Bizarre behaviour of mouse cursor

UPDATE:

I managed to have some time today to swap the motherboard over.

The pc now has the original motherboard and CPU - although I took the opportunity to reapply some thermal paste to the CPU/Heatsink assy. Used the on-board graphics rather than the GT730 graphics card.

Booted the pc - same issue (jiggling cursor). So it isn't the mainboard / BIOS / CPU

Swapped RAM over between original board and the newer one (where the issue first arose) - still jiggling I tried RAM bank after RAM bank - still the same (so not the RAM).

Disconnected the CD-ROM - same issue (so not that).

Disconnected the multi card reader - same issue (so not that).

Only thing I'm left with is the PSU - which is a Corsair CX430M.

Could a flaky PSU cause this issue?? I know that PSUs can fail and usually the systems freeze or BSOD. Could a varying voltage from the PSU cause the jiggling mouse cursor?

There is no unusual noise from the PSU, no smells of burning and pc boots normally into Windows.

Other than that, the only other thing that has been common throughout is the computer's location on the floor next to my desk (and I don't think it is that!)

Over to you for thoughts/suggestions!

Art

You can try booting from a boot disk which boots to something which uses a mouse - e.g. Macrium Reflect's boot disk (I think it does- so long since I've used one!).

As for the PSU, seems an oddly specific symptom- without monitoring each supply with a 'scope and checking the voltage and stability, or being able to swap it- hard to say.

dalchina said:

You can try booting from a boot disk which boots to something which uses a mouse - e.g. Macrium Reflect's boot disk (I think it does- so long since I've used one!).

As for the PSU, seems an oddly specific symptom- without montoring each supply with a 'scope and checking the voltage and stability, or being able to swap it- hard to say.

Agreed.

Trying to boot off a Linux Mint USB stick and it won't go past the initial BIOS 'splash' screen, nor can I get into BIOS.

Thinking about it whilst going to sleep last night, it isn't a PSU issue - otherwise the display would jiggle when in BIOS - and it doesn't. Also, when in Windows, the 'background' of the desktop (the program/document icons) don't jiggle, only the mouse cursor.

This leads me to believe it is a corrupt driver - either for the mouse itself or the USB Controller side of things - but due to the jiggling nature of the cursor it is well nigh inpossible to select an item (such as a driver in Device Mangler) and delete it and then restart the pc. Indeed, it is almost inpossible to click on the Power Options in Start and turn the pc off, I often have to resort to holding the power button in for 4 seconds.

So, a 'noob' question (I suspect I know the answer already)!

Is there any way (either through DOS or Linux) to remove the device drivers for the mouse and/or USB controllers and then re-boot the pc into Windows, or is this a 'Reinstall Windows' issue?

Would a 'Repair' work to replace corrupt drivers?

UPDATE:

Cleared CMOS, pc would now boot into BIOS setup, Windows 10 and Linux Mint off the USB.

Apart from BIOS setup (where there is no mouse cursor), I get jiggling in both Windows and Linux Mint.

This points to a motherboard issue? However swapping motherboards (and CPUs) I STILL get the jiggling cursor.

Cursor behaviour - BIOS Setup

Cursor behaviour - Windows

Cursor behaviour - Linux Mint

One thing to try (to eliminate a virus on the SSD) is to disconnect the SSD and boot off the Linux Mint USB and see if I still get the jiggling cursor.

Just a quick 'noob' question. When BIOS shows Jan 1st 2007 as the date (previously it was correct), am I right in assuming that ALL CMOS settings have been cleared or do I still need to 'short the jumper pins' to reset the CMOS (and if I still need to clear the CMOS is this done with [a] the power lead plugged in but the PSU switched OFF and [b] with the CR2032 battery IN or OUT?)

Cheers,

Art

Okay - so it looks like I have found the problem and have a solution!!

Throughout, I've kept plugging in all of the original leads in their original locations in the "problem pc" after changing something (using a photo for reference) due to the rat's nest of wiring behind the pc (explanation follows).

My "normal, everyday, Windows 10 desktop pc" sits on top of the problem pc. The normal, everday pc didn't have a problem.

The "problem" pc had a USB keyboard, a USB corded mouse and a USB extension lead plugged in (briging one of the rear sockets to the front). I was using a wireless mouse plugged into one of the front USB sockets (the corded mouse being stashed away behind the monitor).

The rat's nest of wires was due to having two sets of wiring behind the pcs.

Every time I tried something - including swapping out the mobo/cpu combo and booting into Linux Mint, the corded USB mouse was plugged back in (in all honesty I'd forgotten that the corded USB mouse was sitting behind my monitor) so when plugging the leads back into the pc, back in it went.

I had a sudden thought, looked at the leads behind the pc, wondered what one of them was, realised it was a corded USB mouse, unlugged it, restarted the pc and - boom - problem of the juggling cursor had gone!

Throughout all of my fault-finding exercises, the corded USB mouse had been plugged in.

I've now unplugged this corded mouse and the juggling cursor problem has disappeared.

I feel so stupid and ashamed that I didn't spot this earlier as nothing was making sense. I was swapping components, peripherals, mice, memory, hard disks and even operating systems and the problem remained!

A true "Homer Moment"



Unplugging this mouse has solved the roblem and also explains why the mouse cursor was behaving so erratically, yet the pc was otherwise behaving normally.

Reminds me of something that happened whilst I was in PC Support which I'll relate here if I may.

I had a call from a woman whose pc wasn't working properly (20 years on, I can't remember the specific problem - possibly the pc wasn't booting up at all). I was stumped and asked my Technical Coach who said "Ask her if she's swapped her mouse" as the pc was originally shipped with a corded PS/2 mouse. I asked her the question and got the answer "No." My technical coach and I continued for several hours to try to figure out what was going on. Eventually, my TC said "Ask her again, is she using the same mouse that came with the pc or has she changed it". I asked again and this time she said "Yes, I remember we did swap the mouse to a USB mouse." Consulting my TC he said that it was a known issue using a USB mouse with that particular pc (a Packard Bell iMedia something I think it was) and that shipping a £10 mouse in the post would sort the problem.

Just goes to show that sometimes even the simplest of things ...

Anyway, now a happy camper having resolved the bizarre behaviour of the mouse and glad that there wasn't some low-level malware wreaking havoc.

Happy New Year everyone!

Art

Happy New Year! And may your mouse ever behave.