Wireless Aluminum Keyboard Troubleshooting

If you're having issues with your Apple Wireless (Aluminum) Keyboard disconnecting, there are a few things you can try.
First, check your wireless network configuration to see if you can avoid interference. See this post in another topic:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5783742#5783742
Although I did have success with tweaking my wifi setup, my keyboard disconnect problem returned again a couple of weeks ago. I had recently upgraded to Leopard (10.5.1) which may have contributed - although I had been using wired ethernet, and switched back to wifi around the same time as my Leopard upgrade.
Like others have posted, I also noticed the bluetooth daemon log errors in my system log. To look for them, you can open console.app, and search for "blued" in the system.log and also its archive history. Here's an example:
+Jan 25 09:17:22 Macintosh-2 kernel[0]: IOBluetoothHCIRequest::Create [0x55da000] Request OpCode 0000 Generated by: blued (47) status: 0 timeout 1000. has a too small timeout, a reasonable value would be 5000 (5 seconds)+
Here are some other things to try. You should only try one at a time - so that you can tell which change fixed your problem.
1. In the Bluetooth System Preferences panel, unpair your keyboard, and re-pair it again
2. Also in the Bluetooth System Preferences panel, add the keyboard to your favorites. To do this in Leopard: select the keyboard in the bluetooth devices list. Click on the tasks cog at the foot of that pane (just beside the plus and minus). Select "Show more info". Select "Add To Favorites".
3. Reset the bluetooth preferences by moving system preference files. Warning: only try this if you are comfortable using the OS X terminal!! :
sudo mv /var/root/Library/Preferences/blued.plist /var/root/Library/Preferences/blued.plist.old
sudo mv /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist.old
(you will need to enter your password at least once, and then will need to restart your machine).
Keep a log of all the things you've tried. If none of these work, its probably time to call AppleCare. If you have one of the new Apple (Aluminum) Wireless Keyboards, it is still covered by warranty at this point.

It sounds like the bluetooth in both of your keyboards has simply died. If it's still under warranty (if it has one), take it to the apple store and show them. They may give you a new one. For future reference, the new wired USB keyboard is now exactly the same as the wireless (except that it has a wire), and you won't face any bluetooth issues like that. You can get the new wired keyboard here:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB869LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1Mg&mco=NDE4NjI4Mg
Also, if you're willing to spend a bit more money, Macworld rated the Logitech DiNovo Edge Keyboard very highly. Here's a link to that:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TU938LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1Mg&mco=MjgzMTkxNA
Hope this helps.

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Delayed Response on Wireless Aluminum Keyboard Since the Update

I just updated the firmware on my wireless aluminum keyboard and now there is an annoying noticeable delay between pressing a key and seeing it on the screen. Any ideas how to fix this?

Sorry that I can't help you with this, but FYI I have just updated the firmware on my Aluminium keyboard and haven't noticed any difference in the response.

Wireless aluminum keyboard won't stay on

I'm trying to pair my wireless aluminum keyboard with my Mac Mini. I have OS10.5.8 and I've run the aluminum keyboard 2.0 update. My keyoard light comes on for about 2 seconds then goes out. batteries are new and in correctly. My mini is able to discover the keyboard after a bit of fooling with the on/off or removing and replacing the batteries, but when it goes to pair it always fails.

Hello:
Try resetting the PRAM (if you can) and the SMC.
If that does not help, I would suspect a faulty KB.
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Hello:
Your profile simply says "iPad." What, exactly, are you trying to do?
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.......... to pair with brand new macbook air. Apple Care support can't figure this out. Just tried a second, identical keyboard in two days. Same issue. First keyboard worked flawlessly with mid 2010 macbook pro. I'm ******!

