to Linux.
While it is easy to suspect Windows Updates, which often feel very forced; the timing of an update and the mouse misbehavior are very likely coincidental and therefor, a red herring leading you off on a wild goose chase.
If it is a USB clickable, some light disassembly and cleaning of the button parts may help. I had a somewhat similar and strange issue with my USB Optical Mouse a couple of years ago. The cause of which was quite odd.
You know how the underside of electronics can often have little rubber-like pads glued into little insets... One of those tiny pads on the mouse had slid free and slowly worked its way over to the optics and gotten inside the window. You could barely see it sticking out. I did not even notice the first two times I looked at the underside of the mouse.
Removing it resolved the issue.
Since you say it is happening with the USB Optical or the Touchpad; I would suspect that it is hardware related to the Touchpad itself in your case, rather than the Optical Mouse. But computers can be surprising - I would still suggest checking the USB mouse over carefully since you have only one mouse to test with.
Sooo is there actions I can take to troubleshoot it? What do I look for? I'm capable of reading articles on how to do things, I just need a starting point. Thank y'all so much for this help, I really do appreciate it
Using the resource of video guides, you can get the basics of removing the outer case and gaining access to underneath the touchpad. Look for any loose or partially disconnected cables.
What I would do is disable touchpad in config settings then power down. Then disconnect the touchpad cable, plug in the USB Mouse, Carefully boot up the computer and test if the mouse repositions itself.
The description of the problem is the only thing that made me think of a power-saving option, the only thing that may invalidate my supposition is the simple fact that a click on the corner is performed and the main menu opens. The other interesting supposition is the optical part being misplaced, dirty or moving, even slightly, outside its housing, but since I feel that this issue happens with a logical pattern, like after a certain time, looks something intentional, scheduled. @EpicNor, can you tell us if the issue happens whenever you just write or in any situation? And after how much time? Like for example if it only does when typing and nothing else or if happens in any situation but after a specific time.
I thought I could pin down a pattern, but I can't. It happens seemingly random. No matter what you're doing or not doing. Typing, browsing, watching something, even letting it sit on its own with the mouse originating on the right side of the screen, it'll go to that corner and open the menu. If it's sitting by itself, after 30 seconds or so the menu will go back down, only to pop up shortly later when the mouse moves again.
When the menu shrinks back down, the mouse goes a little to the right on the bottom of the screen before it jumps back.
Those can invalidate my power-saving option supposition, assuming that you move the cursor often.
This can prove that my supposition is correct, I'd really like to know the exact value though since it can be related to a specific power-saving parameter.
I know this problem occurred on both OSes, if it is a BIOS option it might have been brought to Zorin OS, this is mainly why I don't think it depends on an OS specific setting. @EpicNor, just to prove my supposition definitively you can access the BIOS and check for any power-saving feature, but I'm not sure how it can be called since it's something specific for ports. Just check options but never change them, once you check them all exit the BIOS, making no changes you shouldn't be asked if applying them but in case it does just click the key for replying NO to let the BIOS configuration in its actual state.
That PDF user manual is the same I found previously . I also searched for Gateway contact forms but I found no mail, just a phone number. I hoped to ask them by mail about this.
APM uses a layered approach to manage devices. APM-aware applications (which include device drivers) talk to an OS-specific APM driver. This driver communicates to the APM-aware BIOS, which controls the hardware. There is the ability to opt out of APM control on a device-by-device basis, which can be used if a driver wants to communicate directly with a hardware device.
Communication occurs both ways; power management events are sent from the BIOS to the APM driver, and the APM driver sends information and requests to the BIOS via function calls. In this way the APM driver is an intermediary between the BIOS and the operating system.
Power management happens in two ways; through the above-mentioned function calls from the APM driver to the BIOS requesting power state changes, and automatically based on device activity.
APM is on Disks > Unit Options (on the left of Minimize) > Unit Settings…. @EpicNor, can you tell us the mouse brand and model?
Um, someone just gave us a bunch of mice to try. Because I have multiple mice in front of me, I couldn't tell you which one we were using. I'll let y'all know if any are working I guess...I should probably poke around the BIOS as well. And the timing of events, if that's still relevant.
. I also searched for Gateway contact forms but I found no mail, just a phone number. I hoped to ask them by mail about this.