Mouse and Keyboard Disconnect at Random

[MaryQNK]

Hi,

I've had a strange thing happening on my Mac Pro for the past two weeks or so. It's happening more frequently now than when it started. If I leave the computer and let it sit idle for a few minutes, both my keyboard and my mouse will become unresponsive as if the computer itself doesn't recognize them any longer. I still haven't found a definite pattern, but it seems to happen most often when the computer goes to sleep or if my monitor puts itself in sleep mode.

I've tried a USB mouse, a Magic Mouse, and a Logitech MX Master (the latter two are Bluetooth mice). My usual keyboard is USB (non-Apple) and I've also tried using an Apple keyboard with Bluetooth. This same problem happens with all of them. Forcing the computer to shut down and then restarting does not always fix the problem. Sometimes it'll restart and things will work, sometimes I have to shut down and restart two or three times before the keyboard and mouse are recognized again.

I'm running El Capitan on a mid-2010 Mac Pro tower/box. The monitor is a Dell Ultra Sharp. Has anyone else had this problem?

I've already run Disk Utility on my hard drives and reset the PRAM.

Any ideas? Has anyone else seen this happen?

 

[drewsof07]

The BT antennae are located on the bottom of the tower. I used to have this trouble when my MP sat on the floor. Moving it up higher definitely helped. Is it possible you've introduced some new interference that might be operating on the 2.4ghz band? (new bluetooth speaker, wifi router, wireless security cam, etc.)

 

[MaryQNK]

Hmm. I'm not sure. My computer sits on my desk directly behind the monitor. I could try moving it a bit further away if you think it might help (off to one side and a couple of feet away from everything, maybe rig up a way to raise it up a bit). The USB keyboard and the Logitech mouse are fairly new, but I had the same trouble with the Apple Mouse and Apple keyboard. I haven't any other new stuff in my office. My father has just moved his Mac Pro into the adjoining room, which places it about ten feet away from my desk. It replaced an old G5 model, and the change was around the time the problem worsened, but the disconnecting happened before that change was made.

Here are the keyboard and mouse, if that helps at all.

 

[drewsof07]

Looks like both of those links are for the MX Master mouse (my daily driver as well). I would recommend using the Logitech unifying receiver to eliminate BT compatibility as a factor. Computers of that vintage usually only support BT 2.1, none of the newer low power features. If it's happening with USB peripherals as well, that's quite a puzzle.

 

[bopajuice]

Were any of your mice or keyboards paired with your dads computer at any time? If they were, when your computer sleeps they may connect to your dad's computer. Make sure his computer is off and see if it happens again. Worth a try anyways.

 

[MaryQNK]

Looks like both of those links are for the MX Master mouse (my daily driver as well). I would recommend using the Logitech unifying receiver to eliminate BT compatibility as a factor. Computers of that vintage usually only support BT 2.1, none of the newer low power features. If it's happening with USB peripherals as well, that's quite a puzzle.

Oops. That's what I get for being in a hurry. I fixed the keyboard link.

Ooh, drewsof07, you may have found the problem! I have the mouse's receiver plugged into USB port. Being used to the Apple Magic Mouse, which connects directly with Bluetooth, I had never used a mouse that had its own receiver that plugs into a USB port. It's new to me. I had not realized that the mouse could be used with that alone, without Bluetooth. I just disconnected the Bluetooth connection with the mouse, so I'll have to wait a while to see if the problem returns or if that's the end of it. Maybe the computer was trying to connect via Bluetooth and the USB receiver at the same time, and that was making things worse. Would that possibly account for the USB keyboard disconnecting as well?

Were any of your mice or keyboards paired with your dads computer at any time? If they were, when your computer sleeps they connect to your dads computer. Make sure his computer is off and see if it happens. Worth a try anyways.

Bopajuice, that was exactly what was going on with the Apple mouse and keyboard. They had both been paired with his computer a few weeks ago. Thank you!

 

[bopajuice]

Oops. That's what I get for being in a hurry. I fixed the keyboard link.

Ooh, drewsof07, you may have found the problem! I have the mouse's receiver plugged into USB port. Being used to the Apple Magic Mouse, which connects directly with Bluetooth, I had never used a mouse that had its own receiver that plugs into a USB port. It's new to me. I had not realized that the mouse could be used with that alone, without Bluetooth. I just disconnected the Bluetooth connection with the mouse, so I'll have to wait a while to see if the problem returns or if that's the end of it. Maybe the computer was trying to connect via Bluetooth and the USB receiver at the same time, and that was making things worse. Would that possibly account for the USB keyboard disconnecting as well?



Bopajuice, that was exactly what was going on with the Apple mouse and keyboard. They had both been paired with his computer a few weeks ago. Thank you!

Make sure you delete the mouse and keyboard from his list of devices. Glad it helped.

 

[MaryQNK]

Make sure you delete the mouse and keyboard from his list of devices. Glad it helped.

I'll do that now. Thanks again for the help!

 

[MaryQNK]

Oops. That's what I get for being in a hurry. I fixed the keyboard link.

Ooh, drewsof07, you may have found the problem! I have the mouse's receiver plugged into USB port. Being used to the Apple Magic Mouse, which connects directly with Bluetooth, I had never used a mouse that had its own receiver that plugs into a USB port. It's new to me. I had not realized that the mouse could be used with that alone, without Bluetooth. I just disconnected the Bluetooth connection with the mouse, so I'll have to wait a while to see if the problem returns or if that's the end of it. Maybe the computer was trying to connect via Bluetooth and the USB receiver at the same time, and that was making things worse. Would that possibly account for the USB keyboard disconnecting as well?



Bopajuice, that was exactly what was going on with the Apple mouse and keyboard. They had both been paired with his computer a few weeks ago. Thank you!

Okay, the mouse and keyboard just lost their connections again. I had to force shutdown and restart a couple of times to get the mouse back and then unplug and plug the keyboard back in. So part of the problem solved thanks to bopajuice and drewsof07, but the weirdness continues. I'm not sure what else to try, so all suggestions are most welcome.

 

[MaryQNK]

Okay, so today was better than yesterday as far as random disconnects went. The mouse and keyboard both stopped responding once, and I had to restart the computer to fix that. After that, the mouse worked fine but the keyboard went dead twice. Unplugging it and plugging it back in was enough to get the computer to recognize it again. Maybe it's the keyboard itself causing a problem? I'm not sure how it could.