Dana Spiegel

Q: Magic Mouse keeps disconnecting from bluetooth

My magic mouse (with all updates properly installed and with USB Overdrive properly uninstalled) has a problem connecting and disconnecting from the computer. When I use the mouse for a few minutes, it will all of a sudden be non-responsive, and within a couple of seconds the "Connection Lost" message appears on the screen. If I wait another minute, and click the mouse button a few times, the mouse will reconnect. This happens periodically as I am using the computer.

In the console logs, I get these messages:

10/31/09 6:06:20 PM kernel [0eb48f00][AppleMultitouchDevice::willTerminate] entered
10/31/09 6:06:20 PM kernel [0eb48f00][AppleMultitouchDevice::stop] entered
10/31/09 6:06:24 PM kernel [0ffa3600][BNBMouseDevice::init][30] init is complete
10/31/09 6:06:24 PM kernel [0ffa3600][BNBMouseDevice::handleStart][30] Done
10/31/09 6:06:24 PM kernel [08701100][AppleMultitouchHIDEventDriver::start] entered
10/31/09 6:06:24 PM kernel [09f11680][AppleMultitouchDevice::start] entered

The first message is when the mouse disconnects, and the rest are when it reconnects.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Unibody MacBook Pro (CTO 2.8Ghz, 4GB RAM), Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 31, 2009 3:14 PM

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Q: Magic Mouse keeps disconnecting from bluetooth

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  • by Jeffrey Nelson,

    Jeffrey Nelson Jeffrey Nelson Apr 3, 2011 11:30 PM in response to platinum3
    Level 1 (46 points)
    Apr 3, 2011 11:30 PM in response to platinum3
    I have figured this one at, at least for most people. It is absolutely the kind of battery you are using. There is something to the fact that some batteries are fatter/bigger than others. I was using one type of rechargeable and I switched to another. The problem is now solved. The bigger battery must not come disconnected if you pick up the mouse.

    Before, if I barely picked the mouse up it would disconnect. Now, with the bigger battery, even a dramatic pick up or turnover does not cause the mouse to disconnect. Hope that helps everybody. Best of luck!!

    Message was edited by: Jeffrey Nelson
  • by melissamc26,

    melissamc26 melissamc26 Apr 13, 2011 6:54 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 13, 2011 6:54 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Piece of paper worked for me. Only needed a small (double sided) piece. Problems started after changing the battery type to Eveready.
  • by zeloeistotheo,

    zeloeistotheo zeloeistotheo Apr 25, 2011 3:18 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 25, 2011 3:18 PM in response to Dana Spiegel

    I experienced a similar problem with my magic mouse. It would intermittently disconnect and reconnect to my computer. I did some Googling and three possibilities floated to the top of the list:

     

    1. A software switch set to disconnect the mouse with jarring or lifting, activated via the surface tracking mechanism.
    2. Interference from other wireless devices disrupting the bluetooth connection.
    3. A loss of power due to the batteries losing contact inside the mouse whenever there was a jarring movement.

     

    I couldn't find any software updates that would fix the issues. Only a lot of speculation and name calling going on, but no real evidence it was a software related issue.

     

    I did some reading on the radio frequencies and devices that can interfere with bluetooth connectivity. It's technical but this didn't appear to be the issue either.

     

    So, I simply shook the mouse around a little and noticed the batteries made a little clicking sound, indicating they were floating just slightly inside the mouse's battery compartment. Turns out this slight movement afforded the batteries to lose connection with the metal contacts inside the mouse when it was jarred. This, my friends, is why the Magic mouse disconnects and reconnects. :-)

     

    The fix was to cut out a think piece of paper and insert it between the thin aluminum bottom plate and the batteries. This holds the batteries firmly in place, preventing them from moving about and randomly disconnecting. (See attached image)

     

    Blessings,

    Heath Gerlock

     

    insert-thick-paper.jpg

  • by Benfromkualalumpur,

    Benfromkualalumpur Benfromkualalumpur Jun 14, 2011 8:06 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 14, 2011 8:06 PM in response to Dana Spiegel

    the solution is simple and it has been working flawlessly ever since. Cut a piece of paper to the battery size rolled on it , and insert in the MM and cap it. from there onwards it is working flawlessly, some say using energizer battery is also the solution.

     

    Not sure about that.

  • by PopcornMan,

    PopcornMan PopcornMan Jul 1, 2011 5:12 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 1, 2011 5:12 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    Has anyone considered the actual design of the battery compartment of the magic mouse?  Both spring prongs are on the bottom of the mouse when held upright, so when tapped the weight of the batteries will push the prongs down creating a temporary loss of power.  I don't consider this an issue as the mouse is less likely to be used in a vertical position in the real world unless you are trying to scrape it across your screen.

     

    I did have the same problems mentioned above however, and I found that some batteries disconnected while others didn't.  Price didn't matter as the Ikea ones worked great, except they ran flat faster than the ultimate super dooper energiser lithium ones.  What I found was that some had numbers printed on the negative terminal in ink.  Once I sanded it off the problem was solved for me.  I think that the mouse's connection pins for the negative termials (springy ones) look too good to be functional compared to the traditional spring ones you find everywhere else.  The flat suface is not ver forgiving and the tension is too weak to keep the batteries in place when "shaking" the mouse.

     

    The paper wedge simply holds the batteries in place so it doesn't rely on the strength of the springs.  I am surprised Apple haven't figured that one out and keeps sending replacement mice to people.

