Logitech mouse – 365 days old

[~Jan~]

Now that I'm in the right place....

Mouse was fine and suddenly the thing just stopped working. It is a wireless Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse. It's charged as I leave it on it's charger at night and I see the little green lights telling me so. My question is can the laser sensor light (whatever you call it) go out in them? I'm assuming yes.... and I'm thinking this is what it may be because I see no light when I turn the thing over, is this a possibility and if so is there a fix to it or should I just buy a new mouse? This one has to be getting pretty old as I know I have had it for quite some time. I suppose they wear out, right?

[Dark Angel]

Yes, the laser diode will eventually wear out, though they can also get dirty. Batteries do eventually wear out as well. I'd typically figure the battery as more likely to wear out before the laser, but things don't always work out how you'd figure. A dud battery can read to the charger as though it's fully charged but then drop it's bundle under even slight load once it's off the charger.

[Fingerle]

A Lot of the newer mice. You can't see the laser. I've had two Logitech MX mice where the receiver (USB Dongle) up and died.

Sadly, only fix in that case is to replace. Even an over aged battery should give you a few min of mouse time before it quits.

[Dark Angel]

Jan, you could try giving the laser window a gentle wipe with a soft tissue and make sure it hasn't collected a bunch of gunk, but there's a good chance you need a new one.

[ZemaTalon]

I'm not a big fan of wireless mice and keyboards, a lot of extra complexity and potential headaches just to eliminate one or two cords - just my opinion after having delt with them on other people's machines. Just give me a simple USB mouse and keyboard and I'm good

[Dark Angel]

I keep one or two old PS2 mice and keyboards kicking around after having USB issues on a few systems. Damn things wouldn't let me access the BIOS with the USB keyboard until I used a PS2 one to change the BIOS settings.

[Grogan]

I still don't use USB for input devices... I buy only PS/2 keyboards and mice. (and motherboards with PS/2 ports and floppy controllers too)

USB is for gadgets and thumb drives. Never anything system critical, for me.

(Note: I don't even load the USB module stack unless I need it. Linux I mean... kernel modules)

[ZemaTalon]

I should have included ps2 in there but that wasnt the point i was making. But being that the focus is on that, usb is becoming increasingly predominate vs ps2, i have several boards with only one ps2 port.

[MSUredux]

A few things Jan. One, I have two of those mice, the laser is invisible to the human eye.

Two, contact Logitech support. They may just send you a new mouse.

That's why I have two Performance MX's now. The feet/pads on the bottom of mine seemed a bit worn. So I contacted them to see about getting new ones. Now they were still OK, just looked a bit worn down. Logitech simply sent me a brand new mouse.

And three, we all know how tech savvy you are ...is the little switch on the bottom by any chance set to "off"?

[~Jan~]

Ok thanks guys. I have a bad feeling it has just zonked out on me.

Mark, I can't see Logitech sending me a new one as old as this one is... why would they do that? Hey and I am tech savvy with a lot of things. I've come a long way baby! And yes, the little switch is "on." On this particular mouse I can see the laser, well I guess I should say "the little light"...... lol what I believe is the laser. That light is out completely and I do remember it lighting up.

Here's a picture of the back side and where I have drawn the white circle on it is where the light is, which is actually recessed into the mouse. So even wiping it as you suggested DA isn't real easy... but I blew on it thinking that may help. I'm not real sure why you are saying it is invisible to the human eye, Mark. I can clearly see it and it is not lit up so right now it is invisible.



It was really kind of weird how it all happened... everything was just fine and the mouse has been working fine. No erratic behavior or nothing. This morning my internet dropped for some reason or another and I was resetting the modem and router as usually I can get a connection back and while in the process of this and it coming back on the mouse quit working. I'm certain it had nothing to do with the internet loss or me resetting the modem and router as I have done this plenty and nothing like this has happened. I think it is all coincidental but the end result the mouse isn't working. Luckily I have other mice here but just not a favorite.

[Dark Angel]

Looks like the switch is off to me

Jan, it could well have just shuffled off it's mortal coil, dropped off it's perch and become a non-mouse. It's a right shit, but it does happen.

[MSUredux]

Mark, I can't see Logitech sending me a new one as old as this one is... why would they do that?

Who knows. Why did they send me a whole new $90 mouse when all I did was inquire about new feet/pads for mine?

And yes, the little switch is "on."

If that picture is actually your mouse the switch is "off".

On this particular mouse I can see the laser, well I guess I should say "the little light"...... lol what I believe is the laser. That light is out completely and I do remember it lighting up.

I'm not real sure why you are saying it is invisible to the human eye, Mark. I can clearly see it and it is not lit up so right now it is invisible.

No...you're mistaken. That mouse uses a laser that is invisible to the naked eye. I didn't mean you couldn't see where it was You can't see it light up. You're thinking of the red LED light on a normal optical mouse.

Also I should clarify something. The mouse that I now have two of is the Performance MX. Which replaced the MX Revolution. However I also have an MX Revolution like yours in use here. I can guarantee you that laser light emitted by them is invisible.

As DA said though, it may have simply died though. Or the battery may have gone bad. It's not very user friendly to replace either. And in which case it's as good as dead.

[~Jan~]

No it was not a picture of my own mouse. lol

I knew that was in the off position but it was a good pic of the backside... but I even thought when posting it that you rascals may think it's mine and figure there she goes again doing something else stupid. C'mon now you guys give me a little more credit that that!

Ok Mark, now I'm all confused.... and yes I could easily be mistaken. That happens on a regular basis but I'm ok with myself. Yes I see the red LED light that is coming from that little round circle when it is operating correctly which I assumed is the laser light or whatever the hell ya wanna call it. lol So if I understand you right I do not have a laser mouse but an optical mouse, is this correct?

Anyway I kind of messed with it again this morning and have done all I can do, check charger, reboot... yada yada. I just think it up and died. Good excuse to get a new mouse!

[MSUredux]

If you indeed have a Logitech Performance MX, it has what they call a "DarkField" laser. Which emits laser light that is invisible to the naked eye. If you have a red light then it's not that mouse. It's either a regular optical mouse, which emits a red light from an LED. Or a regular laser mouse, which I've never used so can't say if they emit a visible red light or not.

I'm thinking that you do have that mouse and just think you remember seeing a red light. Believe me, I have that mouse and two others with the "DarkField" lasers in use right now. None of them emit a red light.

Regardless, the mouse is not working. The only thing I can think of to try is unplugging the USB dongle and plugging it back in. If that doesn't work and you've tried everything else, then it's probably dead and time for a new one.