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Mar 29, 2007 5:16 PM in response to kievittby woodie,Do a spotlight search for Bluetooth-
You should find “Bluetooth File Exchange”-open it up in spotlight. Go to file – open up Browse Device -You will get a window that should list the devices. You should see Mighty Mouse and keyboard.
If it doesn’t list your MM hit the search button. -
Apr 17, 2007 9:03 PM in response to kievittby Thomas McGrath III1,If you are using an Apple Laptop try these steps to fix the dissapearing - Bluetooth: not available - problem:
1. Make sure you have bluetooth built in and the device has batteries installed. If you are not sure if you have bluetooth then go to System Preferences under the Apple Logo and determine if you have a Bluetooth Preferences Pane. If not then you may not have bluetooth or it may be absent due to a Power Management Issue. If you suspect you should have bluetooth and it is not listed or if you are sure you do have bluetooth or have been using bluetooth all along and your batteries are new then move on to the next step:
2. Be sure it is not an issue with other "new", "old" USB devices: Unplug all USB devices and restart. If the problem still exists then move on to the next step:
3. Repair your disk permissions. Go to Applications/ Utilities / and double click the DIsk Utility application. Once open select your start up disk and perform the Repair Permissions. Restart the computer. If the problem still exists then move on to the next step:
4. Delete the preferences file for Bluetooth. This is found either in the main Library folder or the Users Library folder. ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth or ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist Once deleted, restart the computer. If the problem still exists then move on to the next step:
5. Reset the PRAM on your device. Shutdown the computer and hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys while Restarting your computer. If the problem still exists then move on to the next step:
6. Reset the Power Management System. Do this by shutting down your computer. Then unplug the Laptop. Take out the Battery. Hold the power button down for 5-10 seconds. Plug the Laptop back in and also the Battery. Restart the computer. Once bluetooth is established plug back in the USB devices.
This should fix the problem. Turning on the computer or shutting it down as well as changing Batteries and waking from sleep, et.c all access the Power Management System and may cause problems with the built-in bluetooth module. Reseting the system should fix this problem.
Hope this helps.
Tom McGrath -
Apr 18, 2007 6:35 AM in response to kievittby HappyTom,1st of all, sorry this is such a long post. The steps that Tom McGrath suggested aren't bad ones.
1: Make sure that your hard disc isn't having any directory issues. Chances are pretty slim, but they're not zero. Do this with Disk Utility's Repair Volume. One way to do it is here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=162662
#2: SMC = System Management Controller. Without getting into the bits and bolts, think about it as "that which determines the power levels of differing components." As in, if your BT is being underpowered, it's not going to work properly. That's the high level explanation.
Mac Pro SMC:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304123
iMac, Mac Mini:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303446
MacBook, MacBook Pro:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319
Note: If you haven't yet, perform any Firmware / SMC updates / System Software updates / Bluetooth-specific updates / etc, before you move on to step 2. If you're not sure, just run Software update (while connected to a network) and see if there are any.
#3: Bluetooth .plist file. The "Bluetooth Preferences" you find in your home directory (represented hereforth as "~/")
~/Library/Preferences/ is essentially meaningless for troubleshooting purposes. Don't waste your time renaming it unless you have tried every other step and you're desperate. For the "other steps" see below
#4: /var/root/Library/Preferences/blued.plist
This is the "path" (the hierarchy of directories/folders) that your real Bluetooth preferences live in.
How do you get there you ask? If you're not a Terminal person, you can still use the Finder. The easiest way to use the Finder to find this file is to log in as the root user. Don't freak out about this. As long as you're logging in as the root user for a just cause, and you don't monkey around while you're logged in as root, you'll be fine. Apple even tells you how to do it here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106290
(follow their instructions to the T! Also, when you're done with the root user, don't leave it loaded and hanging around waiting to shoot you. Follow that same article to disable the Root user when you're done.)
Once you've enabled the root user, Log Out of your current user (Apple Menu > Log Out). At the login window, select "Other" and type in root for the name, and whatever password you assigned it before. Once you've logged in as root, click the House Icon in your Finder Window's Sidebar, open the Library folder, open the Preferences folder, and then rename that pesky blued.plist file. Then log out, restart, log into your normal user, and test.
Don't ask why the blued.plist file is in the Root User, it's boring and dull. But it must be there.
What if you've done those steps and it's still not working?
