Evoluent mouse problems

[ultrarunner100]

Hi;
I have owned an Evoluent vertical mouse ver 4 wired for 1-1/2 years. For the most part, I love the mouse. It has solved my aching arm and shoulder issues which I had when using a standard mouse for extended periods.
However, this mouse is not without its problems.

My OS is Windows 7 Ultimate with latest SP and updates.
My system is MSI P67 with Intel i5 2500 @ 3.3Ghz.

This problem is definitely the mouse (or Windows 7 drivers), as it was also occurring on my previous build, also running Win 7 Ultimate.

The cursor randomly jumps long distances across the screen(s) or freezes. The mouse is working fine for long periods, over days, or even weeks without the problem, then suddenly the problem reappears, and usually persists at least until I shut the machine down and restart.
Yesterday when it happened, the USB power to the mouse actually shut off. Plugging in a different USB mouse allowed me to navigate.

When the problem occurs, I usually clean the optical lens with isopropyl alcohol. I have also washed the mouse pad on several occasions. The problem seems to resolve after this, but then returns shortly thereafter.
Yesterday when it happened, I cleaned the mouse, then I played with it for quite some time, trying to determine a pattern. Eventually, I reset the sensitivity slider in the mouse control panel. I moved the slider to a lower sensitivity, and changed the sensitivity on the mouse itself to 3 lights from 2. Now it seems to be working well again.
The fact that moving the slider seems to improve the problem leads me to think that it is a driver issue.
I have tried using this mouse both with and without the optional software from Evoluent, but that does not seem to make any difference. Their software does not include a driver; that is supplied by Microsoft with Windows 7.

I have read a lot of other reports on this mouse (as well as previous versions of the mouse hardware) exhibiting such problems. No one has been successful in getting any help from Evoluent. I have received responses from Evoluent on this issue when I queried by e-mail. They suggested that I change the mouse pad. I tried that for a while, but it did not help.

So, what do you think? Is this a known hardware issue with the mouse, or a driver issue in Windows 7?

Thanks

FW

 

[ultrarunner100]

Update; a "how-to" of sorts...
I believe I have solved the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 (and previous models as well) issue:
My problem was that the mouse pointer was often jumping, and sometimes freezing.

I have removed the large "glide pads" on the bottom of the mouse, as I found that the edges of the plastic pads were raised slightly, so the mouse did not sit flush on the surface. This caused the optical sensor to become erratic, as this particular sensor requires nearly flush contact with the surface in order to work properly.

Removing the plastic pads allows the mouse to sit closer to the surface, so the sensor works more reliably.

The interesting thing about this is that this mouse never really worked perfectly. There were always occasional jumps of the cursor, which became more frequent as time passed. My mouse is now 1-1/2 years old and was becoming unusable.
Due to this observation, I believe that this mouse suffers from design flaws. Either the sensor should have been mounted closer to the bottom of the mouse, or the glide pads should have been thinner.
Whatever the issue, I hope that future models work more reliably.
This is a great mouse in other respects. It has significantly reduced issues I had with standard flat mouses, allowing me to work for longer periods without discomfort.

 

[Becky B]

I know this is an old post, but I was having this same problem for months. I gave up and switched to another mouse, but recently decided to try again. It was even worse, so I decided to actually contact Evoluent support. They suggested changing the battery, which actually worked!
It had not occurred to me that this would be a battery issue because:
a) the mouse "kind of" worked, usually dead battery = no life
b) the problem was intermittent at first
c) the battery low indicator light never came on
I felt pretty stupid admitting to the support rep that I had overlooked something so simple, but it sure behaved like a software problem. I'm just glad I can use this (very expensive) mouse again because it is very helpful in relieving my carpal tunnel symptoms.

 

[windplayer]

Hi Becky B

It seems you had the problem with a wireless version of the mouse, but I have it with a wired mouse.
@ultrarunner100: When the cursor was freezing was your mouse also shortly turning the blue "Evoluent" logo-light off and on again ?
I'm asking before trying to remove the plastic pads because I'm not sure if it's not a problem with the USB-power-supply

Florian

 

[Becky B]

The tech said the light should flash if the batteries were dying, so I would tend to lean toward your power-supply diagnosis.
When I was researching, I also found suggestions to turn off usb power management.
Assuming Windows: Device Manager > select USB Root Hub > Power Management tab > uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

 

[pt1095]

We have the same problem with our Windows 7 laptop not recognizing the Evoluent USB Vertical Mouse 4 all of a sudden. I noticed that with the mouse plugged in, upon startup of the laptop, the mouse lit up and worked until one of the programs installed then all of sudden the Evoluent stopped working.

Our solution was to uninstall the trackpad software. In our case, it was software from Synaptics.

Works flawlessly now.

 

[phipywr]

I actually agree with the mousepad solution for your problem. I used to have problems with my mouse like you were describing. I had a shiny mousepad. I found that anything shiny seems to cause problems with the mouse's tracking. Just using a piece of paper over my shiny mousepad solved the problem until I got a new one with a non-reflective surface.

 

[Ryan K]

I know this is an old post, but I was having this same problem for months. I gave up and switched to another mouse, but recently decided to try again. It was even worse, so I decided to actually contact Evoluent support. They suggested changing the battery, which actually worked!
It had not occurred to me that this would be a battery issue because:
a) the mouse "kind of" worked, usually dead battery = no life
b) the problem was intermittent at first
c) the battery low indicator light never came on
I felt pretty stupid admitting to the support rep that I had overlooked something so simple, but it sure behaved like a software problem. I'm just glad I can use this (very expensive) mouse again because it is very helpful in relieving my carpal tunnel symptoms.

Thank you for sharing your answer Becky. This is the same behavior mine has been displaying for the past month. It started at the same time that I got a new laptop. Figured it had to do with the new laptop or settings on it. I'd tried uninstalling/installing the Evoluent software/drivers server times and also tried finding mouse settings to change in order to alleviate the issue. In the end, simply putting in a new battery worked, even though the low battery indicator never came on.

 

[Andre_617]

Had the same problem with the Evoluent. Changed the battery and all is good

Much thanks to the folks who contributed on this thread, as it helped me.

 

[Markus_8]

Changing the battery worked for me also (the cursor was also jumping and freezing).