Windows 7 Windows 8 HTPC Rii Mini Keyboard Bluetooth Issues

[mattlach]

So, my Rii Mini Keyboard with Trackpad (RT-MWK02) finally arrived from Newegg last night.


The unit came with a small USB bluetooth adapter.


I plugged the adapter in, but the keyboard in discoverable mode, typed in the password Windows gave me, and everything worked perfectly on the first try!


Then I decided I didn't like the USB port I plugged the bluetooth adapter into (it has a rather bright red LED, and I plugged it in to the front of the HTPC which was distracting, so I decided to move it to the back.


Removed the USB adapter, plugged it back in, bluetooth adapter is discovered by Windows again, but no input from the keyboard.


I try re-pairing it. Windows never discovers the new device.


I go to the list of devices, and remove it from the list, and try re-pairing it again. Again, windows does not discover the keyboard, even though the bluetooth adapter is still present (and functional) in windows.


Just in case it's a weird USB issue, I move the adapter back to the original port where it once worked, and still it does not pair with the HTPC.


In all of the cases it simply is not discovered by the Windows 8 machine when searching, like it was the first time.


To make sure there is nothing wrong with the keyboard, I try to pair it with my cellphone (Samsung Galaxy S3) and it works perfectly. (it's a little odd to see a mouse pointer on a cellphone screen, but I digress)


So again, I disconnect it, and try to pair it with Windows 8 again, to no avail.


My best guess is that Windows 8 somehow is remembering the paired device (even though it's been deleted from the list of devices) and simply won't find it again.


Does anyone have any experience with this?


I appreciate the help.


--Matt

 

[kemical]

If you only just got the machine why not return it back to factory defaults and start again? If you open the charms, hit settings, change pc settings and then general, you'll see, scroll down, where it's possible to revert back.

 

[Jimbo22]

When you removed the usb dongle, did you safely remove it using the "safely remove" icon in notification area, in my case it located in the "show hidden icons" area. Some times when removing a usb dongle/device with out using the safely to remove feature can render the device inoperable. I've seen it happen and it happened to me personally with an mp3 player, and a hard lesson learned.

I would try contacting your Rii mini keyboard manufacturer and see what they have to say. They may have some removal tool or at least some advice on how to correct your problem.

The device is vague on information on system requirements, whether for OS desktop PC's or not. It's definitely designed to work for mobile devices such as phones/tablets that run Android and iOS like Apple iPhones.

There are a bunch of usb Bluetooth mini keyboards strictly made for Desktops, in your case an HTPC. Logitech makes a few slim and low profile keyboards.


http://reviews.cnet.com/keyboards/logitech-dinovo-mini-keyboard/4505-3134_7-32784878.html

 

[Saltgrass]

I have had some situations with Blue Tooth devices being on the back of a system. In my case, it was an onboard device. But I you have one of those extender cables, perhaps you could put it closer to the front, in case the signal strength was not sufficient.

And as bassfisher mentions, plugging a device back in the same port may cause problems. Uninstalling the device(Bluetooth Dongle) in Device Manager and checking the remove all drivers box might help. There may also be instances in the hidden devices view.

Also, on some of the USB Hub devices you might find a Reset option in the properties dialog...you could try that.

What does the red light indicate in your situation?

I can't remember for sure, but do you have a Bluetooth icon in the system tray? Does it give you the option to remove or add devices?

 

[kemical]

Every time Device manager see's a device it creates a record of it's type, settings and drivers. To fully remove this record open an admin cmd prompt and type:

Set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

Press enter and then type:

Devmgmt.msc

Press enter.

Now go to 'View' and select 'Show hidden devices'. Expand the section you want and anything that's old will appear in grey. You can right click this and delete it from the system. Be careful and just remove what you need to.
Once closed the Device manager will go back to normal.