Apple BT keyboard not recognized after power outage

[RHJensen]

I have a (new to me) early 2009 mac mini.
I bought the Apple bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse and things were good.
There was a power outage and now while the mini finds the mouse it can't seem to find the keyboard so I can't login.

I tried shutting the mini down and powering off the bluetooth devices.
Restarted the mini and waited for it to be up before turning on the keyboard (and leaving the mouse powered off).

Still didn't detect the keyboard.

Any suggestions?

TIA,
Richard.
(I don't have a wired keyboard available today, I could scrounge one over the weekend)

 

[DeltaMac]

...
There was a power outage and now while the mini finds the mouse it can't seem to find the keyboard so I can't login.

I tried shutting the mini down and powering off the bluetooth devices.
Restarted the mini and waited for it to be up before turning on the keyboard (and leaving the mouse powered off).

Still didn't detect the keyboard.
...

Connecting to your bluetooth magic mouse, but not the keyboard, suggests that your mini, and the software is not at fault.
If your mini is NOT finding your bluetooth keyboard, then when you shut off, and reboot your mini, you should get a message something like "no keyboard found"
If you don't get THAT message, then your Mac does find the keyboard, but the keys don't respond.
Did you try replacing the batteries in the keyboard? Low batteries might work, but may also give a variety of weird problems.

 

[firedept]

Go to System Preferences>Bluetooth>Advanced and make sure all the check boxes are checked. This will bring up the Bluetooth Setup Assistant if the keyboard is not detected upon startup. As long as you mouse is working you can do this. Not sure if you will have to restart your mini or Startup Assistant will just start. If it does not start, just do a restart and wait for Assistant.

Check batteries as well.

I have seen this behavior on my iMac and this solved it for me. I have also quit using a wireless keyboard because of strange problems and I prefer having a numeric pad.

 

[RHJensen]

Go to System Preferences>Bluetooth>Advanced and make sure all the check boxes are checked. This will bring up the Bluetooth Setup Assistant if the keyboard is not detected upon startup. As long as you mouse is working you can do this.

OK. I'm a bit confused. I'm at the login screen. Without a working keyboard. Are you saying there is a way to access System Preferences without being logged in?

Richard.

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If your mini is NOT finding your bluetooth keyboard, then when you shut off, and reboot your mini, you should get a message something like "no keyboard found"
If you don't get THAT message, then your Mac does find the keyboard, but the keys don't respond.

Yes, I do get that message. It is looking for the bluetooth keyboard (by the configured name) but not finding it. I could try pairing the keyboard with my iPad and make sure it is working if that would help rule anything in or out of contention.

Richard.

 

[firedept]

OK. I'm a bit confused. I'm at the login screen. Without a working keyboard. Are you saying there is a way to access System Preferences without being logged in?

Richard.

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Yes, I do get that message. It is looking for the bluetooth keyboard (by the configured name) but not finding it. I could try pairing the keyboard with my iPad and make sure it is working if that would help rule anything in or out of contention.

Richard.

Sorry you will need a wired keyboard to login first. I am used to my setup which does not have a login as I do not permit anyone to touch my computer. Brain lapse on my part. But the rest of my suggestions still should help.

 

[Alrescha]

I would power everything down, power on the keyboard, verify that it is looking for a connection (blinking power light), and then power up the mini. If you have anything else paired with the keyboard (that iPad you mentioned) it is possible that the keyboard is connecting to that device and if that happens it will be unavailable to your mini.

A.

 

[RHJensen]

Resolved and thanks!

I would power everything down, power on the keyboard, verify that it is looking for a connection (blinking power light), and then power up the mini. If you have anything else paired with the keyboard (that iPad you mentioned) it is possible that the keyboard is connecting to that device and if that happens it will be unavailable to your mini.

A.

OK, I turned bluetooth off for my old Windows laptop, the iPhone 5s and 4s and gen1 iPad--it was the iPad mini in my backpack that was paired. I forgot I had paired that for commuting on the train last week.

Richard.