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Weird Keyboard, Mouse & Print behavior. Is this Leopard acting up?
#1
This is so strange. Everything has been working just fine since I updated.

Now, out of the blue, I'm faced with several exasperating intermittent problems.

I was going along fine in both Safari or Entourage and suddenly both my mouse clicks and keyboard strokes weren't being recognized. In the case of the mouse, temporarily I'd get some completely different result than what the Logitech MX Revolution is set for.

When I clicked once I would see no result at all. I ended up clicking twice to get one mouse click or amazingly, it would open another page in Safari or it would switch to another app. When I clicked the right button I never knew what the result would be. For instance, a right click, which would normally drop down the contextual menu would suddenly show the application switcher and by itself it would almost instantly change to the One-Click Google search.

(BTW, I have installed the latest Logitech Leopard compatible Preference Panel and have double checked the settings)

With the Apple bluetooth keyboard, it seemed as if there was no connection, but when I check the preference panel the keyboard was shown as being connected. I also tried the Apple Bluetooth Mouse that came with my MacPro. It had the same problems, although both mice were tracking normally.

Strangely, after an hour of growing frustration, everything went back to working normally???

The other issue has been with printing on my Canon iP8500. For several days now, if I'm lucky, I can usually print one page and then I get an error window telling me to shut the printer off and turn it on again. When I do that it will allow several more different pages to be printed, but then I again get the error window. I have installed the latest Leopard compatible driver from Canon and checked all my settings, but the problem keeps on cropping up.

I never had any of these problem with 10.4 or even after I installed Leopard and ran the several updates. This came out of the blur and there;s nothing I can point to that I suspect as the cause.

All in all, I haven't a clue as to what else to do except, perhaps call Applecare if no ideas come in on this thread.

I'm not happy about starting the New Year with this frustration. BTW, for the moment everything is working as it should???

Thanks for your thoughts and BTW, notice my shorter topic subject line. Big Grin

GeneL
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#2
I'd swing the dead cat a few times (Repair Permissions) and boot into Safe mode (Shift key at startup), which will take much longer. When completely booted, reboot normally. This may fix the problem.

You could try deleting the printer, then adding it back. You may have to re-install the printer s/w. This may be required for the mouse s/w as well, but it also may require deleting the original mouse s/w first.

I can't tell you why this stuff happens, but the above steps are among those that I use when it does. Just make sure you ALWAYS have a current bootable (tested for bootability) backup partition/drive before you start your repair process. In fact, you might see if your existing backup drive (if you have one) has the same problems before you update it.

You can also see if the problems occur when you log in as a Test User (different account) and try to print and "mouse". If not, that would point to corrupt mouse and printer preferences in the original account where it happens.

I think Applecare will not help you with 3rd party software problems, which is what you are experiencing. I could be wrong.
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#3
Many problems (including my own) with Bluetooth deivces. "Bluetooth communication failure" was what AppleCare said. Replaced logic board. Problem remains.

Check out Apple Support Forums for bluetooth issue. Recent patch released for (macbook pro?) keyboard stopping (different issue, I believe).

Have no idea about the bluetooth business. I've been almost two days w/o the usual problem: upon wake-from-sleep, and sometimes w/i 20 minutes of wake, bluetooth keyboard and mouse (Apple) stop working. Going to Bluetooth preference causes a software freeze. Computer will not shut down normally: gets to blank desktop picture, cog wheel spins. Never restarts or shuts down. Forced shutdown every time.

Since it is not repeatable (nothing I can do will guarantee the problem is exhibited) Applecare's not terribly interested in fixing it.
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#4
modelmac, those suggestions seem like a reasonable set of first aid ideas. I did delete the printer and reset it, as well as downloading Canon's latest driver. Same with the mouse.

I do have a bootable backup drive, but I didn't think to try it. I imagine that it would have the same problems, since it is cloned daily.

I will try the "Safe Boot" trick and permission repair if the problems start up again.

martin, when things started going bad, one of my first thoughts was about the Macbook Pro keyboard issue which I had seen posted on the forum a short time ago.

Based on your post, I can tell that I'm not alone in my frustration.

It seems as if your problems are much worse in overall scope than mine, but the frustration is probably about the same. Inexplicable problems can be devastating when, after performing every fix that you can think of, nothing has worked. It just goes around and around in your head, the "what if I try this or did I try that? "

Your last line, "Since it is not repeatable (nothing I can do will guarantee the problem is exhibited) Applecare's not terribly interested in fixing it," really expresses the level of frustration that we feel when seemingly unexplainable problems occur.

I hate to say this, but of all my apps, Entourage is the most buggy and the most used. Unfortunately, it is the only Mac compatible program that I've found that gives me most of what I need to keep my life organized. I used ACT for Mac for years, starting on my SE-30. Since they stopped making that app for the Mac platform I have never been able to find an application that is as easily used and so completely integrated. Everything, scheduling, maintaining contacts, word processing, sending emails, letters and dialing from contacts was incorporated and the ease of use with simple drop down menu selections made ACT my all time favorite application.

Now, I'm forced to use the unreliable Entourage as my only close alternative. I wonder if the "new" version will be any improvement?

Oh, well (sigh)! Everything seems to be working ok this morning, so my head isn't spinning around like in the Exorcist. Smile

Happy New Year and thanks for taking a moment to respond to my question.

GeneL
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#5
[quote GeneL]I hate to say this, but of all my apps, Entourage is the most buggy and the most used. Unfortunately, it is the only Mac compatible program that I've found that gives me most of what I need to keep my life organized. I used ACT for Mac for years, starting on my SE-30. Since they stopped making that app for the Mac platform I have never been able to find an application that is as easily used and so completely integrated. Everything, scheduling, maintaining contacts, word processing, sending emails, letters and dialing from contacts was incorporated and the ease of use with simple drop down menu selections made ACT my all time favorite application.
Check out Daylite:

http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/index.html
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#6
[quote Article Accelerator][quote GeneL]I hate to say this, but of all my apps, Entourage is the most buggy and the most used. Unfortunately, it is the only Mac compatible program that I've found that gives me most of what I need to keep my life organized. I used ACT for Mac for years, starting on my SE-30. Since they stopped making that app for the Mac platform I have never been able to find an application that is as easily used and so completely integrated. Everything, scheduling, maintaining contacts, word processing, sending emails, letters and dialing from contacts was incorporated and the ease of use with simple drop down menu selections made ACT my all time favorite application.
Check out Daylite:

http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/index.html
I actually checked out Daylite and tried Now up to Date and one other highly touted and seemingly sophisticated PIM for Mac (whose name I can't remember), before I ended up with Entourage. I just didn't' like any of them for one reason or another. But thanks for the suggestion.

GeneL
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