This posting is older than 6 months and can contain outdated information.
Thanks for your extensive problem description. I'll still need this info to put your issue into context, though:
1) Which version of Remote Buddy are you running? (please look it up under "About")
2) Which version of Mac OS X are you running? (please look it up under "About this Mac")
3) Which Mac are you using?
4) Please send a screenshot of
a) Remote Buddy Preferences > Hardware > Bluetooth Receiver
b) System Preferences > Bluetooth
to info iospirit.com.
5) Which button (or button combination) do you press on your BD Remote to connect to your Mac? And for how long?
6) When did you buy the BD Remote you're having this issue with?
7) Since when did you use the BD Remote with Remote Buddy?
8) Since when did you start seeing the issue you describe?
9) Are you using the original Sony PS3 BD Remote - or a device that claims to be compatible with it?
10) Did you try with a completely fresh set of batteries? The BD Remote can behave very randomly when the batteries are low in power. Please keep in mind this is a Bluetooth remote and batteries can get empty *a lot* faster than is the case with infrared remotes. So even if you replaced the batteries two days ago, you really should try with a set of new batteries today - to simply eliminate this as a variable.
Several users have reported pairing problems between remote buddy and PS3 Remote. Even though remote buddy is known to be using the Apple Bluetooth stack, there still seems to be some kind of problems between Remote Buddy and these remotes.
What users are you referring to?
If you're referring to users of this forum, it usually boiled down to wrongly set preferences (default settings work just fine) or button combinations that were pressed for too long, resetting the remote during the pairing process, thus making the establishment of a connection impossible.
The most frequently wrongly set preferences that regularly caused confusion was subsequently removed. And pairing could be achieved by holding the pairing button combination for a shorter period of time.
4) Pair the PS3 Remote using the Remote Buddy Setup Wizard.
Remote buddy reports "Pairing Successful". And the PS3 remote begins to work whilst RB remains open. Over in the System Preferences (Bluetooth) Pane, the PS3 BD Remote now appears. It shows "Connected" and with a green status light. However in the Details it says "Paired: No". Heres the screenshot:
If the BD Remote Control appears in the list of devices, it's a known device to the system. Once it's in this list, the remote can initiate a connection to the computer by itself. Which is all that's needed here.
The status displayed under "Paired" is irrelevant in this context.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/004-system-preferences-after-rb-pairing.png
I see a lot of extra info on the device in your screenshot that I don't see here. Are you using any additional tools?
6) Quit Remote Buddy. The status in the Bluetooth Preference Pane will immediately change to this:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/006-system-preferences-after-rb-quit.png
As we can see above ^^. As soon as we have quit remote buddy, then our BD Remote is no longer connected anymore. And it is still not paired either.
Since Remote Buddy tells the PS3 Remote to close the connection when it quits, this is what is wanted and expected. Keeping the connection open would be a waste of energy.
7) Re-open Remote Buddy program again. Now we see:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/007-rb-2nd-launch.png
Which mean that the remote was not detected.
Sorry, but this is an incorrect assumption ..
This means that the pairing was either 1) forgotten. 2) Pairing was never completed. So un-finished pairing cannot be re-instated after the serial link / UART has closed.
... and these are incorrect conclusions :-)
I can assure you that Remote Buddy has neither forgotten your remote nor does this indicate that pairing "was never completed".
Remote Buddy simply only shows those Bluetooth remotes here that are currently powered on and have established a connection.
To establish a connection from your remote to your Mac, simply shortly press any button on the remote. Do not use the "Enter + Start" button combination for this, however (that'll reset any open connection and put the remote in visible mode for pairing with new devices) - and don't press the PS button for a longer period of time (that'll turn off our remote).
Best regards,
Felix Schwarz
