10.7.2 Bluetooth problems

Len-

Wow! I can't tell you how refreshing it is to get something more than “it doesn't work” without having to ask “tell me more!” Yeah, it does seem like a lot, but then I can't exactly throw stones. I live in a glass house, too!

Okay, it does seem that there was some benefit from turning off the Wi-Fi. I do feel like I need to make sure of our terminology, though. To turn off Wi-Fi, we are using either the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar, or the appropriate entry in Network Settings. The reason I make the distinction is that you mention ethernet, which is actually 10BaseT, 100BaseT, or gigabit wired connection, with ethernet referring to the communication protocol.

Back to the grind! Everything looked fine with your report, however I did find that I need some clarification about why you're running both the 2.4 and 5.0 GHz connections from your Mac? From the rest of your description, I gather that there is only the one Time Machine router on your home network. I understand why it would be running dual band. What I don't understand is why your Mac is connected to both bands.

Again, I'm not throwing stones. I run both bands on my network, as well. Mostly because, due to some bit of unknowable “Cupertino Logic” the iPhone will connect to 802.11n, but only on the 2.4 GHz band. My Mac is connected via dual-band to the 5.0 GHz access point. I do run a backup ethernet connection to the router, since there are times in my work when a slow connection *****, but no connection is very, very, very bad. This is called “redundant networking” and is really the only effective way to plan for a failed Wi-Fi connection. Once again, we delve into the mystical arcana which is Wireless Networking!

You will get the maximum speed from your dual-band connection by setting the bandwidth at your router to either “auto” or “40 MHz,” and connecting your Mac to the 5 GHz access point. Concurrently connecting to the same router, either by Wi-Fi or ethernet, will not improve throughput (network speed). Why not, I have no idea. It has long seemed to me that the bottleneck was the wireless transmission, and that “doubling up” the connection to the router should allow double the connection speed. Unfortunately, it just ain't so. So, unless there is some other compelling reason that you're running a Wi-Fi connection from your Mac to the 2.4 GHz access point of your router, I suggest you remove that connection from Network Preferences and see if it doesn't improve the situation with your mouse.

Cal

Len-

I'm pretty sure that the others don't have the same problem as you do anymore. The fact that the disconnect happens only when the mouse is in use points to either an issue in the radio comms, ie. interference, or the mouse activity is now somehow tripping the bluetooth disconnect command at one end or the other.

Hang in there. I'm still working on it...

Cal

Actually, that seems like it might be part of what's going on. Any chance your neighbors are close enough to cause issues? If you get some time, try changing the channels for wide and narrow band 5.0 and 2.4 Ghz on your router. Generally you can pick the narrow channel and the wide channel is selected for you. I'm wondering if it might be crosstalk between two routers on the same channel...

I'm not actually sure that everyone elses issues are resolved, but if they don't tell me otherwise, I figure that they are happy enough to get on with their lives...;-)

Cal,

"I'm not actually sure that everyone elses issues are resolved, but if they don't tell me otherwise, I figure that they are happy enough to get on with their lives...;-)"

You can be sure the issues with bluetooth devices being dropped intermittently has not been resolved. Any of these solutions developed by end users may only provide a temporary work around for the very real software bugs intrduced in 10.7.2. Your postings and diligence are appreciated by many but there's no expectation of a "fix" coming as we can only expect this of our vendor, Apple, hopefully sooner rather than later.

thanks

Dan

Dan-

Thanks for checking in. Actually, besides my own issue having been corrected, there are 1 1/2 other's that have indicated that their issues are now corrected. I only count 1/2 for the guy with the wireless headphones. I don't claim to be all powerful, and I'm certainly not omniscient, but I seem to be doing okay, so far.

What you might to be overlooking is the fact that there are a number of issues that happen to have cropped up with the 10.7.2 update. My solution, marked "SOLUTION:" is nothing like a panacea. It won't cure the masses, but it clearly has resolved the issue for some. Actually, so far, I haven't found any conclusive evidence that OS X is to blame for any issue besides the one that goes away when my solution happens to work. Just because something doesn't work after the OS gets updated does not necessarily mean that the OS is to blame. It just means that the OS update EXPOSED the issue.

At this point, I'm sure that there are some issues with Microsoft mice and possibly the Intellipoint software for Mac. I am also sure that there is/are a cached configuration file(s) that changed with the update. Neither version is necessarily bad, but the less-than-smooth update to the file(s) is clearly on Apple. Also, there are probably others that I haven't managed to sort out yet.

