USB mouse sometimes stops working at boot

[JayMot]

I've started having occasional trouble with my mouse. It's an A4Tech Run On Shine optical mouse. What happens is that the mouse lights up during POST and stays lit when I'm presented with the boot menu (Grub or whatever it is) but when Linux starts to boot the mouse goes dark and won't work from that point onward.

It happened a couple-three weeks ago, so (using the Synaptics touchpad - yech!) I did some research and ended up running the upgrade from Synaptic package manager. As soon as I launched Synaptic the mouse started working again. I figured maybe for some reason entering the root password fixed it? I went ahead and installed my updates and all was joy.

This morning it happened again- powered on the laptop, let it auto-boot into Linux, went to select my user name from the login menu, and no mouse (the cursor didn't move and the mouse wasn't lit.) I hadn't changed or done anything since shutting down the computer yesterday evening, when the mouse was working. Today, unlike last time it happened,  I had some extra troubleshooting tools at hand: I'd reinstalled PCLOS as well as Vista in a dual-boot configuration, and I had an extra USB mouse at hand.

I powered off then removed every other USB-connected device (external HD, USB-powered speakers) and tried again: no joy. I booted with even the mouse unplugged then plugged it in after PCLOS was running and I was logged in: nope. I booted into Vista and the mouse worked, so I knew it wasn't a hardware issue. Booted back into PCLOS and swapped mice- it worked! (so I knew my X11 config files were probably OK.) Plugged the A4Tech back in: failure.

I did some more research and read that A4Tech mouse drivers are part of the newer Linux kernels, so I installed the next-older kernel to try (I have 2.6.38.8 and I installed 2.6.37.4). Booted into that older kernel and noticed that the boot process took a lot longer than usual, and also noticed that my mouse's lights flashed a few times during boot as though it was being detected. The mouse worked when booted into the older kernel!

I booted back into the newest kernel I had and the mouse still worked. I did a complete removal of the older kernel, rebooted, and lo! The mouse still worked, and continues to do so. So it seems there's an intermittent bug in the 2.6.38.8 kernel that occasionally causes A4Tech mouse detection and/or its drivers to fail.

(By the way, all boots/reboots were actually shutdowns and cold boots, just FYI.)

[richiereyn]

I am having problems with USB devices disappearing and by accident realized they disappeared ONLY whilst running on battery. Everything is fine when the power adapter is connected. See if you have the same problem as I do. Weird...

[JayMot]

I actually only use the laptop on AC power anyway, so that's not the issue here.

I spoke too soon: after working all day yesterday, my mouse isn't working again today, and doesn't work no matter what kernel I boot with. And my wife took the other USB mouse to use with her netbook. It's the same story: the mouse's light goes out when Linux starts booting but is on right after POST. It still works in Vista on the same laptop. So much for the idea of it being an issue with the latest kernel. Since the problem is intermittent, it must have coincidentally started working again the other day when I installed and booted into an older kernel leading me to believe that it was a kernel issue.

Anyone know what log I should look at to see what's failing, and where that log file is located?

[richiereyn]

Yes that's weird. I find that on battery the mouse powers up at boot right until KDE starts to log in and just before the desktop appears the mouse goes dead, as do any other connected USB devices, but in my case connecting the power adapter magically makes them all reappear.

[JayMot]

Well, I am getting a message after every log in that my battery is only at 28% capacity and should be replaced, but I've just been ignoring it because I never use the laptop on battery anyway. I've had that since installing PCLOS months ago (I recently reinstalled so as to get dual-boot capability with Vista) and the mouse has always worked fine until a week or so ago.

On mine, the mouse is lit up while the boot menu is on screen, but it goes out about 1 second after I either hit Enter to select PCLOS or the timer times out and selects that OS automatically. I just retried booting into Vista and the mouse worked in that OS.

I used the Control Center's view and search logs utility and searched the system log for "mouse", specifying today's date only, and see this:

Code: [Select]

May 28 07:44:31 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:44:44 localhost service_harddrake[1578]: input/by-id/usb--event-mouse missing
May 28 07:44:44 localhost service_harddrake[1578]: modified file /etc/sysconfig/mouse
May 28 07:44:44 localhost service_harddrake[1578]: removed files/directories /etc/X11/xinit.d/mouse_buttons
May 28 07:45:58 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:47:13 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:49:03 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:50:04 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:52:55 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 07:59:06 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 08:10:11 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
May 28 08:22:09 localhost klogd: mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice

Not sure what's going on, but it sure is frustrating to have to use the touchpad- I hate touchpads with a passion! I'm considering going out and just buying another mouse, but I hate to have to spend the money when I know that this A4Tech mouse is actually working just fine, just not in Linux.   (By the way, a Google search indicates that a few Ubuntu users are having similar issues, which leads me back to thinking it's a kernel or driver issue of some sort rather than being something distro-specific.)

