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Mouse Problem -- Mac Mini

I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
I just installed my Mac Mini and having a frustrating problem with the Magic Mouse 2. It does connect but it is acting erratically -- sometimes moves slow -- sometimes really fast and inaccurate. I was using the same mouse on my MacBook Pro without any problems as well as the mouse/MacBook Pro on the same external monitor. I have disconnected the mouse, reconnected, rebooted etc. but it is still not right. The keyboard and the touchpad does work well and as expected.

Any ideas? This is really disrupting my enjoyment of the new computer.
 
idark77

idark77

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2014
529
421
Magic Mouse 2 is a Bluetooth mouse, are you using other Bluetooth Hardware in parallel to your mouse?
 
Dr. Stealth

Dr. Stealth

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2004
813
739
SoCal-Surf City USA
inmnbob said:
I just installed my Mac Mini and having a frustrating problem with the Magic Mouse 2. It does connect but it is acting erratically -- sometimes moves slow -- sometimes really fast and inaccurate. I was using the same mouse on my MacBook Pro without any problems as well as the mouse/MacBook Pro on the same external monitor. I have disconnected the mouse, reconnected, rebooted etc. but it is still not right. The keyboard and the touchpad does work well and as expected.

Any ideas? This is really disrupting my enjoyment of the new computer.
Click to expand...


If your new mac is running a Time Machine backup or if Spotlight is indexing your drives that could cause that.

My mouse (Logitech Wireless) was acting erratic and jumpy yesterday just after setting up my new Mini. Today it's very smooth. Just a thought.
 
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I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
Thanks everyone -- all good ideas. I will try the suggestion of plugging in another non-Bluetooth mouse. That will help limit the possibilities. I am glad to hear that you aren't having problems too which would have been a bigger issue.
 
I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
So it looks like the problem was the Thunderbolt cable to the monitor. The new Samsung came with a long TB cable which I decided to use on something else and used another short cable I bought on Amazon that was supposedly verified. After trying everything else I changed cables and everything worked as a mouse should.
 
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I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
Here's another update for you.... the real cause of all of my connectivity issues with the Mac Mini was a 7 port USB powered doc I purchased from Amazon with the brand name AuKey and not the monitor cable. I had been using this doc without a problem for a month with my old iMac but with the Mac Mini it caused havoc with my system for some reason. I am not sure why the Mac Mini was impacted in ways the iMac wasn't but I wanted to share the update -- my guess is there may be less Bluetooth interference shielding in the Mac Mini. I was able to solve this by removing every attached device and then adding the back in one-by-one and then noticed the Mouse to stop working as soon as I connected the doc. I am now back to really enjoying the Mac Mini.
 
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hvfsl

hvfsl

macrumors 68000
Jul 9, 2001
1,867
185
London, UK
Do you have the power cable plugged into the USB dock? As in my experience, interference is generally caused by dodgy power adapters. Maybe try without the power adapter or use another one if you have any spare.
 
I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
I thought that was the problem too and plugged I into three different ones that I have as part of my system. At first it was plugged into the same strip as the computer, then I tried two others. I didn't try the wall since I needed those plugs for the power strips. Fortunately I was within my return window at Amazon -- it was a $40 accessory so not cheap
 
M

millekj

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2018
8
0
Antioch, Il
I just received my Mac Mini and am also dealing with erratic (frequently losing connection) Apple Mouse (Bluetooth) problems. I have been shutting down other nearby wireless devices in an attempt to isolate the root cause and will post the fix once the culprit is identified. I had a Macbook Pro (2012) that never had this problem before.

Lots of wasted time on this . . .
 
G

gages

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2016
121
34
I had a similar issue, took me a while to figure it out.

The internal Bluetooth antenna is very weak.

When trying to use my Bluetooth dongle, it would not work well (had worked fine on my previous Mac Pro).

Turns out, Bluetooth dongle plugged into USB3 hub (Anker or Amazon) is the problem. Plugged into USB 2.0 hub on my Dell monitor or into the USBA on the Mini (with a short USB extension) works fine.

Not sure if the dongles don't like hubs or specifically USB3 hubs.
 
M

millekj

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2018
8
0
Antioch, Il
Well, it appears that my erratic Apple Magic Mouse problem with it frequently losing its Bluetooth connection was also attributed to an external, powered USB hub. I thought that it may have been caused by my Logitech K750 wireless keyboard so I ran out to Best Buy and purchased an Apple Magic keyboard. Wish I would've known what the actual cause was before this purchase. Interesting that there is a $30 difference between the silver and space grey Magic keyboards! That is a story for another day.

I purchased the powered USB hub from Amazon approx. 3 years ago and I was going to paste the link, however, they removed the page. I get a nice picture of Rufus the dog.

The USB hub is a Sentey Aluminum 10 Port USB 3.0 hub with 3 charging ports. This worked great for 3 years on my Macbook Pro. Does not like the Mac Mini and the Magic Mouse. The Magic keyboard worked fine though. Perhaps a shielding, or lack thereof, in the Magic Mouse?
 
M

MarkosXT

macrumors newbie
Jul 20, 2011
23
13
I am using the old apple bluetooth trackpad, it was working perfectly until I plugged in an external hard drive (WD My Passport for Mac USB 3.0), it causes the cursor to become extremely laggy and unresponsive, and this is with the trackpad about 1 meter away from the Mac mini, if I move it closer (about 30 cm away) it starts working normally again, and if I stop using the hard drive it goes back to normal as well... I'm not sure how I'm gonna solve this.
 
M

millekj

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2018
8
0
Antioch, Il
MarkosXT said:
I am using the old apple bluetooth trackpad, it was working perfectly until I plugged in an external hard drive (WD My Passport for Mac USB 3.0), it causes the cursor to become extremely laggy and unresponsive, and this is with the trackpad about 1 meter away from the Mac mini, if I move it closer (about 30 cm away) it starts working normally again, and if I stop using the hard drive it goes back to normal as well... I'm not sure how I'm gonna solve this.
Click to expand...


Did you plug the external hard drive direct into the Mac Mini or into a hub? If a hub, try direct. I am going to wait until Black Friday and purchase a USB-C hub that supports USB-A connections. I don't need HDMI support and all of the other options..
 
I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
i guess they don't have mice in server racks.... Not sure how much Apple checked this out. The Bluetooth issues are pretty significant. I also spent most the day on the phone with Apple senior support trying to get the Mac Mini to work with the Blackmagic eGPU. Works like butter with my Macbook (which doesn't need it) but won't work with Mac Mini which needs it desperately. Arhggggg
 
M

MarkosXT

macrumors newbie
Jul 20, 2011
23
13
Not using a hub, the external hard drive is connected directly to the back of the Mac mini, I'm gonna try using a USB 3.0 1m extension cord and place the external hard drive farther away from the Mac mini, maybe that will work.
 
I

inmnbob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 6, 2014
247
87
Chicago and Twin Cities
I have 4 drives connected --two direct to the mac mini and two to a doc. It is so frustrating. I was just on Apple senior support because of the eGPU issue and let them know about the Bluetooth issues since many of us are experiencing it/
 
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