Let's start this with the obvious: nobody hacked my mouse. That's just
a subject line I put up there to make you read this. And it worked,
didn't it? You're reading this (well, at least this far). But for a
moment, that my mouse had somehow been 'hacked' is exactly what
crossed my mind.

How did we come to such a ridiculous conclusion? It all started when
my mouse started acting weird. I'd push left, it would go down. I'd
push up, it would go right. I'd push left again, it would now go up.
There was no sense to it.

"Damn," thought I. "Batteries must be dying." (It's a wireless mouse).
Which is pretty ridiculous too, because when the batteries die, the
mouse stops responding; it doesn't go in random directions. But I
dutifully swap in some new batteries, and for a few moments,
everything seems sane again.

Then it happens again. "Damn, is the /mouse/ dying?" I'm heart-broken;
it's a Logitech model they don't make anymore, and it fits perfectly
to my hand. I don't want it to be broken. I apply a few (gentle) taps
of percussive maintenance. And for a few moments again, all is right
in the world.

But, of course, the trouble soom returns and my mouse cursor scurries
off in seemingly random directions again. THIS is when the thought -
however briefly - occurs to me: h4X0r5! The miscreants of the Internet
have - for reasons that surely seem sensible to them - implanted some
sort of malware that makes my mouse go insane. Was it because I
followed that link to 4chan? Is it because I visited Twitter? My data!
Oh my god, is my data at risk?!?!?

A deep breath later, and such nonsense is purged from my brain.
Rationality resumes. I get out my teeny-tiny tech screwdrivers,
unscrew the teenier-tinier screws on the bottom of my mouse, crack
open the shell, take a deep breath, and blow into its innards. An
impressive amount of dust shoots out. I put everything back together
(no teeny-tiny screws lost in the operation!), slip the batteries back
in, and shuffle the mouse around in a few circles. Not only didn't I
break it (always a risk when I take stuff apart ;-) but the cursor is
tracking my movements correctly. Problem solved.

And as I return to normal work, pointing and clicking like the
professional I am, it occurs to me that - twenty years ago - none of
this odd behavior would have taken me by surprise. Mouse cursor gone
screwy? Flip the mouse over, pop out the ball, and scrape off the gunk
from the rollers. But two decades of using optical mice have spoiled
me, and thus - even if only for a moment - I ended up thinking my
mouse had been hacked.

And no, there's no real point to this story; no lesson that you can
take away by reading this. I just thought it was (mildly) amusing and
maybe others can relate. And if not, well, I can take pride in wasting
a few precious minutes of your life. Either way, I'm satisfied. ;-)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

> A deep breath later, and such nonsense is purged from my brain.
> Rationality resumes. I get out my teeny-tiny tech screwdrivers,
> unscrew the teenier-tinier screws on the bottom of my mouse, crack
> open the shell, take a deep breath, and blow into its innards. An
> impressive amount of dust shoots out. I put everything back together
> (no teeny-tiny screws lost in the operation!), slip the batteries back
> in, and shuffle the mouse around in a few circles. Not only didn't I
> break it (always a risk when I take stuff apart ;-) but the cursor is
> tracking my movements correctly. Problem solved.

Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
got a new mouse.

I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...

On Thu, 16 Feb 2023 14:32:28 +0200, Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> wrote:

>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> A deep breath later, and such nonsense is purged from my brain.
>> Rationality resumes. I get out my teeny-tiny tech screwdrivers,
>> unscrew the teenier-tinier screws on the bottom of my mouse, crack
>> open the shell, take a deep breath, and blow into its innards. An
>> impressive amount of dust shoots out. I put everything back together
>> (no teeny-tiny screws lost in the operation!), slip the batteries back
>> in, and shuffle the mouse around in a few circles. Not only didn't I
>> break it (always a risk when I take stuff apart ;-) but the cursor is
>> tracking my movements correctly. Problem solved.
>
>Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
>for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
>except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
>to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
>actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
>skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
>tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
>got a new mouse.

Ah, those skid pads. The problem - for me at least - was less getting
them loose (a spudger and some patience was all it took) but what to
do with them afterwards. Even assuming the adhesive is still good,
should I put them back on? Because presumably I'm going to have to
open up the mouse again at some point, so if the pads are back in
place, I'll just have to pry them loose again. But will the mouse
'skid' as freely without them? Decisions, decisions!

Ultimately, I reattached them on my mouse too... just slightly off to
either side, so they weren't covering the screws anymore. Didn't seem
to bother the mouse none, neither.

Side note: my mouse has six screws keeping it shut. That seems a bit
excessive.

>
>I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
>seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
>seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...
>

"HACK THE PLANET!"

