Pairing Apple 1st Gen Keyboard (A1016) with Windows 7

I was having some errors pairing the Apple 1st Gen bluetooth keyboard to my media centre. I discovered that you need todo the following:

  1. Turn on the keyboard
  2. Open up Bluetooth ‘Add Devices’ and wait for windows to discover the keyboard
  3. Select the keyboard and proceed to the next step in the wizard
  4. While it is saying ‘Connecting to device…’ you need to type a code into the apple keyboard. Just type 1234 then return
  5. Windows will now ask you for the code – you’ll need a working keyboard to enter this
  6. The keyboard should now be connected

Some users have reported that you will need to unpair the device with any previous computers – so you may need to do this as well.

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4 Responses to Pairing Apple 1st Gen Keyboard (A1016) with Windows 7

  1. ajnstein says:

    Same worked on win 10

    My A1016 hasn’t been used in more then 2 years, no specific unpairing from old mac was done, although not using it and storing without battery’s might have caused unpairing?

  2. ak says:

    Since this post comes up near the top of the search results for how to pair an A1016 keyboard, I thought I’d share my experience here in the hope that it helps others.

    Getting the timing right for this can be troublesome. I had success once, then after switching the keyboard off and on again to test it, the pairing was lost.

    Elsewhere, you’ll read that you can get it working by right-clicking the keyboard, clicking Properties, and ticking the HID box. This does not work, and if you have already tried it, you should probably remove the keyboard that it added. Similarly, it may be worth removing any keyboards that temporarily turn up during a failed “normal” pairing process.

    I found it easier to pair the keyboard using the Bluetooth Command Line Tools available at http://bluetoothinstaller.com/bluetooth-command-line-tools/

    Here’s what worked for me:
    0. Install the Bluetooth command line tools from the link above.
    1. Open the normal pairing process; right-click the keyboard, go to the second tab and get the hardware ID (xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx).
    2. Open a command prompt, and type: btpair -p12345678 -bxx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx (where xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx is the hardware ID) but don’t press Enter yet.
    3. Switch the keyboard on, wait for the steady light to go out, and for a double-flash.
    4. Press Enter (using your wired keyboard) in the command prompt window.
    5. Wait for two double-flashes on the Apple keyboard, then type 12345678 on the Apple keyboard and press the big Enter key.
    6. If you get a timeout error, switch the keyboard off for several seconds and try again. My timing may not work for you, so try varying it. This pairing process worked on the fourth or fifth attempt for me; with the standard Windows method it took upwards of twenty.

    It seems that the keyboard retains some memory and will not recommence pairing if it is only switched off for a very short period (a couple of seconds). When trying the normal pairing process, I would occasionally find it beneficial to take the batteries out and switch the power on, but I have no idea if that action helped in itself, or if it was just leaving the keyboard without power for the time that took that made the difference.

    • ak says:

      Forgot the crucial part: after the pairing succeeds, you will then need to go into the Devices control panel, right-click the keyboard and click Properties, then under Services tick the HID checkbox and click OK. Only then will your keystrokes be received!

  3. Alex says:

    I have the same problems with an Apple A1016 bluetooth keyboard, I installed Bt command line tools, followed the procedure listed above and I get System error. Code 259.

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