My Kensington Trackball will not connect via Bluetooth for about 10 seconds upon iMac startup.

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Level 1

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My Kensington Trackball will not connect via Bluetooth for about 10 seconds upon iMac startup.

I have a wonderful Kensington Trackball!

The only problem I have with it is that upon startup of my iMac M3, Sonoma 14.4.1 is that I am faced with a immovable cursor UNTIL I wiggle my Kensington Trackball for about 10 seconds until it begins to move.

It’s as if it is not connected via Bluetooth for these 10 seconds .. like it’s trying to connect but cannot until I do the above wiggling.

My Apple keyboard connects immediately upon startup, but the Kensington Trackball does not.

FWIW, this issue has existed through many former Mac OSes and even with my now former iMac M1.

Logically, I am certain the culprit is the software, not the hardware.

I’d really appreciate some insight on this.

John Love

iMac 24″, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 12, 2024 1:32 PM

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Answer 1

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Old Toad

Level 10

217,116 points

Apr 12, 2024 2:22 PM in response to johnlove123

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

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