Unresponsive iGesture Numpad

[vellire]

My iGesture numpad seems to be increasingly more finicky and unresponsive. It seems like I have to palm-slap it every two or three minutes - it's getting to be almost like a nervous tic - and I'm constantly losing my mouse pointer because I'm trying to move it and it stays stuck where it is. The way it's behaving is the way an old wheel mouse would act when its rollers got gunk in them, or as an optical mouse works when it is low on batteries.

I keep the pad clean by brushing it with a soft cloth (actually a knit sweater I keep in the office) every morning. I update the drivers religiously, and just to see if it helps, I have reverted to the standard gesture set. The one thing that seems to help every now and again is unplugging the USB and re-plugging it.

I love my iGesture, but it's driving me nuts. :) Anyone know what could be going on? Is it just getting old? Is it having intermittant power problems with the USB, causing it to reboot? Is there any way to diagnose it?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[JerryKnight]

This may be redundant (and/or wrong), but it sounds like the ever-present static electricity problem. Wouldn't a knit sweater increase the static charge of a sheet of lexan? Also, make sure you are grounded often. ESD (electro-static discharge) will not hurt the pad for the most part, but it will cause intermittent behavior problems much like what you described. Also check for other devices that emit large amounts of EM radiation near the pad. I had a cold cathode light (usb powered) that after a few minutes caused random keystrokes and mouse hiccups.

Also, check the diagnostics a few times to see if there are any sensor problems. Other than that, I can't think of anything else it could be, since you keep both pad and hands clean. Try some of that cleaner made for monitors and electronics that keeps static from building up.

[DoctorJack]

Jerry offers good advice. After running the diagnostics and making sure you don't have a cell phone next to the pad you should contact support@fingerworks.com to correct the problem.

[vellire]

Originally posted by JerryKnight
This may be redundant (and/or wrong), but it sounds like the ever-present static electricity problem. Wouldn't a knit sweater increase the static charge of a sheet of lexan?
I've never -noticed- static electricity, but you bring up a good point. I may try one of those static cleaners (can't hurt, right?)


Originally posted by JerryKnight
Also check for other devices that emit large amounts of EM radiation near the pad. I had a cold cathode light (usb powered) that after a few minutes caused random keystrokes and mouse hiccups.

It's situated between a laptop and a large monitor - would either of these count?

Thank you both for the replies!

[JerryKnight]

Well traditionally, the only way we notice static is by behavior such as what you described, but it tends to go away when either the humidity increases (dry weather = static) or steps are taken to discharge or prevent static. A few scary times, I've zapped the LP, but it never seemed to mind after a hand-slap-reset.

The range at which devices will interfere is very small, except a cell phone getting a call might cause problems at a greater range. The light I mentioned caused problems at a range of about 4 inches. If the monitor or laptop were very close to the device, they could possibly cause a problem, but this is probably not the case unless there are severe shielding or grounding problems in those devices.

Try the anti-static stuff and run the diagnostics and one way or another the situation will improve.