Solved Down the rabbit hole with my Logitech mouse

MisterEd · May 26, 2023

Recently every so often my mouse cursor starts jumping around all over the screen and sometimes things start getting selected by themselves.

Both the Logitech Bolt and Options+ apps are supposed to warn you if the battery level is low. The following shows that you can't trust that.

1. I checked the battery level with both Bolt and Options+. The both showed the battery level was good.

2. Despite that I decided to check the battery levels with a battery tester. Both batteries showed marginal.

3. I replaced the batteries with new ones. I again checked the battery level with both Bolt and Options+. They both showed the battery level was good.

4. I put the old batteries back in the mouse. I again checked the battery level with both Bolt and Options+. This time they both showed the battery level was bad!!!

MisterEd · May 30, 2023

I started this thread because I had an intermittent problem with the cursor jumping around. I though there was a problem with my Logitech M510 mouse. I changed the batteries thinking that was the cause. I didn't have any problems over the weekend so I thought the problem was solved.

On Monday evening the jumping cursor started again. In frustration I turned off the mouse. The jumping cursor continued. I unplugged the Logitech dongle. The jumping cursor continued. That had me confused.

Then it hit me. The touchpad on my laptop was turned on. I wondered why until I remember a thread I participated in, Logitech Options+ (Post #195 - Mar 22, 2023). While in that thread I was experimented with Logitech Options+ and Bolt. To test pairing and un-pairing my Logitech mouse I need to use the touchpad. After I was done I forgot to disable the touchpad.

A person might wonder what this has to do with the jumping cursor. The only thing I know is I had the problem when the touchpad and mouse were enabled at the same time. With the touchpad disabled now I will have to wait and see if the problem comes back.

I just reinstalled the touchpad driver. I would still like to know if there is just some kind of conflict with the mouse and touchpad or the touchpad is becoming faulty. For now I am going to save this for another day. One rabbit hole is enough this week.

K7MEM · May 30, 2023

MisterEd said:
Then it hit me. The touchpad on my laptop was turned on. I wondered why until I remember a thread I participated in, Logitech Options+ (Post #195 - Mar 22, 2023). While in that thread I was experimented with Logitech Options+ and Bolt. To test pairing and un-pairing my Logitech mouse I need to use the touchpad. After I was done I forgot to disable the touchpad.

I have had this issue several years ago. There is a setting in Settings -> Bluetooth & Devices -> Touchpad that will automatically turn off the touchpad if a mouse is plugged in. With the Touchpad and Mouse both enabled, it is like the keyboard is possessed. Every time the pads of your hands touch the Touchpad, the cursor goes crazy. MS updates use to change this setting, but MS finally stopped that.

I'm currently using a M650 mouse, but have had a M510. With the M510, I was having erratic operation of the left mouse button (around January 2023). It would often double and triple click when I only wanted one click. I did a lot of work in text editors and this made editing impossible. I tried several different wireless mice, but had the same issue. I was always working with fresh batteries. The mouse would be fine initially, and then start up after a while. I then tried a wired mouse and the problem went away. The problem was readily repeatable by switching between a wired and wireless mouse. It drove me nuts so I just used the wired mouse for a while.

Then, one day the wired mouse I was using broke. So I bought a M650. Since then, I have not seen the problem again. The M650 works great, but I'm waiting with bated breath for the problem to reoccur.

My son has an even newer Logitech mouse with even more capabilities than the M650, at work. I don't remember which one it is, but it has tons of features. But even the IT people where he works, can't get it to work correctly. And, Logitech admits that there is problems with their software and haven't been able to work it out. They have been working on it for about a month now.

TM21 · May 30, 2023

On my Desktop PC, (no touch pad) I'm using a Logitech M185 Wireless mouse, that uses just one AA battery.
When it seems to be getting flakey, I just shut it off, change the battery and turn it back on. No more problems.
If I were going to check the battery, I would use my Lab Quality Digital Volt meter. I've never trusted those analog Go-NoGo meters.
On batteries that only put out 1.5 volts, tolerances are so small, that only a quality voltmeter can be trusted.
Sorry, but after the hundreds of hours I've spent working in an Electronics Lab, I'm a little bit spoiled, when it comes to quality Instrumentation. I wish I could afford some today.

