Dear Berry

Hello again dear readers. It's time to once again open up the mailbag and clear up any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's question comes from one of Mark P and he writes:

Dear Berry,

I really love using the Remote Control application to control my PlayBook. I even used it once to control my MacBook Pro but after the first time of successfully connecting, I couldn't successfully reconnect a second time. I'm wondering if there's any definite way to control my MacBook Pro via the Remote Control application.

Thank you,

Mark P

My response was actually from one of our fantastic CB forum members, webbasan. Here was my response to Mark.

Mark,

I found this solution in one of our forums. Hopefully this helps you out!

CB member Webbasan says:

I worked on it based on the tips for the PS3: The key is, that the remote app must be running before starting the pairing attempt from the host computer. In this case, the BlackBerry announces itself as "Human Input Device" and the connection succeeds. But the downside is, after disabling the connection it seems that it won't reconnect, so you have to pair it again. It seems to be enough to delete the entry on the Mac, that worked for me.

If you want to try it, here are the steps:

  • If not already done, establish a connection with your PlayBook. The remote app won't start without a known PlayBook.
  • Switch off bluetooth on the PlayBook.
  •  Make sure the BlackBerry is "visible" for bluetooth scans.
  • Start the remote app on the BlackBerry. It displays a "connecting..." message.
  • Start the pairing on the Mac via "System Preferences" > "Bluetooth" > "+ (Setup new device)" (or, in case you already added the bluetooth entry to the menu bar, select the similar entry in the bluetooth menu).
  • The Mac should find the BlackBerry and recognize it as "keyboard". If it is displayed as "smartphone", the handshake failed, so try again. If the remote app didn't time out up to now, just let the Mac scan again for bluetooth devices.
  •  Click "next" on the Mac, it shows a number that should be entered on the device. The BlackBerry should react on the pairing attempt and show a dialog to enter the number.
  • Both systems will guide you to the next steps.
  •  If the Mac displays the window to "discover" the new keyboard ("press the key right to the shift key..." etc.), just close it. It isn't useful in this case and might lead into trouble.
  • When it is connected, the Blackberry will think it is connected to the PlayBook and display the name of your PlayBook in the remote app... ;-) Never mind, everything should be well...
  • Try to move the mouse cursor with the scroll field or the touchscreen of the BlackBerry... Does it work? Congrats! ;-)
  • Now open some Mac application where you actually can type something useful: should work also... (I tried it partly with this posting, but there are some issues when your default keyboard settings are not US english... So there's more fiddling necessary...)
-Berry

If anyone else has any tips or suggestions using the BlackBerry Remote feature for Mac, PS3 or whatever other devices you've successfully paired them with, make sure to drop a comment below!

Have a question about BlackBerry etiquette? Need advice on how to cope with your BlackBerry addiction? Dear Berry has you covered and there's no question too big or problem too small. Submit any of your BlackBerry woes by email to [email protected] or on Twitter @DearBerryCB.

See you next week!

Read more