User

06.03.2011 23:02:12

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.

The workflow below, is here to give a observation here and inline with these user reports. There are actually several possible combinations of events. This example is meant to provide just 1 way, so that you can reproduce in the lab.

1) Select the following options in Remote Buddy Preferences / Hardware submenu:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/001-rb-prefs-starting-point.png

2) Also Click "Unpair" for any previous bluetooth remotes, so we start with an empty list.

3) Open System Preferences and go to the main Bluetooth Preference pane. If there are any old entries of the PS3 remote that have already been failing, then we must delete them. So to start from a place that looks like this:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/003-system-preferences-starting-point.png

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:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588496/RB-PS3-REMOTE/004-system-preferences-after-rb-pairing.png

5) If we leave the Bluetooth preferences pane alongside / next to Remote Buddy. The we can see any status changes over there when we do something else.

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.

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. 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.

^^ Its just my guess, but I can never see this working, unless the device is fully paired. What happened during bluetooth pairing back in 10.4 Tiger? It just forgets the pairing, sometimes even whilst Remote Buddy is still running. And its remarkably annoying.

Last edited: 07.03.2011 16:55:30 

User

07.03.2011 17:16:20

Okay, today I have read on another forum. If you start at this comment and read it from there. It seems to be the same issue as we are experiencing here with Remote Buddy.

http://antst.blogspot.com/2008/02/linux-driver-for-sony-bd-remote.html?showComment=1230486180000#c576147852898534219

It seem relevant to any people who previously paired their remotes with the PS3 game console, before deciding to use Remote Buddy. Certainly this is what happened in my situation.

User

10.03.2011 02:10:02

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.

 
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.

 
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.

 
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?

 
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.

 
Sorry, but this is an incorrect assumption ..

 
... 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 

User

10.03.2011 12:44:02

Thank you so much for showing an interest in this.

On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 1:10 AM, Felix wrote:

 
Actually several versions: first 1.16.5, then upgraded to 1.16.6. 
Yesterday also 1.11.4. Because I happened to have that version as a 
backup. 11.4 was the initial version that had this new code. For each 
version - reinstalled the kext. I am now back to using 1.16.6 because 
in all versions the Remote fails to Re-establish a connection.

Behaviour in regards to my Sony BD Remote was the same across those 
three versions.

 
10.6.6 Build 10J567 - always since I got the Sony BD Remote 1 week ago.

 
Intel Mac Mini 2007 model. Its Intel GMA950 board with 2Gb max ram, Core Solo.

 
You will receive an email later this afternoon.

 
I have tried:

1) pressing any individual key 
2) holding PS 
3) holding the Pairing keys because 1) didnt work.

Any combinations will result in the Mac OS "Pairing Request" dialog 
appearing instead.

What is interesting is that I have meanwhile also been collecting open 
source code and putting it together into an example XCode project for 
you Felix. Whilst the example is running (in XCode debugger), the OSX 
pairing request dialog is not appearing, it seems to be suppressed in 
the code I have. Instead the example program gets a callback for L2CAP 
interrupt channel notification, but unfortunately not and data msg for 
which keypress it was. So in other words (at the moment) L2CAP data 
connection is not re-established. That example codes is very good for 
debugging however. I shall provide a link for you in my email later 
today.

 
About 1 week ago. Its a brand new official Sony remote. I think we 
also need an OLD remote to make sure that Sony has not changed 
anything in their production. My remote definitely has these issues, 
and it is a very new one.

This is the Sony model number:

MODEL: CECHZR1E

I will also ask other forum members to provide their Sony Model number ^^

 
For the last 1 week. There was some suspicion that pairing with a PS3 
first may affect the behaviour of the remote. But we arent sure of 
that. Although I can report registering my remote with PS3 first of 
all, I cannot say if that has any affect to this issue.

 
From the very beginning. Ever since I noticed the batteries get 
drained and had to enable the power saving features. As shown in the 
screenshot. Thats when the pairing dialog would start coming up...

