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'ExtraMagic' for Magic Trackpad: 3/4 Finger Gestures & More - Now in Windows!

V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r said:
@xxtraloud: Even I personally not succeeded with CSR stack. Maybe consider switching to recommended Bluetooth adapter with Broadcom chipset. Of moderately priced, I would recommend this one, works great: http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Ultra-Mini-Broadcom-BCM20702-Wireless/dp/B007MKMJGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437074122&sr=8-1&keywords=GMYLE®+Nano+USB+Broadcom+BCM20702
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I have something called
Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R) 4.0 + High Speed Adapter
but I can't figure out what chipset is on it? I went on hardware info and did some google searching but with no luck. Would update to the latest drivers help?
 
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@xxtraloud: I never tested Intel Bluetooth solution with Extramagic for Magic Trackpad in Windows. So I don't know. It might be partially or completely incompatible. In the previous post I provided the recommended inexpensive USB Bluetooth adapter. To restate, while the Macs via Boot Camp are always compatible with the Extramagic gestures detection engine (which relies on Bluetooth stack), some of the PCs may have issues if Bluetooth chipset is not the same as used in Macs.
 
zhenya said:
I have successfully installed it on my Surface Pro 3 and so far it seems to be working great. I'm on Windows 10 and the gestures are fantastic - makes switching between my Mac and Windows work machine much more natural. It would be great to be able to have the same Windows 10 gestures that I have when I use the Surface's own touchpad though, so we need some more configuration there. And while the experimental accelerated scrolling feature is sure appreciated, it just loses too much scrolling sensitivity when enabled. I still don't have perfectly smooth scrolling either.

I realize some of these are pie-in-the-sky wishes. :) Thanks for the great utility!

Oh, and so far, resume from hibernate seems to work fine. I came in to work today and it resumed and the trackpad works as normal.

D'oh - nevermind. I spoke too soon. The trackpad works after resume from hibernate - I assumed you meant it didn't work at all - but the gestures don't work, and when I closed the Extramagic program from the system tray, the computer crashed with a blue screen. :(
Click to expand...

I've had the same problem on Surface Pro 3 and there isn't really much you can do about it with the built-in Bluetooth chipset. Tried to resolve the problem with Vladimir but he really couldn't help as he keeps referring to using a Broadcom chipset and the Gmyle dongle he's recommended in this thread was my original recommendation to him for a cheap Broadcom dongle. But even with this Broadcom dongle the Extramagic driver occasionally locks up (cannot connect to Extramagic driver error message) when returning from hibernate so even that is not a 100% solution unfortunately.

I can also confirm that the mouse pointer occasionally gets sluggish/unresponsive after some time and that's with the Broadcom chipset as well. So a bit more work on the driver including much more thorough testing of hibernate mode compatibility seems in order. Hopefully more work will/can be done in this respect.
 
I have switched to a Logitech T650 touchpad for use with my Surface Pro unfortunately. The good news is they are currently available for about $35 and work remarkably well - the best non-Apple trackpad I've seen. I gather that the gesture set is quite complete for Window 8, but I'm on 10 and their software is only partially supporting it. I'm really hoping that they make it compatible with the built-in Windows 10 touchpad gestures in which case it will be pretty much perfect. The Magic Trackpad just required too many hacks to make it realistic for me. :(
 
@razorblader: The mentioned adapter, and a few others (e.g. Belkin ones) have what I call 'maximum compatibility' with Extramagic gesture detection engine (which relies on Bluetooth stack for data transfers). 'Maximum' is the best which can be achieved with PC, but 'maximum' of course does not always mean perfect. Ideally, the Extramagic solution should be used with a Mac running Windows via Boot Camp. In such case I haven't been able to catch the mentioned issues for months, including many times returning from hibernate (mostly for testing, as I personally prefer not to use hibernate). In any case, this is not the final version of the Extramagic driver. We are working on it. By the way Apple stopped updating the Boot Camp Magic Trackpad driver code in 2011 :)
 
There is also another software called magic trackpad control panel that does not provide 3-4 finger controls but at least it allows to disable the most annoying feature which is drag lock. Is there a way to disable drag lock without installing any 3rd party software? Like a registry hack maybe?
 
@xxtraloud: I don't know about the registry hacks, but Extramagic can serve for your specific goal only: set all of the gestures for 3 fingers and 4 fingers to 'Do Nothing', uncheck the scroll enhancement options, and use only the rhombus popup menu in Extramagic Settings, which basically replicates all of the Boot Camp-native options, including the drag lock control.
 
Hi Vladimir,

I am getting more and more familiar with Trackpad++ on my MacBook 12 running Windows 10. It’s become an essential part of my user experience, so thank you.

I currently set four fingers swipe up for task-view, four finger swipe left and right to switch desktops, four finger tap for Start and currently four finger swipe to minimize all apps.

I’m looking to change four finger swipe down (or left) to minimize the active app, instead of minimize all apps.

And four finger swipe up (or right) to bring back the previous app. This would essentially replace alt-tab where you alt-tab but don't press an arrow key: alt-tab quickly switches back and forth between the last two apps.

1. Is there a setting I missed that would enable it?
2. Would you be able to add it to the next update?
3. In the meantime, can I use the ‘run application’ or some workaround to achieve my desired result?
 
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@qreenhut: Yes, as soon as we succeed in creating the new driver component. The Extramagic makes it possible to register the gestures for 3/4 fingers by using our custom-developed Bluetooth HID driver module which directly communicates with Magic Trackpad hardware. I'm optimistic about the possibility of creating such driver for the new Magic Trackpad 2. But obviously it will take time to create the properly working and fully stable driver. Can take a few months. I'll keep the community updated.
 
Hi Vladmir, I'm using a Thinkpad T420s and could able to connect to the Magic Trackpad using internal unknown bluetooth chipsets, (driver shown as ' Generic Bluetooth Adapter & Microsfot Bluetooth Enumerator), while the basic one finger click and the two finger drag works perfectly, but non of the extramagic settings seems to work for me, does it means i should try on having an external bluetooth dongle (like broadcom as you suggested) to test it, or is there any alternative work around?


UPDATE: After a few reboots and reinstall the driver (according to the package instructions), the trackpad works perfectly now!
 
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Vladimir,

Thanks for your efforts. I have studied this thread and will confess to extremely limited knowledge regarding Bluetooth. I have a Win 8.1 PC and successfully connected a Magic Trackpad, accessed and installed the Bootcamp drivers, and then ran into trouble installing Extra Magic after a lengthy reboot process I received the error from step 2 and was directed to try again (at this point even the Trackpad reports a driver error under bluetooth devices). I am hesitant to do so as I noticed before even attempting to install Extra Magic the behavior you indicated earlier in the thread was evidence of a radio conflict every time I touched the Trackpad with 3 fingers. All I could find under Bluetooth within device manager of the PC, besides the Trackpad, were the following:

Intel(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R)4.0
Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator
Microsoft Bluetooth LE Enumerator

If I follow your replies to the relevant prior posts I could purchase the inexpensive Bluetooth dongle, but I am uncertain if this will be a workaround to my existing bluetooth radio, requiring its removal, or if the existing bluetooth radio will prevent success with the dongle, as again, I am a bluetooth neophyte. Further, the tone of many of your posts seems to dissuade people in my position from pursuing Extra Magic as you repeatedly emphasize it is for bootcamp users as opposed to pure PC users like myself.

1. Would you suggest I pursue the dongle given what I have shared?
2. Any thoughts on how to recover from the existing driver error or should I simply rerun the Extra Magic setup routine again?
3. Is there a suggested removal script or steps for the Extra Magic software/driver if my current hardware/non Bootcamp PC will be problematic no matter what I try?

I would be very grateful if you or anyone else could comment before I take any more troubleshooting steps.

Tom
 
@ThomasJacobs: Yes, then your Bluetooth is really incompatible (because such behavior was observed even before trying the ExtraMagic). You can try some other external Bluetooth adapter, there will be no conlfict (also usually it's possible to completely disable built-in Bluetooth from BIOS settings, or even simpler, from Device Manager, in your case by right-clicking "Intel(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R)4.0" and choosing to disable the device from context menu). So yes, you can try other Bluetooth solution.
As you can see from this thread, even outside the Boot Camp some people are very happy with ExtraMagic. But it's true, I always emphasize that a modern Mac running Windows is the target the ExtraMagic driver component is being officially developed for. Sorry for repeating, but to make it clear again, this doesn't mean the PC users shouldn't try the ExtraMagic. I would recommend to try, unless the target PC is controlling the launch of the space mission, etc. :)

To summarize, the best steps could be:
1. Just in case disable built-in Bluetooth as I suggested in the previous paragraph;
2. Pair the Magic Trackpad with your new USB Bluetooth 4.0 dongle, preferably featuring Broadcom chipset;
3. Make sure the Boot Camp drivers are active (e.g. trackpad should be able to scroll with two fingers);
4. Run the ExtraMagic installer Step 2;
5. If after reboot the ExtraMagic Settings app says it couldn't connect to the driver, re-run the Step 2 one or two times.

