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Level 1

5 points

Is anybody else struggling with an intermittent connection when using the Magic Mouse/Trackpad ONLY on Boot Camp?

Hi,

I've seen thousands of posts about Bluetooth connection issues and interference and stutter/lag for both the Magic Mouse and Trackpad (affecting both Mac OS X and Windows under Boot Camp) but my problem is different.

To summarise my setup, I use:

- Retina MacBook Pro (lid closed or open, doesn't make a difference to this problem)

- Thunderbolt Display

- Wireless Keyboard

- Magic Trackpad (have also tried a Magic Mouse and experience similar issues to the Trackpad)

And in Mac OS X, everything works perfectly. The keyboard and trackpad work smoothly when I'm 6-7 metres from the machine, whether or not the laptop lid is open or closed, and whether or not the Thunderbold Display is connected.

But on to my problem: the bluetooth connection is incredibly unreliable/intermittent when in Windows (I run Windows 7 64-bit and Boot Camp 4.0, and got both devices connected without any trouble via Bluetooth).

But during usage, the cursor stutters/lags frequently, and tap to click (when enabled) seems to get triggered by mistake all the time (even when I'm not touching the Trackpad or even at the computer, clicks get registered).

The Wireless Keyboard is perfect, and works well 5 metres from the machine. The Mouse and Trackpad, though, don't even work reliably when they are 6 inches from the machine. The built-in trackpad on the laptop works perfectly too, in Windows and Mac.

I spent a week assuming I was suffering from Bluetooth interference, so I tried:

- using the laptop with the lid open

- removing the Thunderbolt display completely and trying the Magic Trackpad

- repositioning items on my desk

- disabling wifi

All of these adjustments made minor differences to how good/bad the Trackpad was, but none came close to fixing the problem or making it work as smoothly as under Mac OS X. It was only after doing all of this that I realised perhaps it was just a Apple driver for Windows issue, so I booted into Mac OS X and tested everything out, and sure enough, it's all perfect. But back into Windows, the Trackpad doesn't work reliably at all.

Obviously, the hardware is not at fault, and I assume the signal strength doesn't vary between operating system (why would it?) so I'm left believing this must be a driver issue. The TrackPad and Magic Mouse drivers have been out for a couple of years, so I'm surprised they can still be this bad. I tried both the latest driver from Boot Camp 4.0 (3.2.0.0) for the Trackpad, and also the older one from Boot Camp 3.2 (3.1.0.7) and both are equally bad for me.

So my question is: has anybody else struggled with using the Trackpad (or Magic Mouse) with Boot Camp 4.0 and Windows 7 64-bit, whilst finding it to be perfect under Mac OS? I haven't found many posts complaining about the Windows driver, which is why I assumed it was an interference issue. But I'm almost sure it isn't, having spent 2 weeks investigating.

Any thoughts/suggestions/answers much appreciated!

Kyle

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), Mac OS X (10.7.4), Windows 7 64-bit with Boot Camp 4.0

Posted on Jul 4, 2012 3:23 AM

Best reply

kyleduncan Author

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Jul 14, 2012 8:26 AM

SOLVED!

After much testing, I have found the cause of lagging/jumpiness on the Bluetooth Magic Mouse and Magic TrackPad in Boot Camp. Hopefully this will help others:

The drivers for the Broadcom 802.11n Wireless Adapter have a setting called "Bluetooth Collaboration" that is Disabled by default. Enabling this option removes the problem instantly. My Magic Trackpad now works flawlessly, even if I stand 6 metres from the machine. It now works just as well as under Mac OS. The setting can be found under:

Control Panel > Device Manager > Network Adapters > Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (right click and choose "Properties". Under the "Advanced" tab, highlight the setting named "Bluetooth Collaboration", then change it to Enable. Then click OK.

I narrowed the problem down to the wireless card by disabling ALL startup services and processes for Windows, then re-enabling one by one. As soon as I enabled the Windows Wireless Service, the problem came back. Similarly, disabling the Wireless Card inside the Network and Sharing Center (or Device Manager) removes the problem. This led me to believe it must be a driver issue with the wireless card, since the problem didn't occur with the Magic TrackPad under Mac OS, or on my mother's Windows 7 64-bit computer. So when I went into the Driver Properties to check for an update, I found this setting about Bluetooth Collaboration.

