Rocketfish bluetooth keyboard can't auto connect after snow leopard upgrade

Hi,

I have one of the newer model 2GHz Mac Mini's which I bought back in March. I've been using a Rocketfish model RF-ABTKB bluetooth keyboard (which I had been previously using on a windows system before getting the mac). Up to now, the keyboard had worked fine. Whenever I booted the mac, I'd use my bluetooth mouse to go to the bluetooth menu, scroll down to "Rocketfish Bluetooth Keyboard", and then select "connect" out of the sub menu, then would click the "connect" button on the underside of my keyboard and it would connect, every time.

I bought Snow Leopard on Friday & upgraded my machine. Since the upgrade, I no longer see the "connect" option for the keyboard in the bluetooth menu. The only option I see now in that sub-menu for the keyboard is "Open Keyboard Preferences...". If I go to the preferences window, click "set up bluetooth keyboard" at the bottom of the window and go through the pairing process again (going through the discovery process, entering the PIN that the mac generates, etc) it pairs and works fine (I'm actually using it to type this post). If I look at the keyboard sub-menu in the bluetooth menu after it's paired/connected, the "Disconnect" option is now available. The disconnect option itself is no surprise, it had been there in the past, but I thought it's odd that I can still see the disconnect option but not the connect option.

When I disconnect the keyboard (by either selecting that Disconnect option or by just not using it for 5 minutes & letting it go to sleep) the keyboard disconnects, the "shadow icon" fades on to the screen showing the keyboard is no longer connected, and I can go back to the bluetooth menu & still not see the same Connect option that used to be there before the upgrade.

My generic bluetooth mouse (doesn't have a brand name) continues to work with no issues. I called the support number for Rocketfish (which is really just a consumer electronics sub-brand of Best Buy), they said that their keyboard is fully compliant with Mac OS X and if the connect option is no longer showing up for the keyboard in the bluetooth menu, Apple must have done something that changed the way the mac is handling bluetooth.

Also, I did try removing the keyboard from the Bluetooth control panel in System Preferences and re-adding it from scratch, no change.

Anybody have any ideas???

2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Sep 2, 2009 5:47 PM

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6 replies

Sep 2, 2009 8:42 PM in response to N1TR0

Hello N:

I suspect that there has been some sort of incompatibility introduced. However, since this is an Apple forum, I recommend that you pursue the problem with "rocketfish." If is suggested troubleshooting steps, I might confuse the issue further as I would be focussed on Apple devices.

FWIW, no such problem has surfaced with Apple keyboards or mice. I am not trying to sell you one, I do not work for Apple.

Barry

Sep 3, 2009 6:38 PM in response to Barry Hemphill

I would agree with you if the issue didn't crop-up immeidately after the upgrade of my Mac to Snow Leopard.

The keyboard continues to function fine if I take the mac through the full pairing process every time. The issue is with the Mac OS not offering the "connect" option to click on in the sub menu for the keyboard within the bluetooth device menu. So I'm seeing the issue as being with something having changed in Mac OS.

Sep 3, 2009 6:45 PM in response to N1TR0

Hello again:

I would agree with you if the issue didn't crop-up immeidately after the upgrade of my Mac to Snow Leopard.



I am not suggesting that is not the case. However, Apple, although it cooperates with third party vendors, cannot possibly be concerned about what occurs when they have a new software release. That is true of any vendor, not just Apple.

Barry

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Rocketfish bluetooth keyboard can't auto connect after snow leopard upgrade

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