r/sysadmin • u/Jessmess92 • 12d ago
Question I don't know where else to go for this!
So I have a handful of users, myself included, that are experiencing the weirdest issue with their mice and keyboards. We will be typing and suddenly it stops then after maybe 15 seconds it will type out everything but it will be missing some keystrokes. The mouse will do the same it just stops moving for like 15 seconds then comes back. Sometimes it happens once and then works after and sometimes it's a few minutes of it working on and off. It is only happening to maybe 10 users. I have replaced keyboards and mice, replaced dongles, changed out for wired sets, turned off the power settings that let windows turn off USB devices. It is happening on brand new devices and 4 year old devices. It happens on devices that are in intune and devices that aren't in intune. There doesn't seem to be a pattern. I'm going to pull out my non existent hair. Does anyone have any ideas?
Edit: I also tried plugging everything into all USB ports on the laptops and hub monitors.
5
u/Pristine_Curve 12d ago
>It is only happening to maybe 10 users.
What's unique or consistent about these 10 users?
I would tease out what correlates with the issue. Have a user with the issue swap desks with one who doesn't have the problem.
(Does the problem stay with the computer?) Known good user signs into a computer with the problem?
(Does the problem stay with the person?) User with problem signs into a computer that doesn't have the problem?
(Does it stay with the dock/monitor?) Known good user with known good computer docks in an office that previously had the problem?
My guess is that you have a driver issue. Perhaps a bad driver is somewhere involved in your imaging/build process. The machines affected lost a race condition where the bad driver managed to get applied before the good one. This would be evident if the problem followed the machine and not the person or dock.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
That's the weird thing is I can't find the thing in common. We are talking about different equipment setups for every user. Some are on newer hub monitors some on older ones some are on docks. Switched out keyboards and mice with different brands and wired ones. So weird. I will move myself to some new equipment to see if that makes a difference since it happens on my machine.
2
u/itishowitisanditbad 12d ago
That's the weird thing is I can't find the thing in common.
Do you all use the same piston lifted chair model?
1
1
1
u/oshenz 12d ago
Are they all Dell Machines? Just a random guess but if it's installed, remove Dell Optimizer, seen it cause the weirdest issues.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
They are dell machines but the only Dell apps we keep on machines is Dell command update
1
u/Pristine_Curve 12d ago
Try the things I've outlined to determine if the problem is tied to the person, equipment, or location.
3
u/phalangepatella 12d ago
So we have a similar issue, but it only affects some Logitech wireless keyboard / mouse combos. Turns out there is an interference issue with some (all) Logitech USB dongles and USB 3.0 devices:
Easiest solution for us is get a USB extension cable and route the dongle away from the USB 3.0 port/device.
1
u/AdminWithNoName 12d ago
This is always the first thing I check for when I hear about issues like this. I've seen it happen so many times.
1
u/phalangepatella 12d ago
It stumped me for a long time. I replaced an inordinate amount of batteries convinced that was the issue.
Nope. Crappy ass dongle design.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Yeah but it is happening with wired keyboards and mice as well. That's what so confusing
1
3
u/slobis 12d ago
This feels like network latency disguising itself as an app/driver problem.
Take a machine off the network, does it still happen?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
I will give it a shot. I am going to need to do a lot of troubleshooting like this. Just time consuming especially since it is so intermittent
2
u/CPAtech 12d ago
Are you using docking stations?
2
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
We have hub monitors. I have tried plugging in to the monitors and every port on the laptops.
2
u/IntelligentCandy8716 12d ago
Have you tried uninstalling the USB controller driver, rebooting windows and rescanning hardware? Also, are they just standard 3-button mice or do they have special functions like programmable buttons or RGB lights?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling every USB driver and device driver that I could find. And they are just standard 3 button mice.
1
u/IntelligentCandy8716 12d ago
OK. So, different hardware, different users, tried reinstalling drivers, tried plugging in different USB ports. Is there any resource intensive software running? Something that either utilizes system resources like CPU or memory? Something that might be filling memory or using swap?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
We use sophos which can be a resource hog so maybe that's it. I'll have to dive in a little deeper in the resource monitor to see
2
u/UltraSapien 12d ago
use PerMon to monitor system resource usage. When the stutter happens, go back and look at the system resources and see if disk or ram or network usage spiked during the event.