One thing I've learned in 35+ years in the industry is that nobody can be blamed until someone figures out how to fix all of the problems. I've managed to help some with one of the issues. That's it. If you'll tell the doctor where it hurts, you might get some satisfaction. If you want to wait for Apple to create or adopt a solution, that's fine, too.

In the mean time, everyone is responsible for his/her own expectations and beliefs. As for me, I expect that my belief in having another beer will soon come true.

Cheers!

Cal

Maybe Apple wants us to buy a new Magic Mouse instead of using an old one from Microsoft...

My little portable BT mouse from Logitech works fine by the way, so your plan doesn't work! 😁

P.S.: After 3G and 3GS, I'm going to buy the new Nexus Prime instead of the iPhone 4S 😉

@Caltain: Thanks for your support - but switching off WiFi didn't work 😟

Cal,

Yes, you've applied your temporary circumvention and have declared victory! And, 1.5 others you claim to have saved! Great work on the SOLUTION that has had a TEMPORARY impact for 2.5 people when there are literally thousands suffering through this latest update. Keep drinkin' that beer koolaide Cal!

"One thing I've learned in 35+ years in the industry is that nobody can be blamed until someone figures out how to fix all of the problems."

Me thinks that before you can "fix" any problem, you first have to be able to frame the problem. I'll make it simple for ya, if Apple introduces an update to their OS and no other environment variables have changed, Apple has introduced a new bug. Agree? It really doesn't make any difference if you do or not. The good news is that Apple will / has accepted this as a problem and there will be hopefully a fix forthcoming.

"It just means that the OS update EXPOSED the issue."

What issue? You haven't identified any issue outside the original OP to this thread. Any OS has error recovery and timing responsibilities when communicating with devices, whether BT or WiFi. My external apple trackpad and keyboard didn't change. My new mini server that came with 10.7.2 didn't change. My uMBP with 10.7.1 worked just fine with the apple keyboard & trackpad until it was updated with 10.7.2. Are you suggesting that one should just periodically delete their BT devices, reload the OS, and accept this process as a real "fix". Come on, with over 35 years experience, you can honestly suggest this is a "SOLUTION" (your word). Unbelieveable.

goegele writes:

"@Caltain: Thanks for your support - but switching off WiFi didn't work 😟"

The key phrase there is "didn't work". And, if it does work, it will only be temporary. This is just too much.

goegele

Trying to make some sense out of your post, please help with:

"My little portable BT mouse from Logitech works fine by the way, so your plan doesn't work! 😁"

First Congratulations! on your logitech BT mouse working but please explain what my plan is and then why you perceive that it isn't working.

and:

"P.S.: After 3G and 3GS, I'm going to buy the new Nexus Prime instead of the iPhone 4S 😉"

Good for you! I've been using an android phone for several years. Welcome! Don't worry though, they're only slightly more complicated than your logitech mouse so you shouldn't have any problems.

H- When you have mastered grammar and punctuation, feel free to write more of this entertaining drivel. Once you have coded device drivers, I/O protocols, and useful executables that employ them, I'll hear what you have to say. After you have tested your own code, and that of others, in structured alphas and betas, some of which you designed yourself, I might even pay attention.

Have fun blamestorming while you wait for others to solve your problems.

Cheers!

Cal

with "your" plan, I meant Apple's plan to make us buy a Magic Mouse 🙂

I just hit reply to your post because I liked it, so sorry for the confusion 😀

I think there is no "solution" untill Apple releases 10.7.2.1 "hopefully sooner rather than later"

geogele,

No worries and you're absolutely right about there being no real solution until Apple comes out with a fix. As a result of some of the other related problems with this release, I installed 8 gb of RAM in my mini server yesterday and ran throughout the day without one failure of any BT device. Before the RAM upgrade it seemed to occur after a wakeup and with greater frequency when the server was thrashing. Te pageing / swap rate under load is now very low and the overall responsiveness of the server is more than adequate for my efforts. There are obviously some major issues with Apple's memory management that should be addressed. The RAM upgrade seems to have circumvented the BT issues for me but users shouldn't have to spend the $50 to get around this problem. And, the folks with MBAs are really caught between the proverbial dog and a fire hydrant.

good luck

Dan