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OS 10.14.6 Today my mouse disappeared and when I pressed the space bar, the page I was viewing went up and down. I tried charging my mouse twice but could not recover my mouse. I phoned my son who after querying the problem said I should hold down the command & control button plus shutting down the computer. This produced a black screen along with the sound of being rebooted. After doing this three times, I still didn't have my mouse. A window said to make sure my mouse was discoverable...without the mouse, I couldn't do it. I then shut off the power to everything and after about 30 seconds, I switched it back on again, I could see that my router was rebooting/recharging. I then did the command & control thing and this time upon rebooting, I regained my mouse. Question: What happened that caused my mouse to disappear? I've the mouse disappear before but not to this extent...any comments?

jaybass

It may be helpful for responders to know exactly what kind of mouse you're using.

It is a magic mouse...black multi-touch.

jaybass

This probably isn't going to be of much help, but for what it is worth, I went through a spell of losing my trackpad and which I tracked down to losing the Bluetooth connection. I was never able to figure out why I was losing the Bluetooth connection but resorted to keeping a USB cable handy to plug the trackpad in when for whatever reason the Bluetooth connection would breakdown. While that worked on a Magic Trackpad, it would not work on a Magic Mouse because of the location of the Lightning port on the MM. The problem eventually disappeared and I never found a satisfactory reason for the problem or its disappearance. Given Apple's mouse-centric UI, I can't even come up with a suggested work-around other than keeping a corded mouse handy and checking System Settings > Bluetooth to see if you can renew the connection there.

Well, if you don't have a logical answer, then I guess no one does. Should it happen again, at least I will have a few avenues to pursue. Thank you for your response.

jaybass

Whatever that means…
So, once you got the mouse back, did you have the instructions telling you how to do this?
I'd be interested to check that out. It's not something I see in the Mouse pane of System Preferences.

Gregg, I just went to system prefs and clicked on bluetooth. A window appears showing bluetooth as ON below that my mouse is "Now discoverable"

I don't know if it is that simple. Try it.

jaybass

Thanks. Mine shows a button to Turn Bluetooth Off below the heading Bluetooth: On.
Under the button, it says "Now discoverable as 'Mac Mini'."
There is a box on the right with the heading Devices. The box is empty.
So, if I'm using Bluetooth for anything, I don't know what that would be.

Bluetooth has to be on for your mac to be discoverable AFAIK.

jaybass

If you have an Apple [/i]Magic[/i] Keybard, Mouse, or Trackpad you are using Bluetooth®. If you have a wired Keyboard, Mouse, and/or trackpad you are using USB, not Bluetooth. Bluetooth is, in essence, a short range, low powered wireless form of USB. The "Now discoverable as 'Mac mini'" message in the Bluetooth pane is a notice that your Mac mini has Bluetooth turned on and ready to "pair" and is identifying itself as 'Mac mini". Any paired Bluetooth devices will appear in System Settings > Bluetooth. The fact that no devices are appearing in the Bluetooth pane is an indication you have no Bluetooth connections and can safely turn Bluetooth off.

Thanks for the explanation. I do not have a wireless keyboard or mouse. Is there a disadvantage to leaving Bluetooth on?

I think I used to have the Bluetooth symbol in my Menu Bar. I must have removed it.

I also have found Bluetooth to be a bit 'iffy' in making and maintaining connections which may be, as you explain later in the thread, the fact that it is low power.

I am wired to the computer for keyboard and trackball but use Bluetooth for connecting the computer to an audio amp (about 5 feet from the computer) and a printer (about 7 feet away). Both devices will sometimes 'take their time' about connecting. I also use Bluetooth to link an iPad and a Bose Mini Soundlink, and that connection has a tendency to drop out.

Question: It's just a thought but, depending of the size and shape of the room, would Bluetooth have sufficient power to set up waves that are out of phase with the original signal?

If you are not using Bluetooth there is no reason to leave it on, and it may create interference. I would turn it off.


Actually the more recent versions of Bluetooth use less power and are in my experience, have a longer range and are more reliable. Because Bluetooth devices are paired with the host and Bluetooth messages are sent with destination addresses, the frequency is very high (2.4 GHz), and the power very low, the possibility phase cancellation of signals is too low to be of any concern. However, interference from 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi bands, a metal coffee cup on the desktop, or even a poorly shielded USB cable or device is within the realm of possibility. Once again the more recent, ultra-low power versions of Bluetooth are less likely to be effected, have far longer range (90 feet or more), connect more rapidly, pair automatically, and are more reliable. But, like USB, to acheive this performance, both the host and device must be built to the new standards.

Note that if you make use of AirDrop to send files between your Mac and another Mac or an iOS device, you'll need to have Bluetooth turned on even if you don't use any wireless input devices.

Good point!