Mission Control Show Desktop mouse shortcut problem

[Diogones]

Hey all,

I have a 2006 Core 2 Duo iMac running the latest version of Lion (10.7.4, as of this writing) and it runs well. There is just one little annoying problem I have run into lately that I haven't solved, despite finding other posts online with the exact same problem.

In my System Preferences, under the Mission Control options, the Show Desktop shortcut selector works with any keyboard shortcut I assign to it. However, when I try to assign any mouse button as a shortcut, it does not work at all.

The strange thing is, it used to work awhile back, so I'm wondering if some sort of .plist got corrupted or somehow wrongly edited. I did reboot into Safe Mode, and ran a Permissions Repair from there, and I also reset the PMC by unplugging the Mac for a minute. I also ran Preferential Treatment with full permissions for both User and System Preferences, but all the .plist files it checked came up clean.

Unfortunately, none of the above worked, hence why I am posting this: if anyone has any suggestions or advice on how to get the mouse shortcut working for Show Desktop again, I'd love to hear it!

[NaOH]

What mouse-based shortcut are you trying to assign? My understanding is that the only acceptable options are the right/secondary click, optionally with any combination of Command, Control and Option key presses.

[Diogones]

Thanks for the reply NaOH! I'm trying to assign mouse button 4, according to the Misson Control settings pane. I wish I could show you a snapshot, but I believe I can only share photos from a webpage, not uploaded from my Mac (unless I add it as an attachment).

I actually tried your suggestion, and even with secondary/right click, it did not work. Nor did it work when I combined Command, Control, or Option to the right click shortcut. It really doesn't seem to respond at all to any mouse shortcut, although the keyboard shortcut that I currently have (F5) works fine.

[NaOH]

Mouse button 4 suggests a non-Apple mouse since those only ever have two buttons. In that case, you may need to use some third-party software. Did your mouse come with any software? If yes, try that. (It's also possible that the mouse software is conflicting with System Preferences > Mission Control when you try to set that to accept the secondary/right click command.)

If your mouse doesn't have software, try searching MacUpdate for software. I know there was USB Overdrive, but it's not clear if it works under 10.7. SteerMouse might do the trick.

[DeltaMac]

Quote: Originally Posted by NaOH Mouse button 4 suggests a non-Apple mouse since those only ever have two buttons.

Not quite accurate.
Apple USB mouse (the Mighty Mouse) has 4 buttons.
Left-click
right-click
scroll ball button (different from scrolling)
side button (squeezing both side is a single button)

I don't remember any Apple mouse with 2 buttons. IIRC, Apple went straight from one button to 4. Then, how many buttons or assignable regions does a Magic Mouse, or a Magic trackpad have?

[NaOH]

You're correct, DeltaMac. I forgot about the USB Magic Mouse (or whatever it's actually called).

Quote: Originally Posted by DeltaMac I don't remember any Apple mouse with 2 buttons.

The current Magic Mouse.

For the issue at hand, the USB Apple Mouse should work for assigning button 4 to Mission Control. I just pulled mine out and tested. Assuming it is an Apple mouse, I'm thinking Diogones should try a new user account.

[DeltaMac]

The Magic Mouse is still mechanically just one button, with lots of sensor elements to detect where your fingers are, and how many are touching at once, and how they are moving.
And lots of settings for multi-touch options.
I say it's not a 2 button mouse - the mouse just knows where and how you touch it.
Did you know that with the right settings, you can use the magic mouse to move the cursor, without moving the mouse?
I agree about trying the new user account, too.

[NaOH]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeltaMac I say it's not a 2 button mouse - the mouse just knows where and how you touch it.

Physically, yes. I was thinking in terms of built-in functionality, so I didn't stop and consider the buttons it actually has.

Quote: Originally Posted by DeltaMac Did you know that with the right settings, you can use the magic mouse to move the cursor, without moving the mouse?

Without even looking, I'd guess this is done with Universal Access options. But I'd like to know. Please, do tell.

[Diogones]

What a neat discussion! On the topic of Apple mice, it has been very enlightening.

To clarify my situation, no, it is not an Apple mouse. You are both right though: I have been able to use the older Mighty Mouse with the multiple buttons to assign Mission Control functions.

However, I must disagree with the idea of creating a new account. For one thing, I can assign the 3rd and 4th mouse buttons to every Mission Control shortcut except for the Show Desktop option. For another thing, I used to be able to use the Show Desktop shortcut with this mouse before, but recently it has stopped working. Finally, I don't think it's really necessary to create an entirely new account and migrate all my data over just because one shortcut doesn't work with my mouse.

What is the preference file that determines the Mission Control shortcuts? If I can delete that, and reboot the Mac so it resets itself, maybe that would clear up the issue.

[DeltaMac]

The Magic Mouse has lots of configuration possibilities, and other developers have provided many, such as MagicPrefs, or BetterTouchTool. The cursor can be controlled from the top surface of the Magic Mouse by toggling the Mouse Finger Cursor through MagicPrefs. I'm not sure if BTT provides that same functionality.
I will say that some of the multi-touch settings are very challenging to use on the small surface of the mouse.

About your Mission Control shortcut - it's possible that you have some other setting or application that is preventing the button assignment that you want for Show Desktop.
The setting should be controlled by the com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist file in your user/Preferences folder.

[NaOH]

Quote: Originally Posted by Diogones However, I must disagree with the idea of creating a new account. For one thing, I can assign the 3rd and 4th mouse buttons to every Mission Control shortcut except for the Show Desktop option. For another thing, I used to be able to use the Show Desktop shortcut with this mouse before, but recently it has stopped working. Finally, I don't think it's really necessary to create an entirely new account and migrate all my data over just because one shortcut doesn't work with my mouse.

The idea behind creating a new user account isn't to migrate your data to it. It's a troubleshooting step that tells all of us whether the issue is systemwide or confined to your user folder.