kensington expert optical trackball... scrolling death

[Jesse Peterson]

Ok, so as of today, the scroll wheel on my 3rd trackball mouse in as many years has stopped responding. It is always the same problem with these things. Kensington has always shipped me a brand new one everytime this happens.. but honestly, I don't want to deal anymore and I'm willing to pay for a better option.

What are you guys using?

when it's working, I love the trackball.. would love something similar

I'm also considering starting fresh and using a wacom


PS, if anyone else has run into the scrolling death feature, and knows a fix, that would be ideal

thanks

[philper]

Originally Posted by Jesse Peterson

Ok, so as of today, the scroll wheel on my 3rd trackball mouse in as many years has stopped responding. It is always the same problem with these things. Kensington has always shipped me a brand new one everytime this happens.. but honestly, I don't want to deal anymore and I'm willing to pay for a better option.

What are you guys using?

when it's working, I love the trackball.. would love something similar

I'm also considering starting fresh and using a wacom


PS, if anyone else has run into the scrolling death feature, and knows a fix, that would be ideal

thanks

Is this the trackball with the optical sensor in it, or the older type with the metal wheels that are spun by the ball? I found the older types died every 2 years or so, but the optical type (with the turnable ring around the ball) just needs blowing our w/ canned air once in awhile.....

phil p

[RecRoom]

I've had the same marble mouse for 5 years and it's never died. It's optical, got 4 buttons, and I use the top two to scroll. Fits my hand perfectly.

[sailor]

No problems with my Expert Mouse. But I use the scroll wheel mostly for navigating large windows, track zoom, etc rather than for scrubbing, so maybe my wheel gets less use than yours. For scrubbing in PT I just use the ball.

Sometimes the optical sensors do have to be cleaned as Philper says. But that shouldn't affect the wheel anyway.

Never heard of "scrolling death" actually. Does scrolling lock on, or just crap out altogether...?

Wacom can be cool once you get used to it. Definitely a different kind of muscle memory. I still rely on the Expert Mouse....haven't been deep in tablet territory since the ScreenSound days. Scrubbing with the pen in PT drove me nuts.

[Jesse Peterson]

It's the one with the optical sensor.

I just finished opening it up and doing a cleaning..

When I first plugged it back in, it worked great for about 30 seconds. Short lived.

The problem is the scroll wheel. I use it for sizing, scrolling, certain plug ins etc.. it starts off by getting jerky and after a few minutes there is no response.

I can see the the scroll wheel works with some sort of light sensor that is supposed to know which way the thing is turning, cleaned that as best I can.

crap

Yelling at it doesn't work

[Jesse Peterson]

check that...

yelling at it DOES work.

it's magically alive again.


May have something to do with the magnet that is directly under the lower right mouse button.

I was specifically yelling at that.

Maybe I'll be able to fix my other two if I can figure out what I did

J

[Jesse Peterson]

Just a quick post in case anyone searches this..

My scrolling issue has been solved.. with all 3 kensington trackballs that I own.

Open it up, get a small pair of pliers and pull out the small magnet that is directly under the bottom left mouse button. It won't want to come out easily, sort of like pulling a tooth. be careful. It will pop out

1. scrolling comes back to life
2. removes the notched feel and the wheel moves freely

[Jfriah]

Really really really (maybe I'm just sleeping and missed it?) wish they would have put out an Expert Mouse with the wonderful 4-programmable buttons and scroll wheel/5th button WITH OPTICAL SENSORS instead of the crappy mechanical ones that wear/get dirty.

I'm currently using the 'other' one that has the 'scroll ring' which I hate because ergonomically is quite different.

Jeff

[ripple_fx1]

They don't 'stop responding' Jesse - YOU break them.
STOP abusing the equipment.
Get yourself some physical therapy or anger management so you can use it THE RIGHT WAY. Mine are all just fine - no problems. Magnets.....
(sarcastic reverse italics, right?)

[Jfriah]

Hey, ripple! Let me tell ya my "negative energy" story!

Everyone's always joking that I have bad juju, bad mojo around most computers because "only YOU have that problem..." for bugs, crashes, 'new pro tools features' etc.

So I go out and stop at a crystal shop one day and pick up a black stone that's supposed to block/stop negative energy. I figure 'what the heck!'. Purchase it.

Start a feature mix with a new client the following Monday. So I place said negative energy blocking stone between my keyboard and the monitor. Can't hurt, right?

10 minutes into Day 1 final mix. Computer basically crashes real good and I have to swap out the machine. After we get back up and running, the replacement computer also goes down about an hour later.

I apologized to the client 'computers are great when they work!', sent him off for an early lunch, calmly picked up my little crystal friend, walked out of the building, and proceeded to hurl it far away using as much negative energy as I could muster... hahahaha
dfegad


Computers. They ARE great when they work.

Jeff

[ripple_fx1]

its possible you're both possessed....knew a guy who'd null any walkie-talkie, but it might have been his hives. jp - jeff says cursing and throwing like you've been doing will exorcise the demons.