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> Let's start this with the obvious: nobody hacked my mouse. That's just
> a subject line I put up there to make you read this. And it worked,
> didn't it? You're reading this (well, at least this far). But for a
> moment, that my mouse had somehow been 'hacked' is exactly what
> crossed my mind.

> How did we come to such a ridiculous conclusion? It all started when
> my mouse started acting weird. I'd push left, it would go down. I'd
> push up, it would go right. I'd push left again, it would now go up.
> There was no sense to it.

> "Damn," thought I. "Batteries must be dying." (It's a wireless mouse).
> Which is pretty ridiculous too, because when the batteries die, the
> mouse stops responding; it doesn't go in random directions. But I
> dutifully swap in some new batteries, and for a few moments,
> everything seems sane again.

> Then it happens again. "Damn, is the /mouse/ dying?" I'm heart-broken;
> it's a Logitech model they don't make anymore, and it fits perfectly
> to my hand. I don't want it to be broken. I apply a few (gentle) taps
> of percussive maintenance. And for a few moments again, all is right
> in the world.

> But, of course, the trouble soom returns and my mouse cursor scurries
> off in seemingly random directions again. THIS is when the thought -
> however briefly - occurs to me: h4X0r5! The miscreants of the Internet
> have - for reasons that surely seem sensible to them - implanted some
> sort of malware that makes my mouse go insane. Was it because I
> followed that link to 4chan? Is it because I visited Twitter? My data!
> Oh my god, is my data at risk?!?!?

> A deep breath later, and such nonsense is purged from my brain.
> Rationality resumes. I get out my teeny-tiny tech screwdrivers,
> unscrew the teenier-tinier screws on the bottom of my mouse, crack
> open the shell, take a deep breath, and blow into its innards. An
> impressive amount of dust shoots out. I put everything back together
> (no teeny-tiny screws lost in the operation!), slip the batteries back
> in, and shuffle the mouse around in a few circles. Not only didn't I
> break it (always a risk when I take stuff apart ;-) but the cursor is
> tracking my movements correctly. Problem solved.

> And as I return to normal work, pointing and clicking like the
> professional I am, it occurs to me that - twenty years ago - none of
> this odd behavior would have taken me by surprise. Mouse cursor gone
> screwy? Flip the mouse over, pop out the ball, and scrape off the gunk
> from the rollers. But two decades of using optical mice have spoiled
> me, and thus - even if only for a moment - I ended up thinking my
> mouse had been hacked.

> And no, there's no real point to this story; no lesson that you can
> take away by reading this. I just thought it was (mildly) amusing and
> maybe others can relate. And if not, well, I can take pride in wasting
> a few precious minutes of your life. Either way, I'm satisfied. ;-)

--
"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor." --Galatians 6:6. 5 days in a row wo napping due 2 another slammy week with da 3-body colony, <3, $, upgrades (hardwares this Sat?), winter, etc. Bad mawny with oversleeping, pooping into diaper before my bathroom, etc. Y R my pants falling so easily?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 16/02/2023 12:32, Anssi Saari wrote:
> Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
> for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
> except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
> to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
> actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
> skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
> tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
> got a new mouse.
>
> I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
> seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
> seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...

Weird, the few ball mice I've had were easy to clean as you just rotated
a circle of plastic and that allowed the ball to drop out.

On Sat, 18 Feb 2023 10:40:35 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>On 16/02/2023 12:32, Anssi Saari wrote:
>> Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
>> for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
>> except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
>> to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
>> actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
>> skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
>> tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
>> got a new mouse.
>>
>> I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
>> seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
>> seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...
>
>Weird, the few ball mice I've had were easy to clean as you just rotated
>a circle of plastic and that allowed the ball to drop out.

Two notes:

a) Anssi (and I) were talking about optical mice. Modern hardware is
increasingly difficult to get into, with everything being sonic-welded
or glued shut into impenetrable black-boxes. Also,

b) Your technique, with regards to mechanical mice, only cleans the
ball/cavity/roller area and not the mouse innards. Which, sometimes,
is required (for instance, if a bit of fluff gets in between the
buttons and the contacts). In that case, break out the
teeny-tiny-tech-'drivers to remove the teeny-tiny-screws. ;-)

However, I suspect that few ever bothered with such methods. They
either didn't keep the mouse long enough for it to matter, or - as
soon as the buttons/whatever started becoming unresponsive, just
tossed it and bought a new one.

