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Magic Mouse and Mac Pro Reception Problem

I have a Mac Pro 2009 that is unable to reliably work with the new magic mouse. The connection is spotty and either drops or there is significant lag on screen. The mouse is 3 ft, 7 inches from the front of the computer case so the distance should not be causing the problem.

I've noticed that previous threads have discussed wiring problems with the BT radio, but those appear to be on earlier Pro models. I opened the case and I'm unable to find the BT receiver to even verify if the wiring is correct.

If I use the Magic Mouse under my desk about 2 feet from the case, it does work reliably, but the ergonomics of that setup interferes with my productivity. 🙂

I'd prefer not to purchase an external BT dongle. I am using 10.6.1 and all known updates are installed. I do not have Airport.

The mouse works perfectly on my MacBook Pro.

I've installed the latest BT driver software and the Magic Mouse software.

This really feels like a reception problem on the BT radio in the Mac Pro. Any suggestions welcome.

MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Nov 2, 2009 11:43 AM

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22 replies

Nov 3, 2009 12:10 PM in response to DDF99

I have the same exact problem, and adding the mouse as a favorite didn't really do much. What I'm finding is that every time I use the mouse towards the back of the computer, the reception is fine; when I'm using the mouse towards the front of the computer, the reception because extremely unstable and jerky. As an added test, I used my other bluetooth mouse (it's a razr one) that I have for my Macbook Pro and it also exhibited the same type of performace as the Magic Mouse. Both mice work fine on the Macbook Pro. I called Apple Support and they said they are not aware of any problems with the Mac Pro and it's bluetooth functionality.

Nov 7, 2009 5:27 AM in response to jlj871

I have a Mac Pro, about three years old, and just purchased a Magic Mouse - same issues with poor tracking and scrolling. After doing some Googling, I came across several posts that indiated many Mac Pro's were built with some of their Airport and Bluetooth antenna wiring mis-connected inside - it wouldn't affect Airport functionality, and but would severely degrade BT...

Here's one site with diagrams/pictures:

http://www.thelocale.org/files/howtos/mac-pro-bluetooth-howto.pdf

For me, the fix worked - Magic Mouse is tracking normally, and Airport still works (signal strength is the same). My Mac also boots faster, so there may have been other issues caused by this mis-wiring

I will say that for a time, I used the older Apple wireless keyboard and mouse, and didn't seem to have issues. But my Mac Pro was up on my desk then (closer), and perhaps the older products worked diferently.

If you are under warranty, I would have Apple do it - in my case, it took about 15 minutes, and had to remove drives three and four to get better access to the area - the fourth unconnected cable was also tucked in and somewhat buried beneath the drives (and has a plastic sleeve to protect it from touching anything, so don't look for the round metal connector as much as a translucent plastic sleeve covering the end of a black wire.

I STILL have issues where the mouse clicks don't work correctly - if I leave "One Finger - Secondary Click" deselected, every click on any surface area acts as a contextual click, not a "regular" single click. This even screws up the behavior of an older Apple wired mouse - fortunately, I have a Logitech wireless mouse which I can still use to set the secondary click back on, and I least have single control back.

Not sure I'm liking the behavior where you have to keep one finger raised when clicking to register a single click - it's natural on most two button mechanical mice to rest both fingers on each button, but click only one. Maybe this is because I'm forced to use the Secondary click mode for now - not sure...

Message was edited by: Greg Bastug1

Nov 7, 2009 2:37 PM in response to Greg Bastug1

I can corroborate this fix. It was true for me and I went back to wired from wireless BT keyboard and mouse secondary to the flaky behavior. I got a magic mouse and was disappointed to find the same behavior....if I pushed the mouse to the back of the desk it would work better for a bit, etc....
Googled it and found similar links and got brave enough to crack open the mac pro....
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10391486-263.html?tag=mncol;txt

I had 4 wires, 2 long: labeled BT - connected to blue tooth module and #1 connected to airport module. 2 shorter: #3 connected to airport and #2 capped and unconnected.

After ensuring I could disconnect and reconnect the cables (used a hemostat and the eraser end of a pencil to handle the wires in the depths of the machine)
I first removed the BT cable from the Blue tooth module and set it aside. I disconnected #1 from the airport and connected it to the bluetooth module as it was the only one that was really long enough to reach. I then took #2 and plugged it into the airport module. #3 did not move and BT was capped with the plastic cap from #2.
After rebooting, my magic mouse and wireless keyboard are like new and peppy, just like in the store! Woo HOO!!!

The worst part is getting over the scary thought of messing up the machine. It wasn't too bad, but I really needed the extra reach and precision of the hemostat and eraser. A good light was helpful too. I suppose I could have called AppleCare, but felt encouraged to find it all looked very similar to the pictures I had seen.
Hope this helps someone.

Nov 8, 2009 2:30 PM in response to Greg Bastug1

I have an Early 2008 Mac Pro and was experiencing these problems. I have the wireless keyboard, mighty and magic mice. The mighty mouse had reception issues, but not like the magic mouse. So, I decided to give this bluetooth/airport re-wiring a shot.

When I opened my Mac Pro, all 4 wires were labeled: 1, 2, 3, and BT. Most people reporting this problem seem to only have 3 and BT. However, the wiring setup was the same so I decided to swap the cables as instructed. I have only been using the keyboard and mouse for about 10 minutes, but I have not had any lag yet.

This appears to have solved my issues with the Magic Mouse. So, obviously, my problem was the computer and not the mouse. Thank you for posting the link.

Nov 9, 2009 3:49 PM in response to Barry Rickert1

I got a Magic Mouse on Friday, and it behaved shockingly with my Mac Pro 1,1. Lag, sticking, pausing etc. I retested several times over the weekend. Was going to return it and then saw various stuff like this on the net and thought I'd take a look. On opening my Mac, it looked like the cables I was supposed to switch around were not long enough. Eventually decided to get a USB BT dongle as final attempt, so ordered from Amazon.

Tonight, Apple released 10.6.2. Installed as usual via Software Update. Wasn't expecting any difference but thought I'd try the Magic Mouse one more time. As far as I can tell, 10.6.2 has fixed the lag/sticking/pausing problems on my Mac Pro without me doing anything else.

I've cancelled the USB dongle order...

Not sure what has happened, but I like it.

Nov 10, 2009 1:54 AM in response to DDF99

Ah... Sorry to hear that. Would be interested to hear if others see a difference.

It is possible that my opening the Mac Pro case and staring at the Bluetooth wires did something, just not sure what! I didn't re-test on 10.6.1 after that as I thought I hadn't changed anything.

Apologies if I raise anyones (else) hopes only to have them dashed.

Nov 10, 2009 6:51 AM in response to DDF99

Hello all who might read this thread:

I am not suggesting that the wire switch thing did not work for one of the posters.

However, I STRONGLY suggest that people having similar issues NOT open up a case and start moving wires around (unless you are also an Apple-certified technician or an engineer). IMHO, doing things like that will cause very big problems. Try some of the software fixes I posted here and elsewhere. If those do not work, take it to an Apple store for diagnosis.

Barry

Magic Mouse and Mac Pro Reception Problem

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