[SOLVED] G500 mouse is cutting in/out as I move it, can I clean it?

KarlJay

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Jul 26, 2010
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[Update01] my keyboard just did the same thing, went dead, I rebooted and now it's back on line. Both USB, IDK the High Sierra OSX install has been working fine for about 2 months now, so IDK what's going on.
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I've had this G500 for years and it's used on a macOS system. It was working fine most of the time, then all the sudden it slows down, meaning I move a long distance and it doesn't move. It kind of shakes around and doesn't move much.

I rebooted, then tried a different mouse on the same machine. The other mouse seems to work fine.

So, I want to see if I can fix this G500. It's a laser mouse, so I don't know what part of the mouse I would clean or how can it be fixed.

It's done this on and off over the years on different installs. So I can't see it being the system.

System: Hackintosh High Sierra

The cleaning videos are more for the dust around the wheel, IDK what would cause a laser mouse to slow and hit/miss like this.
 
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Solution
Yeah, check for dust or hair trapped in the indent around the laser. Those can trick the sensor into thinking the mouse is not moving. Also take some tissue paper and clean the clear housing covering up the laser and the sensor. They need to be clear for the laser to get through, and for the sensor to see the laser clearly.

On the mouse pad, I've actually had more problems with dark spots on the pad. Just like a camera, the image the sensor sees has to be bright for the hardware to make sense of what it's seeing. This can be harder if your pad is dark (though the laser is infrared so what really matters is the pad's color in the infrared spectrum). I've had better luck with light-colored pads than with dark ones.

If you're not...
"Dust bunnies", for lack of a better term, can build up around the pads on the bottom of the mouse. On occasion they will break loose and get scooped into the indention around the laser. Just blow it out with some compressed air.

Also check what you are using as a mouse pad and change it if it has shiny places on it.
 
Yeah, check for dust or hair trapped in the indent around the laser. Those can trick the sensor into thinking the mouse is not moving. Also take some tissue paper and clean the clear housing covering up the laser and the sensor. They need to be clear for the laser to get through, and for the sensor to see the laser clearly.

On the mouse pad, I've actually had more problems with dark spots on the pad. Just like a camera, the image the sensor sees has to be bright for the hardware to make sense of what it's seeing. This can be harder if your pad is dark (though the laser is infrared so what really matters is the pad's color in the infrared spectrum). I've had better luck with light-colored pads than with dark ones.

If you're not using a pad, try one. They're designed to give the mouse a textured surface that it can see more easily, making it easier to track. I've noticed on some mice, as your table top surface gets filled up with grease and oils, the mouse has a harder time tracking. Scrubbing the surface clean usually clears up the problem temporarily. But a good mouse pad is a better long-term solution. I like the ones with a wrist rest, since I had a terrible time with RSI in college.
 
Solution