Before then the remote had been always connected so the issue did not appear.

 
Its a brand new, official Sony BD Remote, and came from Play.com, 
sealed in official Sony PLAYSTATION (TM) box. 
Its MODEL: CECHZR1E

 
I became aware of the high power usage after 1 day so changed the 
batteries for a fresh set. Of course then I had to enable the power 
saving features in the screenshot. Before that there was no power 
saving, "always switched on". I am sure the batteries are fresh. And 
there is no weak signal / interference. During these tests I keep the 
remote 18 inches near the computer whilst testing it. So the reception 
good.

The issue is most easily reproduced simply by doing Quit / Restart of 
RB program. Because that closes the connection. The issue can also be 
reproduced by enabling the relevant power saving feature (disconnect 
after X minutes) and simply waiting for the BD Remote to timeout and 
be disconnected by RB after a while. Then the "pairing request" dialog 
will appear for any button press. The connection can not be 
re-established by any method except to re-run the pairing wizard.

Clearly just keeping it connected is not a possible choice because it 
eats all of the batteries just like you say...

 
Because there are other RB users on this forum who have recently 
reported "pairing" related issue. Sorry "pairing problem" is a wrong 
statement - the problem is actually re-establishing the connection 
after 1st disconnection.

 
Well... I can say that after my initial post I have been reading 
through the archives. To begin with we dont know enough always about 
what we are talking about - there are some mis-information. But there 
is also some truth in these problem reports.

I had hoped by following all the detailed suggestions (by you Felix in 
these previous archives) that the problem would just go away. However 
even using all of the correct methods you describe, there is 
absolutely no way I can get this remote to re-establish any connection 
to Remote Buddy on the host computer. A single keypress should do it - 
and that is when we get the pairing dialog on the screen.

Remote buddy does not receive any keypress event. I appreciate Felix 
that there are also other users with the Sony remote who have not had 
any issues...

Which is also what makes me wonder what the cause is?

Here is my priority list:

1) the version of the Sony remote 
2) the bluetooth hardware of the host computer 
3) the latest os-x bluetooth stack 
4) the version of remote buddy program

 
I hope that we have now established that its not a preferences issue.

 
Yes we have now also established that this ^^ is not significant. I 
apologise for placing any emphasis on that detail, but it may explain 
the reason for why Mac OS decides to open the alert box for "Pairing 
Request". That is what happens after disconnection, when we try to 
press any single button on the remote.

 
If you are asking about the bluetooth system preferences pane - that 
is the "show info" in the gears menu. Its the OS-X 10.6.6 official 
release. NOT developer OSX seed image. No special diagnostic bluetooth 
tools.

What I have now is an example Xcode project for xcode gdb debugger. 
You will receive a link to download.

 
Okay, we have established that this is just a way to force the 
connection to be closed, so we can more easily reproduce the issue.

 
Sorry - I just expected the Remote Buddy would initiate a connection 
from host -> remote. We have established now that there can be correct 
operation which the BD Remote as silent (powered down) until a key is 
pressed. Sorry I did not know this previously but am now aware of 
that.

 
Yes - we I agree we have yet to find the real issue here.

 
Okay - this is where things go wrong for my setup. In my experiences - 
after the connection is closed the 1st time it can never be 
re-established by pressing any single button. When the button press 
occurs some L2CAP Bluetooth event is received on the host computer. 
However the result is Mac OS Pairing Request Dialog box.

RB may subscribe to or receive some of the notifications for L2CAP 
interrupt channel and L2CAP control channel for the registered SONY BD 
device. RB knows the Bluetoth Device ID (its shown in the list in RB 
Preferences -> Hardware).

Perhaps some, but certainly not all of the required bluetooth 
notifications are received or by RB program. Specifically, we may not 
receive the following callback:

+l2capChannelData:data:length:

This is as far as I have gone using the example Cocoa App and 
IOBluetooth notifications. I appreciate that much more knowledge is 
needed to understand these L2CAP bluetooth channels.

