I first encountered this problem in os 10.8 and when I installed 10.8.1 I thought it had been fixed because I booted 10 times without the problem occurring. However, it's back.
iMac10,1
File a bug report perhaps. I think you'll need a free developer account first.
https://developer.apple.com/programs/register/
https://bugreport.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/RadarWeb.woa/wa/signIn
Definitely single user mode for me, too, then. Thanks for the clarification.
I'll enter a bug report. I just signed up for developer. When the system finally lets me in, I'll report it. 🙂 Thanks for all the hard work on this and especially for narrowing it down and finding a workaround, Kenneth.
Ok, after a week on the hardwire USB keyboard and mouse I had no problems at all. Even emails go out right away when I hit the send button. For those who missed that in my earlier post , when I would send an email it would take a couple of minutes before it actually was sent. During that time it was in limbo somewhere. Not in the Drafts folder or sent folder. After going back to the bluetooth the boot up in single user mode came back right away. It's like whatever "processes" commands coming in via bluetooth isn't doing a perfect job. Almost like an incoming command is going into a register somewhere instead of being immediately executed. Interesting.
Same with me Kenneth. I've been out of town over the weekend but have not had the mail problem nor the single user boot up if I simply don't power on my wireless keyboard and mouse until after the apple. I have signed up for a developer account, but for some reason can not sign in. Apparently not a problem with just me and apple is working to resolve. However, because of that I ha not been able to enter the bug report. Apple is supposed to get back to me today with a status but I haven't hear yet. I'll update here when I know more.
Thought maybe the latest Mountain Lion update might cure it but it didn't. Like you I've started waiting until I see the "Apple" on the screen at startup before I push the power buttons on the keyboard and trackpad and that works everytime. Oh well, I'll just change my habits at startup and not worry about it anymore. It may not go away until I upgrade to a new computer and that won't be anytime soon. This one is just too great to replace yet. Later.
I still have had not luck logging into the developer site. Tech support for it called me up last week, but no progress to report. I guess not allowing your developers into the bug reporting site is a good way to keep the complaints down. :-) I continue to be batting 1000 using your work around, Kenneth. Thanks for checking the latest update of Mt. Lion. I hadn't gotten around to seeing if it still failed.
New discovery. You don't need to touch the power buttons on your keyboard or trackpad. Next time you power up your computer just watch the little green lights on the devices. A short time after the "Apple" appears you will see them blink. My computer had been off for more than 20 hours so I know they were in a fully off state. I've done this a few times and it's worked every time. Mountain Lion must send out a command to wake the devices up. Cool.
Apple finally fixed what ever was wrong with bugreporter and I finally entered the issue today. Kenneth, I don't observe what you see with the keyboard and trackpad being automatically powered on. I have to push the buttons. Somehow, I think I can manage though.
You guys are stars, I have been utterly exasperated with the same problem, that also started exactly at the same time as I downloaded Mountain Lion. Mine didn't even rectify itself with the exit command, so have been unplugging the device and starting again, which I am sure isn't good for it. I'll now try not touching anything when I boot up, or reverting to USB based keyboard/mouse and see if it works. Will keep you posted, and keep glued to this thread to see if a patch becomes available. Thanks very much.
When you try waiting for the keyboard to power up on it's own be patient. I think it takes about 22 seconds. Just wait until the login screen appears and it should be on at that point. If it gives you the message no keyboard or devices found then it didn't turn on. If that's the case you might try deleting your bluetooth devices and then repairing. I realized I had done that during the troubleshooting process and I'm wondering if Fred tried that. It might make a difference. After a few weeks there has been only one time that the keyboard didn't turn on. I think. I wasn't paying much attention. Even then the computer was at the login screen and the "bug" never appeared. Good luck.
Also, instead of typing exit try "reboot". That worked for me as well but hopefully you won't need it.
It seems ok, normally turns on by itself, if not I just manually press the button and it gets recognised immediately.
Thanks so much again for all your communal strivings to sort this out, it was really getting me down!
All best wishes
Amos
I actually haven't tried that, Kenneth. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a shot sometime soon. It turns out that the bug had been reported earlier. I've asked for information on how to track the earlier report. It is 12122886 in bugreporter. Currently the only information I seem able to see is that it is "Open."
It just happened on my late 2009 iMac. Any news?
Why does my iMac boot in linux some of the time instead of Mac OS?
