Mac Mini just Arrived, can't connect Bluetooth

ramnj said:

My Mac Mini just arrived and I.started up and everything is going fine except wen trying to connect the keyboard (Apple Bluetooth keyboard)

It asks me to enter this 8 digit code number and press Return, which works fine, but several seconds later it asking me to enter the 8 digit code. Been doing it for a while with no progress.

I had this keyboard connected to another Mac Minithat I'm returning to BB...this is a swap upgrade.

Any ideas? Thanks.

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Glad this worked but I've had quite a few issues with my late 2012 Mac Mini and the BT keyboard. Once I got it paired yesterday, it became unpaired this morning when I started the computer. After that it was a nightmare to get it paired again.

Had similar issue setting up an hour ago, just old batteries lol

I had new batteries and had the same issue. My magic mouse worked but the keyboard and trackpad would not. I had to connect a wired keyboard to get through the setup process, upgrade to 10.8.2 and restart before I got them working

I had a similar issue when I first set up my new mini. I finally just plugged in a USB keyboard. Once I was actually booted up and in the OS however, it paired without issue.

z06gal said:

I had new batteries and had the same issue. My magic mouse worked but the keyboard and trackpad would not. I had to connect a wired keyboard to get through the setup process, upgrade to 10.8.2 and restart before I got them working

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That's exactly what I had to do. I hope there's not some inherent problems with the BT on these Mini's.

I had problems with an old Apple BT keyboard on my 2010 Mac mini. So far, it is working okay on the 2012.

The problem was that it would lose its mind and show random characters and spaces. I would power the keyboard down and back, and that would usually work, but not always. I am wondering if there is a glitch in older Apple BT keyboards.

silentbob007 said:

I had a similar issue when I first set up my new mini. I finally just plugged in a USB keyboard. Once I was actually booted up and in the OS however, it paired without issue.

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This happened to me on my 2011 mini so it's apparently not a new issue nor fixed by Lion being preinstalled.

I have the same problem, the 2012 mini wont pair with my keyboard, only the mouse.

It ask me to enter the code but when i do nothing happens. Only the enter key seem to work, and when i press it it just goes back to asking for the code.

Any ideas? Do i need to reset the keyboard or something?

lamerica80 said:

I have the same problem, the 2012 mini wont pair with my keyboard, only the mouse.

It ask me to enter the code but when i do nothing happens. Only the enter key seem to work, and when i press it it just goes back to asking for the code.

Any ideas? Do i need to reset the keyboard or something?

Click to expand...

Good luck with that. It took me forever to get mine paired, continually asking me for the same code over and over. Try this, hold down the power button while removing the battery cover and the batteries. Try to pair it again once you install the batteries. Make sure and use fresh batteries, that seems to help.

Don't know if it would make a difference for those who are having trouble, but I've had better luck pairing devices directly through the keyboard, trackpad or mouse preference panes rather than going through the bluetooth pane or menu, especially for my trackpad.

I have had problems pairing the BT devices, especially if they were paired and in use before.

My solution which seems to work for me is first to remove the device from the BT preferences if it is there. Then, I press the power button on the device (keyboard, trackpad) such that the power light turns on, then press-and-hold the power button until the light goes off, then again press the power button and observe that the power light is now flashing (possibly a "reset" operation?). It seems to pair and connect OK at that point.

If you are using BootCamp with Windows, I have had to remove all the BT devices from OS X first, then boot to Windows and install the BT devices there, then return to OS X and re-install them there. Of course, you will need a USB keyboard and mouse temporarily in order to get it all set up and running, but it has worked fine once done.


-howard

Had this problem too. Didn't have any spare keyboard so I thought I was gonna have to go buy one.

My trackpad paired nicely but the keyboard refused to. It kept showing the code and even though typing it... nothing happened. After turning the Keyboard off and on and rebooting the Mini like 5 times, the keyboard paired. It was gonna be my last attempt when it finally worked.

(Batteries were new, as I had previously read this thread)

This is very un-apple that the mac would fail at the very first crucial task - connecting the damn keyboard. Guess ill just keep trying. Hopefully it will pair / unpair quicker once in the OS since im going to to a migration from the old mini and will need to move between macs for a bit.

green power light

I have an older (2007?) 3-battery Apple Bluetooth keyboard. I managed to get it paired and working (although the spacebar is a little flakey).

However, the green power light does not stay on. Is this normal?

I think the little black spot on the right front of the mini is where the Bluetooth antenna is: If your stuff isn't line-of-sight to that and is a bit far away you might have problems. On the iMacs the apple is the antenna area, so there are fewer problems since you can't hide that away like you can with the mini.

DitteVilladsen said:

I think the little black spot on the right front of the mini is where the Bluetooth antenna is: If your stuff isn't line-of-sight to that and is a bit far away you might have problems. On the iMacs the apple is the antenna area, so there are fewer problems since you can't hide that away like you can with the mini.

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The little black spot is the IR receiver for the remote control, which does need line-of-sight as it is a light beam.

The BlueTooth and WiFi antennas are under the black plastic bottom cover, and since they are RF (radio frequency), they do not need line-of-sight. If you modified your mini by adding disks, you had to disconnect the antennas as part of the disassembly, be sure you securely snapped them back on when you are finished.


-howard

ramnj said:

The green light does not stay on.

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Thanks for that.

Had the same issues, seems a common problem. Just kept trying and it seemed to fix itself