I am still using the Logitech Elite Bluetooth Keyboard I bought years ago. It was sold in a bundle with a Bluetooth Optical Mouse MX900 and a Bluetooth Hub. That Hub also served as a cradle to charge the Mouse.
Since I don’t user the Mouse anymore and don’t need therefore the Cradle to recharge it, I thought I could get rid of it if I could connect the Keyboard on a Generic Bluetooth dongle or even better: on my onboard Bluetooth.
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Actually, I don’t use the MX900 mouse anymore since the Cradle does not recharge it anymore. I think the “contacts” are dead. This seems to be a quite common issue.
And since my Asus P9X79 Pro MB comes with an onboard Bluetooth, I thought that I could completely get rid of the Logitech Hub which has its own power supply, a usb connector and a PS/2 connector… i.e.: too many cables :/
This is well supported by Logitech as explained in their Bluetooth FAQ. Here is how to proceed on Windows 8:
- The Bluetooth must already be installed. The default “drivers” (Bluetooth stack) from Microsoft will work fine.
- Right-click the Bluetooth icon in the system tray and select “Add a Bluetooth device.”
- Click “Add a device” on top of the Devices list.
- While the Wizard is searching for new devices press the “Connect” button behind the Keyboard (The small white button next to the battery compartment). A generic Keyboard will appear in the list. It will only be displayed as a Logitech Elite Keyboard once installed.
- Once the keyboard detected and added, Windows will prompt you to type a passkey on the Keyboard. You must end by pressing ‘Enter’ to validate the passkey.
- Now, you have to disallow Windows to turn off the Bluetooth while entering the sleep mode otherwise the Bluetooth keyboard will appear “Offline” when you wake up the computer.
- Right-Click the Bluetooth icon in the system stray and select “Open Settings”
- Open the “Hardware” tab in the “Bluetooth Settings” pane
- Select your Bluetooth dongle (or onboard emitter) and click on the “Properties” button to open the “Bluetooth Properties” pane
- Click on “Change settings”. You will see a new tab “Power Management”
- Open this “Power Management” tab and deselect “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
- The computer may have to be rebooted if the keyboard is not immediately enabled.
The only drawback is that I won’t be able to use the keyboard at boot time (e.g.: to enter the bios) or in safe mode. To support that, the Logitech Bluetooth Hub came with a PS/2 connector.
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