Defective Apple mouse?

[jb]

TS 090798 Apple Mouse"wheel"

iMac G5 PPC OS 10.4.11

My friend has a wired white optical Apple Mouse with the “tiny wheel/button”. For the last few weeks he can only scroll down with the mouse wheel. He cannot scroll up. Nor can he scroll sideways.

I tried his mouse on my iMac G5 with OS 10.4.11, and it does the same thing.

I tried another wired mouse,(psst...from Microsoft), and it works fine, i.e. it scrolls both up an down.

Is there a way to conclusively determine that his Apple mouse is defective?

jb

[Xairbusdriver]

Turn the mouse upside down, so that the ball touches the surface of a clean sheet of lint free paper (basically whatever is used for printing). Roll the mouse on the ball vigorously in a circular motion for about ten seconds. This may need to be repeated a few times.

These are the best roller ball mice I've ever used, but they are just as apt to get grip/lint/hair/dust/gunk into the opening as any roller ball type. Unfortunately, they are not made to be taken apart, although it is possible. There are instructions on the web. But I don't recommend diss/re-assembly, it just isn't necessary, the upside down rolling technique is easier, many times faster and much less destructive.

[krissel]

How to clean Mighty Mouse:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1537?viewlocale=en_US

http://www.brendanfenn.com/cleanmouse.html