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

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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

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Answer 1

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kyleduncan Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 14, 2012 8:26 AM in response to kyleduncan

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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Answer 2

kape-it

Level 1

0 points

Jul 15, 2012 2:57 AM in response to kyleduncan

Hi Kyle,

I got my Retina Macbook one week ago and searched for the same issue for more than 5 days ...

Thank you so much for finding and publishing the way solving the issue!!!!

@Apple ... I can't believe you didn't tested bootcamp. This is such a basic kind of issue ...

Cheers

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Answer 3

kyleduncan Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 15, 2012 6:48 AM in response to kape-it

Hi there,

Glad I could help. Lagging on the TrackPad still occasionally happens, though it's 99% better since I changed the setting above. I've found on other forum posts that this is a known problem with the Apple driver for Windows for the TrackPad, and can be fixed by performing a real "click" on the TrackPad (just press down). I've noticed lag maybe three times in the last 24 hours and as soon as I perform a real click, it clears up. Hopefully this issue will be fixed in a future Boot Camp release.

In any event, the Driver setting was the main obstacle for me (I can't believe as soon as the setting is changed I can stand 6 metres from the machine and have perfect TrackPad functionality!).

Cheers

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Answer 4

Jul 19, 2012 3:56 PM in response to kyleduncan

Thanks for your help, Kyle. I searched all over for a solution. Cheers.

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Answer 5

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Jul 20, 2012 10:45 AM in response to kape-it

kape-it wrote:

@Apple ... I can't believe you didn't tested bootcamp. This is such a basic kind of issue ...

Cheers

This is an Apple user site, if you wish to address Apple rather than Apples customers use this link. www.apple.com/feedback

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Answer 6

Jul 29, 2012 6:09 AM in response to kyleduncan

Hi,

Thanks for the solution, that worked a treat! There is a downside though, I found that my WiFi with bluetooth collaboration ON is incredibly slow, to the point where even my internet connection (not that fast) is no longer the bottleneck :-S. Downloads start being measured in BYTES rather than Kilobytes or Mbps.

Have you had any experience there too?

I'm running a new Macbook Pro Retina, Boot Camp with Windows 7. I HAVE installed the Toshiba bluetooth stack to allow my stunted apple bluetooth device to connect to my A2DP speakers, but the issue was present before this as well.

Any idea?

Cheers,

Nick

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Answer 7

neural9

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2012 8:09 PM in response to Nocturnal_Nick

I have the same issue - collaboration crucifies the wifi speeds.

Large file transfer drops from 7.8Mbps to 4/5Mbps.

I'm getting a wired mouse.

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Answer 8

Aug 10, 2012 8:45 PM in response to neural9

I fixed the issue by buying a dual band router and using the 5Ghz frequency for my wifi (also helps I was running 802.11g, now on n at 300mbps)

Admittedly its still running kinda slow at ~60mpbs, but I think that's due to read-speeds on my usb external (plugged in through a usb hub on my media PC).

So, solution is

Either:

1. Use Ethernet (wired) + Bluetooth collaboration

2. Get a dual band router and use the 5 ghz frequency + Bluetooth Collaboration

3. Use a USB Bluetooth dongle and DISABLE bluetooth collaboration

4.bluetooth collaboration and suffer slow wifi and unreliable BT

5. Use mac OS.

Though we know those last two aren't really options ;-)

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Answer 9

Aug 23, 2012 6:16 AM in response to Nocturnal_Nick

Additional method in the working (may or may not work)

I'm currently testing to change the bluetooth drivers instead of messing with the wifi side.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3755904?start=0&tstart=0

I followed this post and used these drivers

http://www.pcdrivershop.com/aspire_4830TG_Bluetooth_Atheros_7.4.0.96_W7x64_A.zip

and also turned off the bluetooth collaboration.

So far the results are quite nice, and am about 20 minutes into using the bluetooth mouse and have not noticed any significant lag. (before there was a very noticable lag, about ~0.3 seconds, making it barely usable)

As usual like the old macbooks, the problem is with the bluetooth drivers, not the wifi.

- update -

All going well until I tried to transfer some stuff over the wifi. Practically killed the bluetooth connection :/ -

It seems like the logical thing to do would be either use a USB mouse and/or using a ethernet adapter

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Answer 10

kyleduncan Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 23, 2012 8:39 AM in response to nut1234567890

Hi everybody,

Sorry, I lost track of this thread. Just to let you know: I noticed no degredation in wifi speeds when I enabled bluetooth collaboration. All other laptops that use the Broadcom wifi card have collaboration enabled, so enabling that is certainly the right thing to do, I'm sure. But as you say, there could be Bluetooth driver bugs for Windows that cause problems for some users. Just wanted to let you know that my speeds are fine. I have a 19Mbps internet connection and a Wireless N router from O2 at 2.4Ghz (UK broadband providers dont offer 5Ghz routers), and my download and upload speeds are just fine. And heavy wifi traffic doesn't affect bluetooth as long as collaboration is on (but when it's off, heavier wifi transfer definitely = worse bluetooth lag).

Hope you find a solution - until then let's hope Boot Camp 5.0 comes out soon... :-/

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Answer 11

kethinov

Level 1

0 points

Sep 3, 2012 2:05 PM in response to kyleduncan

Kyle I just wanted to add another voice of thanks to you for tracking down this solution! I had the same problem and you fixed it for me.

I have reported this thread to Apple MacBook Pro Feedback and told them to look at your solution. I also told them to buy you a beer. 🙂

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Answer 12

sildani

Level 1

8 points

Sep 23, 2012 7:46 AM in response to kyleduncan

As others have expressed, turning on Bluetooth Collaboration solved my mouse lag problem. I can also say, in my case, the WiFI speed was unaffected.

Thank you for the idea, Kyle. My only concern is that my mouse didn't have this behavior with a fresh install. It was after weeks of use that the problem presented itself. Possibly after installed SP-1 of Windows 7. So while this may work, I'm more curious about what caused the degredation after a while (rather than happening right off the bat).

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Answer 13

Nov 26, 2012 7:41 AM in response to kyleduncan

Adding my thanks, after looking into driver installs etc. indeed I just needed to enable bluetooth collaboration on the broadcom driver and now I'm off to play world of tanks. Big Thanks!

J

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Answer 14

paul267

Level 1

0 points

Dec 18, 2012 6:48 PM in response to kyleduncan

I have to add my thanks, I will try this tonight.

I'm using the new razer orochi mouse which is bluetooth but I have exactly the same issues, in windows it lags most of the time, but in OSX it's perfectly fine.

So i think this issue affects all bluetooth mice under bootcamp.

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Answer 15

sildani

Level 1

8 points

Dec 18, 2012 6:49 PM in response to paul267

It will work, Paul, I use that exact same mouse and had this issue. Following the advice contained herein solved my problem. Good luck!

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