Close
Q: Poor Bluetooth reception and jerky mouse
first
Previous
Page
6
of 24
last
Next
-
Dec 14, 2009 9:29 AMby castelletta,Sure the surface can have an effect on mouse tracking, for any kind of mouse.
BUT
The truth is that the cause, to me, is elsewhere.
In fact on the same, identical surface my mouse tracks perfectly with the external dongle and tracks very badly with the MP internal Bluetooth module. -
Dec 14, 2009 3:06 PMby sixgunaz,We spent one of the most frustrating days we have ever had with a computer - not something I would expect from something that costs more than $3000. Apple if you are reading this you better pull your head out of your A$$ and stop denying there is a problem with the BT design - THERE IS. The Bluetooth interface on mac pro ***** - simple as that. It is weak and the signal is poor at best - either the antenna design needs to be fixed or the BT card redesigned, or both. Clearly the mouse suffers the most, probably because it requires more bandwidth. After finding the same problem with 2 brand new Mac Pros (wireless keyboard and magic mouse) we came here and read up. After an hour on the phone with Apple, they wanted us to bring both systems in to check them out - friggin joke, don' they read their own forums?
So after reading everything on the forum here we purchased a DBT-120, immediately the range problems went away - of course, we now have other problems - wake on sleep is gone, and every time the computer boots now the CDRom Drive opens, also the attached devices are not recognized after power up / power down. We tried everything to get this work - shutting off the internal BT service, having it on, blah blah blah. We purchased this equipment for its simplicity and good looks, and now we are hamstrung by either using WIRED keyboard and mice or using BLACK Logitech crap that we don't like just so we can use wireless.
This is absolutely disheartening that a system that costs this much would not do something as basic as $900 macbook can. I just don't get it.
We should have just bought IMacs, this is turning out to be one of the biggest wastes of money yet.
We currently pushed aside all the wireless crap and are using the wired keyboard and mouse. JOKE -
Dec 14, 2009 3:56 PMby sixgunaz,Apparently some people are having luck using the DBT-120 on the Mac Pro and still being able to use the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse - can you detail how you are making this work ? We did nothing more than install the DBT-120 and it competes with the existing driver, and while it worked initially, after booting the existing driver takes over and the mouse goes back to being jerky, ignoring the dongle.
The next step - we then deactivated the internal BT module (shutting power to it off on preferences) then we installed the dongle. We manually told it to add devices and installed keyboard and mouse, everything worked perfectly. We were happy. We put the Mac Pro to sleep - then using the front panel button it woke up no worries everything still worked fine. Excellent.
The final test - we shut the system down completely and rebooted - NEITHER keyboard or mouse was recognized so we had no access of any kind. DEAD. Oh yeah - the CD Drive door now opens on its own every time we boot. So we un-installed the dongle, tossed the wireless crap back in the box and put back the wired stuff. Hate it.
This is really aggravating. Nice job Apple. -
Dec 14, 2009 5:37 PMby sixgunaz,My boss and I pushed the emotion aside and finally got the setup to work. Here are the exact steps. We tried this on the 3 other Mac Pros and it worked on those too. We are connecting a magic mouse and Apple wireless keyboard.
Prep: Make Apple wireless mouse and keyboard are OFF before proceeding.
Steps:
1> Plug in a wired mouse
2> Disconnect ALL other keyboards, mice, etc (i.e logitech)
3> DELETE any bluetooth devices in the preferences menu hit minus sign to remove)
4> Shut off Bluetooth Services (deselect the check box in prefs)
5> DELETE Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist from the hard disk
6> INSTALL the BT-120 Dongle
7> Click on the BT icon, top right hand side of display
8> Click on "Set up Bluetooth Device"
9> Power on the Magic or Mighty Mouse - go through setup wait until its recognized.
10> Click on add another device
11> Power on Keyboard, same process as above for mouse.
12> When done, close dialog. Now enjoy a very smooth mouse and keyboard!
Now the system can be rebooted with no issues, mouse and keyboard will work upon boot. Sleep works fine, you just cannot wake from keyboard. Also - boot key sequences don't work, but keep the wired keyboard around just in case and don't worry about it.
We are finally happy. We had some help from Apple engineering, as good as we are - no way we would have found this on our own. The Mac Pro + Wireless setup is THE way to go. Maybe one day they will fix the BT weak output, but really - who cares now that this works. If you need more USB ports, you can install a $40 card for that! -
Dec 15, 2009 1:51 AMby castelletta,I can tell you that I'm able to use keystrokes upon boot time with DBT-120.
It may be due to the firmware update that I've done 1-2 years ago to that dongle.
I think Apple still has this update in the DOWNLOAD section of her site. It was a Bluetooth update, made for the Dlink DBT-120.
Still not able to wake from sleep via BT mouse/keyboard.
Still a shame that a 3000€ machine can't make basic use of a simple and crucial device as a wireless mouse. I think that Apple has to spend some month less on designing new hardware and to focus on these issues that affect the interaction with a Mac much more than what external shape does.
These days it seems incredible: we are suffering because of jerky mouses, loose BT connections and keyboards that eat 3 AA batteries per week. This forum has tons of people complaining about BT issues that plague Mac Pros as well as other machines.
So, before causing more and more frustration on your users, please Apple acknowledge these problems and fix them all as soon as possible. Thanks -
Dec 19, 2009 11:39 AMby castelletta,Maybe due to the aluminum shell that surrounds itself the Magic Mouse is the worst mouse to use with a Mac Pro, a Mac that already suffers from Bluetooth poor performance.
I imagine that removing the battery cover the BT signal is more free to propagate without glitches.
It would be useful if Apple plans to replace Magic Mouse alu cover with a plastic one....and give us a swap, please. -
Dec 23, 2009 1:17 PMby digginestdogg,"The problem is at 99,9% a poor bluetooth signal due to the metallic enclosure of the Mac Pro."
I don't think that is the case (sorry for the accidental pun I have an early one (MacPro 2,1 8-core factory install BT) and switching the wires fixed that problem--the Magic Mouse works great now. So, while I realize mis-wiring is not the issue with the 2009 Mac Pros, it cannot be the metal case either since my Mac Pro has the very same metal case and works great. Apple must have redesigned the module or wiring or case or some other part is causing interference.
Hope you folks and Apple get it sorted out before too long. It's disappointing to see such a flaw in an otherwise great system. -
Dec 23, 2009 1:22 PMby digginestdogg,Thanks! Worked like a charm on my Mac Pro 2,1 only with one difference: the unused wire that I then connected to the upper connector on the airport module was labeled "2" not unlabeled and the neither BT wire I disconnected nor the one I disconnected from the air port module and put on the BT module were labeled. I checked both the BT and air port and they both work great now whereas only the airport worked before. -
Dec 28, 2009 8:04 AMby Mosaica,Ok, here is where I am now.
1. Yes the MM does work much better with the battery cover off.
2. It works better yet with the Belkin mini dongle! It is much more accurate and faster than without. Battery cover can be left on.
3. Yes, I too have the same problem though with the Belkin BT that it has to be re paired and also I loose scrolling sometimes. Don't know why.
3. Taking the cover off the Mac Pro, (early 2009) does NOT help me.
4. In talking with Apple TS, the "engineers" are still looking into it and they still do not get that there is a problem. That is simply absurd.
5. I still am in contact with Apple for what it is worth.
6. I am going to try to extend the antenna out of the case or reposition it and see how that works.
