pickerin

Q: El Capitan - Bluetooth Not Available

I've been looking through the forums and I'm seeing several references to folks running El Capitan getting the bluetooth icon with a lightning bolt through it, and a drop-down menu that just states "Bluetooth: Not Available".  I have a MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Mid-2015).

 

My additional symptoms are:

  1. There is NO Bluetooth Preference Pane.  It's gone.
  2. There are various errors in /var/log/system.log:
    • Oct  6 09:00:57 ohcpisvp kernel[0]: Sandbox: AssetCacheLocato(1222) deny(1) file-read-data /Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app/Contents/MacOS/Bluetooth File Exchange/..namedfork/rsrc
    • Oct  6 09:00:57 ohcpisvp kernel[0]: Sandbox: AssetCacheLocato(1222) deny(1) file-read-data /Applications/Utilities/Bluetooth File Exchange.app
    • Oct  6 09:00:57 ohcpisvp kernel[0]: **** [IOBluetoothFamily][SearchForTransportEventTimeOutHandler] -- Missing Bluetooth Controller Transport!
  3. Running System Report shows "No Information found" under Bluetooth

 

This started with an upgrade from Yosemite to El Capitan (retail App Store).  Bluetooth operated fine previously.

Disk Utility returns clean.

 

There is no longer a "Fix Permissions", as El Capitan instantiated the "System Integrity Protection" capability, removing fix permissions (and permanently fixing permissions on all system files).

 

I have tried the two solutions that were posted elsewhere:

  1. Reset SMC (Shutdown, press CNTL-Option-SHIFT-Power, let all of them go simultaneously, then power up)
  2. Delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist

 

The SMC reset, initially, seemed to return Bluetooth functionality, but putting the system to sleep and re-awakening it caused it to disappear again, since them it's been offline.

 

Looking to see how many other folks are experiencing this issue, so we can get some attention on it (especially since it seems to have been a common occurrence during the Betas), and to see if anyone has a sticky solution?  Resetting the SMC every time I boot seems a bit ridiculous.

 

-Rob

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Oct 6, 2015 6:24 AM

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Q: El Capitan - Bluetooth Not Available

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  • by Linc Davis,Apple recommended

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 9, 2015 4:16 PM in response to pickerin
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Oct 9, 2015 4:16 PM in response to pickerin
  • by pickerin,Helpful

    pickerin pickerin Oct 9, 2015 4:18 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 4:18 PM in response to Linc Davis

    This answer was linked twice to this post.

    My experience is that powering off the system, disconnecting all peripherals, and letting it sit for 2-5 minutes BEFORE powering it back up, will return Bluetooth to operation.

     

    Then when you put the system to sleep, and subsequently wake it, the problem returns.

     

    So, the only solution is to stop using Sleep under El Capitan if you want Bluetooth.

  • by mister_saxon,

    mister_saxon mister_saxon Oct 11, 2015 3:22 PM in response to pickerin
    Level 1 (17 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 11, 2015 3:22 PM in response to pickerin

    Actually "just" a reboot will typically restore the Bluetooth function. And it doesn't always die when you sleep the laptop, but it seems to lose the plot if you sleep it with a Bluetooth device connected and it can't find the device when it wakes (eg you went out without your mouse).

     

    But not always.

     

    Most reliable work-around: use a wireless mouse with a USB dongle instead. *sheesh*

     

    But actually this appears to be a known problem clashing with USB3. I have switched back from my Anker 8-port USB3 hub to my OWC thunderbolt dock to see if the situation keeps reoccurring now (I switched to the USB3 hub because I had too many devices so I've rationalised somewhat.

    See here for interesting stuff: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/magic-mouse-and-bluetooth-option-is-dead-wit h-yosemite-10-10.1803267/

  • by msc03,

    msc03 msc03 Oct 19, 2015 9:03 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 9:03 AM in response to Linc Davis

    And, again, that is irrelevant.  Read the page before you post a link; title says Bluetooth on that page but the info is about USB devices. 

  • by msc03,

    msc03 msc03 Oct 19, 2015 9:06 AM in response to pickerin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 9:06 AM in response to pickerin

    I've had no luck getting Bluetooth back at all since upgrading to El Capitan.  Gone from preferences and the menu bar shows it not available. 

     

    Sounds like Apple has yet again dropped the ball on this one.  I keep checking for updates, expecting them to release one to fix the problem that so many are having.  Strange. 

  • by Barry Hemphill,

    Barry Hemphill Barry Hemphill Oct 19, 2015 9:34 AM in response to msc03
    Level 8 (37,996 points)
    Peripherals
    Oct 19, 2015 9:34 AM in response to msc03

    Reset the SMC.

     

    Barry

  • by msc03,

    msc03 msc03 Oct 19, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Barry Hemphill
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

    Tried that as well the other day.  No go.  Unless the instructions I found elsewhere were wrong.