Felix - I will email you towards the end of today with the screenshots 
you requested. And the example xcode project. Many thanks.

 

User

15.03.2011 17:31:01

Issue solved.

The OS X Bluetooth stack had saved incorrect data about the remote - and removing and re-adding the remote won't correct this, since OS X caches this data in its preference files even when you have already removed a device from System Preferences > Bluetooth.

Deleting the files

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

(and the incorrect data in the cache along with it) solved the issue permanently.

Thanks to Gulliver for all his efforts and detailed feedback!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

02.08.2011 05:21:40

I am having a simular issue, BluRay remote disconnects and wont reconnect... I tried the above fix to no avail, any other ideas or debugging I can do? I have 2 sony remotes and both suffer this issue.

-R 

User

02.08.2011 10:23:02

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 4:21 AM, Ryan1 
wrote:

 
Check carefully in the ByHost subfolder of preferences. There are also 
several other locations. See other recent thread.

 

User

02.08.2011 10:30:16

sudo find / -name '*.Bluetooth.plist' 
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

That was the only one, and I deleted it.. rebooted and re-added the remote through remote-buddy and the issue persists.

Last edited: 02.08.2011 10:32:13 

User

02.08.2011 14:15:02

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 9:30 AM, Ryan1 
wrote:

 
Sorry, but thats insufficient. Have you ever seen inside the ByHost 
directory? OSX peturbs plist filenames within there by a unique HostId.

You could cd into each of the 4-5 preferences locations and either 
find or ls -l *luetooth*

Delete or move all matches (however unlikely they might seem). Then try again.

Also check Library/Caches directories. Same deal: 
find or ls -l *luetooth*

 

User

03.08.2011 05:02:48

sudo find / -name 'com.apple.Bluetooth*plist'

found:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
/private/var/root/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Bluetooth.DF557FA2-C304-556B-A442-960AB835CB5D.plist 
/Users/ark/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Bluetooth.DF557FA2-C304-556B-A442-960AB835CB5D.plist 
(ark is the user RB is running as)

Removed all the results, rebooted.. resync'd BluRay Remote w/Remote Buddy... After a min a message displays that its putting remote to sleep and then it never works again... Removing the batteries or holding the PS button for 5 seconds and it reconnects and works fine until it goes to sleep again.

Im stumped, BT is my only option as my media server is in a rack in my basement.. a BT keyboard has no problems keeping sync'd up.

Cheers, 
-R

Last edited: 03.08.2011 05:05:24 

User

03.08.2011 11:57:01

Thanks for asking.

Please provide more information on your setup:

- Mac model and CPU (Intel / PowerPC)

- OS X release in use

- Remote Buddy version in use

- Are you using a Sony BD Remote (as pictured on the Remote Buddy site's Hardware section) or a Sony Blue-Ray Remote (the latter is a universal remote)?

Also, with regards to physics:

- What is the distance between your Mac and your remote - and is there a wall or ceiling in-between?

- Can you reproduce the issue when you're in the same room as your Mac?

- Did you try with a fresh pair of batteries?

 
All BT devices belong to a certain class that specifies the range they can be used within. AFAIK the Sony BD Remote is a class 2 remote, which is specified for a range of 10 meters maximum (with a direct line of sight and nothing in-between that could weaken the signal). Your keyboard may be in a different class (f.ex. Class 1 is specified for a range of 100 meters).

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

03.08.2011 18:51:04

OSX Server 10.6.2 / Intel, model not applicable (Vanilla Kernel) 
Remote Buddy 1.18

Sony BD Playstation Remote exactly as pictured.. (I have 2 of em, bought an extra thinking it was faulty)

There is a USB cable ran along the with the HDMI cable going to the basement... hidden behind my TV is a powered USB hub that has a USB BT Receiver plugged in... there is no BT directly in my media server

Distance from the BT receiver and remote: 10ft tops

Fresh batteries yepp... gotta keep piles of em ready for this remote.

