Q: Bluetooth on imac suddenly stopped working
-
Jun 13, 2014 3:26 PMby Mobile Blues,Slow start-up could be due to searching for Bluetooth device(s). I would reccomend the following process.
1) Goto Settings and turn off Bluetooth and while your there turn off Wi-Fi as well.
2) Shutdown your iMac.
3) Next unplug any Bluetooth devices like trackpads and any other non basic devices, printers, USB devices etc.
4) Plug in only your wired keyboard and wired mouse.
5) Power Up your iMac.
6) Give it a few minutes to power up.
7) Goto Settings and turn Bluetooth back on.
8) Plug back in all of your old devices one at a time keeping an eye on the Bluetooth icon each time you add a peripheral.
Also, read over this Apple article on Bluetooth mouses and such..... http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3048
-
Jun 13, 2014 4:49 PMby pattipike53,Hi, Mobile Blues. Thanks so much for the support. I followed your directions, but the weird thing is that when I click on the apple menu, then on system preferences, there is not even a category for bluetooth. There was before all this happened, but somehow it has vanished. Also, I read the article you recommended (Awesome info, by the way), when I click on the bluetooth icon at the top of the screen, I get no options whatsoever, just the grayed out words, bluetooth: unavailable.
How is it even possible that this could happen? How can an entire functionality just disappear from the system. Could I have inadvertantly done something to disable it?
I really, really appreciate your efforts to help me. Even if it doesn't solve my dilemma, I am sure others who find this discussion will be helped by it.
If you have any further ideas, please let me know.
Your friend, Patti P
-
Jun 24, 2014 11:03 AMby pattipike53,Sorry I haven't gotten back with those of you sooner about your suggestions and how they have been working. Tried one day, but the site was down due to maintenance.
I have been trying all the wonderful suggestions people have given, but so far with no luck. It is absolutely clear that the problem is with the internal bluetooth and not with the keyboard or mouse. I bought an external bluetooth usb adaptor, and now my bluetooth devices are usable again, but the internal bluetooth is still unavailable. Thanks for letting me know that the long wait at startup was more than likely due to the system searching for the bluetooth, very comforting.
In one article I read, the person recommended trashing the plist file, com.apple.bluetooth.plist, but I couldn't find a file like this in the library. However, I did find a file named 'com.apple.Bluetooth.Audio.plist' which was modified on June 12, which is the same time the bluetooth stopped working. I don't know what to do with this file, since I really know nothing about how computers work, code, etc., etc. I just really enjoy the finished product, so to speak. But here is what I found when I opened the plist file.
Here is the first entry:
Root: previous input UID Dictionary: string Value: AppleHDAEngingInput:18,0,1,0:1
When I clicked on and opted to copy, this is what pasted when I pasted it: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<string>AppleHDAEngineInput:1B,0,1,0:1</string>
</plist>
There is a 2nd entry:
Key/Root: previous output UID Type/Dictionary: string Value: AppleHDAEngineOutput: 18,0,1,2:0
When I copied and pasted this string (or whatever it is called…it's all greek (or perhaps I should say geek) to me, here's what pasted:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<string>AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0</string>
</plist>
I also found two files that were logs of events that occurred on the 12th and 13th. I have copied and pasted this info and put it into two text docs, which if I can figure out how, I will attach in case someone is able to look at code and figure out what it means. That is way beyond me (and I envy those who can read this foreign language)
In addition, there is a folder named 'com.apple.BluetoothFileExchange.savedState' which was created on June 12th also. It has 2 documents, one named 'data.data' and another named 'windows.plist' I took a screenshot of the plist file which i hope I can include somehow in this post.
There is a 2nd folder created June 23 named com.apple.BluetoothSetupAssistant.savedState that has a data.data file and another windows.plist
These are the only files/folders that came up when searching the library under the key word bluetooth.
Thanks to everyone who was so willing to help. While I wasn't able to fix the problem, I learned lots of good stuff, like how to find my library, etc. so just know your efforts to help were not in vain.
Your (grateful) friend, Patti P
