Bluetooth keyboard won't connect - "Check the PIN and try co... - HP Support Community

RadioPhil · ‎02-24-2018

I'm trying to connect and use an Apple Wireless Keyboard. It's a bluetooth keyboard. It was paired and working fine with this Envy notebook until yesterday when the batteries got too low. I put in new batteries and have not been able to pair since.

The Windows 10 connect process (right click bluetooth icon in tray > Add a Bluetooth Device) immediately displays the keyboard in its list of available bluetooth devices. I click it and the " Connecting..." process starts. I wait a while and get the message "Check the PIN and try connecting again." I understand that normally when connecting a bluetooth keyboard, a PIN pops up and one must type it on the bluetooth keyboard to complete the process. But no PIN ever appears, so there's nothing for me to type, and I have to cancel the process. Here's what I've done so far to troubleshoot.

I've tried the process over and over again.
I moved the keyboard very near to, or several feet away from, the laptop.
I moved the notebook and the bluetooth keyboard to other locations in house, further away from other wireless devices.
I turned off all the other bluetooth devices in house.
In Device Manager I deleted everything under the Bluetooth category, selecting to delete the driver files on the computer, and rebooting. (After reboot, everything comes back by itself.)
The HP support assistant offers no updates.
Windows Update offered a more recent bluetooth driver. I installed it and rebooted.
I took the bluetooth keyboard to another Windows PC. It paired to that PC without issue. The PIN appeared, I typed it on the keyboard, and done.
I took the keyboard from that PC (also an Apple Wireless Keyboard) to this Envy notebook, and have the same problem.

Nothing helped.

jorkki · ‎02-25-2018

Sometimes it's hard to get the device to be forgotten so that you can start again from a clean table.

Have you tried these tricks?:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking-winpc/unable-to-remove-bluet...

People are using their precious remaining lifetime to try and help, so it is common courtesy to come back and tell what the solution eventually was even if you found it elsewhere. It is for the benefit of everyone.

RadioPhil · ‎02-26-2018

Hello jorkki,

I found two things to try from that thread.

1. Show Hidden Devices in Device Manager. I did that and saw three devices listed under the Keyboards category. I guessed that the "Standard PS/2 Keboard" item was the laptop's own keyboard, and the other two devices, labelled "HID... something" were the two Bluetooth keyboards I had tried unsuccessfully to connect. I saw under their properties that "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)" so I was doubly sure that these were the problem BT keyboards. So I deleted them and rebooted. The devices remained deleted. But, when I tried to pair one of the BT keyboards, I got the same "Check the PIN..." problem as before.

2. The post near the end of the thread by Twirlee says to find the devices in the Windows registry and delete them there. Using regedit I went to the location specified, but there is nothing listed there.

So it appears that I have successfully deleted the previous BT keyboards, but the pairing process still doesn't work.

Thanks, though.

jorkki · ‎02-26-2018

Apple stuff is a completely uncharted territory for me, but I suppose you have searched for how to reset the keyboard and make it searchable and try adding the device to Windows again. Sorry that I can't be of help.

Hopefully someone else who is in the know will chime in.

People are using their precious remaining lifetime to try and help, so it is common courtesy to come back and tell what the solution eventually was even if you found it elsewhere. It is for the benefit of everyone.

RadioPhil · ‎03-09-2018

First, I left something out of my first post in this thread, and it turns out to be important. Here are my first 4 sentences, updated (change in bold text):

"I'm trying to connect and use an Apple Wireless Keyboard. It's a bluetooth keyboard. It was paired and working fine with this Envy notebook until yesterday when the batteries got too low. At first I didn't realize it was the batteries, and I deleted the keyboard from Windows, thinking I could just pair again. I put in new batteries and have not been able to pair since."

Now continuing with my reply to you, jorkki:

Apple keyboards are very compatible with Windows. I have two others connected to other PCs. I did try resetting the keyboard, etc.

I also posted this issue on answers.microsoft.com and two other users have joined the thread with the same problem. (And not with Apple keyboards, I assume.) I believe this issue is a newly introduced Windows 10 bug, and some of us unwitting and unwilling Windows beta testers are paying the price. (If you have a Bluetooth keyboard, don't dare remove it from Windows!)

Anyway, I make periodic image backups of my system drive to help in just this kind of occasion. I restored the image I made just before I removed the keyboard, and problem solved -- the laptop booted up with the keyboard already connected!

Thanks to you jorkki for taking the time to try to help.

jorkki · ‎03-09-2018

Yes, there are maybe 600 million of us beta testers already.

Good that you were able to sort it out, not the easy way, but anyway.

People are using their precious remaining lifetime to try and help, so it is common courtesy to come back and tell what the solution eventually was even if you found it elsewhere. It is for the benefit of everyone.

Bluetooth keyboard won't connect - "Check the PIN and try connecting again."

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