Trackball registers only minimal movement, anything left to try before I track ball replacement/ track pad upgrade

uConsole
1

Hi all,

Iv just got my new uConsole, but the trackball registers only minimal cursor movement and is barely usable. I’ve gone through pretty much every fix I could find on here and it hasn’t shifted, so before I conclude the sensor module is faulty I wanted to ask if there’s anything I’ve missed.

Setup

  • uConsole with Raspberry Pi CM5 Lite
  • HackerGadgets AIO V2 board, booting from NVMe
  • OS: ClockworkPi Bookworm 6.12.67

j1n6’s web keyboard tester: in j1n6’s web keyboard tester (which reads the trackball’s raw output straight from the firmware, before the OS), rolling the ball shows only minimal movement. So the weak signal is there at the firmware level, not an OS/driver thing.

What I’ve already tried (no change with any of it):

  • Both trackballs that came in the kit have identical poor result with each.
  • Stock factory firmware (uconsole_keyboard.ino.bin) AND j1n6’s tuned QMK firmware (clockworkpi_uconsole_default.bin) same on both.
  • Cleaned the balls with isopropyl
  • Confirmed the ball spins completely freely in a clean socket, no stiction, glue, or debris
  • Added a shim to remove the module’s play/rattle in the case
  • Bumped pointer speed + acceleration in labwc
  • Checked it’s not stuck in Precision/reduced-movement mode

Given the minimal movement shows up on stock firmware, with a freely-spinning ball in a clean socket, and is visible in the raw firmware-level tester, is there anything else worth trying? Or does this point to a faulty/poor trackball sensor module?

And if it is the module: is the trackball/sensor available as a spare part anywhere, or is it just worth doing a trackpad upgrade

1 Like
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Have you made sure you’ve installed the trackball in the correct orientation?

The trackball has two small plastic tabs that need to fit into the notches on the keyboard circuit board.

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I discovered uconsole just few weeks ago and the first thing I found online about it, was all the complains about the trackball. Naturally, when I got my, I had the same issue. First I swapped the trackball as I got 2 in my package, then I rotated it as some people mentioned it, then installed the custom firmware, was playing with numbers for the resolution.. nothing helped. It got a bit better, but nothing was making it fully usable… till I pressed down on it!!!
Now, I dont know if this is gonna solve your issue, but if you just roll the ball on the surface, and your mouse is barely moving or just jumping around… try holding the ball pushed down while you roll it. It may be nessesery to push it a bit harder at first till the rollers start rolling smoothly, but since then, I have pixel actuate movement with my trackball.
This is not something you do once to unstuck the rollers, that’s how I have to use it.. just push a bit on it so it touches the rollers properly and then when you move it, its perfectly accurate.
I dont know if this is how its supposed to be.. but it works for me on my device.
I hope this solution helps you with your problem.

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Mine took 3 days to settle in, then it should feel rough and should not glide easily, it should feel dry and have friction.

Try roughening up the ball with 600 rated sandpaper. I didn’t need it tho.