I've had my iPad since December and still haven't figured out much about it. I'm not that good with these things, especially when it gets technical. But I have three random problems:

Sometimes I have a problem receiving email: I get an error about the imap.aol.com having a problem or something. It does not happen all the time - it will be completely fine for a long time and then I will get this error a bunch of times and then it will be fine again..all without me changing a thing!

Sometimes my bluetooth keyboard doesn't work and the iPad onscreen keyboard shows up then the keyboard works again. It could happen anytime and lasts for a few seconds then is fine again and then it starts acting up again. Again, this is without me changing anything.

I have not been able to use my camera connection kit for the last few days. When I plug it in absolutely nothing happens. It's like my iPad doesn't realize it is plugged in. I've never had a problem with it before and I have not changed SD cards, camera or any settings!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I have a 16G wi-fi iPad. I don't know a lot about computers. I had a problem syncing it with iTunes at home but was able to update and sync through my work computer..it locked up and then I had to do a reboot (with help from Apple), it then got stuck in reboot, so Apple had to help me get it unstuck and I had to re-sync everything. Don't know if that helps at all, but these problems all started after that happened. Like I said, it can be totally fine for a while and then just randomly starts acting up without me changing a thing and usually right when I'm in the middle of something.

Thanks!!

When things start acting a bit weird, it's a good idea to completely shut the iPad off and restart. You should probably do this at least once a week (my unsupported opinion on frequency.)

Just hold down the power button for about three seconds. You'll get a power off slider. Go ahead and slide it off. Wait until the iPad completely shuts down and then restart it by holding down the power button for about three seconds again.

For more serious problems, when shutting it off doesn't work, you can do a soft reset. Hold down the power and home key for about 10 seconds, or until the Apple logo appears. Let go and wait for it to reboot. This will take a few minutes, so be

To add to twerppoet's excellent advice, I have a Bluetooth keyboard on my iPad too. I'm not sure if it's the same one as you have, but mine automatically 'goes to sleep' after a few minutes to conserve its battery power. Then, the next time I try to use the iPad for typing, the on-screen keyboard will 'pop' up. On my Bluetooth keyboard, though, if I ignore the on-screen keyboard and start typing on the Bluetooth keyboard, it will automatically switch itself on and reconnect to the iPad and then the on-screen keyboard 'disappears' all by itself.

This takes a second or two, but the characters that I typed on the Bluetooth keyboard before it reconnected are not 'lost' but appear suddenly once the keyboard has reconnected with the iPad.

If you have problems with your iPad don't panic and just post your questions here. There are a bunch of iPad enthusiasts on this Forum and you'll probably get more help than you bargained for.

Tim
Scotland

Thank you so much to both of you! The soft reset worked with my camera connection problem. I'll see if it helped with the email problem throughout the day if I don't get that error message (it normally happens at least once a day if not more). I will just keep typing also on the keyboard and see if it is just the keyboard sleep issue. Thanks again!!

Originally Posted by sunshiny1

Thank you so much to both of you! The soft reset worked with my camera connection problem. I'll see if it helped with the email problem throughout the day if I don't get that error message (it normally happens at least once a day if not more). I will just keep typing also on the keyboard and see if it is just the keyboard sleep issue. Thanks again!!

Don't be surprised by AOL IMAP problems. It's probably not not you. It's them. I maintain a couple of AOL IMAP accounts that I access from my iPad, a ThinkPad and a Dell Desktop. I get IMAP timeouts or password requests at least twice a week and it doesn't matter which machine I'm using. AOL's IMAP support is not world-class. But then again, neither is their POP implementation.