Question Mouse periodically stops working. Nothing I've done helped.

[SparklingWater]

I'm at my wit's end. Nothing I do relieves me of the torment that is my mice.

My mouse just stops working randomly as I use my PC. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason why it does this. the only way I get it to work again is by unplugging it and plugging it back in again.

It's not my ports. All other devices connected to any of my other USB ports work, I've connected my mouse to different ports, I've changed my mouse twice already, USB suspend is turned off in all circumstances, my PC can't turn off any of the USB ports, or any mice connected, there's no rhythm to the failures, my PC could just be idling when it stops working, sometimes it stops working literally 5 seconds after I replugged it, sometimes it cuts out every minute, sometimes it won't cut out at all throughout the whole day. Yes, I've tried safe mode, yes I've restarted the PC multiple times, I've removed any and all mouse drivers multiple times, I've restarted with mouse drivers removed, etc etc etc.

Everything is up-to-date.

I've had 2 of my 3 USB-C ports fail one time, but those just started working again after a few restart, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but my mouse isn't even USB-C, so...

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

The first thing is, we're in the dark in terms of your specs and your peripherals. When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.
In this thread's instance, you should include your computer peripherals and all USB driven devices hooked up to your motherboard/platform.

I've had 2 of my 3 USB-C ports fail one time, but those just started working again after a few restart, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but my mouse isn't even USB-C, so...
This would tell me you have a driver or OS related issue. Was the platform upgraded(motherboard swapped) without reinstalling the OS?

Moved thread from Components section to Computer Peripherals section.

 

[geofelt]

Consider the possibility that your mouse is failing.

 

[CelicaGT]

You could try disabling Fast Startup as it can cause weird stuff like this, especially if it cleans up on a full restart.
To disable:

Search Control Panel from the Taskbar Search -> open Control Panel -> switch to Large/Small Icons in the "View by" drop down menu (to simplify things) -> open "Power Options" -> in the left hand pane, click "Choose what the power button does" -> uncheck Fast Startup under shutdown settings.

This is a feature that only affects HDD users for the most part, was half baked when released, and never got fixed. Disabling it may help.

 

[Paperdoc]

This sounds a lot like an intermittent failure caused by a loose or broken connection somewhere in the mouse or its cable. try these steps.

1. When the mouse "dies", does the LIGHT inside it go off or stay lit? A light-off condition indicates strongly that power to the mouse has failed, so that narrows down which wire is the problem.

2. Try another mouse on the same ports. If a known-good mouse also has the same problem, the issue surely is in the ports and NOT the mouse or its cable.

3. The problem MAY be a broken wire inside the cable. That issue often is at flex points, but could be anywhere. You may need a helper for this. With one hand hold the connector at the cable end firmly in its socket. With the other hand grasp the cord a little bit away and bend the cable back and forth. While doing this the helper should move the mouse and see whether it is working. Repeat this test at the other end of the cable where the wire enters the mouse itself. As a variation, do not hold the cable firmly in the mouse body. As a third search, slowly move over the entire length of that cable from one end to the other, bending it between two hands to see if that can cause the problem to appear and disappear. If any of these locates an intermittent flaw in the cable, you know where repairs are needed. IF this says you have a broken wire inside the cable, you will have to figure out whether and how you want to repair in some manner or replace the entire mouse.

4 A fourth test type, similar to #3. Grasp only the connector on the cable end and wiggle it in its socket. I this causes the problem to appear and disappear the problem is a loose contact or, VERY possibly, dirty contacts in that connection. You MAY be able to clean that to fix.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion to look in Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer.

Either one or both tools may be capturing some error code, warning, or informational event just before or at the times that the mouse stops working.

 

[SparklingWater]

I apologize for not specifying it earlier, but I use a Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16IAH7H.

• 12th Gen Intel i7 12700H
• NVIDIA RTX 3070 8GB dedicated GPU, with Intel Iris Xe iGPU.
• Came with 16GB DDR5 (4800MHz) RAM stock, upgraded to 32GB DDR5 (4800MHz) later.
• Came with a 1TB M.2 SSD stock, I added an additional 1TB SSD M.2 NvMe when I upgraded my memory.
• To my understanding, all upgrades/expansions I've done is supported by the mobo.
• To my knowledge, BIOS is up-to-date, and Lenovo's auto-detect system doesn't detect any new updates.
• For connected peripherals:
  • No additional monitors etc. are connected to it.
  • HyperX USB headset connected, microphone not connected to headset.
  • I have an HTC Vive pro 2, but none of the accessories are currently connected.
  • There's a Samsung Shield 2TB external SSD connected via USB-C.
  • 1 USB hub connected with only a USB mircophone plugged in
  • Current mouse I'm using is a brand-new Steelseries Aerox 5. Previous one was an Aerox 3, which exhibited the same problems. Before that one was a wireless mouse that I've thrown away because it actually just stopped working. I don't remember the brand/model.

As for the people suggesting to change mouse; I'd like to kindly refer to my OP, where I specified that I changed my mouse twice already. I have also changed the cable between my mouse and PC, but that has done nothing to help.

There's no indication that the mouse is actually turning off. The Steelseries software also detects the mouse as connected even when it stops, and there is no Windows "disconnect" sound when it stops working. When I do replug it, I get the Windows sound for when a device is disconnected/connected.

I've thought of checking the event viewer, but I can't see any relevant errors being spat out AFAIK.

To reply to @Paperdoc; I thought that maybe it was the cable, but even if I connect the brand new one, it still does the same thing. As far as I can tell, there aren't any inconsistent connections either.