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Another hint submission
Authored by: robg on Mar 13, '09 05:43:36AM
This was sent in by Anonymous as a hint, but it belongs here as another solution to the same problem...
I am the proud owner of an Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse, and while so far it's treated me well, one problem has persisted for a long time - the scroll ball sometimes ceases to scroll at all. It was so frustrating, and I tried every remedy I could think of, i.e. canned air, dry/wet cloth, alcohol and the like, yet nothing worked for more than an hour or so. I was just about ready to just buy a new mouse when a friend mentioned to me how he cleans the little trackball on his Blackberry - Printer paper.

It may sound strange, but it's the surprising miracle cure for a sticky Mighty Mouse scroll ball. Here's how to go about the procedure:
  1. Find a completely blank, completely clean sheet of ordinary white printer paper. Any brand will do.
  2. Lay the paper on any hard, flat surface. Unplug the mouse (or turn it off, in the case of wireless MM users), turn it upside down, and make sure the ball can still roll somewhat freely.
  3. Press the scroll ball firmly against the sheet of paper, making sure that is the ONLY part of the mouse that touches the paper, and vigorously rub in all directions (up/down, side to side, figure eights, spirals, all that jazz) for one to three minutes. I recommend at least 90 seconds if the ball won't scroll at all in at least one direction, three or more minutes of it just won't budge, period.
  4. Reconnect the mouse and test the scrolling by opening anything that has both a horizontal and vertical scroll bar, like iTunes. If it still feels like it's grinding or if it still won't scroll, repeat steps 2 and 3 until you get the desired result.
And there you go! You just protected your $40+ investment with an ordinary piece of paper!
I haven't tested this method.

-rob.

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