This is just a quick post on how to get the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 to work on Fedora 16/17. I found a blog post describing a similar method for Ubuntu 8.10, however I wanted to enshrine the slightly different and more involved process for Fedora users like myself.

1. Plugin and/or enable your computer's bluetooth radio.
2. Switch on the mouse and press and hold the bluetooth pairing button for a few seconds.
3. Open up a terminal window and execute the following to scan for available bluetooth devices:

   $ hcitool scan
   

4. Look for the hardware address for the "Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000", eg:

   Scanning ...
           00:1D:D8:91:09:E2        Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
   

   Note that my my mouse's hardware address is "00:1D:D8:91:09:E2".
5. Open the "rfcomm.conf" bluetooth configuration file - e.g. in Vim:

   $ sudo vi /etc/bluetooth/main.conf
   

6. Add the following to the "rfcomm.conf" configuration file:

   device HARDWARE_ADDRESS {
           name “Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000”;
   }
   

   Be sure to replace "HARDWARE_ADDRESS" with your mouse's hardware address.
7. Save the configuration file and restart the bluetooth service:

   $ sudo service bluetooth restart
   

8. Pair the mouse to your system:

   $ sudo hidd --search
   

   This should output something similar to:

   Searching ...
           Connecting to device 00:1D:D8:91:09:E2
   

9. Your mouse should now be fully functional! However, you will want to shut off the mouse now and see if it auto re-connects. If it doesn't start working right away, you just need to go through the 'normal' processes of adding the mouse via the bluetooth system tray icon:
   1. Click the bluetooth system tray icon.
   2. Click "Set up a New Device..."
   3. Press and hold the mouse's bluetooth pairing button for a few seconds.
   4. When the mouse shows up in the window, select it and click the "Continue" button.
   5. The window will state it is connecting, but might freeze on this screen. That is OK. Just close the dialog after about 20 seconds of it just sitting on this message.
   6. Click the bluetooth system tray icon again and notice that the mouse is showing up in this bubble.
   7. Click the mouse and toggle the connection slider to enable the connection.
   8. After a few seconds the mouse should work.

Your mouse should now be fully functional! Let me know if you ran into any issues while following this how-to.