magic mouse keeps loosing its magic (connection lost)
 

I have a Mac Pro 3.33Ghz 6-Core Intel Xeon with 16Gb of ram running Mac OS X 10.6.8.
The CPU is physically about 20 feet away from the screen and the keyboard/mouse. The keyboard is extended through a long USB cable that goes into a USB hub. The keyboard is connected to the USB hub and I have a D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth adapter plugged into the keyboard's USB input on the side so the Magic Mouse is literally 2 inches from the Bluetooth adapter and the mouse has new batteries...

My problem is that the mouse keeps loosing its connection to the Bluetooth... It does so very often and many times it says "Connection Lost" if I simply don't touch the computer for 1 minute or 2... the only way around it seems to be to unplug the Bluetooth adapter and re-plug it in...

It's driving me crazy and I'd love some help to point me in the right direction.

A few things I would try... Have you disabled Bluetooth in System Preferences? I wonder if the built-in Bluetooth is causing issues with the D-Link Bluetooth. Similarly, have you tried skipping the D-Link adapter and just using the built-in Bluetooth for your connection? And since you didn't mention it, how are the batteries in your mouse? Have you tried another set?

the batteries are brand new...
not sure what you mean by disabling Bluetooth in the System Preferences... if I do that then I won't be able to use bluetooth anymore, will I? I just tried disabling and then the mouse stops working... for a minute I thought maybe I wasn't really using the adapter but I was using the internal bluetooth but I don't think that's the case cause when I unplug the adapter the mouse stops working...

I have tried skipping the adapter and using the internal bluetooth but because the computer is 20 feet away mousing around is not as fluid and also the batteries last less cause the mouse has to work harder to keep the signal...

My understanding is that the D-Link adapter is meant to provide Bluetooth. That's why I thought its signal may be having issues because of the simultaneous signal from your Mac.

And fluidity issues aside, you'll notice that the Magic Mouse really churns through batteries. Mine sits about 1 foot from my Mac and they still drain quickly. It's definitely worth investing in rechargeables (I have two sets so that I can always put another pair in the mouse when one pair needs recharging).

Hey NaOH, you might right... is there a way for me to deactivate the bluetooth signal from the Mac and not the one from the adapter?

PS I do have rechargeables in the mouse, but that's not the issue

Turning off Bluetooth on the Mac is easy. Open System Preferences, then Bluetooth, then uncheck the box for On (that's the Lion description, so it may be minimally different for you). While there, you may want to uncheck Show Bluetooth Status In The Menu Bar simply to reduce visual clutter since your Mac Bluetooth won't be enabled.

well, as I mentioned earlier, I did do that but that turns out the Bluetooth of the adapter as well...

Maybe the D-Link adapter is faulty?
Is there any change if you use only the built-in Bluetooth (remove the d-link completely)
20 feet should work fine.

Usually Bluetooth adapters which connect to a USB port have their own signal (which is relayed to the computer through the USB port). Is there software which came with it which would allow you to ensure (or change) how the D-Link adapter is working in this regard?

From a different angle, is the mouse paired with the D-Link adapter? What about with the Bluetooth in the Mac? It should only be paired with one Bluetooth receiver, and in your case you want that to be the D-Link.

as I said it's not fluid from 20 feet away which is why I bought the adapter... I bought a second adapter thinking it was faulty and I experienced the same dropouts



I didn't get any software with the adapter...
how can I make sure the mouse is paired with the adapter and not the Mac's bluetooth? When I open the bluetooth preferences I don't see anything that says whether it is connected to the computer or the adapter...

Looking at some old D-Link documentation, it looks like this dongle does not provide its own pairing feature. So it would be going through your Mac. Mind you, D-Link has some awful product information posted. In one place they state that this device has a range up to 30 feet, in another they say Bluetooth works up to about 20 feet.