But in my case, I really like the mouse I have. I've been using it...
I dunno, at least a decade, I would guess. If dealing with
teeny-tiny-screws are the burden I must bear to keep it working, then
teeny-tiny-screws are what I shall deal with. ;-)

(Also, are the screws getting teeny-tinier, or is everything else just
getting bigger? ;-)

On 2/18/2023 9:48 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Feb 2023 10:40:35 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>
>> On 16/02/2023 12:32, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>> Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
>>> for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
>>> except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
>>> to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
>>> actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
>>> skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
>>> tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
>>> got a new mouse.
>>>
>>> I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
>>> seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
>>> seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...
>>
>> Weird, the few ball mice I've had were easy to clean as you just rotated
>> a circle of plastic and that allowed the ball to drop out.
>
> Two notes:
>
> a) Anssi (and I) were talking about optical mice. Modern hardware is
> increasingly difficult to get into, with everything being sonic-welded
> or glued shut into impenetrable black-boxes. Also,
>
> b) Your technique, with regards to mechanical mice, only cleans the
> ball/cavity/roller area and not the mouse innards. Which, sometimes,
> is required (for instance, if a bit of fluff gets in between the
> buttons and the contacts). In that case, break out the
> teeny-tiny-tech-'drivers to remove the teeny-tiny-screws. ;-)
>
> However, I suspect that few ever bothered with such methods. They
> either didn't keep the mouse long enough for it to matter, or - as
> soon as the buttons/whatever started becoming unresponsive, just
> tossed it and bought a new one.
>
> But in my case, I really like the mouse I have. I've been using it...
> I dunno, at least a decade, I would guess. If dealing with
> teeny-tiny-screws are the burden I must bear to keep it working, then
> teeny-tiny-screws are what I shall deal with. ;-)
>
>
>
> (Also, are the screws getting teeny-tinier, or is everything else just
> getting bigger? ;-)
>
Your eyes are getting older. :P
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 18/02/2023 17:48, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Feb 2023 10:40:35 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>
>> On 16/02/2023 12:32, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>> Nice going. I still have my old Roccat Kone Pure in the drawer waiting
>>> for, well, I guess a "wood tuit." Last time I used it, it was fine
>>> except for the wheel which needs cleaning. I even found a video on how
>>> to take the wheel apart since apparently it's fairly complex. But when I
>>> actually tried to take the mouse apart, I was thwarted in step one: the
>>> skid pads on the bottom which cover the screws and those were in pretty
>>> tight. In fact I made no headway picking them loose, so I gave up and
>>> got a new mouse.
>>>
>>> I don't know if those pads need heating to soften the glue or what but
>>> seemed like too much work. And also, using a heat gun on a plastic mouse
>>> seems like a good way to liquefy said mouse...
>>
>> Weird, the few ball mice I've had were easy to clean as you just rotated
>> a circle of plastic and that allowed the ball to drop out.
>
> Two notes:
>
> a) Anssi (and I) were talking about optical mice. Modern hardware is
> increasingly difficult to get into, with everything being sonic-welded
> or glued shut into impenetrable black-boxes. Also,
>

Oops, I completely much that one up and I can't even use the defence of
I just misunderstood what you you posted, nope I just got it completely
wrong!

> b) Your technique, with regards to mechanical mice, only cleans the
> ball/cavity/roller area and not the mouse innards. Which, sometimes,
> is required (for instance, if a bit of fluff gets in between the
> buttons and the contacts). In that case, break out the
> teeny-tiny-tech-'drivers to remove the teeny-tiny-screws. ;-)
>

Can't say I ever had the problem with a mechanical mouse but my beloved
Logitech MX518, that got to the stage after about fifteen years of use
that the scroll wheel and mouse sensitivity felt like using a ZX81. My
old trick of wicking some IPA in didn't do the job so I took it apart to
give it a proper clear. Taking it apart was easier, putring it back
together, not so easy. The mechanism on the scroll wheel I just couldn't
figure how to get it all back in place again. The good thing, the new
version had by then been released which really is pretty much identical
to the old one.

> However, I suspect that few ever bothered with such methods. They
> either didn't keep the mouse long enough for it to matter, or - as
> soon as the buttons/whatever started becoming unresponsive, just
> tossed it and bought a new one.
>
> But in my case, I really like the mouse I have. I've been using it...
> I dunno, at least a decade, I would guess. If dealing with
> teeny-tiny-screws are the burden I must bear to keep it working, then
> teeny-tiny-screws are what I shall deal with. ;-)
>

My first port of call is to have a look at how to fix something and as
long as I think it's achievable give it a go. Even then I'll probably
give it a go (for lower value items otherwise I'll look at paying
someone to fix it) as what's the worse that can happen.

> (Also, are the screws getting teeny-tinier, or is everything else just
> getting bigger? ;-)
>