Everything was working perfectly fine for well over a year til beginning of June when remote took a dive.. figured it was the remote, til I got another one...

I will be upgrading it to Lion Server here eventually, perhaps a complete clean OS install might help.

Last edited: 03.08.2011 20:26:06 

User

11.08.2011 21:00:45

I recently got a Mac Mini (2011 i5) with 10.7 pre-installed which I want to utilize as a HTPC machine, powered by XBMC and Remote Buddy (latest version 1.18.1 installed).

Unfortunately, I am facing exactly the problem described here, I can successfully connect to my both BD-remotes (since I have a PS3 I got a 2nd remote), but occasionally on the first attempt to connect after startup OSX greets me with the "Enter the PIN to pair" dialog. I just wait until the dialog vanished and try again - after 2-5 tries the remote connects normally.

Am I missing some of the files I should delete to get rid of this problem?

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist 
/private/var/root/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Bluetooth.DF557FA2-C304-556B-A442-960AB835CB5D.plist 
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.Bluetooth.DF557FA2-C304-556B-A442-960AB835CB5D.plist

"(and the incorrect data in the cache along with it) solved the issue permanently." 
I can not find anything related to Bluetooth in my Caches-folder (~/Library/Caches).

Thanks, 
Best regards 
Chris 

User

12.08.2011 11:57:19

Thanks for an interesting bit of information.

What happens if you wait a minute after startup before using your remote?

What Mac model are you using? And more particularly, is it one of the latest Mac mini or MacBook Air models?

Regarding resetting the information stored by the Bluetooth stack to defaults: Apple provides a tool for this, actually, and goes farther than just removing plist files. It also resets the information stored about your Bluetooth devices inside the Bluetooth chip itself.

It's part of the Developer Tools (possibly also comes with Xcode from the Mac App Store) and can be found under

/Developer/Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth/Bluetooth Explorer.app

The tool for resetting Bluetooth information is found in its menu under

Utilities > Modify Software & Device Configuration

I personally used this tool during development with all checkboxes selected (except for the "Force Setup Assistant to run again on restart" and "Force Language Chooser to run again on restart" - which I always kept unselected) for intermediate tests (for final tests, I'm using a whole set of different machines).

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz

Last edited: 12.08.2011 11:58:06 

User

12.08.2011 21:37:25

Thanks for the reply Felix.

I`ve downloaded XCode to utilize Bluetooth Explorer like you described.

While I tried to add the remote to RB (via the RB add remote function), I got to see the described OSX-dialog asking for the pairing code. Nevertheless a few seconds later the dialog disappeared and I could use RB with the remote.

After this, pressing a button on the remote directly after the start of the system / as soon as the RB message "Press any button on the BD Remote" appears always resulted in the pairing-dialog. Tested several times, every time same result.

But, if I wait 30-60 seconds and press a button on the remote, everything works okay as expected.

Are there some system components which are just not ready directly after the start? If needed, I am happy to help you out with system logs or anything else you need from the Mini.

BR 
Chris

EDIT: Since I got the Mini only for XBMC, I returned it and got a late 2009 Mini (NV 9400M) instead. Installed 10.6.8 on it, works flawlessly with the BD-remote.

Last edited: 15.08.2011 19:21:39 

User

02.09.2011 18:07:18

Felix, 
I've got the same problem. I tried the removal of the bluetooth preference files (including the ones in the ByHost directories)

This remote worked perfectly on my Late 2008 Macbook Pro, but I get the "Pairing Request from: BD Remote Control", now that I've switched to a Mini. I have disabled Bluetooth on the MacBook Pro

 
1.18.1

 
Mac OS X (server) 10.7.1 (build 11B2118

 
Mac Mini Server (Mid 2011)

 
I'll e-mail them soon.

 
Play, Enter, L1, both quick press and long hold.

