Bluetooth Macbook Pro Retina Won't Respond or Turn Off

Question

Level 1

1 points

Bluetooth Macbook Pro Retina Won't Respond or Turn Off

I have a wireless trackpad paired to my Macbook Pro Retina via bluetooth. This has been working fine for a fair few weeks up until the last few days when the trackpad stops working and starts searching for bluetooth, but my bluetooth says it's on. I try to turn off the bluetooth on the Macbook and it will not turn off. It just freezes and stays "on" but not working. In addition, every time I try to access the bluetooth settings, everything on the setting page works except for the "turn bluetooth off" button.

The only "fix" I have found so far is to restart my computer which is a huge hassle. Anyone else with this problem or know how to fix it?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 28, 2013 10:46 AM

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Answer 1

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 28, 2013 11:55 AM in response to mcc1493

Make sure the batteries are fresh.

Some reading here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3887

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13712

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Answer 2

mcc1493 Author

Level 1

1 points

Nov 28, 2013 12:12 PM in response to sanjampet

Thanks for the response but the problem is not with the wireless device, it's actually with the bluetooth on my Mac. The bluetooth on my Mac will literally stop responding, and every time I try to turn it off in hopes of restarting it, it will just freeze and stay turned on.

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Answer 3

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Nov 28, 2013 2:30 PM in response to mcc1493

A couple of things to try,

SMC reset:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Follow directions for a battery you should not remove yourself

NVRAM/PRAM reset

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

You may have to reset some of your prefences after this, including the BT set up, as this "flushes" out the set up which may have become corrupted somehow.

If no joy post back, there are a few other things to check.

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Answer 4

Jan 5, 2014 8:07 AM in response to mcc1493

I was experiencing the exact same symptoms as mcc1493 described above, on my Early 2013 MacBook Pro, OSX 10.9.1. One additional piece of information. When opening the Bluetooth Preferences I saw the message:

<< don not localize > ... Name not available

I called Apple Support and after trying a few things, the Apple Rep had me perform an SMC reset http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

The problem has not returned since the the SMC reset.

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Answer 5

Mar 12, 2014 8:34 AM in response to Jerry Dalton1

I have reset the SMC and the NVRAM/PVRAM, yet this problem continues to return, with two different models of apple wireless Bluetooth keyboards. At a random moment, the message "connection lost" flashes up on the screen and the keyboard stops working. After that, Bluetooth is unresponsive and cannot be switched on or off. In the bluetooth system preferences window I have the same "<< do not localize > ... Name not available" message reported here and elsewhere. What is going on? Something needs to be sorted out, the only way to get things back to normal is to restart.

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Answer 6

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Mar 12, 2014 10:14 AM in response to kessonovitch

Batteries are fresh?

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Answer 7

Mar 12, 2014 12:15 PM in response to sanjampet

It's happened on two different Apple bluetooth keyboards. Batteries are currently 100% on the one that lost the connection.

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Answer 8

mcc1493 Author

Level 1

1 points

Mar 12, 2014 12:47 PM in response to mcc1493

My trackpad can be charged by USB, and even when it is connected to the laptop via USB, the Bluetooth still freezes. I am pretty sure this is a problem with the Bluetooth on the MacBook and not the wireless device

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Answer 9

sanjampet

Level 5

7,982 points

Mar 12, 2014 12:54 PM in response to mcc1493

Bring it in to Apple the evaluation is free.

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Answer 10

May 16, 2014 2:28 PM in response to mcc1493

Did you find a solution? I'm having the same issue.

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Answer 11

May 18, 2014 10:31 AM in response to christhelawman

I have not found a solution. It still happens to me quite regularly and I don't know of any way to fix it other than restarting my computer. It's very annoying as it happens almost daily.

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Answer 12

Sep 17, 2014 6:41 PM in response to mcc1493

Bought a 2014 Macbook Pro Retina and having the same problem here. I've had other bluetooth problems with this machine since buying it a month ago, but its the first time for this problem. I find myself rebooting my machine regularly.

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Answer 13

Jun 24, 2015 11:04 AM in response to soumya.ray

I was having the same issue and found this blog post which helped me:

http://www.matthewbass.com/2015/03/10/fix-bluetooth-in-os-x-yosemite/

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Answer 14

MstrE

Level 1

1 points

Sep 23, 2015 7:19 AM in response to samwoo111

I followed those instructions for deletions of plist files and then restarted, which did not seem to help with the whole problem. After a reboot, I was able to turn bluetooth off again (before I could not turn it off), but I was unable to connect with any bluetooth devices to set them up again.

I messed around a bit, and found that if I toggled wifi, bluetooth would then find the devices again, and afterwards I was able to repair with everything. Seems ridiculous, but maybe it will work for you if you are having the same problem.

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