Vickin' Mafricks...

[Buzz]

Somehow using same old google fu on Mrs. Buzz's unsupported XP laptop I stumbled upon the mouse fix...

DeMarc (in MacRumors) wrote:

DeMarc's
SOLUTION:

I created an account JUST so I could answer this for you as I know the answer and it is nice to have one posted. I was actually looking up a different problem with mavericks mouse when i saw this one...

reason you are having to click on the mouse in system preferences to activate the drivers is because the MicrosoftMouseHelper.app is not auto-launching. This is probably due to the driver not updated yet. All you need to do is go into your sys prefs > users > login items and add the app mentioned above at this location (just use the go-to-folder in finder).

/Library/PreferencePanes/Microsoft Mouse.prefPane/Contents/Resources/MicrosoftMouseHelper.app

As for your hesitancy to upgrade, I just went from Snow Leopard to Mavericks and so far there are only small pitfalls. If you are in ML, I am betting it is only an upgrade as i keep reading that "this is fixed in mavericks."

The mouse issue I am having is a big pain though. It has only happened twice so far, and it means I have to at least log out to fix it. The mouse disappears. The cursor i mean. The physical mouse still is active, buttons work, but there is NO POINTER anywhere. It seems to happen when i hit my expose corner, err my bad, mission control to show all apps, then it disappears. As for suggestions, I did not do an upgrade, i did a full clean install. My computer is a macbook pro 17" early 2011.

Oh and finally, you DO NOT want to use usb overdrive. The reason why the microsoft mouse stands above the rest for mac, is because it has the microsoft acceleration built into the drivers. What this means is how far it travels based on how far you move the mouse and and what speed you did it at. This is the ONE thing I have always praised microsoft over mac, was mac's acceleration never felt natural compared to a windows machine. (keep in mind I have not used a native acceleration in a LONG time so maybe it is better now in recent OS updates)

/// - follow up

I case I did not make it clear. You need to right click on Microsoft Mouse.prefPane and show package contents if you are doing it this manual way. You need to add the .APP located at the end of the path i listed. And yes this is Mavericks.

/// - follow up

And to further clarify, you'll navigate through Finder and then drag and drop it into the login list. You can't navigate directly by using the plus button in the login items because it won't let you view contents there.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Thanks, DeMarc. Mouse stuff seems to work in Mavs after following above.
This MacRumors thread did not show up via google in Firefox on Mac tower, laptops, or Safari on tablet, but popped to the top under windoze. Something fishy going on w/ search engine results via different platforms.

Still working on Mavs webcam issue.

==

[N-OS X-tasy!]

WHiiP wrote:
It probably has to do with the lack of "newness" to those peripherals. "Old" doesn't usually work perfectly with the most current Operating System unless the Old stuff has NEW drivers to support the new Operating System. .02¢ :peace:

I've used this keyboard daily since 1993 with no issues:

[deckeda]

^^^ and now you're a touch-typist because the letters wore off 10 years ago!

[N-OS X-tasy!]

deckeda wrote:
^^^ and now you're a touch-typist because the letters wore off 10 years ago!

Honestly, it looks the same as the day I bought it. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

[Bimwad]

The dye sublimation printing on those Extended keyboards is much more durable than the screened or pad printed methods most use today.

Adjustable acceleration curves are best, but few, if any, developers put that kind of effort into their drivers now.

The bit about the Mac not feeling "natural" is not suprising from a Windows user. A Mac user could say the same about Windows. Up until probably Win 95, the mouse action on the stock drivers felt crude and unrefined.

One thing Apple has always nailed, given its lead in new interfaces (GUI, touch), is the naturalness and accuracy of the UI responses.

[Chakravartin]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=deckeda]
^^^ and now you're a touch-typist because the letters wore off 10 years ago!

Honestly, it looks the same as the day I bought it. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
Still got one in my closet.

It's way yellower than it was when I first got it.

But the letters are still on the keys.

[Black]

deckeda wrote:
[quote=rjmacs]
[quote=deckeda]
Probably true, but still not the OS maker's responsibility to ensure compatibility for software they don't author.

But good OS makers try not to break things with new versions, too.
I wasn't aware Apple was incented to deliberately make peripherals stop working.
Is Apple on a mission to get 3rd party developers to stop supporting the platform? Sure feels like it.

[WHiiP]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=WHiiP]
It probably has to do with the lack of "newness" to those peripherals. "Old" doesn't usually work perfectly with the most current Operating System unless the Old stuff has NEW drivers to support the new Operating System. .02¢ :peace:

I've used this keyboard daily since 1993 with no issues:


Wait . . . wait . . . . wait . . . . It's FREAKIN' made by Apple, when they were actually making keyboards.

That definitely does NOT count! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! :bang head:

[N-OS X-tasy!]

WHiiP wrote:
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
[quote=WHiiP]
It probably has to do with the lack of "newness" to those peripherals. "Old" doesn't usually work perfectly with the most current Operating System unless the Old stuff has NEW drivers to support the new Operating System. .02¢ :peace:

I've used this keyboard daily since 1993 with no issues:


Wait . . . wait . . . . wait . . . . It's FREAKIN' made by Apple, when they were actually making keyboards.

That definitely does NOT count! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! :bang head:
True enough... but I bought it 20 years ago. For the last decade or so I've been required to use an ADB-to-USB adapter (has its own driver... which I've never installed) just to be able to connect it to a modern Mac... yet it keeps on working. I'd say that counts.