Trouble with bluetooth devices

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Level 1

11 points

Trouble with bluetooth devices

My Apple bluetooth mouse and keyboard both keep breaking connectivity for a few seconds and then connect again -all the time .I have checked how to solve it ,so I went to library > preferences >deleted the two bluetooth plist files ,turned off the computer for several minutes then booted up .Now the same thing is happenning but if go to preferences again there are no plists .Any help would be appreciated .I can use them but it would be nice to get back to normal.

My imac is running Catalina ,it is a 2.9 GHz quad core i5 from 2012

Posted on Apr 23, 2024 9:05 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,742 points

Apr 23, 2024 11:29 PM in response to espookid

The following will require any USB keyboard and mouse. If you don’t have them, borrow or buy them, they are inexpensive!

1. Connect the USB keyboard and mouse to the computer.

2. Open System Preferences – Bluetooth

3. Un-pair the wireless keyboard and mouse.

4. Turn off Bluetooth

5. Restart the computer in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

6. Restart the computer normally.

7. Open System Preferences – Bluetooth

8. Turn on Bluetooth

9. Re-Pair the wireless keyboard and mouse.

10. Unplug the USB keyboard and mouse and begin testing the wireless devices again.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

239,393 points

Apr 24, 2024 7:18 AM in response to espookid

Perhaps...

From the Finder, select the Go menu at top of the screen, and choose Go to Folder.
In the window that opens, enter ~/Library/Preferences/, and click Go.

Look for /com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist

Then... ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/

Look for... com.apple.Bluetooth[SomeLongNumbers].plist

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Answer 3

hcsitas

Level 6

11,432 points

Apr 23, 2024 9:23 PM in response to espookid

What’s connected to the USB ports?

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Answer 4

espookid Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 24, 2024 12:03 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for the reply ,did you see it is an old imac ? I went to the instructions which said to hold the on button but when I did that it restarted as normal ,I did it twice to make sure .Is it possible the routine was different with my imac ? I remember many years ago when I had problems updating the OS that I pressed more keys .I am 75 so be patient please.

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Answer 5

espookid Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 24, 2024 12:31 AM in response to espookid

Update . I now have the two connected and the problem seems to have gone away without managing to do the safe start ,sadly the volume controls on the keyboard do nothing and in system pref it shows only for separate speakers not the imac's .

I still have no plist files for bluetooth

Update two another reboot sorted it out .

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