Mac Mini Bluetooth hardware problems ?

Hi Christophe Canus-

Your mac is under warranty. You have tried all of the relevant troubleshooting steps. Perhaps a call to Apple is in order.

Luck-

-DaddyPaycheck

That's exactly the same problem I'm having with my 2 week old mini - looking for a solution!

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My mini is doing it as well. Just started doing 2-3 weeks ago. Logitech Denovo or Apple Bluetooth. Doesn't matter which. Loses it in about an hour or so. Al Keyboards and mice were purchased at about the same time as the core 2 duo mini, ~ last October.

Must power cycle the machine to get it back and it must be paired again. Very annoying. Can't remember if it coincides with an Apple update.

This mini has had the superdrive replaced twice, once within 6 weeks of purchase. Ever since Leopard, it's been close to the best media head. now this...

Sigh.

(What makes it not the best? Frontrow doesn't sort titles correctly [1, 10, 2, 3 - wrong!], doesn't force mount aliases in the movies directory, doesn't put out 1080p without hacking. And I'd so love eyeTV integration with Frontrow. It'd be perfect then.)

Since you used the keyboard and mouse with your PBG4 I ask, for how long? Could it be that the batteries are running low? "Its getting worse" 😉

I have the same Mini and use the keyboard and mouse without problems now. The first time I registered them on the Mini there seemed to be some problems, so I hooked up a USB mouse and removed the BT devices. After I registered the keyboard and mouse again they have worked flawless. Those of you having problems might try removing and re-registering.

I am also having the same problem with the wireless mouse and keyboard. The batteries are new so I will try removing and re-registering them both.

I am having the exact same problem and it is getting worse. Of course, I checked the batteries, and replaced them with brand new ones. Still, after about an hour I won't be able to use the keyboard or mouse. I have to hold the power button down to turn it off. Usually after I restart the mouse works again, but the keyboard won't pair. It is very frustrating. Both the keyboard and mouse work perfectly with my Macbook. Does anyone have the answers?

Just wanted to add my few pence worth! About a month ago I started getting the EXACT same problems as you all describe in a Mac Mini that is quite a few years old now. I have a Microsloth wireless mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard that all have worked perfectly until now. Bizarrely, I have solved the problem by moving the Mini closer to the keyboard/mouse receiver and standing the Mini on its side (so the Apple logo is facing the keyboard etc.) This prevent most of the problem. When was the last OS upgrade dated? Is the problem since then I wonder?

Just to hop onto this band wagon...I've had a mini and a logitech dinovo keyboard paired and working for the past 10 months...within the last week (the only update i've done is the keynote update from last week) the keyboard/mouse stops working and it's the same issue everyone else seems to be having. i guess it's time to take it back into the apple store and see if they can't diagnose the problem...seems like the bluetooth card is going bad.

I may have found the answer. I opened the sharing preferences and for some reason bluetooth sharing was on. I turned it off and unchecked the discoverable under bluetooth preferences and I haven't had a problem with the keyboard or mouse since then. As far as I know that is the only change I have made. Hope this helps.

I guess I can hold off on upgrading from Tiger or upgrading the firmware. I thought it might fix the issue for me. I unchecked sharing in the Bluetooth preferences. It appears to be working (for now).

I was keeping a usb mouse on hand for when the wireless fails. My other technique was to have remote desktop enabled and use vnc to connect and restart remotely.

I already had bluetooth sharing turned off. But, what worked for me, was to delete the paired keyboard from bluetooth preferences and re-pair the keyboard. It's been working well since then.

I tried re-pairing the keyboard & mouse but the problem still exists.

Message was edited by: Larry Legg

I may have located the problem for the loss of Bluetooth signal from the Mac mini to the wireless keyboard and mouse. My setup worked fine for about a year then I began having intermittent problems as many of you described. Having some radio background knowledge I first thought there may be interference from a strong RF environment.

One day I decided to take my mini apart as see what I could do. I found instructions on the web of how to do this. Viewing the inside there is a large metal plate which would be on the top side of the computer. There are two holes cut out of this plate at opposite corners and in the center of these holes, circuit boards with their own metal plates mounted to each circuit board. I do not have a circuit diagram for this computer but these two circuit boards look much like the radio frequency boards for the Bluetooth and WiFi. It appears that the small metal plates mounted on each board is the main radiating antenna. (On this point I could not be sure without a circuit diagram). The large metal plate appears to be the ground.

To connect the metal plate with the main chassis of the computer, a woven wire braid is used around the perimeter of the two cutout holes. This same type of braided wire is used on other parts of the chassis to obtain electrical contact. I assumed that moisture in the air has created poor contact between metal parts and the wire braid.

SOLUTION: For my computer I used white lithium grease and spread is on all the wire braid I could find. As the wire braid made contact with the metal parts, this grease improved the contact and will prevent or reduce corrosion on the wire braid.

After taking a chance and doing this, I noticed that loss of Bluetooth contact was dramatically reduced. There were a few times I lost Bluetooth contact but after slightly squeezing the computer in the vertical axis to ensure the metal to wire braid contacts were good, Bluetooth signal returned right away. Bluetooth is 99 percent functioning. I also read that Mac's Bluetooth radio range is not that far.

This type of electrical contact where it concerns radio frequency should be made by direct soldered wire connection.

I hope this can help as it has for me.