How are you able to do that when the keyboard isn't even connected?

I just tried it anyway (from an ssh over usb connection) and got the following:

The symptoms are: when I switch on the keyboard the BT icon switches to blue (indicating keyboard is connected - however note that I haven't looked into the logs to see whether it has really connected), now if I do not press a key on internal keyboard then after a few seconds the BT icon changes back to white (indicating keyboard is disconnected), but if I do press a key on internal keyboard the BT icon stays blue and stays connected and useable.

OK I just confirmed that I have different symptoms. The icon changes back to white whether or not I press a key on the internal keyboard. Actually it changes back so fast that I have to hurry to close the Bluetooth configuration gui to catch it before it changes.

I'm not sure which gui you're referring to but the standard operating procedure for using BT (for me at least) is to enable BT, the BT white icon appears on the status area. Switch on the BT device and in most cases they auto initiate a connection to the N900 (headsets, my BT mouse). However some, like my keyboard, I need to press a key (on the BT keyboard) for it to start auto connect to N900.

Unfortunately, no. I basically kept retracing my steps (and yes, I did press a key on the keypad)... since this happened within the first week of having got my BT keyboard, I returned the thing and got a refund. It would have been nice to have but far from essential.

Sorry I wasn't clear. What you describe more closely resembles what I had before I upgraded to PR1.3 - though I never had to push a key on the internal keypad to make it work.

Now, the only way I can get the icon to turn blue is by re-pairing the keyboard. Thus the gui I was talking about was the bluetooth devices setup. When I pair the keyboard, the BT icon goes blue for a couple of seconds, then back to white. At the same instant the keyboard goes back to discoverable mode. Pressing keys on the keyboard (internal or bluetooth) has no effect.

My interpretation is that the BT keyboard hasn't recognised that it is paired, so jumps back to discoverable mode. I guess I need to try using it with another computer and/or try another device with the N900. But given that the problem started happening exactly when I did the upgrade to PR1.3, my money is still on the problem lying with PR1.3.

Other suspicions: I installed advanced-interface-switcher (which controls among other things the bluetooth interface) but it didn't work with PR1.3 so I removed it. But it may have left a mess in its place.

Or it could have been just that I did an upgrade via pc-suite, which wasn't as smooth a ride as I hoped. If I get no joy by the time I really need to use the keyboard I'll flash a virgin PR1.3 image and start again.

[EDIT]
I just did a complete factory reset, installing both PR1.3 and eMMC images. It made zero difference to the behaviour. I guess it's time to wait for Nokia to come up with a solution to bluetooth problems with PR1.3
[/EDIT]

+1 for avidscavenger's problem

___________

Problem solved, low batteries!

So you don't have the problem any more??? (I charged my batteries just to be sure, but it made no difference) Can you tell me exactly how you made it work? Thanks!

Again this is of little help... I uninstalled the BT HID scripts (I wanted to get rid of the mouse driver since it messes up the kinetic scrolling), and now I have exactly the same problem as you do, even after reinstalling the BT scripts.

There is a new package called Extkbd, did you try that? I think it uses the same methods, so I am not hopeful, but who knows.

@ maartenmk - I just tried extkbd but, as predicted it didn't work. Clearly you have to be able to pair the keyboard before you can deal with the layout etc.

But it looks promising for configuring external usb keyboards, which can now be used thanks to the h-e-n project.

[EDIT]
After some very prompt help on the extkbd thread thread: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=65577 I can now happily report that my keyboard works again.
[/EDIT]