iMac won't connect with bluetooth speakers

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Level 1

3 points

iMac won't connect with bluetooth speakers

Hi,

I want to pair my iMac with my new Bose bluetooth speakers. I followed the instructions and got to the Bluetooth Setup Assistant screen that allows you to choose a new device. My speakers are listed there and I selected them. The computer found the speakers, which are turned on and discoverable, but it won't go any further. It says "Searching for devices- 1 found" and the little wheel spins indefinitely. I tried restarted everything, speakers and computer, reread all the instructions but can't figure out what the problem might be. I have successfully connected bluetooth devices to my ipad in the past. I have a wired keyboard and a macally wireless mouse (tried turning the mouse off too). No other bluetooth devices in the vicinity.

Thanks very much for any suggestions!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 20, 2014 9:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

zanflan

Level 1

7 points

Nov 19, 2017 9:00 PM in response to eadgbe

Yes i had that problem too and I thought it might be because my desktop mac was a bit on the old side. However, I turned off all the other devices listed (ie my Iphone) and deleted all the other devices listed and then turned off the bluetooth speaker and then turned it on again and voila! The speaker talked directly to the computer. Hope you have the same result as me. so message is - turn off devices you don't want to connect to when trying to connect through bluetooth. The bluetooth devices can't multi task!!

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Answer 2

Dec 29, 2017 5:07 PM in response to akademuss

Bose SoundLink Mini shows up in the pairing menu. I did all the reset stuff on both the iMac and Bose. When I click on "pair" it momentarily shows "connected," then switches back to disconnected. No trouble at all re-pairing with the keyboard after removing it. Pain in the....

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Answer 3

May 21, 2014 12:25 AM in response to eadgbe

Hi. A reset of your speaker could be helpful, if not than remove all devices from bluetooth preferences, swich bluetooth off and on and try to add the speaker first. Hope it helps 🙂

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Answer 4

eadgbe Author

Level 1

3 points

May 21, 2014 9:37 AM in response to akademuss

Thank you, I will try! By reset speaker do you mean turn it off and back on again?

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Answer 5

May 21, 2014 9:38 AM in response to eadgbe

what model is the speaker?

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Answer 6

eadgbe Author

Level 1

3 points

May 21, 2014 10:50 PM in response to akademuss

It's a Bose Soundlink III. I did try turning it off and on. Also tried to remove any other bluetooth devices but it doesn't look like anything is paired with my mac. There is a list of things that aren't paired with it however. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. I went to System Preferences, then Bluetooth, which opens a window that says On, and Discoverable, and on the left is a column that lists various things (including the speaker) and they all say Not Connected.

User uploaded file

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Answer 7

eadgbe Author

Level 1

3 points

May 21, 2014 10:53 PM in response to eadgbe

tried to include a screen shot but I guess it didn't work

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Answer 8

May 21, 2014 10:57 PM in response to eadgbe

If you have other devices connnected to you bose then it wont connect.You have to turn off the bluetooth on the other device which its paired with it.

To perform a SoundLink® speaker reset, following these steps:

On the speaker, press and hold Mute for 10 seconds, the LEDs will flash briefly
Press Power to turn the SoundLink® speaker back on

Clear the pairing list on both the SoundLink® Wireless Mobile speaker and the source

On the SoundLink® speaker, press and hold the Bluetooth® button for approximately 10 seconds until you hear a tone. The SoundLink® speaker clears all Bluetooth® devices from its memory and becomes discoverable
Clear the list on your Bluetooth® device. For more information, please refer to the manufacturer of the device
Perform a product reset. On the speaker, press and hold Mute for 10 seconds, the LEDs will flash briefly. Press Power to turn the SoundLink® speaker back on
Try pairing the device again by following these steps:
1. With the Bluetooth® device and the SoundLink® speaker both turned on, press and hold the Bluetooth® button on the speaker for three seconds to make the speaker discoverable. The Bluetooth® indicator will slowly fade on and off approximately once every second to show the speaker is in discoverable mode
2. Set your Bluetooth® device to "Discoverable." This will allow your device to discover the SoundLink® speaker
3. On your device, locate the Bluetooth® device list. Select "Bose SoundLink" from the list
4. If your device asks for a passkey, enter digits 0000 and press OK. Some devices also ask you to accept the connection. Your Bluetooth® device indicates when pairing is complete. The SoundLink® speaker indicates pairing is complete when the Bluetooth indicator stops fading on and off and remains on

Good luck 🙂

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