Two things to note: 1) Are the ports on your keyboard USB 1 or USB 2. If the former, that would lead to lower performance from the dongle. 2) If the keyboard has USB 2 ports, then I suspect the issue is simply that this device, since it's only pairing with the Bluetooth in your Mac, isn't going to achieve what you want. One potential workaround—and I hope this isn't an idea which is really just throwing good money after bad—is to get a USB extension cable so that you could plug the D-Link into the cable and shorten the distance between it (connected to your Mac) and your mouse.

I am using one of the latest wired Apple keyboards... I was initially using a wireless keyboard from Apple but that kept dropping out as well so I thought I'd try to hard plug the keyboard into the hub and then then d-link adapter into the keyboard. I have also tried connecting the adapter directly into the hub but the drop outs continue.
Except for the hub in between the computer and the keyboard there is nothing else

Those Apple keyboards definitely use USB 2, so that's not it. Have look at this Apple support document for potential causes of Bluetooth interference to see if any of them might apply in your setup.

except for the "Certain external monitors and LCD displays" none of those apply... I have a DELL monitor but I don't really know if it creates harmonic interference or not or how to test for that...

Hmmm. Where's that hub you have located? I mean, is it behind the Mac or is it somewhere between your mouse and the machine?

it's between the mouse and the machine, much closer to the mouse than the machine

Though I've never used this part of its functionality, I note that "iStumbler" can report on BlueTooth signal strength.

See also: https://discussions.apple.com/thread...readID=1534271

There's a built-in way to check the signal strength.

Lion: Open System Preferences > Bluetooth, then select the mouse. Press the Option key and the signal strength will be shown.

Snow Leopard: Open System Preferences > Bluetooth, then enable the option for Show Bluetooth Status In The Menu Bar. Option-click the menu bar item and the signal strength will be shown in the menu.

A number in the 50-60 range is considered strong, and higher than that (like 80) is considered weak. Next to my Mac, I see a signal strength of 54. About 15 feet away it drops to 60-65, and 23 or so feet away shows a 79, but the mouse keeps working. I'm starting to wonder if maybe the issue is your Magic Mouse, but I'd like to hear what number(s) you're seeing at various distances (maybe with and without the dongle, too). And while I know you said those are fresh batteries in there, it can't hurt to try different ones if you have them available.

That's a neat trick NaOH but I didn't work for me.
Even though I am running 10.6.8 when I option-click the bluetooth icon in the menu bar I don't get a signal strength reading.
The only different things I get are:

Version 2.4.5f3 (v1915)
Name: A Room (my computer's name)
Address: my mac address

Also if I click on the mouse under devices it says:
RSSI: 0 dBm

I have tried different batteries.

I also downloaded iStumbler but I don't see a way to report on BlueTooth signal strenght... I have attached a picture of the reading I get.

I may have read the information in the comments to this hint too quickly. Hold the Option key, click the Bluetooth menu item, then move your cursor to the listing for your Magic Mouse and you should see the signal strength listed.

For iStumbler, you can also try the most recent beta available on this page. That version has a listing for Bluetooth signal strength. In my setup, with the mouse inches from my Mac, it shows 55% signal strength, and it drops to about 40% going back to the farthest-away point I tried yesterday.

Assuming you don't have a wireless telephone parked nearby which may be interfering, I've found that removing the cover from the batteries diminishes the likelihood of a drop out marginally. Neither my Snow Leopard MBP (I prefer a Magic Mouse to the track pad) nor my Lion iMac seem to have the problem, but my now retired G5 sure did.

I found that just cycling Bluetooth on and off was as effective as any means. Since that's a bit tough without a mouse, I used this script set up with a hot key:

The only value I see is the RSSI value in dBm (see screenshot I just attached).

Also I just installed the latest beta of iStumbler from your link but it doesn't seem to work... it shows nothing at all, not even for wifi

I just installed the previous to last iStumbler beta and I got a reading of 99% for the Bluetooth... see attachment