Kensington bluetooth trackball

[ZEUSS]

Ever since updating my mac trashcan to Monterey, Its taking much longer for my machine to find my Kensington bluetooth trackball. I have the latest Kensington works software installed. Any ideas? I have done the 4 button at once reset usually and it helps.

[glasswing]

I have to switch my Kensington bluetooth off and on to get my Mac Studio Ultra to see it. And it can go to sleep if it sits too long - so I have to switch on and off again. Not sure who owns this problem - Kensington or Apple.
Let me know if you learn anything. It's the one annoyance with my wonderful Mac Studio Ultra

[its2loud]

Have you tried just tapping the lower left trackball button to wake it up? Scrolling the well doesn't wake it up. I have the same trackball and I'm not experiencing these issue.

M1 Mac Mini
Monterey 12.6

[gthm]

Wired always, I'd recommend.

Bluetooth is supposed to be off when using Pro Tools anyway.

[nednednerb]

I have no issues using Bluetooth all the time, PT always works for me regarding never needing to turn Bluetooth, or WiFi etc, off to get it to work.

In fact, turning Bluetooth off will not help to troubleshoot getting a Bluetooth trackball to work, except as a "refresh." If PT is stable, and the connection is losing on the trackball, there is something perhaps to keep it from "sleeping" on the system side but maybe PT is just fine.

Maybe it's by design, and they are power saving?

However, I totally recognize that wired is more stable, and I also recognize that when troubleshooting, turning off such wireless peripherals is a solid step. I think the wired 4 button Kensington was discontinued at some point. I still use one. I would recommend it if possible. It works great wired.

But if your setup is stable, and you use Bluetooth, enough said. That second part doesn't mean the setup is stable and unstable, just that as tested there may be no troubling issues with that config.

Test the config, but perhaps it doesn't need to be strictly limited to barebones accessories. Standard troubleshooting says to unplug EVERYTHING you aren't using. Secondary displays, too. Maybe in a studio, that makes sense. Be laboratory grade, right? But at my work at home studio? I have stuff plugged in I'm not using in PT.

It can be just fine. I have to config sometimes. No problem.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by gthm

Wired always, I'd recommend.

Bluetooth is supposed to be off when using Pro Tools anyway.

I hadn't heard that in quite a long time and wonder if it's still an accurate recommendation today. I've kept BT on and in-use for a few years without any kind of issues.

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I hadn't heard that in quite a long time and wonder if it's still an accurate recommendation today. I've kept BT on and in-use for a few years without any kind of issues.

Keeping BT off is another antiquated nonsense recommendation, along with turning WiFi off (how are you meant to use cloud iLok or cloud collaboration) and turning indexing off (except when you need to have indexing on). See also "use HFS filing systems" and "use external session disks".

The real problem seems to be than anything shaped like a Mac Mini (i.e. Mini and Studio) have BT problems. I'm assuming it's something to do with the shape of the case and the position of the BT antenna.

Dominic

[::F-L-E-X::]

I have the (wired) Kensington Slimblade trackball, (still available)… but gave up on KensingtonWorks/TrackballWorks ages ago - due to well documented security vulnerabilities, but also because they removed a lot of functionality from previous versions.

I opted for Steermouse : https://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/ Free 30 day trial / ($20).

Way more functionality, (regular updates) & works well with Kensington trackballs. (Working well for me on Monterey).

It might not solve your Bluetooth issues… but worth a shot?

[nednednerb]

+ + + on SteerMouse.. I definitely use it and value it.

If you try the 30 day free trial and it helped the issue, the other features are great too.

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