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Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
#44812 06/02/17 10:51 AM
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ryck Offline OP
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Since upgrading to El Capitan my Kensington Orbit Trackball is periodically frozen at startup. It is solved by unplugging and replugging at the USB input, so not a giant issue....just a pain.

I tried installing the most current (albeit still quite old) Kensington software, TrackBallWorks, but it made no difference. TrackBallWorks had installed a Prefs Pane and a trackballworks.kext, both of which have since been removed using Cleanapp.

So, I'm back where I started.

The trackball has always occupied a USB spot on the back of the machine along with the keyboard, et cetera. Question: Is there any technical advantage to plugging the Trackball into the keyboard rather than the back of the Mac? i.e. hitchhiking on a device that always works.

Last edited by ryck; 06/02/17 04:04 PM. Reason: Selling

ryck

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Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
ryck #44813 06/02/17 11:00 AM
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I can't say that it's necessarily advantageous, but changing ports is a standard troubleshooting step.


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Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
ryck #44827 06/02/17 04:26 PM
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Although I have not seen this for a few years, I have encountered similar disconnections/freezes with third party USB and/or Bluetooth devices (both actually come through the USB channel) in the past. Refreshing the connection by unplugging and replugging the device often resulted in a temporary fix. A permanent fix involved one or more of the following:
  1. updating or removing a third party USB driver (not necessarily one that is used by the disconnecting device) or
  2. Removing another USB/Bluetooth connected device or
  3. Removing or replacing a failed/failing hub in the loop — the disconnecting device does not have to be connected through the hub or
  4. An update/upgrade to OS X
In my personal experience I have invariably found connecting directly to a USB port on the computer to be more reliable than going through any hub (the USB connector in the keyboard is a USB hub subject to failure independent of the keyboard itself).

This kind of problem is notoriously difficult to troubleshoot, because the fault cannot be reliably recreated on demand. The only reliable troubleshooting technique requires...
  1. Identifying all the devices and drivers associated with either USB or Bluetooth
  2. Removing ONE and ONLY ONE potential candidate at a time
  3. Thorough testing being sure to wait more than long enough for the problem to recur (if it was occuring every couple of days allow three or four days without failure before declaring a solution)
  4. Remember electronic components AGE and electrical values change, so a device that has worked and still works may begin to fail due to environmental fluctuations such as room termperature or even minor power fluctuations that occur when say an electric motor starts up somewhere on the premisis
  5. Patience and perseverance.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
joemikeb #44838 06/02/17 06:49 PM
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ryck Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
A permanent fix involved one or more of the following:
  1. Patience and perseverance.

I knew there'd be a catch. wink laugh

Originally Posted By: joemikeb
A permanent fix involved one or more of the following:
  1. updating or removing a third party USB driver (not necessarily one that is used by the disconnecting device)

Have I done this with the removal of the Prefs Pane and the trackballworks.kext ?

Last edited by ryck; 06/02/17 06:49 PM.

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
ryck #44848 06/02/17 11:36 PM
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Originally Posted By: ryck
[/quote]Have I done this with the removal of the Prefs Pane and the trackballworks.kext ?
Certainly that would be one but there can also be others. Anything that even remotely has anything to do with USB or Bluetooth is a suspect. Don't forget it can even be your trackball, its USB cable , or connector.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
joemikeb #45111 06/12/17 08:19 AM
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ryck Offline OP
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Update: Removing the Kensington Prefs Pane and the trackballworks.kext may have done the trick. I haven't had the recurring trackball issue since the last posting.


ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
OS Ventura 13.6.3
Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner c/w VueScan software
TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C
Re: Kensington Orbit Trackball with El Capitan
ryck #45144 06/13/17 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted By: ryck
Update: Removing the Kensington Prefs Pane and the trackballworks.kext may have done the trick. I haven't had the recurring trackball issue since the last posting.

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