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The macosxhints Forums (http://hintsforums.macworld.com/index.php)
-   Hardware and Peripherals (http://hintsforums.macworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21)
-   -   Magic Mouse Problem (http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=116023)

CandyMucher 01-24-2011 08:45 AM
I'm about to buy a Magic Mouse today but i think I have to rethink about it

GavinBKK 01-24-2011 08:53 PM
I wouldn't hesitate.

Despite the issues I have had with that mouse, I truly believe I just have a rogue - no mass-manufacturing process can be 100% perfect. I have another that is absolutely fine - get one and you will wonder how you ever managed without it - bye-bye Carpal Tunnel problems, too.

NovaScotian 01-25-2011 10:01 AM
I agree with GavinBKK -- I have other mice that don't give me any grief but I still much prefer the Magic Mouse. What happens to mine (that started this thread) is that when my machine sleeps for a while (like overnight) the mouse turns off. That just requires starting it again; a minor PITA.

hayne 01-25-2011 10:16 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by GavinBKK (Post 607783)
Indeed, but why would it affect an "older" MM and not the new one?
I know nothing about this, but I think it's possible that there might be embedded firmware in the MM itself (as opposed to on the Mac) and if so, it's possible that the older MM might have different firmware.

NovaScotian 01-25-2011 11:32 AM
I (who also know nothing about this) agree, Hayne. I've always assumed that it's some battery saving scheme embedded in the mouse (and mine's an old one) -- the failure is that although the mouse remains connected**, it doesn't wake up unless you turn it off and on again which disconnects it and re connects it.

** I assume that's so because when I turn it off (the green light is off and the mouse unresponsive at that point) the Mac announces that it's lost the connection so Bluetooth was still functioning.

ricede 01-26-2011 12:12 AM
i just bought a magic mouse to replace a dying logitech mouse. the user experience is definitely much better & i am very happy with it - EXCEPT for the battery life !

i use rechargeable batteries ( i bought a new set of Sony 2500 mAH so i had good batteries from the go )

whereas the logitech gave me about 3-4 months between recharges, im getting 7 days max with the MM, before the need for a recharge.

is this normal for this mouse ? it seems very limited. or is it possible that i have a faulty MM ?

NovaScotian 01-26-2011 10:17 AM
Agree -- MM battery life is lousy. I change mine about once a week (whether they need it or not); current set into the charger, fresh set into the mouse. I even wrote a little AppleScript application to measure it if the MM gets flakey. I saved it as an application and changed its Icon (in the application bundle) to a picture of a MM.

Code:
tell application "GrowlHelperApp"
        set the allNotificationsList to ¬
                {"Magic Mouse Battery"}
        set the enabledNotificationsList to ¬
                {"Magic Mouse Battery"}
        register as application ¬
                "Magic Mouse Battery" all notifications allNotificationsList ¬
                default notifications enabledNotificationsList ¬
                icon of application path to me
end tell

try
        set BPct to do shell script "ioreg -l | grep \"BatteryPercent\""
on error
        display dialog "Magic Mouse Not Connected"
        return
end try
set tNum to text -2 thru -1 of BPct

if tNum contains "}" then set tNum to "100"

tell application "GrowlHelperApp"
        notify with name "Magic Mouse Battery" title ¬
                "Magic Mouse Charge" description tNum & "% " & ¬
                "remaining." application name "Magic Mouse Battery"
end tell

ricede 01-26-2011 10:29 AM
thanks NovaScotian for your feedback. lm glad to know that its not faulty, my apple store is 150Kms away & is difficult to get to.

strange thing is that when its fully charged it never shows more than 78% full and the batteries die when the charge gets down to about 28%. seems a shame that apple haven't sorted this one better, one would think that they would be able to calibrate it more accurately.

having said that - the MM is a real pleasure to use.

NovaScotian 01-26-2011 11:01 AM
Without being "scientific" about it, I have observed that the system's evaluation of battery strength is strongly dependent on the type of battery and possibly on the charger, too. I'm using Energizer Rechargeables in an old Radio Shack fast charger, and like you find their range of charge is between 78 and 28 percent. Comparing the discharge curves of several battery technologies with conventional batteries, however, reveals that they really don't match up and the system must assume something.

wendell 01-26-2011 07:05 PM
There are several different points being made in this discussion, one of which is battery life. I would suggest if battery life is the problem and rechargeable batteries are being used, that operation with a fresh set of heavy-duty dry-cells would help determine might the problem be with the rechargeable batteries or the charger. I found a helpful link to rechargeable AA types to be:
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ReduceW...nfo.htm#Quirks

NovaScotian 01-27-2011 12:29 PM
That's a worth-while read, Wendell. Thanks. Purely by chance, it turns out I'm doing the right things.

NovaScotian 01-30-2011 02:02 PM
Since I never solved the problem in the original post (of the mouse turning itself off but remaining connected) I wrote this AppleScript which uses Frederik Seiffert's "blueutil":

Code:

--Toggle Bluetooth On/Off
if last word of (do shell script "/usr/local/bin/blueutil status") is "on" then
        do shell script "/usr/local/bin/blueutil off"
else
        do shell script "/usr/local/bin/blueutil on"
end if
If I wake the machine and it's "mouseless", I use a Keyboard Maestro hot key to toggle Bluetooth and get a brisk response. I could have simply set up an Off - Pause - On sequence too, but liked the flexibility of being able to change state even though it requires two hot key presses.

NovaScotian 09-06-2011 01:24 PM
I discovered the "fix" for this problem -- leave the battery cover off.


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