ROG Spatha X: sudden chatotic behaviour

[InFAMAS-ONE]

Hello,

for the last couple of days, my Spatha X has become possessed by some kind of demonic force.

I'm having many issues with it, so I'll try and list / explain them as best and as clearly as I can.

• Not interacting with Windows explorer based operations (start button, task bar icons etc.). However, if I either lock my PC and sign back in, or CTRL+ALT+DEL and then cancel, this functionality returns. What's intriguing though, is I can be interacting with my browser, or another application just fine. I can navigate through web pages, open / close tabs etc, but if I move my mouse to any of the above Windows operations, the icons won't even highlight. It's like someone has taken a screenshot of my desktop, set it as my wallpaper, and disabled explorer.exe. I do, however, have an annoyance on the rare occasion when using my browser (not yet detected this in other applications) where scroll lock will come on (as if I have clicked the scroll wheel and mouse movements now control the scroll function).
• Games: The only game I have been playing since Monday is WoW and I have noticed very little impact. However, Autorun gets stuck on randomly - even when I am standing still and not even touching my mouse. It is identical behavior of pressing both the left and right mouse buttons down together. I can 'unstick' this by clicking both buttons together again, but it is annoying and doesn't always happen. Mouse functionality otherwise seems fine. I'm too scared to try playing battlefield under these conditions as I don't think it'll end well for me...
• Addition to post - Lighting: When charging in the dock the lighting works as normal. However, when finished, I switch the power to the mouse off completely (The mouse is connected through my monitor - KVM, so I turn the monitor off completely, cutting the USB power feed) and the mouse would usually go into a dormant state - all lighting turns off and it sits there quite happily. However, now when I turn the monitor off, every now and again, with no set interval, the lights on the mouse will flicker on briefly in a vain attempt to complete a lighting sequence, and then go off again. This behaviour continues unless I physically switch the mouse off using the switch on the back of it.   

So what have I tried to remedy?

Well, I can tell you that I have only had this mouse for just over two months so far. I am using it in Wireless mode, but I have tried it in wired mode also. I have tried it in a different USB port:- direct to machine instead of KVM, and I have also connected it to my work Laptop (Same issue on that computer). I have swapped out the switches with the spare pair that came with it.

I have rolled back Windows to a system restore point 10 days prior. This is because my Wife told me on Sunday night that the PC was doing an update when she used it. I have reset the mouse and confirm that the firmware and all updated in Armoury crate, Windows, and all other PC drivers / software are up to date.

I even went so far as to wipe Windows and start again.

Not only is the issue still the same, but it was actually doing it throughout the Windows 11 setup Process - a clean install of an older ISO, which was very annoying.

At first I thought this might be a Windows 11 bug. Especially as it was happening on both my personal desktop and my work laptop (Both Win 11 machines) and especially after the dramas of the recovery environment issues recently and that fact that the mouse and its functions were working, but Windows wasn't recognising interactions with the mouse - Start button & taskbar icons wouldn't transition to 3d (highlight), I couldn't click on them. I couldn't open the start menu with the mouse, I'd have to use the start button on the keyboard, but I COULD then click out of the start menu with the mouse, plus the other issues. The problem would resolve if I used CTRL+ALT+DEL, or WIN+L and came back in (Although temporarily) the functionality was still there in the mouse.

However, after doing the fresh install with a retail USB that worked perfectly before, I now suspect something to do with the mouse, perhaps an update that has been applied to it. It was literally like someone flicking a light switch. There was no gradual failure.

I know there have been some updates in Armoury crate lately, and I suspect that it is to do with the HAL update but frankly, otherwise I'm lost. I can't roll back this driver to test and I've tried everything else I can think of. I'm convinced this is software / firmware related as the mouse clearly works, it's just possessed.

Is anyone else having this issue and can anyone from ASUS ROG help me out here? What should I do? I don't think it's worth it to RMA as I strongly suspect the HAL, so getting a new mouse would just lead to the same problems and I don't have a backup mouse I can use in the interim.

Thanks.

[Nate152]

Hello InFAMAS-ONE

Were you able to update your ROG Spatha X?

Try resetting your Spatha X like this:

1) Make sure the charging dock is connected to a pc usb port, you can use motherboard or pc case usb ports.

2) Connect the other cable to a pc usb port and have it close by.