Numerous reboots and shutdowns/cold boots this morning and still no mousey joy. It just doesn't seem to want to work today. Mondays suck.

[JayMot]

Well, that's interesting. We just had a brief power outage, but as my DSL modem and wifi router are on a UPS and I was on the lapdog I just continued working. At one point, without really being aware of what I was doing (need more coffee), I reached for the mouse and started scrolling with its scroll wheel. So maybe it is a power/battery issue of some sort? Next time it fails I'll try unplugging the AC adapter for a moment and see if the mouse starts working again.

(edit: yes, that's it. Another brief power interruption and the mouse had stopped working again. Unplugging then replugging in the power adapter fixed it. I don't want to mark this SOLVED yet though, as that's just a work-around, not a solution.)

[richiereyn]

We've got similar problems just slightly different symptoms. Mine is clear cut. Running on mains power the mouse works fine, on battery ALL USB devices fail. Have you tried seeing if any other USB device fails at the same time you have the mouse issue such as a USB hard drive? That would prove if it's a mouse driver. With me it's anything connected via USB falls off the radar when I switch to battery.

[richiereyn]

JayMot

Something else I've just discovered. If I suspend to RAM whilst on battery the laptop hangs and the fan goes full speed forcing a hard reset, however suspend to RAM works fine when connected via mains adapter.

[Just17]

On mine, the mouse is lit up while the boot menu is on screen, but it goes out about 1 second after I either hit Enter to select PCLOS or the timer times out and selects that OS automatically.

That is normal behaviour

[JayMot]

JayMot

Something else I've just discovered. If I suspend to RAM whilst on battery the laptop hangs and the fan goes full speed forcing a hard reset, however suspend to RAM works fine when connected via mains adapter.

No, I have no problems with any other USB devices, just this one A4Tech Run On Shine USB optical mouse. Even a different (el cheapo Delkin (sic) brand from China) works.

[JayMot]

On mine, the mouse is lit up while the boot menu is on screen, but it goes out about 1 second after I either hit Enter to select PCLOS or the timer times out and selects that OS automatically.

That is normal behaviour

Please elaborate. It only affects this one particular mouse: a different USB mouse works fine. Does Linux not like A4Tech-brand kit then?

[JayMot]

FYI disconnecting/reconnecting the AC (mains) power supply usually (but not always) cause the mouse to start working. I wonder if it mightn't actually be a power issue? This mouse supposedly has two LEDs that let it triangulate its position such that reflections off of shiny surfaces such as glass tabletops don't confuse it as with ordinary optical mice: maybe its extra bit of power consumption is the issue? (I wonder why it works OK on battery but has problems on AC though, if that's the case- you'd think it would be the other way 'round.)

[Just17]

On mine, the mouse is lit up while the boot menu is on screen, but it goes out about 1 second after I either hit Enter to select PCLOS or the timer times out and selects that OS automatically.

That is normal behaviour

Please elaborate. It only affects this one particular mouse: a different USB mouse works fine. Does Linux not like A4Tech-brand kit then?

When the BIOS passes over to the booting OS it no longer controls the mouse ......  and it is some time before the mouse drivers are loaded by the booting OS .....  so the mouse does not work for a period in between.
That is my understanding.
Same thing happens with the keyboard here ......  it takes some time before my keyboard reacts to a key press, such as pressing Esc to see the booting lines.

[oldjim]

Hi
I am having the same problem with my hp usb mouse. I charged the battery up last night, and when I came to use the laptop tonight, the mouse would not work after I had lodged in to KDE, after reading the post here, I plugged in the power adapter, and the mouse worked.
I do hope some one can fix this, as I not to adapter plugged in all the time and ruin the battery.
old ( and confused ) jim

P.S I have a ‎PIXART USB OPTICAL MOUSE if this is of any use to helping fix this problem.

[richiereyn]

Have you got any other USB devices you can try whilst on battery power? Because in my case this isn't solely a mouse issue, it's a USB issue. All USB devices refuse to work on battery power, but all work as soon as power is connected. It's driving me nuts