1st boot of m1 Mac mini

The M1 mini will not recognize a USB key board (apple) and mouse on first boot. I first tried bluetooth devices first to no avail. What I see on the screen are alternating mouse and keyboard with a small arrow indicating that one should turn them on. I did. After trying 5 or 6 tries, I read a thread about the bluetooth issues and the recommendation to tried wired USB devices. Same issue. I see the mouse and keyboard again. When I tap a key on the keyboard, you hear the typical sound of an errant key tap so the mini apparently recognizes something. This is something like my 40x Mac and have never had an issue that I could not resolve myself. Any thoughts? I have tried countless times to restart it.