3) Filp the Spatha X over and set the wireless switch to wired mode. (push upwards)

4) Press and hold down Left click, Right click and Scroll click buttons for 5 seconds.

5) With all 3 buttons held down, connect the cable and release the buttons.

6) Your Spatha X should be reset, you may have an update in Armoury Crate.

Is it working any better after the reset?

[InFAMAS-ONE]

Hi Nate,

I tried this and unfortunately it didn't help one bit.

I've contacted ASUS customer support and given details of everything I've done to try and troubleshoot / fix. They ran out of ideas and advised me to RMA to where I bought it from.

I've done that, and the retailer has confirmed the fault and issued me a refund (they didn't have a replacement in stock).

I've purchased a new one now directly from ASUS, which should be with me early next week.

[Nate152]

 So, in the end your Spatha X was confirmed faulty. Good to hear it was taken care of quickly, you can give us an update anytime when you get your new one.

[InFAMAS-ONE]

Hello,

My new Spatha X arrived today. I used it for about 3 hours completely issue free.

It's currently sat there, connected to my monitor with the power off after being fully charged, and all lights are off - it's happily dormant again, as was the old one before it went mental.

It appears that the other one had a sudden failure of sorts, but who knows what, or why.

What I find fascinating though, is that there is someone else who posted on the ROG care forum who had exactly the same issue, right around the time I did literally within a few hours, or a day or so.

I guess we both had a mouse where there was perhaps something wrong which lead to this failure.

However, no one else seems to have been affected by it - strange indeed.

Regardless, the issue appears to be fixed. Mouse is working perfectly - no issues with buttons not working, interactivity with windows is normal, autorun isn't coming on on its own anymore - perfect! Im just keeping my fingers crossed that this replacement mouse lasts longer than the 2 months that the original one did 😅

[ROG-Tom]

Thank you very much, nFAMAS-ONE, for your very detailed description of the error. No, you are not the only one with this error; I have exactly the same strange and chaotic system behavior with my ROG Spatha X mouse.

Unfortunately, it was very difficult to find a workaround to fix the “mouse error,” and of course, I also tried all possible troubleshooting options (different USB port, different mouse on the PC, reinstalling Armoury Crate, checking for driver conflicts, WIN 11 update, etc.), but unfortunately without success.

My PC works perfectly with another mouse, but as soon as I connected the ASUS ROG Spatha X mouse, the “chaos spell” began.

It is very unfortunate that such an expensive mouse, after only a short time (I've only had it for about 6 months), obviously has a hardware/software defect that causes such behavior without any external impact on the mouse. The error actually occurred overnight, and I think it happened after an update. Unfortunately, I don't know whether the update was initiated by Microsoft, ASUS, or another program.

I had already been using the previous model for several years without any problems. Unfortunately, I had to replace the old ROG Spatha at the time because it was damaged, but that was my fault and not ASUS's.

Long story short, I will now try to send my mouse back to the retailer.

As soon as I have a new ASUS ROG X, I will report back, but this will probably not be until early 2026.

PS: Yes, I appreciated the ASUS mouse for its ergonomic features and sufficient additional buttons, which is why I am giving ASUS a second chance 😉

[InFAMAS-ONE]

Hi there!

Including me, that makes three of us now that have had this issue. Like you, mine happened overnight. It was perfect one day and then broken as soon as I picked it up the next - very strange.

I've had my new Spatha for coming up to a week now ( it'll be a week tomorrow). I've been using it every day and so far it's fine.

Like you I had the original Spatha beforehand and used it for years. It had just served its time but after how good that was I wasn't going to get anything except the Spatha X.

I hope that when you get your new mouse that there are no further issues and perhaps we were just unfortunate to get ones that had some kind of undetected batch issue or something. 

All the best.

[ROG-Tom]

Hello InFAMAS-ONE 🙂 , 

Thank you for your encouraging words 😉

I suspect that we are not the only ones experiencing this strange behavior with the ASUS ROG Spatha X. I suspect that many will first try to find a solution by doing some research and will assume that it is a software (ASUS) or Windows system problem. Unfortunately, however, there will be many users who, due to the complexity of the issue and the time required to find a possible workaround, will probably give up in frustration and decide to buy a new mouse instead.

As I said, I will report back as soon as I have a new Spatha.

Best regards.