I just does not accept that it should be nessecarry to use a usb keyboard when buying a brand new mac!
And luckily I managed to solve this in the end
My setup was is with a keyboard that was previously paired worth my MBP, and I tried a lot of things, but what did it in the end was this:
First I unpaired the keyboard from the MBP using http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1809?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US. Only, this time I ignored the first step which reads: "Press and release the On/Off switch on the wireless keyboard to turn it off." Thinking of it, how would the the keyboard know that it is unpaired, if it is turned off?
The 2 thing I did differently this time was that I did not power on the keyboard until it actually said so on the screen. This means that I powered on the Mini, waited until I had selected the language using the Trackpad, waited until the "Connect Keyboard" dialog appeared on the screen. Then I turned on the keyboard in pairing mode...
That's basically what I did to be successful! Hope it will help somebody else

Wireless Aluminum keyboard right half keys not working

THe right half, maybe the right third, keyboard no longer works. I've tried pairing it with different computers and I'm not able to as the return key doesn't work. I tried looking up my warranty online but the serial number keeps coming back as invalid. Is there possibly a way to do a hard reset on the keyboard to see if that would do the trick?

Hello:
Apple does not maintain a database of peripheral devices. The keyboard is under warranty for one year. Either take it to an Apple store or call Applecare (if the device is less than a year old).
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Aluminum keyboard (USB, not wireless) intermittent problems

Since I got my new Mac Pro here at work, the keyboard has intermittently acted strangely. Occasionally, letter and number keys only will occasionally stop working in the current application. Arrows, function keys and modifier keys will continue to work. Even stranger, sometimes just a few keys will stop working. For example, today, the "h" key stopped working at one point, and the "a" key at another point.
The mouse that is plugged into the keyboard is unaffected. I don't think it is a hardware problem. Switching to a different application and switching back again will solve the problem temporarily. But it's causing me annoyance and typos. Updating the keyboard's firmware to the latest edition did not solve the problem. I've heard of others having this problem with wireless keyboards, but this is a USB keyboard.
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I have a related and extremely annoying issue:
- I've got an iPhone (8GB, first gen) with 2.1 firmware
- Mac Pro early 2008
- Aluminium Keyboard (standard)
- iTunes 8
Whenever I attach my iPhone, the keyboard goes dead. Totally. Only way to re-animate it is by unplugging the iPhone and wait 5 seconds, then re-plug the keyboard. This is on a newly created Admin account on the Mac Pro and an iPhone that has been through a total factory reset back to 2.1 today...
Ans a newly re-installed iTunes 8.
Note my iPhone is no longer recognized in iPhoto or Aperture or iTunes.
However, the iPhone works fine on a Mac Book Pro (newest model).
It does show up and sync on an iMac Intel 2.0 GHy, but kicks the Aluminum keyboard on that machine as well...
What is going on???
I will have to double-post this in iTunes and iPhone section, apologies in advance, but this is just too ridiculous...
Apple "Genius" in Apple Store Regent Street recommended an archive & install of Leopard 10.5.x. Yeah right. I am working on this machine, I have not got time for that silly idea...
The thing is, this all worked fine before the 2.0/2.1 update... but why is the bl oo dy thing working on a new MacBook Pro and not on my Mac Pro?