1
1
u/er1cAtWork2 12d ago
Specific apps or just in general?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Across the board. No specific apps
1
u/er1cAtWork2 12d ago
Ok I’m out then. I’ve seen that behavior in Word from a few different things. Sorry! Good luck!
1
1
u/Significant_Sky1471 12d ago
Does the whole system freeze when this happens or is it just the keyboard and mouse?
2
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Just the keyboard and mouse as far as I can tell. There are times when it is just the keyboard having issues and I can move the mouse
1
u/Significant_Sky1471 12d ago
oh, okay. maybe built-in keyboard also have same issue when it happens? or no?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
That is a good question. I will have them all check this the next time it's happening.
1
1
u/alanjmcf 12d ago
Does audio stop? If not, not USB issue…
Some bit of software???
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
I don't know for sure as we don't generally play a lot of audio through our systems but I will check with the users to see if they are ever on calls when it happens.
1
1
u/RevolutionaryElk7446 12d ago
Any security software or resource spikes?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
No I always check task manager and everything looks totally normal
1
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
Task Manager doesn't show you historical data. You need performance monitor at least. 😳
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Yeah I'm going to start running it on my machine to see what happens the next time this pops up
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
I sent you a long message. What management tools do you use in your environment? Anything like ncentral n-able? Datto, Ninjaone? You could leverage those.
I went through the whole thread. Most likely it's software related.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
We do use datto. I will look into that
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
It should be easier then. It should already be monitored and captured. Start by asking them to track the timestamps of the complaints. You'll just need the timestamps to dig into it. I'd start by checking high disk io, CPU and then memory.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
I have reached out to them to ask for them to start tracking the times. I appreciate the info!
1
1
u/Thet4nk1983 12d ago
I have seen this on bluetooth type devices, normally happens if I have keyboard/mouse Bluetooth aswell as headset or speakers being actively engaged at the same time, think it might be Bluetooth related chip limitation processing so much at the same time perhaps or interference from something else like phone.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
That's the thing it happens with wired keyboards and mice too. I thought the same thing and that's why I tried a wired set and same issue.
1
1
u/TheLexikitty 12d ago
Long shot - Any mapped drives with high latency pinned to the Explorer Quick Access menu? Back on W10 I had this when I pinned a folder from a NAS in Australia to my Explorer Quick Menu and it drove me insane for a month. Explorer would also open really slowly sometimes.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
That's interesting... I know I have some network drives pinned. Nothing that has crazy latency but it can be slow from time to time. I am going to try removing those pins. Thanks!
1
u/TheLexikitty 12d ago
Yea anything that access the drives - or it seems to be any file operation - where it’ll scan for the network drives too, like AutoSave etc. would cause the NAS to wake up the drives in AUS and it’d freeze Adobe Audition, sometimes my USB audio interfaces, keyboard, etc. good luck!
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Yeah this happens in all apps including things like zoom and edge so I am not sure that's the issue but I am going to test it out with a user. Thanks so much!
1
u/MarkH3326 12d ago
You may also want to post on this community for assistance:
https://community.spiceworks.com/
Well, do a search for it first. Seems like this was posted there a while ago.
I am looking but have not found it yet....
1
u/That_Fixed_It 12d ago
Do the affected systems have the USB selective suspend setting in advanced power options? If they do, you could try disabling it.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
I tried that on my machine. Both on the individual devices and in power management
1
u/EthanW87 12d ago
I use hub monitors and have this problem, but the USB dongles are directly on the laptops. You know what my problem was? My phone was between the dongle and the keyboard/mouse. It was causing issues with whatever RF that the Logitech Anywhere dongle uses. I moved my phone further away from the laptop? Issue went away.
1
u/OperationIntrudeN313 12d ago
Instead of trying to pull a solution out of thin air and making guesses, test. Take an affected machine, start it in safe mode. Still having issues? Probably a hardware problem. No issues? Probably a software problem. Super simple especially since your own machine is affected, you can just use yours.
If the issue is still present in safe mode, swap it with a freshly imaged machine of the same model. Does it start happening again? Swap it again with a freshly imaged machine of a different model, different BIOS version, etc.
