Bluetooth not recognized?

Question

Bluetooth not recognized?

I have recently encountered a number of problems on my powerbook beginning with the display going bad; it's going into the shop next week and I have been backing up data and cloning the operating system, double checking, etc.

Everything was pretty much done when I recloned the system back onto the powerbook. When I did that, I first found I was unable to make a connection via firewire to my powerMac which I was preparing for use while the laptop is in the shop. Until I recloned back, there was no problem with the powerbook recognizing what was on the network.

But more bizarre things began happening like my WACOM tablet would not connect because, the message stated, I have no bluetooth hardware installed. I checked the profile and sure enough, bluetooth reads, only, "no information found," rather than the information that was once listed there. Further, TextEdit will not launch at all, and even more weird, my keyboard "r" key refuses to work 90% of the time.

HELP!!!!! PLEASE

Any suggestions are welcome.

1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 and PowerMac G4, (2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD) OSX 10.5.8

Posted on Apr 10, 2011 5:23 AM

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Answer 1

BGreg

Level 6

17,558 points

Apr 10, 2011 5:57 AM in response to SoScared N NoMan'sLand

Reset PRAM and PMU .... one of these should bring bluetooth back to life.

PMU:
1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the Power button to restart the computer.

PRAM:

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

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Answer 2

Apr 10, 2011 6:11 PM in response to BGreg

Thanks, Greg, I tried your suggestions, twice, with no result. Interestingly, when I boot into a partition running a different version of the OS, the profiler sees bluetooth. I am not certain what happened but clearly something went wrong when SuperDuper created the clone on the OS X 10.5.8 side—though no error messages resulted—and when I cloned the damaged files back over the system, it whacked it.

But worse, I tried to reinstall via the install disk, but can't get past the opening screen. I see the big leopard background, but no menus, tools, messages of any kind. This is much like what occurred when the display died and I hooked up an external monitor. At first, only the desktop was visible, until I hit the F7 key and was allowed to make changes to the monitor. On the install disk, I can't do that, consequently, all I see is the background with no way to reinstall the system.

Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks.

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Answer 3

BGreg

Level 6

17,558 points

Apr 10, 2011 6:25 PM in response to SoScared N NoMan'sLand

If the operating system is misbehaving, try installing the 10.5.8 combo update. This contains all updates from 10.5 thru 10.5.8, and can often correct odd behaviors. It can be downloaded from: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL866 . Repair permissions before installing as well as after the installation.

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Answer 4

Apr 14, 2011 12:00 AM in response to BGreg

Thanks, Greg! What an ordeal this has been!

I downloaded the update but did not think it would install since it is for 10.5.7 and below and I am already running 10.5.8. However, I held my breath and installed; I thought it was going to run through without a hitch . . . but it hung in the last 2 minutes. After waiting 10 minutes or so, I had to force quit out of it and restart. The computer restarted, but without the usual OS X opening screen, and it hung as a blank grey screen for several minutes before finally booting up. Every time I boot up, it does the same thing.

TextEdit and all of my applications are running correctly again, as well as bluetooth, etc. When my computer comes back from the shop with the display repaired, I will do an archive and install to fix the remaining issues.

I now believe that the problem was caused when I disabled automatic login in the user accounts, in preparation for taking it into the Apple store; not realizing there was a problem, I then cloned the issue over a good copy of the system. I have had issues with User Accounts before. It seems that once automatic login has been disabled, I can never get it to return to automatic login without reinstalling the software. Furthermore, even though I am owner of the computer, and administrator, administrative functions are greyed out for me. I don't understand that issue, but will remind myself never to disable automatic login again.

So, this resolved all issues except the "r" key which occurred simultaneously but was merely coincidental—the culprit there was a piece of dust under the key

I don't know if you guys who hang out on this forum answering questions realize what an invaluable service you provide with your unstinting assistance and expertise, but I, for one, would like to tell you so, and to thank you for it!

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