Lorista

Q: AirDrop Not working iOS 9.3.2 MacOS 10.11.5

Problem:              

     * In the past AirDrop has worked fine. Today it does not.

Environment:

     * IPAD Air Current OS:   iOS 9.3.2

     * Macbook Pro: MacOS 10.11.5.

 

Troubleshooting:

     *  AirDrop is on as "Everyone" on both devices.

     * Bluetooth is on the iPAD.

     * I've tried AirDropping in both directions and neither device will see the other.

     * I've reset the iPAD by holding down the sleep/home button at the same time on the iPAD.

     * I've reset the networking on the iPAD.

     * I've restarted each device. They are literally sitting next to one another.

     * Both devices are connected to the same network.

  

I can access the internet on both devices. I do not know what it can be besides a bug? Anyone having this issue?

 

 

 

 

Thank you,

Lori

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), ipad air , ios 9.3.2, airdrop,

Posted on Jul 12, 2016 11:43 AM

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Q: AirDrop Not working iOS 9.3.2 MacOS 10.11.5

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  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 12, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Lorista
    Level 10 (120,054 points)
    Apple Watch
    Jul 12, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Lorista

    On your Mac go to System Preferences > Bluetooth. Turn Bluetooth off then back on.

     

    On your iPad tap Settings > Bluetooth. Toggle Bluetooth OFF then back ON.

     

    Do the same for Wi-Fi on Mac and iPad.

     

    Then try AirDrop.

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 12, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Carolyn Samit
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

    Carolyn,

    Thank you for replying. I should have been clearer. I've done both. While neither device shows up in AirDrop, the iPAD and the MacbookPro are paired in Bluetooth.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 12, 2016 12:59 PM in response to Lorista
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jul 12, 2016 12:59 PM in response to Lorista

    Please read this whole message before doing anything.

    This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

    The purpose of this test is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account. Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

    While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

    Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

    After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

    *Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The "Guest User" login created by "Find My Mac" is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 12, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

    Thank you for the reply.  So it turns out that now my Bluetooth devices won't connect, even under the guest account.

    They were connected earlier. I deleted the iPAD from the MacBook Pro and added it back in. I get a message about the code and pairing on the iPAD.  I okay it and for a short period of time it will say connected and then toggles to disconnected. **** updates. Sorry, so frustrating.  One update they messed around with the AirPlay.  AP and AD are two of the things I use most on my laptop.  Regardless if I am in the guest account OR my regular account I cannot get Bluetooth to now connect to my iPAD.  Very frustrating.

     

    Thank you,

    Lori

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 12, 2016 2:42 PM in response to Lorista
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2016 2:42 PM in response to Lorista

    Funny, it starred out my swear word, and not even a bad one!

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 12, 2016 3:19 PM in response to Lorista
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jul 12, 2016 3:19 PM in response to Lorista

    How exactly are you trying to "pair" the devices? What is supposed to happen when you pair them?

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 12, 2016 4:19 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2016 4:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

    It's my understanding that both Bluetooth and Wifi need to be working in order to use AirDrop. When you're under Bluetooth you will see a peripheral device (from my iPad I can see my notebook, and under the device it will say it is either connected, or not. If you're not connected you can "pair" the device. So to the right of my notebook would be the word "pair."  I click on that and on my iPAD I can see a code and that same code would come up on the notebook and say essential that this is the number, and device, and do you want to pair up. Once that is done you should see the status of "Connected" under the device.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 12, 2016 5:40 PM in response to Lorista
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jul 12, 2016 5:40 PM in response to Lorista

    AirDrop has nothing to do with Bluetooth pairing. You should not pair an iPhone with a computer.

    Please read this whole message before doing anything.

    This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

    The purpose of this test is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account. Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

    While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

    Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

    After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

    *Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The "Guest User" login created by "Find My Mac" is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 12, 2016 7:11 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 12, 2016 7:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

    Yes, I did what you requested initially, before getting sidetracked by pairing, and AirDrop didn't work in the guest account either.

     

    Lori

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 16, 2016 4:43 AM in response to Lorista
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jul 16, 2016 4:43 AM in response to Lorista

    Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

    If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 16, 2016 4:48 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 16, 2016 4:48 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

     

    I had a moment to sit down and try your next steps which was go to CMD Utility, execute the task, and post the log. Magically AirDrop worked. I haven't touched it since your last suggestion on what to do, and I haven't changed anything on either platform. Go figure. I'm glad it's working.  Thank you for your time, patience, and assistance! It is greatly appreciated.

     

    Lori

  • by Lorista,

    Lorista Lorista Jul 16, 2016 4:49 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 16, 2016 4:49 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

     

    I had a moment to sit down and try your next steps which was go to CMD Utility, execute the task, and post the log. Magically AirDrop worked. I haven't touched it since your last suggestion on what to do, and I haven't changed anything on either platform. Go figure. I'm glad it's working.  Thank you for your time, patience, and assistance! It is greatly appreciated.

     

    Lori

  • by Polonius M,

    Polonius M Polonius M Jul 16, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 16, 2016 6:42 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi,

     

    I'm having the exact same problem as Lorista. AirDrop and Handoff stopped working a few days ago. For me, it's between a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 6s. MacOS 10.11.5 & iOS 9.3.2. I've tried to log out/in from iCloud on both devices, restart both devices, deleted bluetooth.plist, reset SMC and PRAM.. Tried using guest account, tried set AirDrop to "All". Nothing works - I can't see my phone on my computer or vice versa. Any clues?

     

    Thanks in advance!

     

    /P

  • by amir.a.ghahramani,

    amir.a.ghahramani amir.a.ghahramani Jul 19, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 19, 2016 2:40 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Dear Linc,

    I have exactly the same problem. Previously I had Yosemite on my macbook and iOS 9.3.2 on my iPhone and the AirDrop worked fine. Recently I updated to El Capitan, and since then the airdrop does not work on my mac, i.e. my macbook and my iPhone cannot discover each other. I followed your instructions and copied my log from the console into the pastebin which could be accused through the following link:

    http://pastebin.com/76iyji9T

    To this aim, I turned off the Bluetooth and I cleared the console. Then, I turned on the bluetooth and selected a photo from my mac to be shared via airdrop with my iPhone. The wifi and the bluetooth on both devices were on and airdrop was set to be discoverable by every one on both devices. The specifications of my devices are as follows:

    MacBook pro 13" early 2015-el capitan 10.11.6

    iPhone 5s -iOS 9.3.2

    Many thanks for the time you spend to answer my questions.

    Sincerely

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