apple bt mouse blinking

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apple bt mouse blinking

i have a lovely little apple bt mouse that up until about 20 minutes ago worked great! the batteires ran out, so i just replaced them. now, when i slide back the led cover, the light is blinking. my bluetooth setup assistant recognizes it and then loses it every time it blinks, which is about every second or so! needless to say i can't use it! any ideas on how to fis this? thanks a million!

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Mar 12, 2006 3:14 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 12, 2006 5:33 PM in response to mjh87

Hello Little MJ:

This is a knowledge base article that gives troubleshooting steps:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86496

Barry

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Answer 2

mjh87 Author

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Mar 12, 2006 10:53 PM in response to Barry Hemphill

thanks for the link! unfortunately all of that has been covered already...and i still can't figure out why that dang light is blinking 😟

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Answer 3

Dean Pahl

Level 4

3,870 points

Mar 13, 2006 3:41 AM in response to mjh87

Hi, Little MJ and Barry —

Since the troubleshooting article didn't help, let's focus on "the little things" for a bit...

FYI, there's also a KnowledgeBase Article entitled " Apple Wireless Mouse: About the Red Light" that explains the 4 optical modes. Check it out before reading on...

Remember, Bluetooth is RF; the red light has different purpose(s). I like to think of it as "tracking–plus."

There are 2 blinking modes.

My personal experience with what I think you're describing is to do this:

(a) Remove & replace/reinstall the batteries. (Use new if there's any question about the "in-place" voltage.) Be careful with the batteries' polarity and seating inside the mouse — and check while you have the battery cover open that the internal metal contacts, etc. are clean, unmangled, and free from corrosion.

(b) Leave the LED cover in a "Closed" position — no optical display visible.

(c) Launch the Bluetooth Setup Assistant (BSA) and enjoy the tux on its Dock tile. Proceed to "Setup Bluetooth device..." a little differently than you may have tried: "Continue" past the "Intro" window; select "Mouse" in the "Select Device Type" window; and press "Continue." The LED cover should still be closed.
(d) Wait a few moments while Bluetooth setup is "searching for your mouse" — then open the LED cover. Allow a little time for connection to be established.
This usually does the trick. "Go back" and repeat once or twice if necessary.
(e) + a touch of voodoo. I like to turn my Apple Bluetooth mouse belly-up near my eMac while proceeding with steps (c) and (d)... After opening the LED cover, I glance at the red light whilst using an old wired (OK — IrDa) mouse for a few moments. In my experience, the BSA announces connection was successful within an instant of when I notice the beginning of rapid blinking mode. I realize this is ~counterintuitive wrt the article cited above, but what the heck...
Given your moniker, you may prefer shooting a "J" — either way, a little "mojo" can't hurt. Bluetooth is "really simple" — but the authentication and communication protocols are decidedly not.
I hope this helps!
If not, please try to work through the more rigorous steps I posted recently in ""Bluetooth Troubleshooting Checklist" and the subsequent "Notes..."
Please let us know how things work out.
Warm regards — and good luck!
Dean
[1,944 ⊥ 3,330]

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Answer 4

mjh87 Author

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Mar 13, 2006 4:42 PM in response to Dean Pahl

wow thank you so much for putting that all together for me! So it seems that my mouse is blinking to indicate that it is attempting to connect with the computer, and when i run the setup assistant as you instructed, it pairs and it tells me that my mouse is setup. However as soon as that happens, the light goes off altogether and a few moments later I'm told that the connection is lost, at which point I have to close the cover and reopen it before it starts to blink again. My surroundings haven't changed at all since this began happening...could there still be something interfereing even though it caused no problems before? Or I am missing something else that you already covered? thanks again for all of your help, my dad is usually the go to guy for computer questions in my house, but i'm the only one with a mac and no longer live at home so he has no idea how to help me! 🙂

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Answer 5

mjh87 Author

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Mar 17, 2006 11:17 AM in response to mjh87

my roomate also discovered yesterday that if i use my BT mouse to click, it works fine...so if i position it with the mouse on my laptop, i can click anything no problems, but i can't adjust the location of the pointer with my BT mouse. so weird!! i think i'm going to take it in to an apple store this afternoon, but i'm not sure i'll make it. any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

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Answer 6

Dean Pahl

Level 4

3,870 points

Mar 17, 2006 7:50 PM in response to mjh87

Hi again, Li'l MJ —

Bummer. Your roommate's discovery seems odd.

Did you go to the Apple Store yet?

If not...

(a) Are there any potential sources of interference in proximity? There have been reports of some Bluetooth-enabled headsets or Direct Satellite Service (DSS) causing bizarre mouse behavior...

(b) Try deleting your mouse's pairing, checking it as discoverable, then going through the BSA process again.

(c) If all else fails, try going through all the steps outlined in the Bluetooth Troubleshooting Checklist I cited before.

Good luck!
Dean

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Answer 7

mjh87 Author

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Mar 19, 2006 9:16 AM in response to Dean Pahl

i went to the apple store but they weren't taking any more appointments when i got there, so i'm gonna try to make it back sometime this week. I do think we have DSS in our room, and its been having trouble with a few channels all over campus, we're just getting dish network infomercials! so maybe thats the problem...? Once they get that fixed we'll have to see if my mouse starts behaving a little better! Thanks again!

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