Bluetooth keyboard no longer recognized by iMac

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Level 4

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Bluetooth keyboard no longer recognized by iMac

My Bluetooth keyboard has suddenly stopped working - it doesn't show up in BT preferences, nor in the dropdown BT menu. When I attempt to add a new BT device, the keyboard is recognised by its name (the one it has always had), but attempts to pair it always fail.

I have reset the SMC to no effect.

The green light doesn't flash while I'm attempting the pairing - I don't know whether it should or not.

BT seems flaky - sometimes it offers me a code for the pairing, but usually not. I've tried to pair it about thirty times in all.

I don't understand why the keyboard doesn't show up in the BT preferences, since its name is recognised when I attempt to pair it. Since its name doesn't show up in BT preferences, I obviously can't delete it from there and start afresh.

All help gratefully received.

Posted on Dec 31, 2012 5:09 PM

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Answer 1

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John Potts Author

Level 4

3,118 points

Jan 1, 2013 5:04 AM in response to John Potts

Update: I have solved the problem as follows.

1 I changed the name of the BT keyboard - I don't know if this relevant or not.

2 I took the keyboard out of range of my iMac by taking in down into my basement - when I did so and switched it on down there, the green light started to flash, indicating that it was now in pairing mode. Previously, when my keyboard was close to my iMac, the green light had not flashed.

3 I came back upstairs to my iMac, and BT setup recognised the keyboard under its new name.

4 BT setup then gave me the 8-digit pass code, which I entered, and the pairing was completed successfully.

So it seems that re-enabling the pairing mode can be achieved by taking the BT device out of range of the home computer, and once the BT device has established its pairing mode/status, the process works as it should. If this is correct, it may be of help to others with a similar problem.

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