IOGear KVM + Apple aluminum keyboard + Bootcamp + Win7 - SOLVED

I've read many posts from people who had the same problem I encountered: the Apple aluminum keyboard does not work with the IOGear KVM on a Mac under bootcamp. Everything works perfectly on all other PCs, and everything works perfectly on the mac with bootcamp/win7 using any keyboard other than the apple aluminum keyboard.
The symptoms are that the mac/bootcamp/win7/ combination simply does not seem to recognize the apple aluminum keyboard: the caps lock light does not work and typing seems to do nothing -- although the keyboard still works to toggle the KVM between systems. With some hardware combinations, the keyboard may be temporarlily recognized after a cold start, but the problem always returns with switching between systems. I first noticed this behavior with Win7 and the bootcamp upgrades (in my case, 3.2). In my case the problem occurs with a wired aluminum keyboard, but I think a wireless keyboard would exactly the same.
I have found what I believe is the root cause and the solution.
=========
The cause
=========
The cause is a failure to properly detect the type of machine attached to a KVM port: by default, the KVM auto-detects which kind of machine is attached to each port and auto-switches that port to PC mode, Sun mode, or Mac mode. Usually this works fine, but something in the latest OSX/bootcamp/win7 drivers causes the Mac to appear to the KVM as a PC, so the KVM attempts to present the apple keyboard as if it were a PC keyboard.
I'm guessing that this whole issue might be associated with the new ability for bootcamp to let you switch the behavior of the top row of function keys between apple behavior and PC behavior -- which obviously introduces an emulation layer -- but I could be wrong. If there is anybody who has this same problem without bootcamp installed then it could be a more generic driver issue. Fortunately that doesn't matter, because the solution is the same in either case.
============
The Solution
============
All these IOGear autoswitching KVMs share the same logic, so this method should work for all. The manual for one of the simpler models of IOGear KVM is available at www.iogear.com/support/manual/GCS634U.pdf
The first thing to know is that the manual is incorrect in its description of how to use the numeric keypad to enter hot-key-mode (HKM): the manual says to hold down the "clear" key for 2 seconds, then add the "-" key for one second, then release the minus key and the clear key in quick succession. Unfortunately, this technique rarely works: one second is much too long to hold down the minus key. Instead, hold down the "clear" key for a few seconds, then just tap the "minus" key as quickly as you can, and then release the "clear key." You will see the LED flash on the capslock key, and you are now in HKM mode and can change settings on the KVM. To fix your problem you simply need to execute (HKM) (F2) on the proper port as described below.
First switch your KVM so it shows the screen of the Mac where you are having keyboard recognition problems: the correct port will now be "active" on the KVM. Put the KVM into hotkey mode and press F2 -- this will override the default autodetect setting for this port, and will set it directly to Macintosh mode. Your keyboard will immediately be recogized (and the capslock light will work!). The KVM will remember this until you change it or reset it to its factory configuration.
If you need to troubleshoot you can use another hotkey combination to print out the current settings of the KVM: open a text editor and position the cursor inside it for typing, then execute (HKM)(F4) -- the KVM will "type" its current settings. Here are mine on a 2-port KVM immediately after setting my Mac Mini port
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
hotkey:
(num lock)+(-) and (ctrl),(ctrl)
os setting:
port1 pc
port2 mac
kb:
port1 english
port2 english
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
It took me two whole days to research and test and resolve this problem, and I've read many other posts from people who couldn't find a solution & went out and bought new keyboards or different types of KVMs. I hope this posting can help somebody else avoid that difficulty.
Good luck!
-- Craig

I've read many posts from people who had the same problem I encountered: t
Perhaps then you should respond to those posts instead of posting a one-off solution here that they may not see...

Apple Aluminum Keyboard slow responding after reboot

I have Leopard installed on my external firewire drive, and 10.4.1 installed on my PowerBook. Whenever I boot from one to the other I get a very slow response from my new Apple Aluminum Keyboard and my USB trackball. I have the trackball connected to the keyboard's USB port and the keyboard is plugged directly into the PowerBook. When I boot into either system it takes a good five minutes before the keyboard and trackball respond. In the meantime I have to use the keyboard on the PowerBook and the trackpad to login, etc... I also have USB Overdrive installed on both systems, but this problem developed before I installed USB Overdrive in Leopard. Any clues?

Does this new keyboard pair fine with the other computer?
I can only think of two other things given the troubleshooting that has been done so far.
This may be an OS issue (Reinstall the Mac OS) or something in or around your setup is generating interference: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1365 (doubtful as you said you used another computer and it was fine in the same area).
If you have already contacted AppleCare and the replacement keyboard did not resolve the issue you might want to give them a call back to follow-up so they can investigate the issue further.

Aluminum Keyboard Sometimes Not Recognized By USB Port

I have an Aluminum wired keyboard that occasionally isn't detected by my Macbook in both Windows XP (Boot Camp) and Leopard. This is an exchanged one because the first one also behaved this way. I'm not using the extension cable. I have a USB wireless mouse plugged into one of the keyboard's USB ports and a flash drive. When the keyboard isn't detected, the mouse doesn't work (no lights on the receiver, can't connect), but the flash drive gets recognized. I've also had the keyboard not be detected without the flash drive so I know that it isn't the issue.
When it isn't detected I have to disconnect and reconnect the keyboard multiple times until it randomly starts working. Once it works, it doesn't stop working, though after going to sleep it occasionally disconnects itself on startup. All the function keys work properly and there's no updates available...is there anything I can do about this?

