MOUSE PROBLEMS WITH iMAC G4 CIRCA 2006

W6PJJ · 03-10-2013, 12:04 PM

GREETINGS:

I recently picked up a used iMAC G4 17" (White)... Circa 2006, it is running OSX 10.4.11. When I decided to check the MAC Drive, I used the normal process of right clicking to look at the Drive details. Well... the Mouse function would not work, in fact the Right Click will not allow building a desktop folder either. The Right Click only serves to decrease the size of the a application panel on the Monitor and produce a blue cast on the Screen, clicking it again returns the panel to normal size and the blue cast disappears.

I did change the Admin and built a new Admin Profile and deleted the previous one, just in case the user setup was not correct. I have two other MAC's so the function is very normal for me to use. In addition there is no scroll function in the Mouse Setup almost like that function was not available with the operating system.

Advice, Remarks, or Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Don

sebele23 · 03-10-2013, 12:23 PM

Some of the older mac mice do not have this function. try holding control key and then left clicking, you should see your secondary menu appear.

Easiest way to get around this is to plug in a regular old $5 PC mouse.

sources - spend way too much time with G4 era equipment at work.

DeltaMac · 03-10-2013, 01:08 PM

iMac G4 are much older than "circa 2006". The last G4 iMac 17-inch was introduced in 2003, and discontinued several weeks before the G5 began to be available in the summer of 2004.

Assuming you don't care about your settings, and you just want the mouse click (and other parts of your system) to work again -
If you can't get the right-click to work - go into your user Library, then move the preferences folder to the trash. Log out your user, then log in again. Your user will be reset to defaults. Go into your System Preferences, then the Keyboard & Mouse prefs. Click the Mouse tab, and make sure that Primary Mouse button is set for Left.
Try a right-click (again, from an empty area on your desktop). If it does not work now - try a different mouse. If you have been trying a wireless mouse, be sure to try a USB wired mouse.

W6PJJ · 03-10-2013, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	iMac G4 are much older than "circa 2006". The last G4 iMac 17-inch was introduced in 2003, and discontinued several weeks before the G5 began to be available in the summer of 2004. Assuming you don't care about your settings, and you just want the mouse click (and other parts of your system) to work again - If you can't get the right-click to work - go into your user Library, then move the preferences folder to the trash. Log out your user, then log in again. Your user will be reset to defaults. Go into your System Preferences, then the Keyboard & Mouse prefs. Click the Mouse tab, and make sure that Primary Mouse button is set for Left. Try a right-click (again, from an empty area on your desktop). If it does not work now - try a different mouse. If you have been trying a wireless mouse, be sure to try a USB wired mouse.

Greetings:

Thanks for your reply, I made a typo here... the Computer I purchased yesterday is a G5 not G4... I missed that typo probably because I don't use those terms much, having a Mac PRO and iMac of recent vintage, I pay little attention to the G model nomenclature.

We will give it a go and see if we can resolve the problems here, thanks for your inputs, I will advise the results of my next attempt to solve this problem.

Regards,

Don

W6PJJ · 03-10-2013, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	iMac G4 are much older than "circa 2006". The last G4 iMac 17-inch was introduced in 2003, and discontinued several weeks before the G5 began to be available in the summer of 2004. Assuming you don't care about your settings, and you just want the mouse click (and other parts of your system) to work again - If you can't get the right-click to work - go into your user Library, then move the preferences folder to the trash. Log out your user, then log in again. Your user will be reset to defaults. Go into your System Preferences, then the Keyboard & Mouse prefs. Click the Mouse tab, and make sure that Primary Mouse button is set for Left. Try a right-click (again, from an empty area on your desktop). If it does not work now - try a different mouse. If you have been trying a wireless mouse, be sure to try a USB wired mouse.

DELTAMAC:

I carried out your instructions... we have success with the Mouse. The difference now is that we do not have the Scrolling Feature. It appears that it may not be included in the OSX 10.11.4 that is running in this G5, we know it runs in Leopard which is running in the other Apples a MAC PRO and a 27" iMac that we use in the House.

We thank you for your assistance, it is most appreciated now we know how to recover from a Mouse situation.

Regards,

Don

DeltaMac · 03-10-2013, 05:10 PM

Mouse scrolling is not a recent addition, and has worked in OS X, probably since there has been OS X (about 13 years, I think) - connecting a mouse with a scroll wheel should always work.
I would more suspect a faulty mouse.
Did you try a different mouse?
What mouse are you trying to use on the iMac G5?
If you have a Magic Mouse (with the tiny scroll ball on the top), that often may have erratic scrolling, because the scroll ball easily picks up dirt.
Be sure to try a standard 2-button USB mouse with scroll wheel, before you decide that scrolling doesn't work.
Another possibility is the original owner had a third party mouse driver that might interfere with normal mouse use. (IMHO, you would usually see an unusual configuration panel in System Preferences, or something in Applications or Utilities folder to config a mouse, or tablet (and is in addition to the Apple-provided setting panels)

Does scrolling work at all - can you use the scroll bar at the right edge of any window?

NaOH · 03-10-2013, 06:58 PM

Along with what DeltaMac has mentioned, I'd want to know if you reinstalled OS X. With second-hand computers it's always a good safety measure to ensure the system hasn't been tampered with in any way (maliciously or otherwise).

