Problem Bootcamp Windows 10 & Bluetooth

csteelooper wrote:

Apple would do us an enormous favour if they would finally come off the generic way the devices operate...

The current Bootcamp drivers are OEM'd by Apple from Microsoft. Once W10 starts installing standard WHQL drivers, Apple has no control on what W10 installs. As you pointed out BT2.0 works, but BT4.0/LE has issues due to the drivers from Microsoft, not Apple. W10 'forced' updates are another nightmare, all in the name of 'security'.

Loner T wrote:

The current Bootcamp drivers are OEM'd by Apple from Microsoft…

No, actually, they aren’t. There is no such thing, in this case, as drivers having been OEM’d. What is being used is the bog-standard mouse.vxd-driver (or whatever it may be called these days in Windows 10); not anything else whatsoever (apart, perhaps, from the communications part of it, what with the bluetooth connection needing to be established and maintained).

As far as you can even OEM such a thing as a driver, what that would refer to is, for example, when HP would use Logitech MouseWare and brand it as their own software, for their specific mouse. That is definitely not what is going on here.

Apple isn’t even using any device-specific software, for either mouse or keyboard. What they do comes down to the following: the system is informed that a device of class such-and-such is being installed, with Apple’s Vendor ID. Then the Apple “device driver installer” for the keyboard or mouse does little other then just telling the system: “um… Yeh, well, that device you’re on about is a mouse (or keyboard). Just give the user their input devices already, would you? The standard stuff will do…” That’s all there is to it. And exactly that is why there is absolutely no configuration at all. Apple doesn’t even have to OEM any device driver…

What they need to do to rectify this shallow level of support for their devices is to finally write their own stuff, and then tell Windows to use it instead of just the standard stuff. But like I said, such a thing is easier said than done, especially if you are planning to bring device specific features to the table. Because porting a device driver to another platform is even more difficult than adequately porting a general piece of software (I’m referring here, to having it optimised for the target platform; using all of the available resources and techniques). Most cross-platform software, these days, isn’t being ported in that way. Nearly everyone is, instead, using a code base, that works on all intended platforms, but can hardly be considered optimised for them. One notorious example of this is Spotify.

With device drivers, you can’t really afford to skimp on optimisation, as it is essential for all layers of the OS to really understand what is being asked by and/or for the device in question.

There is nothing wrong with the Bluetooth or Wifi drivers in Windows. The device drivers at fault are those for the Mouse and Keyboard device class. Apple has modified device driver files for bluetooth in particular, but nothing of the sort has been done for the keyboard or mouse drivers. The screen shot you showed listing the driver files is for the Bluetooth controller. but that works, since devices other than the Second generation Magic mouse and keyboard do work perfectly.

As for an enriched user experience when it comes to the mouse: that should be set forth by the mouse driver. Same goes for the keyboard. There really are no features in the bluetooth controller that aren’t supported by Windows, yet should be. Even Nearby Sharing (Microsoft’s version of Handoff) works flawlessly…

The part of the mouse driver which Apple did write and/or copy is the part which is responsible for the wireless communication between the mouse and the Mac say, say the bluetooth part of them, but the actual MOUSE driver part was largely left untouched. Something similar is the matter for the Magic Keyboard. The wired keyboard can be used with no Apple-provided software at all; especially if you won’t mind that some keys are out-of-place…

However it may be, the problems arose as a consequence of a botched security update. This being the case, it should be Microsoft providing the definitive solution for the issues; not Apple. Apple is responsible only to finally bring the user experience up to par. THAT is what we should expect from Apple; not much else, in this case.

Can you try the following please for me please? It solved my issue where the trackpad and keyboard worked for a little while, then stopped responded despite the deviced being listed as 'paired' and connected.

In Windows, go into Control Panel > Device Manager, then expand the Bluetooth (you can also type 'Device Manager' in search and launch it that way).

Find 'Bluetooth Radio' and go into properties, then go into 'Power Management'.

Uncheck the box that says 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' and click OK.

You may need to reboot to get the devices working properly again, then it should be fixed.

I hope this helps.

Hi Klaus, I played around yesterday with various configurations.

In my case:

All the problems start with High Sierra 10.13.13 in combination with Windows 10. The problem seems to be only an Apple Hardware Problem

Windows 10 1607 - Bluetooth connects after fresh installation instantly but loses connection as soon as you do not use devices for a short time - "solution" = Leave the bluetooth show devices window open and it works all the time

Windows 1703, 1709 and 1803 I had several issues never got BT correct to work for a longer period but I didn't try to leave the show BT devices open to see if that works. I do not want to upgrade to test it since I have a "working" setup now. I just found out with my 1607 installation.

Beisde that I installed VMware Fusion and chose to run the Bootcamp Partition directly which runs good and you do not have to struggle with BT as a interims solution at least.

Could anyone test the newer Windows Versions what happens if you leave the window open once it is connected?

MBP 2017

aberdeanvalentin wrote:

Windows 10 1607 - Bluetooth connects after fresh installation instantly but loses connection as soon as you do not use devices for a short time - "solution" = Leave the bluetooth show devices window open and it works all the time

Check if BT/WiFi collaboration is enabled and Windows is not allowed to turn off the device to save power.

aberdeanvalentin wrote:

MBP 2017

On iMacs/Minis, the lack of BT is a worse problem than MBPs/MBAs. At least you have a MBP with a built-in trackpad/ketboard. 😉

Same Problem here. Spent hours already and no solution. Very frustrating.

Exactly the same situation here. I tried the very old Apple wireless keyboard with AA batteries. It works. But the magic keyboard? Magically, no. Any solution now?

Ah, only the second generation, that would explain it.

What good will re-installing Windows do? I tried that and it made no difference.

If possible, use non-BT 4.x/LE devices, till a solution is available.

Just thinking about the MT2, would it work using the MT1 driver?

Thanks, but i was talking about the Magic Trackpad 2 maybe being able to use a Magic Trackpad 1 driver if a separate one exists.

That is not the case. There is a MT1 and a MT2 and I have owned both! Even look very different,

Unfortunately, your suggestion re updating BT drivers has made no difference. Still no activity whatsover from my MT2.