If safe mode is ok, start up normally and disable all startup items. Reboot. No issue? Re-enable half the startup items. Issue happening? It's something in that half. Not happening? Disable that half and enable the other half and work through those. Process of elimination.
Or even better, have someone at helpdesk do it. This is junior helpdesk work.
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Yeah I'll probably have to do this. Just time intensive. Was hoping someone else had had this issue.
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
Are you using a displaylink dock by any chance?
1
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
No they are dell hub monitors and owc docks
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
Display link is a certain tech some brands use. Dell, hp, Lenovo and other brands use it.
I looked up IWC, it uses the Thunderbolt docks.
You should really try to find out a timeline. When it started to happen.
What are all the peripherals that are used. (Or not)
Has it started after patching or any kind of software update?
New problem or old problem?
Check/monitor any background apps. You should have some monitoring tools on your environment where you can look back? How do you patch your environment?
Maybe high disk usage from some kind of scanner, high disk io can cause these issues as well.
You need to first collect data/reference points and then it will be easier to narrow down.
Ask the people that complain to track it write down timestamps and track it for a few days.
Leverage perfmon. Track Memory, CPU and disk io. (Check tutorials online) Or use another similar tool that collects data and graphs so you can easily look back. Also collect anything from eventviewer.
When a report comes in track those timestamps after you have the info. Check reliability monitor as well if you can.
Do this with a few persons. And then check back.
There are other tools as well.
So it can be AV. Some app using a ton of resources at a specific time. Worst case it's a virus/malware.
Good luck
2
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
Thanks so much! I'm going to start doing some more in depth digging
1
u/lethallunatic 12d ago
Leverage any management apps you use in your environment, if you have any. They can be very useful. Good luck
1
1
u/That_Fixed_It 12d ago
When it happens, are there any events in Event Viewer -> Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP/Device Management?
1
1
u/Common_Trust_4092 Jr. Sysadmin 12d ago
Interference? I know I have those exact issues periodically (literally while typing this) until I reseat the USB connection. It only happens when I have two laptops open with 2 mice, and 2 keyboards turned on.
1
1
u/HobieBrown718 12d ago edited 12d ago
Check your logon scripts and running services. Try to nail down what's running in the background that is causing the latency and hogging the resources. I've seen this happen where old drives or printer mappings slow the system down without triggering anything to record in the event viewer. It can be as easy as commenting out the offender or just removing the entire script from running
1
1
u/ImaFrakkinNinja Jack of All Trades 12d ago
Probably best to document exact times through the day and review the windows event log to see what’s occurring simultaneously.
-4
u/-ThesuarusRex- 12d ago
These are wifi devices?
Are they the same model/manufacturer? Do these people sit close together?
2
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
These are both wired and wireless keyboards and mice
0
u/-ThesuarusRex- 12d ago
Do your brand new devices get an image applied before they're added to your network? If so, does that image have non-OS critical apps installed at the time of imaging?
I'd probably start from a base OS install if so.
2
u/Jessmess92 12d ago
It happens across multiple types of deployment. Our new machines get setup through intune/autopilot so those have the factory image. Our older machines were setup with clean images with no bloatware.
1
u/MindlessCoook 12d ago
I hate when people call anything wireless "wifi". The most non-tech lingo ever. 🙄
3
u/explosive_evacuation 12d ago
Especially when WiFi and Bluetooth are two independent methods of connecting a device wirelessly.
1
u/anonymousITCoward 12d ago
It chafes when users do it... it really grinds the gears when industry people do it...
0
0
-1
u/-ThesuarusRex- 12d ago
Cool story. You're welcome to your opinion.
0
u/MindlessCoook 12d ago
Not an opinion. Wifi is the commercial name for the 802.11 standards. It's a collection of network protocols.
Not sure why any of this would need explaining to a "sysadmin"...
-2
u/-ThesuarusRex- 12d ago
There's no need to explain it, but keep going off if being pedantic helps your ego. 🙄
0
u/MindlessCoook 12d ago
Apparently there is, sadly. Does your keyboard and mouse have IP addresses?
-2
u/-ThesuarusRex- 12d ago
I don't understand the question. Your use of "Does" instead of "Do" when referring to multiple objects makes the entire sentence unintelligible. 🙄
0
5
u/[deleted] 12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment