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talmy

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 26, 2009
4,729
340
Oregon
I've used the (first generation) Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse for years and just added a (first generation Magic Trackpad) I was using on another system, so I've got three Bluetooth devices.

It doesn't seem to work right. The mouse and trackpad work fine together but with all three devices connected the keyboard goes crazy, repeating characters and occasional gibberish, often triggered by moving the mouse. It appears that mouse or maybe trackpad signals are being interpreted as keyboard signals.

Does anyone else use all three devices on a single system and have had this problem?
 
I use all three simultaneously on a Mac Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini with no problems such as yours. I am not sure if I have a "first generation" keyboard as mine are now all the 2-battery versions whereas my first one was 3-battery and is long since gone. You might try un-pairing all of them, and then re-pairing, although you may need a temporary wired mouse if you need to try removing all of them at once.
 
I guess the keyboard is second generation (two batteries). I've unpaired them one at a time. I'll try doing it all at once.

Edited -- the mouse won't pair if the trackpad is already connected. The trackpad won't pair if the mouse is already connected. I have to pair one, turn it off, pair the other, than turn the first one back on to have them both "work" but I use that term loosely.

I'll contact Apple on this one.
 
Last edited:
Yeah ... that is not normal! They should each pair easily no matter what is already paired.

You might try a PRAM reset and try it again.
 
Apparently it's a software issue that I'm not at liberty to discuss. :(
 
It does mean that other people are unlikely to have this issue. So good news there.
 
Tom,

I have several sets of all 3 working together on various systems... these were all the original that had replaceable batteries. I have had both the 2 and 3 battery model keyboards. They all work perfectly. I now have 3 sets of the new generation models with the rechargeable non-replaceable battery. They also work perfectly.

/Jim
 
Tom,

I have several sets of all 3 working together on various systems... these were all the original that had replaceable batteries. I have had both the 2 and 3 battery model keyboards. They all work perfectly. I now have 3 sets of the new generation models with the rechargeable non-replaceable battery. They also work perfectly.

/Jim

Issue solved, it is a beta software problem which seems to be limited to 5k iMacs.
 
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