Apple's new Magic Mouse combines a sleek, streamlined look with a flashy surface that supports multi-touch gestures. Drag or swipe a finger or two across the Magic Mouse's surface, and your Mac will respond in a way that seems almost like magic. But when the multi-touch feature fails to work, which seems to be the case for a number of users, the Magic Mouse becomes just another two-button mouse, like the one you probably threw out many years ago.
Courtesy of Apple
Individuals who purchased a Magic Mouse separately (not as part of a Mac system) are reporting problems with either the installation of the Wireless Mouse software or the use of the Mouse preference pane, which the Wireless Mouse software is supposed to update with the new gesture support required by the Magic Mouse.
It appears that the Wireless Mouse software is being applied, but after the Mac is rebooted, the system fails to detect the Magic Mouse. The preference pane can't provide gesture support to a mouse it can't see, so the Magic Mouse ends up working like a two-button mouse; it doesn't even support scrolling.
The problem is believed to be a conflict with other preferences, such as a third-party keyboard or USB preferences used by other devices. In my case, the Magic Mouse works fine on a fresh install of Snow Leopard (updated to 10.6.1, plus the Wireless Mouse software), but fails to work on the same Mac Pro when I boot from my usual startup drive, which contains preference panes for many third-party products and applications. Trying to figure out which piece of software is causing the conflict has been an exercise in frustration. Even after I removed every third-party preference pane, the Magic Mouse continued to behave as a magic-less mouse.
According to various postings on Apple's Discussions forum, some users have been able to get the Magic Mouse to work by removing one or more of the following third-party preferences panes: USB Overdrive, Microsoft Keyboard, Logitech Control Center. No such luck for me, but I was able to use the Magic Mouse with the fresh install, so you'll be seeing a full review of the Magic Mouse soon.
There are also some of us that are experiencing sluggish response, as if there is bad Bluetooth reception with the magic mouse, under Leopard and Snow Leopard.
usb overdrive is a problem, if you remove a file called USBOverdrive.kext in System/Library/Extensions, then restart, the problem is solved
Thanks a ton.
has this been fixed? I don’t have usb overdrive (and never have had it) but am having this exact problem. 10.6.2 imac.
Same problem and solved after running uninstall USB Overdrive and restart.
iMac 24′ OS 10.6.2
Thanks a bunch. It worked for me. Moneyyyyyyyy !
Running mac osx 10.5.8
thx tony cerda!!!
thx tony cerda!!!
delete the file called “USBOverdrive.kext” in System/Library/Extensions
..maybe you should make a backup from this file…..except the mouse-speed i adjusted, USB Overdrive still works fine so far!
I CANT FIND THE FILE. Are there other things I can do?
can’t find the file eather. new ideas??
Great information, deleting those files let me use the Magic Mouse w/my MBP. This mouse is sweet!
If all the features of your magic mouse doesn’t work, then it means you have to update your Mac OS X 10.5.8 to Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later. To do this, just go to the Apple > Software Update. It would then start searching for new updates, then it would restart. After it has restarted you can now use the magic mouse with all its full features.
If this doesn’t work, you can first install the Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later. then go to Apple > Software Update.
Note: This is what I did when I got the mouse. And now all features work perfectly.
(:
What to do if your wireless MAC mouse fails? I have found that the best solution if the mouse fails and you have no apparent control of the desktop is to turn the mouse power switch off and use a regular plug in mouse (keep one around, just in case).Plug it into you extra keyboard port or a USB port. The pointer will work, then scrll to mouse preferences, select connect feature, turn the mac magic mouse power switch back on, remove the wired mouse and you’re back in business. If you try to use both of them then some weird things will start happening, so as soon as you get a response from the magic mouse, unlug the wired mpouse and you’re back in business. Works for me.
I just checked my updates and there was a Magic Mouse Update waiting. I installed it and the MM works exactly as advertised.
Very cool!
Uninstalling USB Overdrive (a 3rd party extension I had installed) fixed the issue for me. THANKS!!!
Cant find the file nor anything related to USBoverdrive here.
My Magic Mouse is unusable due to Jittery behavior. Better use for it in the trash
I was having the same problem, my magic mouse was acting like a normal mouse with only two button support, and when I went to my mouse setting, there was no gesture animations…. and did not have USBoverdrive installed…
What fixed my problem was that I noticed that there are two different wireless mouse updates from apple, one is 36.22MB and the other is 63 MB, the larger download that I got from macupdate fixed all my problems.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/32876/wireless-mouse-software-update
Wow thanks to Caleb i got it working! ty!
I got a Magic Mouse with my iMac, and I was still displeased. The connection was intermittent, but it wasn’t too bad. However, the Magic Mouse goes through batteries at the rate of two every ten or eleven days – and you can’t turn it off when you go to sleep mode or it will start the computer back up. We went out and got a USB-connected mouse just so we wouldn’t be wasting so many resources. And the folks at Apple simply ignore my messages attempting to come to a resolution about the matter (despite my service contract and warranty). I’m new to Apple, and I like the system. But the positive things I’ve heard about Apple’s commitment to the environment and great customer service would seem to be totally untrue.
Still having this issue on 10.7.2. Dont have that USB overdrive. Do have VirtualBox installed which may have mucked with drivers
I still have the problem that my magic mouse works like an ordinary mouse. I also have a virtual box…
Yup..it was USBOverdrive. Works like a charm now. Thanks so much!