 
About a month ago. It worked perfectly with my MacBook Pro in the past.

 
With the Mini: Today. With the MacBook Pro, about a month

 
Today, after my first reboot.

 
Original (Model Number CECHZR1A)

 
I tried it with a new set of batteries.

I am about three metres form the Mini with nothing in between.

Before deleting the preferences and re-adding the remote I could hit "Reject", and then it would work with Remote Buddy. Now remote buddy no longer sees it (I cleared the pairing in Remote buddy, removed the preferences, then rebooted, then re-paired in Remote Buddy, then rebooted).

Waiting a minute makes no difference. Unpairing and re-pairing in Remote Buddy works until the next reboot.

I'm downloading XCode at the moment.

[Edit] 
Resetting the settings in Bluetooth Explorer didn't help. 
I can get the remote to connect by: 
Starting Bluetooth Explorer 
Go to Devices -> Show Device Device Discovery 
Clicking on the BD Remote 
Click on Get Device Info 
Click on General 
Wait until it has finished loading 
Click on "Connected" wait for it to turn off again 
Then hit play on the remote. 
Now it connects correctly. Until you reboot

Last edited: 02.09.2011 20:22:41 

User

02.09.2011 19:19:01

Maybe try resetting the PRAM or the EFI Firmware?

On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:07 PM, MarcusP 
wrote:

 

User

08.10.2011 11:54:16

I also have this problem, a 2011 Mac Mini, and every time it resumes from sleep, I will be asked to enter the pairing passcode.

I've deleted all the files as above, and there's no trace left of them on the system. Also reset PRAM and still no luck. Hoping for a solution soon! 

User

08.10.2011 16:44:23

Some additional information:

- I deleted the Bluetooth*.plist files as instructed, rebooted and the PS3 controller works. I can put the Mac Mini to sleep, take out the PS3 controller's batteries and then reconnect just fine. It does take something like 30s to 1 minute to respond after Remote Buddy says "Press any button on your BD remote"

- While watching a movie, the remote will disconnect itself. After it does that, then it will ask for pairing again!

- Rebooting causes the passcode prompt as well. I just ran a test where I delete all the .plist items, unpaired everything, and it will keep asking for the passcode.

So I'm back where I'm started, it's still asking for the passcode. It seems that there's an issue with reconnection.

Last edited: 08.10.2011 17:12:23 

User

08.10.2011 17:24:59

As all of you, i have the same problem with the SONY bd remote and my mid 2011 mini. 
I also tried all the posted answers but nothing worked and my mac still asks me for a code ??

I really hope someone could bring a solution and i m ready to do tests if needed... 

User

09.10.2011 15:55:37

Same problem here. Mac mini 2011 mid model. 
pairing dialogue popping up after reboot or sleep.

User

09.10.2011 19:16:02

Thanks for all your feedback.

As I may have mentioned earlier, the entire connection handling for the PS3 BD Remote is handled by the OS X Bluetooth stack itself - including the dialog you're presented.

Since Remote Buddy has no influence on this at all and the issue can only be rooted in the OS X Bluetooth stack itself, only Apple will be able to fix this issue. The Mac Mini 2011 and the MacBook Air 2011 are currently the only (and first) Macs to adopt Bluetooth 4.0 chipsets and since this issue virtually only seems to occur with the Mac Mini 2011, I find it a plausible thesis that this issue is located inside the new code for these new Bluetooth chipsets.

I have purchased a Mac Mini 2011 myself now, will try to reproduce the issue and - if I succeed - get in touch with Apple to provide them with any info they need to identify and fix the bug (possibly in the course of an OS X update). This can take a while, but I'm afraid that is all I can do at the moment. I too would prefer if I could fix it myself. But the OS X Bluetooth stack is Apple's code, it's not open source and I have no chance of fixing bugs in it myself.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

10.10.2011 08:21:25

This is definitely a problem with the 2011 Mac Mini.

