If any inputs are being sent via the Bluetooth keyboard before the controllers are active, then they will not be recognized by the system. These are then passed to the OS X kernel to invoke the desired startup sequence. It is at this point that the system will accept boot variables, either stored in the PRAM or those being sent via keyboard inputs.
There are a couple of workarounds if you find yourself in this situation.Īpple's Bluetooth hardware controllers activate after all of the system's self-tests at boot complete and the EFI firmware loads successfully, which is indicated by the system playing the standard Mac startup sound. While you might assume that these options require a USB keyboard or other physical connection, this is not always the case. These options can be invoked by holding their respective key combinations immediately when powering on the system however, if you use Apple's Bluetooth keyboard, you could find that the system may ignore these inputs and boot normally. In addition there is Single User mode (Command-S) for a command-line interface, Apple's hardware diagnostics tests (the "D" key), Target Disk mode (the "T" key), and holding the Option key will bring up the boot loader for choosing a startup disk. Of these, Safe Mode is perhaps the most common it offers a limited boot environment and can be started by holding the Shift key.
afaik there is no specific reset procedure for the wireless keyboard, as the modifiers all reside in the system software of the affected iMac.Apple offers several alternative boot environments for OS X that can help you troubleshoot problems you might be experiencing, which can be invoked by holding various key combinations at startup. You sound like you're tired of troubleshooting.Īnd as for your specific Q regarding resetting keyboard settings. I know I've thrown out a few things here to consider. Perhaps you would consider updating your machine to 10.6.8 and see if that alleviates the issue. You signature line indicates your OS as 10.6.
About Wireless Keyboard Update 2.0 Have you checked to see is your software is up to date? Have you looked into firmware updates available for the keyboard? still, weak batteries could be part of the problem.Īlso, there have been a couple wireless keyboard software updates, like this one, for example. I know you say the keyboard works fine w another computer. Perhaps there is some conflict that might be identified there.Īlso, don't forget fresh batteries.
Safe Mode disallows many drivers and caches upon startup. Try booting in Safe Mode and see if that does anything. You might try booting the machine with nothing else plugged in or attached. Have you installed any little Bluetooth or Wifi widgets or applets on the affected iMac? Perhaps some little smartphone sync or utility software? Maybe a printer driver? Do you have any other 3rd-party Bluetooth accessories that have drivers loaded that might be conflicting with the Apple Bluetooth driver? The keyboard works, just not when paired with this computer (and again, a different keyboard is fine on the computer - it's the 2 together)
If I can't find out how to fix the issue, I'll try resetting it to original settings and see if that does anything. "speech" is not set for "speak selected text when the key is pressed" no keyboard shortcuts are set in the bluetooth keyboard shortcut section "mouse keys" = off in the universal access settings keyboard viewer used and the keys did NOT highlight when pressed (reminder: keyboard works fine with a different computer)
"disconnected" and removed keyboard (with +/- symbols) and reconnected and repaired it with the computer SO: it's not the keyboard or the computer - it's only when they are together this keyboard on a different computer.works fine different keyboard on this computer.works fine created new user (still with the problems, so it's a computer-wide issue) >what doesn't work: space, cap locks, right option button, down arrow, tab Now, need to know how to reset the computer's keyboard settings back to factory/original settings - Just the keyboard, not the entire computer. Tried asking in this community without success.