JasonBChen

Q: Wireless keyboard won't turn on after changing battery

This is what happened:

I got a message yesterday telling me that the battery for my wireless keyboard was low and I should replace them. This morning, before I switched on my Mac, I put in new battery for the wireless keyboard. Then I switched on my Mac. And I got a message on the screen saying that There's no keyboard connected and couldn't find any keyboards. I thought that maybe I need to turn on the keyboard to make it work. So I pressed the power button and noticed that the green light doesn't even come up..

What's going on? Is my wireless keyboard already dead??

Any advice would be appreciate it. Thanks.

G5, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Jun 26, 2008 12:48 PM

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Q: Wireless keyboard won't turn on after changing battery

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  • by Doeme,

    Doeme Doeme Mar 12, 2010 12:26 AM in response to JasonBChen
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    Mar 12, 2010 12:26 AM in response to JasonBChen
    If I had read your comments a bit earlier I would also have used the tin foil trick... now I have to wait for the apple service partner to send me a replacement which could take about 2 weeks...

    Anyway..thanks for sharing...

    BR

    Dominik
  • by UB - UncleBinky,

    UB - UncleBinky UB - UncleBinky Mar 18, 2010 12:52 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 18, 2010 12:52 PM in response to JasonBChen
    As like others in this discussion, I changed batteries (4 times, rechargeable & brand name alkaline) in wireless keyboard only to find it inoperable - no green light.

    Since my hardware is older, White extended wireless keyboard, the 'foil ball' trick didn't work (battery chamber separated into 2 compartments...2AA on one side 2AA the otherside).

    BTW when I got the 'check battery' notice:
    • I flipped the keyboard over turned the keyboard 'Off' then 'On' green light went out, then back on [So I know the light did work].

    • Went to BT prefpane MOUSE[green bars] the KEYBOARD[red bars] turned off keyboard replace batteries and the problem began.


    I opened the keyboard tested the connections it appears the [Switch] may be toast...any suggestions??
  • by Luca10,

    Luca10 Luca10 Mar 29, 2010 5:01 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 29, 2010 5:01 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Hi all,
    some day later I had the same problem.
    Today morning I've called Apple, then go to the Premium Reseller where i bought my mac mini + accessories: keyboard changed in 5 minutes with new model (2 batteries). Previously I had aluminium type with 3 batteries.
  • by juno1977,

    juno1977 juno1977 Mar 30, 2010 2:12 AM in response to abrudtkuhl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2010 2:12 AM in response to abrudtkuhl
    I feel as though somebody should explain the essence of your frustrations and "Why" the foil ball works (in this particular instance)

    Happened to me and this is what i discovered...

    The keyboard is shipped with a "design-flawed" plastic cap which sits internally on top of your on/off switch,plastic end facing the battery.
    Here it is pictured on top of my MBP.
    http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6082/img0104s.jpg
    http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/9730/img0101nd.jpg
    http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/1103/img0102fm.jpg

    It is my guess that over time,the height of the metal point diminishes and leaves you with a ridiculous gap
    when placing the batteries into place.
    The foil ball simply fills the space.
    Go figure - i took mine out with a chopstick that had steel wool cello taped to it.
    I worked it for 5 or so minutes by inserting and turning and it just fell out.

    The keyboard works perfectly without it so i deduce it's a service-curve ball from Apple.
    I posted this in case anyone was feeling as inquisitive as me as to why.
  • by juno1977,

    juno1977 juno1977 Mar 30, 2010 2:18 AM in response to juno1977
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2010 2:18 AM in response to juno1977
    PS- Don't bother trying to re-pair your devices,as this will simply waste hours.
    The majority of complaints her are due to the above explanation.
  • by patmooney,

    patmooney patmooney Apr 20, 2010 4:08 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2010 4:08 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Panic this morning. I replaced my batteries and notice a gray/white cap came loose inside. I ignored put in the new batteries. The keyboard wouldn't come on. I was resigned to thinking the keyboard had died and was moments away from spending €70 on a replacement. Then I found this thread and tried the tinfoil trick. It worked!!! wow! Excellent! Thanks for this advice!
  • by jessica41,

    jessica41 jessica41 May 10, 2010 6:21 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 10, 2010 6:21 AM in response to JasonBChen
    That happened to me when I was prompted to change batteries last night. Frustration!!! What has just worked--and I hope continues to work--was moistening the nodes at the positive end of each battery. Maybe only the first one in needed to be moistened. The idea came in from the responder who had used a tiny piece of metal to make sure there was contact.
  • by Bob Neer,

    Bob Neer Bob Neer Jun 19, 2010 2:11 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 19, 2010 2:11 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Tinfoil did the trick. Fabulous.

    My keyboard was getting power: the light turned on for a few seconds. But then lost power almost immediately, even with fresh batteries. Tinfoil did the trick: working great now.
  • by pjdiddy,

    pjdiddy pjdiddy Jul 23, 2010 7:51 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2010 7:51 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Yes! The tin-foil thing works.

    I guess Jason Chen has more important things to worry about these days though...
  • by Gimbanzi,

    Gimbanzi Gimbanzi Jul 27, 2010 2:37 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 27, 2010 2:37 PM in response to JasonBChen
    Same problem here,
    aluminum foil saved my life, just put a small ball of it at the end of the battery placement
  • by sorbenjai,

    sorbenjai sorbenjai Aug 10, 2010 1:09 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2010 1:09 AM in response to JasonBChen
    So my keyboard died after almost 3 yrs. The green light just wouldn't come on. I decided to go buy the wired keyboard instead seeing as it was a bit of a pain to have to change the batteries fairly often and that a wireless keyboard was a bit pointless. 2 days later I stumble upon this thread, stick a bit of foil in, and the thing comes back to life.

    Looks like the wireless one will be going to ebay. Wireless keyboards just aren't worth it. Wireless mice I can understand.

    Why can't apple make these things last a bit longer? Like the mighty mouse scroll ball was also shocking.
  • by charms2601,

    charms2601 charms2601 Aug 17, 2010 3:45 PM in response to juno1977
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 17, 2010 3:45 PM in response to juno1977
    I think you're right....somebody should explain.....but I guess they rely on the ingenuity of people to fix their problems. Thanks for fixing mine. I hope I can be of help in the future....Tin foil - who would have thunk!!
  • by chillvisio,

    chillvisio chillvisio Aug 18, 2010 5:37 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2010 5:37 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Anybody could confirm that the two-battery version of the Apple Wireless Keyboard (introduced at the end of 2009) is failing either or it is just the three-battery version affected by this design flaw ?
  • by RC3,

    RC3 RC3 Aug 18, 2010 5:55 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2010 5:55 AM in response to JasonBChen
    I love my wireless apple keyboard.... errr.... I mean tin foil.

    It solved the problem for me as well.
  • by GlennTx,

    GlennTx GlennTx Aug 24, 2010 7:49 AM in response to JasonBChen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2010 7:49 AM in response to JasonBChen
    I am having the same problem!
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