  • by lubomski,

    lubomski lubomski Jul 19, 2011 6:15 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2011 6:15 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    I too have been experiencing the intermittent disconnect issue; upon examining the internal battery connectors I noticed some residual deposits (most likely corrosion); a quick cleanup with some Isopropyl Alcohol on all the terminals and, touch wood, no more disconnects!

     

    Worth a check, worked for me...

  • by Ian Ho!,

    Ian Ho! Ian Ho! Jul 26, 2011 11:17 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 26, 2011 11:17 PM in response to Dana Spiegel

    Great thread. The jarring lightly on the mouse's "tail" reliably and repeatedly forced a temporary disconnect for me, too, which the mouse would sometimes recover from but sometimes drop out permanently.

     

    My solution is to wrap each battery in a length of sticking tape. Works a treat. No more rattling battery, no more tap to disconnect. Now it's perfect!

     

    It may be worth sticking some gaffer tape into the base of the battery well for a more permanent solution.

  • by dejudge,

    dejudge dejudge Aug 28, 2011 6:44 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 6:44 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    Hey there guys, I have found a Solution for the Magic Mouse to stop disconnecting.

     

    I don't know if anyone else has posted it as I only got two pages in all these posts.

     

    I simply folded up two small peices of alfoil and placed them under each spring between each battery. I have found the Magic Mouse stops disconnecting.

     

    The alfoil shouldn't reduce the integrity of the mouse or battery as it is a common conductor (along side copper) used in the electrical world (yes I am an electrician).

     

    Maybe our battery sizes are a tad smaller than the ones they are tested with???

     

    I hope this helps if there has not been a solution found yet.

  • by Calum Chalmers,

    Calum Chalmers Calum Chalmers Aug 29, 2011 6:58 PM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (115 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 6:58 PM in response to Dana Spiegel

    It's definately the "short" AA battery problem.

    I compared batteries and found sanyo eneloops were 2mm longer than everready alkalines.

    Using the sanyo batteries fixed the problem - plus they're rechargable.

  • by mzd,

    mzd mzd Sep 9, 2011 9:10 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (3 points)
    Sep 9, 2011 9:10 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    just wanted to post that thanks to this thread my Magic Mouse is no longer experiencing the frequent disconnects. i cleaned the contacts with acetone and a Qtip. very easy solution and completely cleared up the disconnect problem!

  • by davidfromcrowborough,

    davidfromcrowborough davidfromcrowborough Sep 17, 2011 10:19 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 17, 2011 10:19 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    I guess it's pretty much academic given the number of other suggestions posted - but I randomly tried removing the battery cover and my Magic Mouse hasn't disconnected since. Before that it would disconnect about every 5 minutes - in fact I was about to junk it.

  • by valfromottawa,

    valfromottawa valfromottawa Oct 8, 2011 8:52 AM in response to Dana Spiegel
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 8, 2011 8:52 AM in response to Dana Spiegel

    I started having problems with my magic mouse a few days ago. ( I bought it 2 years ago, and  I am using it with an iMac 27). When the battery level was low, I replaced the batteries as usual.. whoa.... it was awful. opening the cover did not work for me.  It disconnected after every 3-4 clicks then reconnected with a few more clicks.  I read in one forum that some people felt it had something to do with metal conductivity ( see also the solution above)  and so considered that perhaps it was due to my using cheap batteries and wondered if these were perhaps faulty some way, though they registered as 100% full, so I decided to put in regular brand name batteries, and lo, the problem was completely solved.

    it could be a fluke but who knows, if it works it works.

  • by oldfrankenstein,

    oldfrankenstein oldfrankenstein Oct 22, 2011 7:25 AM in response to valfromottawa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2011 7:25 AM in response to valfromottawa

    Judging from the first entry in this discussion this problem has been ongoing for at least 2 years.  Surely, Apple knows about it by now, and yet there seems to have been not a peep out Apple, let alone a fix.  Is this Apple's idea of customer support — or did their bean counters figure that it was just cheaper to **** off their customers than acknowldge and fix the problem??  For what it's worth, I've had my 27" iMac for 15 months and this problem with the mouse only just now started.  Thing is, it's not a problem with the "magic mouse" (which I don't use because I hate it), but with the "mighty mouse" I used with my older G5 — AND — another "mighty mouse" left over from my G4!  Both of those mice worked flawlessly with my 27" for more than a year — until now! 

     

    Have been a loyal Mac user since my first Mac, a 128K.  I just don't see any excuse for this!

  • by guitarguy2008,

    guitarguy2008 guitarguy2008 Nov 16, 2011 12:25 PM in response to David Talaga
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 16, 2011 12:25 PM in response to David Talaga

    I had this problem as well. I found that the "drop the mouse" action also reproducibly disconnected it from Bluetooth. I noticed that the aluminum battery door had developed a slight bow. I gently reversed the bow so that the door would allow less battery motion. This seems to have helped. Dropping no longer causes disconnects.

     

    This worked great for me!

  • by ScapMac,

    ScapMac ScapMac Dec 2, 2011 9:25 PM in response to guitarguy2008
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2011 9:25 PM in response to guitarguy2008

    Thank you, one and all.  After a year of flawless performance (21" iMac, Magic Mouse, bluetooth keyboard), the mouse started disconnecting continuously.  I have the Apple battery charger and the six batteries that came with it.  The batteries still fit fine in both the MM and the charger and the cover on the MM battery compartment was flush (not bowed).  So I tried the rest of the suggestions and cleaned the ends of the batteries, the contacts in the MM and the contacts in the charger, all with (1) an eraser, (2) a green scrubby (dry), and (3) brake clean on a Q-tip.  Perfection!  I can now return the single-use AA batteries I borrowed from husband ... 

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