Apple wireless keyboard on Linux

The new Apple wireless keyboards are a really nice looking and robust design, but unfortunately, Many people are having trouble using them under Linux.

The main problem is that it times out and people assume that the problem is something to do with the Linux Bluetooth layer. But actually the problem is very easily solved - the keyboard requires a pin number to be established before it will allow the device to connect and bond.

Also, I find that there can be problems connecting to some devices using the GNOME applet by in the system try, so these instructions create the initial connection from a root terminal instead.

First, find the MAC address of your device, as follows:

hcitool scan

This will yield something like the following output:

00:1D:D8:93:90:3D      Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
00:1E:52:FC:4A:8E      Apple Wireless Keyboard

Next, turn on the keyboard, and establish a connection as follows:

hidd --connect 00:1E:52:FC:4A:8E

This is where it would normally time out if left to its own devices, but actually all is well and the keyboard is waiting for you to enter a four digit PIN number such as 0000 into the Apple keyboard followed by the enter key. When you hit enter, a dialog box will come up allowing you to enter the matching PIN (using your currently working keyboard) which will then complete the connection and bonding process.

After this procedure, the keyboard should be listed in the connected and bonded devices list and will automatically be present after rebooting or whenever the keyboard is powered up.