Mouse and keyboard keep disconnecting

I just put the Android File Transfer App on my Mac earlier this week, and then started having keyboard/mouse disconnect problems. (Mac is only 3 weeks old) I'll see if that improves the situation.

Bluetooth gets scrambled easily. For example, if I leave the lid open on my DVD player, the mouse gets twitchy and restarts over and over. Closing the lid fixes the problem.

Now, the new Mac Mini has a much worse problem. The USB and the Bluetooth appear to be using the same power supply. Drawing current off the USB causes the Bluetooth chip to reset over and over. This is very noticeable if the USB device is a hard drive.

I made sure there is no interference and it seems to help, Though my printer didn't connect at some point. Had to power it down and it worked afterwards. Never had any of these issues with High Sierra.

I would be extremely surprised if your problem is in your Mac What do you have connected to your Mac? What other electronics devices are nearby? All my Mac problems have ended up being either interference or power shortages. Not one single NVRAM reset, ever.

I am having the same problems(intermittent failure of Apple BT keyboard and mouse) too, probably since the update to 10.14.2 on dec 12 2018. I did not change the environment (WLAN repeater at channel 6 and DECT phone in the same room), which worked in the months before. Changing the WLAN channel to 11 did not help.

USB mouse and keyboard work. I can reconnect the BT keyboard and mouse via the BT menu - till the next failure. This is a bit awkward, as I always have the BT parts connected to fix the situation.

It would be nice from Apple to acknowledge, that there is a software problem and provide a fix asap please.

My disconnects happen out of the blue, Magic Keyboard and Trackpad at the same time. I am using an external monitor and didn't have any issues with 10.13.6 only since upgrading to Mojave. It also happened to me recently while on my MBP mid 2012 without anything connected whatsoever. I had to use the power button to power down, and then power up again. Hope this helps.

SMC Reset worked for me.

Computer running for about 45 min now with no issues. Before it was disconnecting all BT devices every 3-5 minutes..then would reconnect in about 15 seconds later.

Using High Sierra with BT Mouse, BT Trackpad and BT Keyboard

Hi

I just put the following post up - it's further down in the thread. I did read about the interference issues and tried disconnecting everything that might contribute but the disconnects still kept on coming. As I've posted - any thoughts on why the restart strategy seems to eliminate the disconnects where just putting the Mac to sleep doesn't? It looks like you've been doing research into this so any light to be shone?

Here's my posting.

I've heard nothing - not a sausage!

In the meantime, we have continued on with hitting Restart when we have finished our sessions and have had no connection problems when we log back on. This seems at variance to the posting by Beoze because, if it was a hardware problem caused by interference, then why does the Restart strategy seem to eliminate the disconnects? That is, unless the restart clears a hardware setting or something. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can shed some light on this? Any thoughts Beoze?

Hi all .... just ran across this thread and thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Started having the exact same bluetooth disconnect issues about mid-Feb '19 on my fairly new iMac running High Sierra 10.13.6

While maybe someone reading this may indeed find a solution - right now it appears there is NO SOLUTION and Apple is just dragging its feet on this.

See this web page for someone that has been dealing with this since 2015 and been with Apple Genius' and replaced a LOT of his Mac parts ... https://michaelkummer.com/technology/mac-bluetooth-issues/

The ONLY reliable solution is to go WIRED, you know, from the stoneage?!

I hope that Apple will address this QUICKLY, but so far it has been lingering for over 3 years now. This affects the basic mainstay operation of using a Mac for work. We can't be constantly fiddling with Bluetooth on/off, etc. Sorry for the bad news. But again, maybe there will be a great Mac tech guy that will read this and find a real solution for all of us!

PS - YES, I've tried EVERY proposed solution on here, and on this other article, only to have the issue come back.

I bought a new iMac 3 weeks ago. I updated to Mojave and have the same problem with the mouse and keyboard disconnecting at least twice a day. The old iMac is having the same issue after I updated to Mojave, it was never an issue for the last 5 years using battery powered mouse and keyboard.

