OSX USB OVERDRIVE MAC OS X
Furthermore, I have now discovered that it seems that USB Overdrive can be used to bypass the mouse tracking problems introduced by Mac OS X 10.5.īy default, USB Overdrive uses Mac OS X’s system value for its own mouse acceleration setting. (With USB Overdrive, you can have application-specific settings, and you can turn off horizontal scrolling with the Mighty Mouse’s scroll ball in contexts where you don’t want to accidentally scroll horizontally.)īut in fact I was able to reproduce the mouse tracking problems in Mac OS X 10.5 even without USB Overdrive.
OSX USB OVERDRIVE SOFTWARE
Initially, of course, I suspected some of the third-party software I was using, and more specifically USB Overdrive, which I use because it provides greater control over the behaviour of the various mouse buttons on the Mighty Mouse than what is provided through Apple’s own preference pane. I am also pretty confident that it never occurred before Mac OS X 10.5-certainly not on a systematic basis like it does now. It is quite frustrating, because it happens quite often. I then have to repeat the mouse movement to get Mac OS X 10.5 to complete it successfully. More often than not, in Mac OS X 10.5, when I try to make such a long-range move, either by simply moving the mouse or by moving the mouse with the mouse button down (when attempting to drag something from one monitor to the other, for example), the long-range movement fails, because Mac OS X 10.5 seems to “lose track” at some point and the movement of the mouse pointer on the screen just drops off, typically near the right edge of the main 30″ display. with what happens when I try to make a long-range move from one end of my extended desktop (consisting of a 30″ monitor as the main display and a 23″ monitor as the secondary display on the right-hand side) to the other in a single mouse movement. In a nutshell, the problem in Mac OS X 10.5 appears to be with mouse “acceleration,” i.e. What I do know is that I seem to have found a way to at least alleviate some of the problems. These problems may or may not be related to other USB-related issues in Mac OS X 10.5 noted earlier. With the strong resurgence of the Mac in recent years, we want to celebrate tools we use and that readers recommend to make the most of your macOS experience.Ever since I started using Leopard, I have been experiencing mouse tracking problems. Mac Gems highlights great nuggets of Mac software, apps that have a high utility, have a sharp focus on a limited set of problems to solve, and are generally developed by an individual or small company. We last reviewed USB Overdrive in 2009, when we concluded it “offers Mac users…sophisticated button control that can reduce clicks and speed up productivity.” Earlier versions dating back to macOS 10.2.8 remain available for download. The latest release covers macOS 11.1 and later as well. USB Overdrive recently officially came out in its macOS 12 compatible version 5.1.
Without payment, the app reminds you at login and during a short countdown when opening up its interface. The developer releases USB Overdrive as shareware, and requests $20 if you find it useful. A future glow-up to the app could streamline this process. Instead, a constrained set of actions requires choosing the input popup menu in Settings, choosing New Duplicate Settings, and then picking the combination to limit what you’re setting. If you want to limit behavior to a single device or app-like a Logitech trackball while using InDesign to make it more efficient to your purposes-there’s no simple set of clicks to add it. The app has vestiges of its ancient origins.
Installing USB Overdrive recovers all the lost functionality and adds more flexibility.
OSX USB OVERDRIVE DRIVER
Apple’s frequent low-level changes for security and input in the last several macOS releases have left many devices on upgraded Macs abandoned until a new driver is released-or forever. I’ve found that nearly every trackball on the market or sophisticated-enough mouse requires USB Overdrive, unless the device maker’s driver is absolutely up to date. Just select macOS from Speed and Acceleration menus to reassert your previous choices, or adjust the app’s options to fit your needs. This took me aback on installing it recently, as USB Overdrive’s defaults were much more lively than mine. You also use the Settings menu to adjust mouse behavior, like scrolling speed and acceleration, with more degrees of choice than Apple provides.