I tried with my Macbook Pro (2010) and Mac Pro (2009) and this issue is not there. I pair the BD Remote, reboot, sleep and pull batteries from the remote and still I am not presented with a passcode screen even after doing the above. It just automatically reconnects. I even repaired several times to try and it works fine.

Hopefully you can pester Apple for a fix! Their support forums appear to be down as well, no luck posting this issue there.

The only thing I can't test is another Bluetooth dongle. I wonder if you could use an older Bluetooth 2.0 dongle instead of the built-in 4.0 module in the Mac Mini 2011. 

User

10.10.2011 11:15:01

Thanks for sharing your experiences as well!

I've now also updated the list of compatible devices with information on this topic: 
http://www.iospirit.com/products/remotebuddy/hardware/#btmm2011

 
The only way I know of getting Apple's guaranteed attention on a bug is by filing a bugreport at http://bugreporter.apple.com/ . That doesn't guarantee a fix, but at least an Apple engineer will have seen - and considered - it. That's part of what I plan to do, too.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

10.10.2011 11:19:47

I would say that the problem resides with Bluetooth devices which do not require a passcode.

I wonder if this is a problem with the Wii-mote as well. Will definitely give it a try tonight. 

User

11.10.2011 15:05:50

The wii-mote does not have a problem pairing, perhaps it is a different class of Bluetooth device. I don't know what the difference is between the two devices. Both do not require a passcode. One thing to note is that when the pairing finishes, there are two lines displayed by the Apple Bluetooth dialog: #1 Pairing was successful and #2 Device is now ready ... ... ..., whereas with the PS3 controller, it only says #2 Device is now ready 

User

13.10.2011 10:14:38

With the release of Lion 10.7.2 yesterday, could somebody please verify if the problem still exists with the Mac Mini 2011? I would be happy to get the 2011 Mini / AMD again, but the BD-problem is a real showstopper for me.

Thanks 
Chris 

User

13.10.2011 10:51:01

The main difference between the Wii Remote and the Sony PS3 BD Remote is this:

1) For the Wii Remote, Remote Buddy has to actively seek it and initiate the connection: the Mac connects to the remote, if found powered on. Remote Buddy is involved in making the connection.

2) For the BD Remote, the remote initiates the connection to OS X: the remote connects to the Mac. Everything is handled entirely by the OS X Bluetooth stack. Remote Buddy is not involved in making the connection.

It is due to this technical difference that the Wii Remote is not affected by this issue.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

13.10.2011 11:34:02

Here's a little update:

1) I could reproduce the issue under 10.7.1 on a Mac Mini 2011 and have recorded Bluetooth packet logs of the issue for further inspection by Apple (if necessary).

2) I've installed 10.7.2 on the same Mac Mini 2011 an hour ago - and since then can no longer reproduce the issue. No matter whether the remote is connected when the Mac goes to sleep or not - OS X no longer asks for a PIN code. Under 10.7.2 everything works just as it should.

So from my perspective, the issue in the OS X Bluetooth stack has been fixed by Apple with the OS X 10.7.2 update. If anyone makes a different experience, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

13.10.2011 12:16:17

Thanks for your prompt reply, Felix! And good news, so I`ll eventually a 2011 Mac Mini. Again :-)

Best regards 
Christ 

User

13.10.2011 20:54:19

I can confirm that it's fixed in 10.7.2 as well! I've been happily using my PS3 remote for a couple hours now but wanted to make sure that it was indeed working without issues.

Extremely happy! 

User

14.10.2011 17:16:01

Thanks for your feedback! Much appreciated!

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

15.10.2011 10:10:46

Not good news - OSX Lion asked me for a passcode today when I tried to use the PS3 remote to wake up my Mac Mini :( 

User

15.10.2011 10:33:01

I can't reproduce the issue on 10.7.2 on either the Mac Mini Mid 2011 (Bluetooth 4.0) nor on a MacBook Pro 2011 (Bluetooth 2.1+EDR). I'll also try with older Macs later.