W6PJJ · 03-10-2013, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaMac


	Mouse scrolling is not a recent addition, and has worked in OS X, probably since there has been OS X (about 13 years, I think) - connecting a mouse with a scroll wheel should always work. I would more suspect a faulty mouse. Did you try a different mouse? What mouse are you trying to use on the iMac G5? If you have a Magic Mouse (with the tiny scroll ball on the top), that often may have erratic scrolling, because the scroll ball easily picks up dirt. Be sure to try a standard 2-button USB mouse with scroll wheel, before you decide that scrolling doesn't work. Another possibility is the original owner had a third party mouse driver that might interfere with normal mouse use. (IMHO, you would usually see an unusual configuration panel in System Preferences, or something in Applications or Utilities folder to config a mouse, or tablet (and is in addition to the Apple-provided setting panels) Does scrolling work at all - can you use the scroll bar at the right edge of any window?

I have tried three Apple Mice. The Scrolling function with these Mice works fine with the Mac Pro and the 17" iMac. So I decided to go back to yesteryear and picked one of my wired mice with a scroll wheel, it works fine.

Its interesting though, that the other Mice without the scroll wheel but with the Capacitive adaption for a Scroll Wheel work with the Mac Pro & the other iMac but not with this G5. ??? Always something with Computers you know. I am very fond of the Wireless Mouse, I use them at Work on various MAC Computers, they are very reliable.

Thank you for your remarks and suggestions.

Regards,

Don

DeltaMac · 03-10-2013, 07:49 PM

Ah, well, that explains your difficulty.
If you are trying to use Apple's Magic Mouse, then you should know that the Magic Mouse requires at least 10.5.8 for full functions. Your newer Macs would be using OS X versions newer than that, too.
The Magic Mouse is newer than your iMac G5, and you are running only 10.4.11, so that may be interfering with the scrolling, and certainly would not support the other gestures that mouse offers.
You could certainly try other non-Apple wireless mice. You'll want a bluetooth mouse, unless you want to lose one USB port to use the more common RF wireless mice.

And, another option would be to upgrade your iMac G5 to 10.5.8

03-10-2013, 12:04 PM	#1
W6PJJ Prospect Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: N. CA Posts: 7	MOUSE PROBLEMS WITH iMAC G4 CIRCA 2006 GREETINGS: I recently picked up a used iMAC G4 17" (White)... Circa 2006, it is running OSX 10.4.11. When I decided to check the MAC Drive, I used the normal process of right clicking to look at the Drive details. Well... the Mouse function would not work, in fact the Right Click will not allow building a desktop folder either. The Right Click only serves to decrease the size of the a application panel on the Monitor and produce a blue cast on the Screen, clicking it again returns the panel to normal size and the blue cast disappears. I did change the Admin and built a new Admin Profile and deleted the previous one, just in case the user setup was not correct. I have two other MAC's so the function is very normal for me to use. In addition there is no scroll function in the Mouse Setup almost like that function was not available with the operating system. Advice, Remarks, or Suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Regards, Don

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03-10-2013, 12:23 PM	#2
sebele23 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 2	Some of the older mac mice do not have this function. try holding control key and then left clicking, you should see your secondary menu appear. Easiest way to get around this is to plug in a regular old $5 PC mouse. sources - spend way too much time with G4 era equipment at work.

03-10-2013, 01:08 PM	#3
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,960	iMac G4 are much older than "circa 2006". The last G4 iMac 17-inch was introduced in 2003, and discontinued several weeks before the G5 began to be available in the summer of 2004. Assuming you don't care about your settings, and you just want the mouse click (and other parts of your system) to work again - If you can't get the right-click to work - go into your user Library, then move the preferences folder to the trash. Log out your user, then log in again. Your user will be reset to defaults. Go into your System Preferences, then the Keyboard & Mouse prefs. Click the Mouse tab, and make sure that Primary Mouse button is set for Left. Try a right-click (again, from an empty area on your desktop). If it does not work now - try a different mouse. If you have been trying a wireless mouse, be sure to try a USB wired mouse.

03-10-2013, 05:10 PM	#6
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,960	Mouse scrolling is not a recent addition, and has worked in OS X, probably since there has been OS X (about 13 years, I think) - connecting a mouse with a scroll wheel should always work. I would more suspect a faulty mouse. Did you try a different mouse? What mouse are you trying to use on the iMac G5? If you have a Magic Mouse (with the tiny scroll ball on the top), that often may have erratic scrolling, because the scroll ball easily picks up dirt. Be sure to try a standard 2-button USB mouse with scroll wheel, before you decide that scrolling doesn't work. Another possibility is the original owner had a third party mouse driver that might interfere with normal mouse use. (IMHO, you would usually see an unusual configuration panel in System Preferences, or something in Applications or Utilities folder to config a mouse, or tablet (and is in addition to the Apple-provided setting panels) Does scrolling work at all - can you use the scroll bar at the right edge of any window?

03-10-2013, 06:58 PM	#7
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,642	Along with what DeltaMac has mentioned, I'd want to know if you reinstalled OS X. With second-hand computers it's always a good safety measure to ensure the system hasn't been tampered with in any way (maliciously or otherwise).

03-10-2013, 07:49 PM	#9
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,960	Ah, well, that explains your difficulty. If you are trying to use Apple's Magic Mouse, then you should know that the Magic Mouse requires at least 10.5.8 for full functions. Your newer Macs would be using OS X versions newer than that, too. The Magic Mouse is newer than your iMac G5, and you are running only 10.4.11, so that may be interfering with the scrolling, and certainly would not support the other gestures that mouse offers. You could certainly try other non-Apple wireless mice. You'll want a bluetooth mouse, unless you want to lose one USB port to use the more common RF wireless mice. And, another option would be to upgrade your iMac G5 to 10.5.8