#5- Eliminate sources of interference that might be in your location. The BEST way to do this is just move your computer to another location. Take your Macbook outside with your BT devices. People might look at you funny (just smile back!) but if it works there 100% you know it's an interference issue at your location. (There is a kbase article about interference, for AirPort, but it bears repeating: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58543 )
#6- Test with another BT device. Perhaps it's not the computer at fault, but your device (if BT isn't available, this clearly isn't applicable).
#7- Return your computer to stock condition. Remove those PCI express cards, take out that additional 2GB RAM stick, and test. Do step 7 before reinstalling those items.
#8- Back up your data and perform an Archive & Install (preserving users is fine.) Test.
If you have performed steps 1-8, and you still are experiencing an issue with your Bluetooth disappearing, you are most likely experiencing a hardware issue. Make sure that when you contact AppleCare / Mac Geniuses you're willing to review these steps that you've taken with the representative.
Keep your chin up!
Fill your boots, man! -
Jun 17, 2007 2:59 PM in response to kievittby Pressly,For some months, my MacBook suffered from bouts of insomnia: close the lid, and almost as soon at it would go to sleep, it would do a disk eject (no disk present) and wake up. After MUCH troubleshooting, I found a mysterious connection with Bluetooth, which occassionally disappeared from my system (No information in System Profiler, no control icon in System Preferences). Then I cranked up Activity Monitor, selected the Microsoft AU daemon and exorcised it. Instant fix! I didn't even need to reboot to see Bluetooth return to my system and sleep return to normal. I removed the Microsoft AU start-up item from my user profile to keep it from coming back.
Now my MacBook and I are both sleeping better. |-o zZzZzZ [ç]
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9) iMac, therefore I :-D -
Jun 27, 2007 3:31 AM in response to kievittby xbted,I've been having the same problem intermittently over the past couple of months; I would receive the Bluetooth: Not Available message, and my computer would not go into sleep mode. I've tried all of the suggestions, resetting SMC, PRAM, erasing the pref folders and what not. The only thing that seemed to work was shutting off my computer and letting it rest for a while. I got to thinking, if reseting everything doesn't fix it, and doing all the software stuff doesn't fix it, but letting it cool down does, then it may be a heat issue. I do have a MacBook core duo and not a core 2 duo which means my computer gets pretty hot. Another thing that seems suspicious is that my wife does have a macbook with the core 2 duo, running the same software as me, and she does not have the bluetooth issue.
Anyway, I don't know the root cause of this problem, but what I do know is that it appears to be aggravated by heat. So I loaded Fan Control 1.1 onto my computer, which can be found if you just Google "Fan Control MacBook." I adjusted the fan parameters on my MacBook so the fan runs faster and my bluetooth problems vanished. I don't know, maybe it's the fans sucking extra voltage that's making the bluetooth work, all I know is that I loaded this onto my macbook and bluetooth works again.
If nothing else is working for you, and you can't make it to a repair shop for a while, you may want to try that program. -
Jul 4, 2007 2:24 PM in response to Thomas McGrath III1by Adam Liss,Thomas, you are a friggin genius. I lent my computer to my friend, and when I got it back, the Bluetooth wasn't working. I was this close to accusing him of something, when lo, your suggestion worked. He was using the computer to run DJ equipment, so I guess the USB whosits got messed up. But unplugging and de-batterying totally fixed it. Thanks. -
Jul 5, 2007 5:37 AM in response to Thomas McGrath III1by macgirl63,I agree with Adam! This worked like a charm! At first I didn't think it worked, but after a few minutes my bluetooth showed up again! I am so relieved! Thanks, Thomas! -
Aug 8, 2007 6:19 AM in response to Thomas McGrath III1by dyaning,Great advice Tom, thanks, worked after 6th step.
dyaning
Message was edited by: dyaning -
Aug 8, 2007 6:04 PM in response to Thomas McGrath III1by ACcommmajor,Thanks Thomas, worked like a charm! (resetting the PRAM did it for me) -
Aug 11, 2007 5:49 AM in response to xbtedby jakero123,hey presly,
the unlisted device messing with your pc may be a bluetooth samsung phone or possibly a bluetooth samsung laptop because once I was sharing a file with my friend on our phones through bluetooth and his samsung took control of my motorola by hacking into it and he started looking at all my files! so the samsung laptops may also be able hack through bluetooth WHATCH OUT FOR ANYONE WITH A BLUETOOTH SAMSUNG DEVICE!!!
Message was edited by: jakero123