I really hope this helps others trying to use Bluetooth devices under Boot Camp. All Apple notebooks use the Broadcom card (and have done for years), so this driver is installed for almost anybody using Boot Camp on an Apple notebook. I'd assume this problem would affect anybody using Boot Camp + wifi + a Bluetooth device.

Cheers

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32 replies

Dec 31, 2012 9:36 AM in response to kyleduncan

FIXED EASY!

I found a super easy fix for this.

Do this on the computer you're experiencing the problem.

System Preferences - Network - Advanced (Wi-Fi) - TCP/IP - If you're using the IPv4, then select on the IPv6 (Link-local only) - Press Ok.

This will definitely solve the problem.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Jan 10, 2013 5:18 AM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle,

I registered just so I could say thank you for sharing this solution. Had been driving me crazy for weeks!

Sosoyan

Level 1

0 points

Jan 18, 2013 11:13 PM in response to kyleduncan

How can I enable bluetooth collaboration option on macos 10.8.2?

Thanks!

Nix70

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2013 5:20 AM in response to kyleduncan

I have the opposite problem. The wireless mouse is working fine but the Trackpad is lagging.. i.e. when using Windows 7. Anyone with similar issues?

mezga

Level 1

4 points

Jan 25, 2013 2:37 PM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle! You are a genius!

Thank you for your help!

Hun73r

Level 1

0 points

Jan 29, 2013 2:50 PM in response to kyleduncan

Thank you so much for posting this solution! I was getting pretty angry at my magic mouse.. About to chuck it across the room. THANKS!

ls600mdh

Level 1

8 points

Apr 25, 2013 1:23 PM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle,

I'm adding my THANKS to the list. I'm using a Logitech mouse (mx1000) on the newest MacPro with Ret Sceen with Windows 8 and Bootcamp 5.x. My mouse, while not great, was useable until about a week ago. Then it suddenly went very bad (lagging and continued movement after the mouse stopped). The mouse has been perfect for the last hour (since following your suggestion).

I'm VERY happy!

Aug 19, 2013 2:57 PM in response to kyleduncan

When looking in the Device Manager > Network Adapters > Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter > Advanced section there was NO Bluetooth Collaboration option to "enable" for me.

I succesfully fixed this by installing the software "DriverMax" which can be found here:

http://www.drivermax.com/

I then ran the "update drivers" option. There I found that the Network Adapter driver was not up to date, and a link was provided to download the update. Once downloaded, the "Bluetooth Collaboration" option finally appeared and I could enable it.

You might be able to download the Network Adapter driver directly from the site. And I also noticed if I right click with my cursor over the Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter folder in the Device Manager, that there is an option to "update drivers". That may have be a more direct way to update the driver successfully.

Oct 12, 2013 1:04 PM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle, thank you. Still works.

Nov 16, 2013 5:46 AM in response to kyleduncan

HI Kyle,

do you know also how to edit Bluetooth Configuration on OSX?

Thanks,

finanztreff

[Edit]: Setting "Configure IPv6: automatically" to "Link-local only" in the WiFi "TCP/IP" settings seems to have fixed Bluetooth interference!

Nov 19, 2013 8:57 AM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle; words cannot describe how thankful I am. I have had this set up for the last 2 years; yes 2 years and I have been putting up with a stuttering mouse on and off for this entire time; frustrating is not the word.

Thank you kindly

Nik

Dec 20, 2013 8:30 PM in response to kyleduncan

Really good troubleshooting and fixing. Really fustrating problem with no one helping to fix.

Thank you Kyle.

Cheers, Henry

brianx87

Level 1

14 points

Dec 28, 2013 3:21 PM in response to kyleduncan

I am plagued by driver issues, lots of device reconnecting under 8.1 and I don't know how this solution will resolve my keyboard issues if I have the wireless card disabled but I'll give it ago anyway. My keyboard reconnects itself every time I try to change the keybind config of some of the games I play and it's pretty much the same when trying to modify settings associated with other devices, they will reconnect the second I enter a settings config. I'll give this a try and see what happens.

Apr 5, 2014 5:41 AM in response to kyleduncan

You are Great Kyle. My magic mouse working fine now thank you so much again Kyle!

kwingert

Level 1

0 points

May 29, 2014 10:53 PM in response to kyleduncan

Thank you so much!!!! Worked perfectly.

Is anybody else struggling with an intermittent connection when using the Magic Mouse/Trackpad ONLY on Boot Camp?