2 Dead Mice

[juiceman]

I have:

Tyan Trinity 400 MOBO
215 Watt PSU.
P3 700.
384 MB PC133 (128x3 Dimms)
GeforceMX440.
Seagate 7200 RPM HDD (Ocassionally x2)

Problem:

My generic PS/2 Optical mouse stopped working at times, meaning when I moved the mouse the pointer wouldn't. It started out during 3D games, then started to stick at random times, and refuse to move. I would unplug it or power-down the system for a while and it would start working again, maybe not the first time. But I eventually got it to work.

Eventually it stopped working. I replaced it with a Logitech USB Optical. It worked fine for a few months, then exhibited the same issues.

The good thing about the Logitech however is that I wouldn't need to disconnect it or power-off for it to work. I just bang the mouse on the mousepad a few times in 'specific places' and the LED would come back on and allow me to track with the mouse.

Also, while the buttons on the Generic PS/2 wouldn't work when the mouse wouldn't track the Logitech's left/right buttons worked no matter what, even now that it's completely dead. I got very familiar with windows mousekeys, saved my sanity.

I got a new mouse now. Logitech USB. I am wondering whether I should expect to keep buying new mice every few months. I know my system is old and has been through a lot of stuff, electrical wise, unclean power, outages, etc. I can't even get my two HDDs to work in the system for long, after a while the system 'loses' one.

If I leave my system off for a day or so, when I power-up I get a disc missing error on post, and I have to disable, disconnect and re-detect the disc for it to work, maybe twice.

What I want to know is what's the most likely source for the problems, mouse and disc. And I can't say when it started, I always fix problems as they come along, been doing it for so long now.

(EDIT) The first time the mouse stopped working I started poking around the system. Turned out the PSU fan stopped. I put some oil in it and got it working again, but I've been having the mouse problems since then.

I know it would seem to suggest that I need a new PSU, but if it's powering the system now, what could be wrong with it. I had the HDD problems from long before that happened.

 

[Alyarbank]

I think a new CMOS battery may help. They're cheap too (about $3.00). You descibed loosing hardware configuration information repeatedly. This information is stored in the BIOS which is kept going by the CMOS battery when the system is powered off. RadioShack should have one, but you should make some notes on your BIOS settings before you change it to make sure you don't cause yourself more problems resetting it later.

Good Luck

 

[juiceman]

Thanks for the reply, however I guess I should have made it clearer. I don't lose config info, just that the system doesn't 'see' the HDD anymore. Everything else is fine.

 

[HYST3R]

this has symptoms of a motherboard starting to go bad. a new battery may help but if your feeling up to it, a bios flash with a new bios might make all the difference the world.

from the look of your hardware im guessing its been around for a while, you might just want to invest in a new motherboard, p3 boards are pretty cheap. but i would try a new battery and a bios flash before resorting to buying new stuff.

you might also want to try reinstalling your mouse drivers for your usb mouse (or which ever one your using now). but losing a HDD and errors on boot are pretty serious problems.

 

[Lowsky]

I have:

Tyan Trinity 400 MOBO
215 Watt PSU.
P3 700.
384 MB PC133 (128x3 Dimms)
GeforceMX440.
Seagate 7200 RPM HDD (Ocassionally x2)

Damn that is one old system (1999-2000 right)
you definatly need an upgrade
new MB (anyone you want, Processor (at least a 1.8Ghz), Power supply (over 300W), Ram (512MB DDR RAM at least), new videocard (nvidia 6200 at least or onboard), can be all had for under $300

 

[juiceman]

There arent any burn marks on the mobo, no damaged components or such. But you do remind me of a few attempts at overclocking earlier. I don't know whether it was the north-bridge that caused the overclock to fail, but I recall having a sense that it could have been damaged as a result, though there was no real evidence to support that.

Please, everyone, there is nothin wrong with the CMOS battery, I am dead sure that's not it.

I really can't afford to buy a component unless I'm sure it's the one that's causing the problem, or I may have to buy another one. And I am afraid to use anything other than new components for testing cause it may cause my machine to give trouble. I also don't use my components to test anyone else's machine.