Problems connecting the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Surface Edition to the Asus Zenbook UX32VD

The title pretty much says it all. I picked up the new Arc Touch Mouse SE from MSFT a couple of weeks ago, and ran into a small problem getting it to work with my Asus notebook, which I’ll get to in a second.

I’ve been using the original Arc Touch Mouse as my travelling mouse for years, and it has been completely awesome. It looks good, it feels good, it takes up almost no space, it works great, and I can’t remember the last time I had to change the batteries. It’s been damn near perfect. Near perfect… as good as the original Arc Touch Mouse is, it does have one annoyance. Instead of using Bluetooth, it has a little nubby radio dongle you have to stick in a USB port. To be fair, the dongle has never been a real problem, and even though the dongle is smaller than a dime, I’ve never lost it in my bag. The clever little magnetic holder on the underside of the mouse works just like its supposed to. It’s just, I don’t know… such a stylish and well engineered mouse should not require the extra baggage of a dongle; it’s just not elegant.

So when my former colleague at Quest/Dell Rob Mallicoat mentioned that MSFT had released a new Bluetooth-flavored version of the Arc Mouse without the offending dongle, I ordered one right away.

I just got around to connecting the new mouse to my Asus Zenbook UX32VD today (I’ve been travelling, it’s the Easter holiday, etc.) and WTF, it wouldn’t pair… the notebook couldn’t see the mouse when it was in pairing mode. I’ve paired several other BT devices to this notebook with no trouble, and interestingly, I was able to pair the new mouse with my Dell Venue Pro 8. Both computers are running Windows 8.1 with the recent update, so it was a bit of a head scratcher.

Just on a whim, I thought I would check the current drivers for the notebook on the Asus website. Sure enough, there was a recent Bluetooth driver update for Windows 8.1, which you can find here. It’s a zip file with an updated btmgr.exe, installs with no trouble, and doesn’t require a reboot. And it fixes the pairing problem with the Arc Touch Mouse SE. Problem solved, and dinner is just about ready, so I’m a happy camper.

Hope this helps.