Q: Wireless keyboard won't connect

Awesome... I've been struggling with this for a few days, found your post, worked like charm!  Thank you.

Hats off to you. Thanks for this (the kicker for me was holding down the power button on the keyboard while trying to pair it). Oddly, this happened to me while I had batteries in the keyboard still with power. Nevertheless, it's worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing your experience.

A big thank you to you for taking the time to share your solution!

Wow, thanks. I've been struggling with this for 6 months. When I went to the Apple Store a genius said my preferences were corupted so I needed to create a new user and move all of my data to the new account. Glad I found your post first. 

perfect, thanks!

And...what if I'm keyboardless can't log in.

I keep a usb keyboard just for that very thing, which is quite frequent!

what do you do if your computer is password protected and you can't login to access system preferences?  I can't get past the login screen and the notification that computer is searching for the keyboard.  My wireless mouse connects without any issue.

thanks

Updating to Mavericks has changed the process for me, and left me still not able to connect the bluetooth keyboard. 

Here are the steps I've taken:

1. Go to System Preferences -> Bluetooth. Delete the keyboard from the list of devices by clicking the X beside the keyboard.
2. Take the batteries out of the keyboard and reinsert them - don't power on the keyboard yet. This puts the keyboard in discovery mode the next time it's switched on.
3. Bluetooth Preferences does not show a '+' button to add a new device. Go to SystemPreferences > Keyboard > Setup Bluetooth Keyboard.
4. When the Bluetooth Setup Assistant is displayed hold down the power button on the keyboard and don't release it! The keyboard should now appear in the list of devices.
5. Press 'Continue' - remember to keep pressing the keyboard power button while hitting 'Continue'. You should get an 8 digit passcode from the setup assistant.

Keyboard appears, I press 'Continue' while still holding the keyboard power button down, and I never get a passcode.  The assistant gives me the message:

The pairing attempt was unsuccessful. Click "Continue" to try again.

My bluetooth mouse is connected and stays connected. The next thing I'll try is to delete the plist file and see if that helps.

Any other ideas??

Thanks,

~ Raylene

Deleting the plist file didn't fix the issue. What it did change was that the keyboard setup assistant was recognizing the keyboard as "Raylene's Keyboard" before deleting the plist, and now it just says, "1 keyboard found".  

I restarted my macbook pro and restarted the whole process. But to no avail. So... I'm hoping I can figure out a solution soon. I'll let you know if I find any new info.

Thanks!

I hate to say it but I gave up after my MacPro constantly constantly dropped my keyboard and I'd have a very hard time reconnecting. I feel like a traitor but I got a new solar powered keyboard from Logitech. It's bigger and heavier, but it works and I don't have to replace the batteries.

I'm typing from my wireless keyboard right now. YAY!

I followed the instructions over and over again. This time, on step 5, when I got the

"The pairing attempt was unsuccessful. Click "Continue" to try again."

message, I kept holding the power button on the keyboard and clicked Continue to try again.

After waiting FOREVER holding the button down, I was given a passcode. I was SO excited. I put down the keyboard, and tried to type in the passcode, only to be taken back to the

The pairing attempt was unsuccessful. Click "Continue" to try again.

message again!

One more try, this time HOLDING THE POWER BUTTON on the keyboard all the way through the "Click Continue" and waiting forever to finally get a new passcode, and then STILL holding the power button while entering the passcode.

BOOM. connected!

My lesson: keep holding down the power button on the keyboard, and keep clicking Continue to try again.

Oh, another note: the keyboard was pairing to my iPhone 4, so I turned bluetooth on the phone off before I attempted pairing with the macbook pro this time. I don't know if that made a difference. I had them both paired before with no problems.

I hope it stays connected, and this info is helpful for someone. Not sure it's reproducible for everyone, but I'm finally connected!

Cheers,

~ Raylene

PS - I went for Mavericks for the dual screen functionality. Now I can see the dock and menu bars on my 2nd screen, too, and I love that!

Thank you!!! Worked like a charm! The mac site did not address this! Thank you so much!