strange erratic behavior

[Alex LeDonne]

On 12/5/06, Josef Lowder <joe at actionline.com> wrote:
> .
> My Mandriva 2006 system, which has been very stable for several months,
> just started to have a very strange, erratic behavior.  I have not made
> any changes, and have not installed anything new recently.
>
> When I move the mouse pointer over any one of the four desktop boxes
> on the status line, the system just goes crazy flashing each of the
> different desktop wallpaper images.
>
> When I move the mouse pointer over the start button, the start menu
> flashes on the screen and disappears, therefore I cannot do anything
> from the start menu.
>
> I was able to shutdown and restart by switching to a different console,
> but after rebooting, the problem remains the same.
>
> When I open a terminal window inside the GUI, I can enter commands
> as long as the result does not exceed the size of the window, but if
> it does, as in a directory listing with more than 20 lines then the
> display goes crazy scrolling over and over without stopping, so I have
> to kill the window to get it to stop.
>
> I tried changing batteries in the wireless mouse but that didn't help.
>
> What in the world might be causing this and how can I fix it?


This sounds vaguely like some things I've seen with bad mouse/kb
input, which could be caused by lots of things.

- make sure that your X config has the right protocol for your mouse
- make sure nothing is sitting on top of the cable from the wireless
mouse receiver to the computer, and that the cable has no crimps,
nicks, or other damage
- try a different channel for the wireless mouse
- Is your wireless mouse connected via USB? If so, unplug all USB
devices, plug in only the mouse receiver, and try again.
- Also, if USB, try plugging into a different USB port. Or, if plugged
into a hub, plug directly into the computer.
- Is your keyboard wireless on the same receiver? Try new batteries in
the keyboard as well.
- Are there other wireless mice/keyboards in the vicinity? Try again
with the mouse as the only wireless device in the area (if possible,
connect a wired keyboard, just to test)
- Do you have a wired mouse (with no other USB devices, if USB),
preferably the same brand, and connected the same way (USB or PS/2),
or can you borrow one? Try the wired mouse and see if you get the same
results. If so, the issue is inside your system, somewhere... hw or
sw.


Note that only the first of these requires you to have made any change
to your system to see the erratic behavior.

Let us know brand, model, and connection type for the mouse, and maybe
we'll have some more ideas.

-Alex