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Skippy Magic Mouse w/Mac Pro?

D

destinybrandon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 12, 2011
11
0
Magic mouse is not tracking well with my Mac Pro. Surface is clean, and I've blown to try to clear off the optical sensor on the mouse. Also put in brand new batteries. I've moved the tower within 1-2 feet of the mouse to make sure there's no interference, but still getting the issue. A google search told me to reset the PRam, which I did, but it didn't solve the problem. My trackpad does not have this issue, but I like the magic mouse (when it works) much more than trackpad!

Any ideas on what could be causing this?
 
No ideas on what is causing your problem. However. I am using MagicPrefs which provide excellent control over the mouse, You might check it out.
 
Are you sure it isn't the surface the mouse is moving over? Is it dark? Reflective? Etc?
 
Dunno, I've had this same issue with the Magic Mouse that Apple sells and various Mac Pro 2009s, and 2010/2012s. The solution in our case was tossing the Magic Meese, and replacing all of 'em with the Logitech Darth Vader approved Performance MX mice.

If the trackpads act up, you just need to sprinkle some magical and revolutionary pixie dust over the surface, and they'll work fine again for a while.
 
I had this issue with my magic mouse and trackpad... though my tower was about 4 feet away under a desk. I had to buy a 3rd party bluetooth adapter and stick it into my keyboard so there was zero interference.

Apparently the actual case of the mac pro, the aluminium chassis, is what causes most of the problems.

Scott
 
Could be one of your peripherals.
I have a Stardom ST5610 connected via a Caldigit USB3 card, whenever I turn the Stardom on my Magic Mouse gets the jitters, Trackpad is OK.
Same if I Bootcamp to Windows.
Turned off everything goes back to normal.
 
On man ... this is really digging into the dark corners of my brain...

What version Mac Pro do you have?

As I recall, some of the older Mac Pro machines were delivered with the antenna cables for WiFi and Bluetooth attached to the wrong connectors putting the wrong antenna on the wrong signals. I think this was around the 2008 generation of machines, possibly earlier.

The symptoms were, of course, poor performance and range of the WiFi and Bluetooth interfaces.

If you own one of these old machines, you might search for some information on antenna cables for Mac Pro computers and verify that yours are connected properly. Otherwise ... might simply be a bad mouse.


-howard


Also ... if you or a close neighbor has a 2.4GHz cordless phone, that could cause interference while the phone is actually in use or ringing.
 
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hfg said:
On man ... this is really digging into the dark corners of my brain...

What version Mac Pro do you have?

As I recall, some of the older Mac Pro machines were delivered with the antenna cables for WiFi and Bluetooth attached to the wrong connectors putting the wrong antenna on the wrong signals. I think this was around the 2008 generation of machines, possibly earlier.

The symptoms were, of course, poor performance and range of the WiFi and Bluetooth interfaces.

If you own one of these old machines, you might search for some information on antenna cables for Mac Pro computers and verify that yours are connected properly. Otherwise ... might simply be a bad mouse.


-howard


Also ... if you or a close neighbor has a 2.4GHz cordless phone, that could cause interference while the phone is actually in use or ringing.
Click to expand...

weird thing is that it happened with my old 3,1 mac pro (2008 i think), and also with my brand new 5,1 mac pro! both on two different surfaces, in two different rooms.. i did migrate all data from the old one to the new one, so i wondered if it was a software configuration issue somewhere instead of hardware..

----------
karsten said:
do you have a bluetooth phone that could be interfering?
Click to expand...

i thought this was it before, so bluetooth on my phone has been turned off!

----------
paulrbeers said:
Are you sure it isn't the surface the mouse is moving over? Is it dark? Reflective? Etc?
Click to expand...

it is a dark surface.. would that do it? it's just a flat black desk. come to think of it, the last surface i had it on was black also..
 
Mac Pro Bluetooth sucks. I disconnected the internal Bluetooth and use a USB Bluetooth dongle. Works.
 
If your mouse surface is a flat all black desk, you might try putting something under the mouse like a magazine page or something with a graphic random pattern to it and see if it tracks that better. Even an old mouse pad with a graphic of some sort would work.
 
hfg said:
If your mouse surface is a flat all black desk, you might try putting something under the mouse like a magazine page or something with a graphic random pattern to it and see if it tracks that better. Even an old mouse pad with a graphic of some sort would work.
Click to expand...

This...

I had a dark brown desk that the mouse tracked horribly on unless I put a piece of paper or what not. I think the dark desk absorbs too much of the light emitted. I ended up switching to a Logitech for this + comfort and haven't looked back. My Magic mouse is in a drawer somewhere...
 
What's the nature of the desk's surface? I mean, is it smooth-finished, or reflective, or pebbly, or what? You said "flat," but is that the finish or the physical surface?

When I used to work out in the field I had a simple table for my worksurface, and it had a beige pebbly finish. No mouse would work on it. I had to do what hfg suggests -- always put a piece of paper where I was going to use the mouse.

You didn't say anything about USB3. That can be a problem (the CalDigit card, anyway) but you can solve it by careful USB/device placement.

As for BT dongles -- I had two of them (different vendors) on my MP 1,1 and neither one worked very well (even on the keyboard or near the mouse via USB extension cable). It made no sense to me but I couldn't solve the problem so I got the Apple BT card and it was much better.
 
I ended up switching to a Logitech for this + comfort and haven't looked back. My Magic mouse is in a drawer somewhere...
Click to expand...