I've seen the very same problem. In my case I have a wired Mighty Mouse attached to one of the USB ports on the aluminum keyboard. Every time I plug it in -- not recognized first time. Second time -- success. Highly annoying.
Unfortunately I don't have a solution for the problem.

Apple aluminum keyboard w/o keypad not working with Mac Mini

I'm in the process of reconfiguring our old Mac Mini to run some of our old games that no longer run on the newer Macs. We had a spare Apple aluminum keyboard (without the numeric keypad) which I thought I'd use with the Mini. The alphanumeric keys work fine, but the function keys don't seem to. (In particular, I can't get the volume keys to work.)
I've checked my keyboard settings in System Preferences. Software Update shows everything up-to-date.
The aluminum keyboard WITH the numeric keypad works fine with the Mini. Also the keyboard without the keypad works properly with my Intel iMac.
Does anyone know what's going on?

Hi,
am I right in assuming that you are talking about the Wireless Aluminum Apple keyboard ?
If so, the 2009 version of it requires OSx Leopard 10.5.8 to work properly.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1809
The 2007 version of that keyboard requires at least OSX Tiger 10.4.10 plus this keyboard software update http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2394
Maybe downloading and apllying the update can help.
Regards
Stefan

Problem with a new aluminum keyboard

I just bought an aluminum keyboard but when i press, for example, the sound buttons my dashboard appears rather than changing the sound. How do i get the buttons working?

I have exactly the same problem. I just replaced my old Aluninium Apple wireless keyboard that got damaged. I am running OS10.5.8 on a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. I just unboxed my new French wireless keyboard that I ordered form the Apple online store, and can use the sound buttons! I get the dashboard or the old F3 key instead.
DMarsh thanks for your tip, the box is unticked, but the F keys are still scrabbled. My old Apple wireless English keyboard is working fine (3 batteries).
I think that the new keyboards are not fully compatible with 10.5. Is snow leopard ok?.
Lion seems to have new functionalities. I understand the need to update the hardware accordingly, but I am not very happy as it is not clearly mentioned that the new wireless keyboard does not properly work with the previous systems!!!! Come on Apple the sound keys should at least work.
I looked on here and could not find any sofware update. I presume that they expect us to upgrade to Lion.
I get back to apple store tomorrow to get a refund or get an old model shipped.

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Just bought a apple aluminum keyboard (wired, not wireless) and hooked it up to my Macbook Pro which has all the latest system updates. The Macbook is connected to a Samsung SyncMaster 213T. Everything seems to work fine except that the F1 and F2 keys, which are supposed to control the brightness don't do anything. Before taking the keyboard back for an exchange, I thought I would ask here if there are any tricks I should try...like turning something on or off?

Hi,
I believe you can control how the F keys are intepreted via the System Preferences under the keyboard preferences. I think you have the option to set whether or not to require pressing Function at the same time as the F key to control system functions. You might want to try pressing Function + F1 and Function + F2.
I am also not sure you can contol the brightness of a non-Apple-brand external monitor with the F keys. On the MacBook, the F keys control the backlight level as opposed to modifying the video signal's brightness characteristics. An external monitor's backlight level is usually set to a fixed level.
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How do clean the new aluminum keyboard?

I have a new wireless aluminimum keyboard (the thin model) and recently spilt beer on it. Now the keys are all gummy. Does anyone know how to remove the keys to clean them? Or where I might be able to find some help?
I've seen some self-help sites for the older wireless keyboards, but not the new aluminum model. Any help at all would be appreciated as the keyboard is rather new still.
Thanks!
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Just an FYI, I just recently cleaned one that had a mug of hot chocolate spilled into it. Half the keys didn't work after the spill.
I ran scalding hot water through it (basically it was 100% soaking) and then let it air dry for a few days. All the keys now work except one.
I'm tempted to rip off that key and manually fix it if I can (it's the f12/volume up).

Wireless Aluminum Keyboard Troubleshooting

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