When I do work with a laptop, that has a touch pad, I still prefer to use a USB mouse, either wired or wireless.
I always try to disable the touch pad. On some laptops, the touch pad can just be turned off by a switch, in others, the pad needs to be disabled in the device manager.

Cheers mates, Happy Mousing!

TM

MisterEd · May 30, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
On my Desktop PC, (no touch pad) I'm using a Logitech M185 Wireless mouse, that uses just one AA battery.
When it seems to be getting flakey, I just shut it off, change the battery and turn it back on. No more problems.
If I were going to check the battery, I would use my Lab Quality Digital Volt meter. I've never trusted those analog Go-NoGo meters.
On batteries that only put out 1.5 volts, tolerances are so small, that only a quality voltmeter can be trusted.
Sorry, but after the hundreds of hours I've spent working in an Electronics Lab, I'm a little bit spoiled, when it comes to quality Instrumentation. I wish I could afford some today.

When I do work with a laptop, that has a touch pad, I still prefer to use a USB mouse, either wired or wireless.
I always try to disable the touch pad. On some laptops, the touch pad can just be turned off by a switch, in others, the pad needs to be disabled in the device manager.

Cheers mates, Happy Mousing!

TM

I have 3 Logitech M510 (2 batteries) and 4 Logitech M325 (1 battery) wireless mice. I also have a number of other wired mice. I use the wireless mice for convenience especially on my laptops. I have found that the mice that use 2-batteries last much longer on batteries than the ones that only use 1-battery.

I normally leave the wireless mice always turned on with my desktop computer. However, I found it important to always turn off the wireless mice when the laptop is turned off. The batteries last a lot longer that way. Note the mice automatically power down if not used after a while. However, moving them will power them back up. That is why they need to be turned off if used with a laptop.

I hate using the touch pad. I normally only use it when I want to initially pair a new mouse.

Before I became a Software Engineer I was a Electronics Technician that normally used Fluke DVMs. Now I am retired. I do have a fairly good DVM but don't need it for such mundane things like checking batteries. To test batteries I still use my 40 year old Radio Shack battery tester. Unlike a volt meter a battery tester will put a load on the battery. That makes a difference.

I just checked the batteries I removed from my mouse. The DVM showed the voltage was down to 1.2 volts. Since they were still powering the mouse that meant that the mouse could tolerate a lower voltage than the nominal 1.5 volts. I use Duracell AA batteries. I suspect the voltage slowly drops until at some point they probably quickly drop to 0 volts. Apparently, the battery tester showed a drop to 1.2 volts was marginal which was why it showed it as "?".

To summarize I really don't care what the exact voltage is for a battery. I only care if the battery level is good or not. A battery tester is all that is needed to tell me that.

Lebbie · May 30, 2023

MisterEd said:
I have 3 Logitech M510 (2 batteries) and 4 Logitech M325 (1 battery) wireless mice. I also have a number of other wired mice. I use the wireless mice for convenience especially on my laptops. I have found that the mice that use 2-batteries last much longer on batteries than the ones that only use 1-battery.

I hate using the touch pad. I normally only use it when I want to initially pair a new mouse.

Before I became a Software Engineer I was a Electronics Technician that normally used Fluke DVMs. Now I am retired. I do have a fairly good DVM but don't need it for such mundane things like checking batteries. To test batteries I still use my 40 year old Radio Shack battery tester. Unlike a volt meter a battery tester will put a load on the battery. That makes a difference.

I just checked the batteries I removed from my mouse. The DVM showed the voltage was down to 1.2 volts. Since they were still powering the mouse that meant that the mouse could tolerate a lower voltage than the nominal 1.5 volts. I use Duracell AA batteries. I suspect the voltage slowly drops until at some point they probably quickly drop to 0 volts. Apparently, the battery tester showed a drop to 1.2 volts was marginal which was why it showed it as "?".

To summarize I really don't care what the exact voltage is for a battery. I only care if the battery level is good or not. A battery tester is all that is needed to tell me that.

To test batteries I still use my 40 year old Radio Shack battery tester.

Lebbie · May 30, 2023

To test batteries I still use my 40 year old Radio Shack battery tester.

I love this. New here, please forgive the mix up posting.

Solved Down the rabbit hole with my Logitech mouse

MisterEd

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MisterEd

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K7MEM

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TM21

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Lebbie

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