I use a Logitech M505 and a have the same jittery mouse problem. It has an USB dongle, so the chassis or blutooth reception is not the problem. The surface or the mouse are also not the problem, because the mouse works fine on my old 1,1 Mac Pro on the same desk surface. Also with my macbook pro it works fine. Just my brand new 5,1 Mac Pro creates the jittery mouse. I don't think it's the GPU (as pointed out by Cindori), because both Mac Pros have an ATI5770 installed.
My solution so far: change of USB port for the dongle + reinstalling the logitech driver. Has greatly improved performance but has not completely eliminated the problem.
Of course this does not help you with the magic mouse but it indicates, that the problem might be much more deep rooted.
 
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destinybrandon said:
Magic mouse is not tracking well with my Mac Pro. Surface is clean, and I've blown to try to clear off the optical sensor on the mouse. Also put in brand new batteries. I've moved the tower within 1-2 feet of the mouse to make sure there's no interference, but still getting the issue. A google search told me to reset the PRam, which I did, but it didn't solve the problem. My trackpad does not have this issue, but I like the magic mouse (when it works) much more than trackpad!

Any ideas on what could be causing this?
Click to expand...

look at this - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5172#15
It's nothing to do with your USB3 card, it should be either cable or device side
 
ibarnett said:
Could be one of your peripherals.
I have a Stardom ST5610 connected via a Caldigit USB3 card, whenever I turn the Stardom on my Magic Mouse gets the jitters, Trackpad is OK.
Same if I Bootcamp to Windows.
Turned off everything goes back to normal.
Click to expand...

Further to my info above:
Turns out it is just a distance/interference thing - my mouse is 115cm/45" from the Mac Pro. This normally works fine, when I turn on the Stardom I get the quoted above effects, however if I move the Magic Mouse closer to the Mac Pro it behaves.
 
ibarnett said:
Further to my info above:
Turns out it is just a distance/interference thing - my mouse is 115cm/45" from the Mac Pro. This normally works fine, when I turn on the Stardom I get the quoted above effects, however if I move the Magic Mouse closer to the Mac Pro it behaves.
Click to expand...

I solved my Mac Pro CalDigit USB3 card by getting a longer cable, so that the Macally USB3 enclosure was about 150 cm (about 5') from the Mac Pro.

What's interesting to me is that unlike in your case, the disk enclosure is now closer to the mouse than when it wouldn't work, but much farther from the Mac Pro and its antenna.

It might mean that the Magic Mouse's BT system is more resistant to interference than the Mac Pro's system/antennas.
 
I have a Magic Mouse and Apple Aluminum Wireless Keyboard, and I can use both of them from across or in the next room (Around 15-20 feet... haven't tried further as I don't need to).

I also don't have issues with other blue-tooth devices in use or on....

sounds like you guys are having other issues - as reception / distance should not be your issue.

^^^This is with my 5,1

However, I had reception / distance issues with my 1,1 until I swapped the antenna cables for the correct orientation.... so, if you are on a 1,1 - 2,1 - or 3,1 - you should check for that, cause it will create this exact issue...

Once I had the antenna cable oriented properly on the 1,1 - I was also able to use the wireless keyboard and mouse from 15-20 feet... never tried further

There is a tutorial on MacRumors somewhere that has the definitive how-to on this, with the correct cable identification/orientation - don't recall where... but lots of threads about it are INCORRECT as to which ones to use where. keep that in mind
 
scottrichardson said:
I had this issue with my magic mouse and trackpad... though my tower was about 4 feet away under a desk. I had to buy a 3rd party bluetooth adapter and stick it into my keyboard so there was zero interference.

Apparently the actual case of the mac pro, the aluminium chassis, is what causes most of the problems.

Scott
Click to expand...

Do you have to hoke around inside the Mac and disconnect the original? . . .or if I buy a dongle and plug it into my keyboard like you, does it override the original bluetooth :):)
 
Soundburst said:
Do you have to hoke around inside the Mac and disconnect the original? . . .or if I buy a dongle and plug it into my keyboard like you, does it override the original bluetooth :):)
Click to expand...

When you connect USB to Bluetooth dongle, integrated Broadcom Bluetooth adapter is automaticly turned off, so there will be no conflicts. Of course, if you have something paired to integrated Broadcom, you have to pair them again with dongle.
 
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bax2003 said:
When you connect USB to Bluetooth dongle, integrated Broadcom Bluetooth adapter is automaticly turned off, so there will be no conflicts. Of course, if zou have something paired to integrated Broadcom, you have to pair them again with dongle.
Click to expand...

Thanks! You're a ledge. I've read on the internet that you need to open the Mac and take out the bluetooth before connecting your dongle so have always held off. Now I can buy a wee dongle and use my mouse! :)

Can any small cheap bluetooth dongle work or are their certain protocols?

Thanks for your help :)
 
Soundburst said:
Thanks! You're a ledge. I've read on the internet that you need to open the Mac and take out the bluetooth before connecting your dongle so have always held off. Now I can buy a wee dongle and use my mouse! :)

Can any small cheap bluetooth dongle work or are their certain protocols?

Thanks for your help :)
Click to expand...

You are welcome. I was curious about this myself, so I just tried. If your Magic Mouse is not next to the Mac Pro, any Mac Pro with integrated bluetooth, you are going to have problems with cursor jumps etc. USB-Dongle is only good solution. BTW, BT ALU Keyboard and Magic Trackpad are working fine with integrated Broadcom.
 
bax2003 said:
You are welcome. I was curious about this myself, so I just tried. If your Magic Mouse is not next to the Mac Pro, any Mac Pro with integrated bluetooth, you are going to have problems with cursor jumps etc. USB-Dongle is only good solution. BTW, BT ALU Keyboard and Magic Trackpad are working fine with integrated Broadcom.
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought it was due to the thick wooden desk that the mixing desk is on . . .but it can't be as the keyboard works! For the other studio (where the Mac isn't in the room) it'll be great as we can stick a dongle in the side of the wired keyboard :):)

Thanks a lot!


Bought a Rocketfish one as apparently they're good :)
 
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