George Krompacky
Level 3 (858 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution

I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard and mouse with my MBP. Today when I arrived at work and set up everything, the laptop would not recognize the keyboard. I went through some troubleshooting steps as recommended by Apple, but to no avail. So I figured I would remove the keyboard from my bluetooth devices and go through the setup process again.

Not so good, because I soon realized that the keyboard wouldn't go into discoverable mode. Pressing the power button caused the light to glow for a few seconds--indicating the batteries were still charged--but it wouldn't blink. I tried removing the batteries, inserting new ones, all to no avail. Just kept pressing the button, getting the glow without blinks, and the keyboard wouldn't show up in the bluetooth setup list.

So I guessed that the keyboard still thought it was paired with the computer, even though the computer knew it wasn't. And then I read somewhere that the range for the keyboard was around 30 feet or so. So I walked out of our cubicle area and into a stairwell 50 feet away. Sure enough, after the initial glow, the light blinked! It was discoverable.

I ran back to my desk, hit "continue" in the bluetooth setup panel, and paired the keyboard again.

So, if your keyboard isn't paired with your computer, but still won't go into discoverable mode, maybe this trick will work for you.

MacBook Pro (early 2011); iMac (20-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.7), Wacom Intuos 3 tablet; HP Deskjet 6840; iPhone3GS

Posted on Mar 22, 2011 12:43 PM

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George Krompacky

Q: Apple Wireless Keyboard will not become discoverable--solution

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  • by ATG11,

    ATG11 ATG11 Apr 6, 2011 11:26 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 6, 2011 11:26 AM in response to George Krompacky
    THANK YOU I have been freaking out all morning because I have an iMac and the Bluetooth keyboard. nothing connects to it and I don't know anyone with access to a corded keyboard, I was panicking calling apple care for some troubleshooting when I came across this. Far more helpful then them, thank you good sir.

  • by George Krompacky,

    George Krompacky George Krompacky Apr 6, 2011 12:16 PM in response to ATG11
    Level 3 (858 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 6, 2011 12:16 PM in response to ATG11
    My pleasure. I will note, though, that this solution isn't foolproof, as I've learned over the last couple weeks.

    It seems like every other day either the keyboard or the mouse won't connect when I set up my laptop at work. Today it was the mouse, and I tried something very simple--I turned Bluetooth off and back on again from the menu bar. Boom--mouse instantly connected when Bluetooth came back on again.

    Of course, to try this for mouse problems, it will only work if you have a laptop with a trackpad or a wired mouse.

  • by davweb,

    davweb davweb Sep 15, 2011 1:07 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2011 1:07 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Just thought I'd add that this worked for me to.  I have to admit I thought it wouldn't but walking into the next room allowed me to make my keyboard discoverble again, so thank you!

     

    One thing that made me realise that my keyboard thought it was still paired when it wasn't was that pressing the Caps Lock button turned the light on and off (but obviousy didn't affect the light on my MacBook).

  • by brahmansky808,

    brahmansky808 brahmansky808 Sep 19, 2011 8:43 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2011 8:43 AM in response to George Krompacky

    after going through the steps barry mentioned (thx barry) w/out success, i returned to sys prefs > keyboard > set up bt keybrd & HELD THE POWER BUTTON ON. recognition/pairing success.

  • by cc_,

    cc_ cc_ Sep 23, 2011 1:49 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2011 1:49 PM in response to George Krompacky

    I tried walking away and it didn't work until I read another post about holding the power button on the keyboard on. So, I did both, walking away and holding power button. It worked!

  • by cumulusguy,

    cumulusguy cumulusguy Nov 9, 2011 11:55 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2011 11:55 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Your little "trick" saved me a whoooole buncha headache, George.  Worked like a charm...  though I had to walk out onto the street in order to get far enough away for it to work, and I actually had to turn the keyboard off while there, then on again (held on button for a good 6 seconds before the blinking light sustained).

     

    But it worked great.  Thanks for the insight.

  • by Maui Todd,

    Maui Todd Maui Todd Nov 19, 2011 10:30 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 19, 2011 10:30 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Walked down the street, held the power button til' I knew it was off....then pressed it quickly and viola!...it started blinking again....walked back home and paired it.  Thank you!!!!!

  • by BigKO,

    BigKO BigKO Nov 28, 2011 10:48 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 28, 2011 10:48 AM in response to George Krompacky

    OMG!!! I looked all over for this, I thought this was silly... So my Last attempt before going out and buying a new keyboard I tried it, mind you I had to take my Keyboard for a ride around the block before I seen the three little blinking lights . . . It worked...  Thanks George you are the man...

  • by robfromemeryville,

    robfromemeryville robfromemeryville Dec 4, 2011 4:15 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 4, 2011 4:15 AM in response to George Krompacky

    I tried this and it did not work.  Then I noticed my iPad was paired with the keyboard.  I shut down the iPad, tried this solution again, and it worked.

  • by paige.c.m.,

    paige.c.m. paige.c.m. Mar 31, 2012 12:09 PM in response to robfromemeryville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 31, 2012 12:09 PM in response to robfromemeryville

    Thanks Rob, and all of you! I tried all the steps above and almost gave up reading. Then I saw your note about the iPad! Duh (to myself not you!!!). My iPad is right nearby paired to this keyboard. I had totally forgotten about that! All I had to do was tell my iPad to forget it, then those lovely blinking lights. and now a new marriage is made (keyboard to laptop).

     

    My gratitude to all of you who take the time to help each other and report results. YAY!!!

  • by janeeats,

    janeeats janeeats Apr 18, 2012 3:54 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2012 3:54 PM in response to George Krompacky

    Thank you so much George for your help.  I walked into my stairwell at my apartment building and tried this trick.  The keyboard finally became discoverable, however I had to hold the keyboard power button in order for my Mac to pair with it.

  • by FiftytoOne,

    FiftytoOne FiftytoOne Apr 22, 2012 5:32 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 22, 2012 5:32 AM in response to George Krompacky

    Awesome......after trying everything your plan worked like a charm.  Thanks for sharing.

  • by WdstkGuru,

    WdstkGuru WdstkGuru Aug 18, 2012 10:00 AM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2012 10:00 AM in response to George Krompacky

    I just want to add another thank you.  I had to take the keyboard over a block away but that did the trick.  I never would have thought of it absent this thread.  Thanks everyone!

  • by onyx31,

    onyx31 onyx31 Dec 23, 2012 8:31 PM in response to George Krompacky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2012 8:31 PM in response to George Krompacky

    THANK YOU!!!! I knew that the computer still thought that it was paired but I didn't even think about going into the other room. Had to go a bit farther actually but all works not. This drove me nuts for oven an hour. As other people said I had to hold the power button down for a few seconds to get it into discoverable mode.

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