Maybe we should split this post in those who have had the Android Transfer App installed and those who have not.

because I have never had this app installed, use only Apple devices and software and for me it is clearly related to Mojave only in all its versions. never had the issue before, now it still happens every time I log onto the system.

It seems to go somehow together with usage of the USB port, but not reproducible. sometimes it happens when I start a print job, sometimes not. sometimes when I plug in my iPhone, sometimes not.

It is a bug and needs fixing. that is

if uninstalling that Android app helps, I am even considering installing and uninstalling....

Struggling with similar issues in Mojave. It seems to keep a connection for a while, but once the Wireless Keyboard (extended version) disconnects, it takes forever to reconnect. I'm cycling power, resetting Bluetooth, everything I can think of.

I'm wondering if it's an issue of battery voltage. I use Amazon Basics AA batteries, but I bought my sets at different times. The ones I bought later seem to have greater reliability with the keyboard than the white labeled ones I bought earlier. There might be something in Mojave that changed the tolerance for Bluetooth, causing the signal to drop more frequently.

Oh my!!! Searching once I read your post, Logitech also admits there has been a change!!!

Their new mice are VERY specific about Mac OS version...

Mac: Mac OS® X 10.10 or later

How to check if your device is Bluetooth Smart Ready:

Mac

1. Click on the Apple icon at the top left corner of your screen
2. Select “About this Mac”
3. Click on “System Report”
4. Select “Bluetooth” in Hardware drop list
5. If you see “Yes” next to “Bluetooth Low Energy” then your device is Bluetooth Smart Ready.

Update:

Asus bluetooth dongle does not solve my problem. It also disconnect randomly, however less often. And here is what happened:

default	04:10:35.283774 -0700	locationd	{"msg":"kCLConnectionMessageWatchdog", "event":"activity", "this":"0x7fc878f61fd0", "registrationRequired":0, "registrationReceived":1}
default	04:10:36.707045 -0700	kernel	[IOBluetoothHostController][ProcessEventDataWL] -- Bluetooth Firmware Error!! Not enough data to be a valid LE Advertising Report
default	04:10:40.996040 -0700	kernel	**** [IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport][terminateWL] -- entering -- mCurrentInternalPowerState = ON -- this = 0xc800 ****
default	04:10:40.996165 -0700	coreaudiod	hostController general interest notification e0020009
default	04:10:40.996251 -0700	coreaudiod	PowerState:1 bluetoothdXPCConnection:0x7fa48fc2b980
default	04:10:41.002662 -0700	bluetoothd	INIT -- Host controller terminated
default	04:10:41.002692 -0700	bluetoothd	Host controller terminated
default	04:10:41.002722 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBXPCManager hostControllerTerminated]
default	04:10:41.002742 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBXPCManager hostControllerNotReady]
default	04:10:41.002760 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBXPCManager hostControllerNotReady]
default	04:10:41.002788 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBPowerManager updatePowerState:] - New State:0
default	04:10:41.002813 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBPowerManager updateClient:] - Central (0) UserEventAgent:320
default	04:10:41.003055 -0700	bluetoothd	-[CBPowerManager updateClient:] - Central (0) wirelessproxd:350

OSX terminated the bluetooth host controller, because it could not determine that it supports LE - I think.

I have moved on, I purchased a set of Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that works with Logitech Unifying USB controller (not bluetooth).

However, I am disappointed with Apple, cause they have the advantage of building their own hardware platform and better control over software/drivers for hardware peripheral, and yet this could happen.

I have now read so much about Mac bluetooth issues that I will be caution about getting my next iMac. Lucky for me that my Mac Mini and Macbook Pro does not have this problem.

I have an Apple keyboard, but it works fine for me so it's been modified to their new low power implementation. My predicament was knowing the build date of anything I buy, since Apple doesn't mark the model number on their keyboards so you just have to luck out. The Logitech mouse I bought appeared post-problem, and indeed the Mac OSX minimum version is very recent and SPECIFICALLY says it is for Bluetooth low power ONLY.

Yeah, it's software, and yeah, I think Apple knows but it's tied in to their Apple watch and other medical devices so... I just wish they would give guidance.