  • by pickerin,

    pickerin pickerin Oct 19, 2015 11:42 AM in response to mister_saxon
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 11:42 AM in response to mister_saxon

    The problem does seem to be linked to the issue of having a Bluetooth device active, when you sleep.

    Unfortunately for me, it's actually Bluetooth headphones, so I do not have a "USB" equivalent. 

    The only "fix" is to do a complete power-down, let it sit for a minute or two, and power it back up. 

    For someone who has rarely shutdown their Macintosh in a decade, that's difficult to work with...

     

    I know this problem is with El Capitan, this problem only occurred once I had upgraded.  I had never seen it before using the exact same hardware under Yosemite, so something changed in 10.11.

  • by pickerin,

    pickerin pickerin Oct 19, 2015 11:44 AM in response to Barry Hemphill
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 11:44 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

    SMC is a Red Herring, it does nothing for this issue.

    The only reliable fix I've had is to power down completely, disconnect ALL peripherals, let it sit for 2 minutes, and then power back up normally.

  • by Barry Hemphill,

    Barry Hemphill Barry Hemphill Oct 19, 2015 12:57 PM in response to pickerin
    Level 8 (37,996 points)
    Peripherals
    Oct 19, 2015 12:57 PM in response to pickerin

    Resetting the SMC  ("red herring" as you so quaintly phrase it) is a relatively standard troubleshooting step to take when Bluetooth is missing from a system. What you describe worked for you is a subset of a SMC reset - depending on the platform.

     

    Resetting the SMC may be a "red herring" to you, but it works for many people. I am posting this for the benefit of others reading this thread so that no one is confused.

     

    Barry

  • by mister_saxon,

    mister_saxon mister_saxon Oct 20, 2015 12:57 AM in response to pickerin
    Level 1 (17 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 20, 2015 12:57 AM in response to pickerin

    I am now looking at doing a clean install of El Capitan to replace my upgrade installation*. At this point I am thinking I will use Migration Assistant to put all my "stuff" back but I should probably plan to do a manual re-install of everything as that would be much cleaner. *sigh*

     

    Do you always disconnect the headphones before sleeping the machine? I am having some success in improving reliability by always making sure I disconnect stuff when the machine is awake, rather than asleep. I have to anyway as a rule because of the mounted external hard disks but if I unmount, sleep and then unplug I have noticed more issues than if I unmount, unplug and then sleep.

     

    *Sounds like overkill for a random Bluetooth issue I know but I am also having intermittent issues with the keychain access and iCloud and that can get serious pretty quickly. It's just a case of finding the time to do it...

  • by Fil-mac,

    Fil-mac Fil-mac Oct 24, 2015 9:04 AM in response to mister_saxon
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 24, 2015 9:04 AM in response to mister_saxon

    I've been having the same serious issue on my iMac after (clean) installing El Capitan and the recent 10.11.1 upgrade.

    Upon booting, no bluetooth apple keyboard to enter my account credentials.

    I had to connect my usb keyboard to login to el Capitan to discover that system could not find the internal bluetooth circuit and therefore no bluetooth keyboard or magic mouse or trackpad !!!

    Im sorry apple but this is unacceptable.

     

    With some time consuming experimentation i found out that by disabling the FileVault encryption and rebooting

    bluetooth was back on. I could now enter my credentials on the login screen with my apple wireless keyboard and once entering el capitan, bluetooth preference pane was back with all the bluetooth features.

     

    I reported the bug to apple and until furter notice, make your system less secure by disabling FileVault.

     

    At least that worked for me so far.

    no bluetooth.png

    Bluetooth -> No information available (greek language) with FileVault enabled.

     

    Update: Miraculously once i disabled FileVault, my iMessage on my iMac started to sync with my iphone and seems to be working fine. So i tend to think that FileVault is causing issues on many levels.

  • by msc03,

    msc03 msc03 Oct 24, 2015 7:41 PM in response to Fil-mac
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2015 7:41 PM in response to Fil-mac

    Tried this. Unfortunately it didn't work for me on my Macbook Pro.  This continues to get more and more frustrating.  It is odd that different "fixes" are posted as remedying the issue but they don't work for everyone.  Had an update from Apple today; hoped it would fix it but no go.  Guess I'll keep waiting.  Just really strange!  I'm not very familiar with the "back side" of OS X but I keep wondering if there isn't some registry (or whatever it'd be called) entry that needs to be changed to on or something...

  • by Fil-mac,

    Fil-mac Fil-mac Oct 25, 2015 4:55 AM in response to Fil-mac
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 25, 2015 4:55 AM in response to Fil-mac

    iMessage is refusing to work but at least Bluetooth seems to be working with FileVault disabled

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