In the meantime, do you have Xcode 4 - a free download from the Mac App Store - installed by any chance?

If yes, please

1) launch the Packet Logger tool (from /Developer/Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth) 
2) click on "Clear" 
3) reproduce the issue 
4) select "Save As.." from Packet Logger's menu and save the log in pklg format (default) 
5) send the log to info ~at~- iospirit ~dot~ com

I'll then file a bug with Apple with all packet logs that I receive, so they can - hopefully - fix the issue in 10.7.3.

Other than that: are there any circumstances under which the issue always occurs - or never occurs?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

31.10.2011 14:32:47

I haven't been able to accurately reproduce this issue. It's sporadic. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've tried all combinations of disconnecting, restarting, battery pulls and sleep/wake scenarios and sometimes it just doesn't work and will ask for the passcode again. It does work more than fail, but at the moment I've given up and gone back to the Apple Remote which always work without fail.

However one thing that does work consistently is that if the passcode thing comes up, I can switch to the Apple Remote, use that for a bit, and then the PS3 BD remote will work fine after a bit again and the passcode dialog goes away.

User

31.10.2011 19:41:01

Thanks for your efforts!

I've by now filed a bugreport with Apple with all packet logs that I received:

http://www.iospirit.com/support/forums/remotebuddy/singlethread/15793/

Let's hope Apple addresses the issue with OS X 10.7.3.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

01.11.2011 02:17:02

Great news. I was previously waiting for 10.7.2, but now am waiting 
for 10.7.3 before upgrading.

Personally I have a much older (late 2007) MacMini 1,1 which of course 
has not been singled out like these 2008-2009 models. Either way but 
many such models fall outside as the broader category for not having 
the newest bluetooth 4.0 chipsets.

Let's hope Apple know how to resolve it.

Otherwise the most useful thing talked about in the Apple forums is to 
try completely switiching off Airport + your local LAN Router. Because 
certain 802.11 Wifi can interfere with the same Bluetooth frequency 
(including specific wifi modes and options in the router settings). So 
completely switch off the both router aswell if testing for this.

On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 6:41 PM, Felix 
wrote:

 

User

01.11.2011 23:05:02

Thanks for your contribution.

While Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks often use the same 2.4 GHz band and can interfere with each other, the PIN request the OS X Bluetooth stack shows appears even when you don't have Wi-Fi turned on. It's really a bug in the OS X Bluetooth stack's code.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

15.11.2011 23:59:56

I'm having the same problem on a 2009 Mac Pro, it just appeared after the 10.7.2 Lion update. I don't think the issue is specific to the Bluetooth chips shipped with the latest Mac Minis... 

User

16.11.2011 08:49:01

Thanks for your feedback.

It was specific to the Mac Mini Bluetooth chips with 10.7.1. It appeared on other Macs as well (not mine, though - which is a pity, because I can't reproduce it) with 10.7.2.

I have since collected the necessary debug information and filed a bugreport with Apple. Here's hope Apple will fix the issue with 10.7.3.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz 

User

16.11.2011 12:47:01

On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 7:49 AM, Felix 
wrote:

 
It just happens that Apple have announced their first Beta of 10.7.3 today. As 
with all developers seeds, it requires ADC access.

http://9to5mac.com/2011/11/15/apple-seeds-os-x-lion-10-7-3-11d16-to-developers/

Not sure its much help (before) they have publicly released their 
update. However its now possible to re-submit a new bug report under 
10.7.3 if the problem still persists.

 

User

16.11.2011 13:23:01

No worries, I'll keep an eye on this and contact Apple as necessary.

If any of those affected happen to be members of the Mac Developer Program themselves and are testing 10.7.3: please don't hesitate to drop me a mail with your results. Please do not post them here, however, as the 10.7.3 pre-release is covered by an NDA.

Best regards, 
Felix Schwarz