About uninstall: you can uninstall normally, via Programs and Features. If the driver component failed to install, there will be no "Apple Wireless Trackpad (ExtraMagic)" entry in Windows Device Manager --> Mice And Other Pointing Devices. But if there exists such entry, you can right-click it and choose to "Update..." --> "Search Automatically..." and the stock driver shall be back.
 
been using on my t420s for a while now, everything's great, just bought a broadcom bluetooth dongle, now my desktop can use it as well, turns out the trackpad is kinda slow on a 27" full hd screen, and the scrolling speed is slow too, is there anyway we could configure it?
 
@CaseyLL: Actually you can set whatever pointer speed is needed in Windows Control Panel -> Mouse (by the way the shortcut is accessible right from the ExtraMagic Settings). The ExtraMagic doesn't control the pointer speed by itself, maybe this feature will be added later.

@All: Something big is coming today! :) I'll post again in a few hours.
 
@All: A new version of the ExtraMagic trackpad driver for Windows 7/8/10 is out today.

As promised, the big news: Magic Trackpad 2 has been supported! All of the gestures for 3 and 4 fingers can be enabled and configured similarly to how the ExtraMagic works with 1st-gen Magic Trackpad. For Magic Trackpad 2 currently only Bluetooth 4.0 mode of operation is supported (for those who don't know: Magic Trackpad 2 can also operate via USB, without Bluetooth).

Current build status for Magic Trackpad 2: BETA version ('works for us', and we do hope it will work for you). Please send the feedback via email or post it there. As for the version for the 1st-gen Magic Trackpad, it remains the same as the previous week's build, and its status is: stable.
 
Hey Vlad, it's not working with Surface Pro 3 Windows 10. Re-performed Step 2 over and over as advised. Went into the boot mode to allow installation of unsigned digital drivers, no luck. Trackpad won't communicate with the driver and Windows shows "driver error" ... any ideas? Thanks.
 
V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r said:
@All: A new version of the ExtraMagic trackpad driver for Windows 7/8/10 is out today.

As promised, the big news: Magic Trackpad 2 has been supported! All of the gestures for 3 and 4 fingers can be enabled and configured similarly to how the ExtraMagic works with 1st-gen Magic Trackpad. For Magic Trackpad 2 currently only Bluetooth 4.0 mode of operation is supported (for those who don't know: Magic Trackpad 2 can also operate via USB, without Bluetooth).

Current build status for Magic Trackpad 2: BETA version ('works for us', and we do hope it will work for you). Please send the feedback via email or post it there. As for the version for the 1st-gen Magic Trackpad, it remains the same as the previous week's build, and its status is: stable.
Click to expand...

Hey Vlad, it's not working with Surface Pro 3 Windows 10. Re-performed Step 2 over and over as advised. Went into the boot mode to allow installation of unsigned digital drivers, no luck. Trackpad won't communicate with the driver and Windows shows "driver error" ... any ideas? Thanks.
 
I have Windows 10, Magic Trackpad 2 and the recommended Bluetooth dongle -

GMYLE® Ultra-Mini USB Broadcom BCM20702 Class 2 Bluetooth V4.0

And I can't get 3 and 4 finger gestures to work. I have installed the right drivers but no work. 1 and 2 fingers works ok though.
 
@wordswords: Thank you for reporting. Whereas the version for Magic Trackpad 2 is at beta stage (public testing, fine-tuning), many people have already reported success with activating the ExtraMagic gestures for 3 and 4 fingers in Windows 10. It's PC (right?) so you should check the BIOS/EFI settings for Secure Boot option (which isn't necessary for Macs running Windows via Boot Camp, but can be necessary for some latest PCs). It's because the driver isn't cross-signed by Microsoft. For Magic Trackpad 1, we have recently managed to get the driver component of ExtraMagic cross-signed by Microsoft, so that system can fully trust the driver. Anyone who had really supported the development can enjoy the signed driver for Magic Trackpad already. However, currently there is no signed ExtraMagic driver for Magic Trackpad 2 specifically (it's coming soon, and will become available to project supporters as soon as we get it).
To summarize, it might be needed to uncheck the indicated option if using with PC. If would be much appreciated if you let me know about success with reinstall after this. Note: may be needed to re-run the installer Step 2 twice in some cases.
 
I tried Extramagic on my iMac with Magic Trackpad 2 in Bootcamp, and just had all sorts of issues.
I had the Windows 'test mode' watermark, kept getting 'cannot communicate with Extramagic driver' type errors, couldn't get Drag Lock working properly, and eventually gave up and uninstalled it!
Pity, as it looks interesting.
 
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