Iphone 5c bluetooth spinning wheel of death

Question

Iphone 5c bluetooth spinning wheel of death

I got a new Iphone 5c, first thing I did is update to iOS 8.4.1 that just came out.

When I go to Settings -> Bluetooth I cannot enable BT , the setting wheel constantly spins.

When I go though the Control Center I can enable and disable BT ... but it has no effect the BT is off all the time.

I've browsed the forums in search of the answer and all the steps I was able to find so far din't work in my particular case.

Here is what I did, nothing changed the behavior:

- Reset the iPhone with the use of the Home + Sleep/Wake button combination.

- Reset the Network Settings from the Settings panel.

- Erase All Content and Settings from the Settings panel.

- Restored the iOS to factory settings using iTunes.

- Reverted the iOS to 8.4.0 using iTunes

- Signed up for the iOS 9.0 update 3 beta

And I'm kind of out of ideas at this point. Contacted the Apple Support and the've slotted me for a Genius Bar visit but that isn't until Thursday.

If anyone can help with additional ideas on how I can try to troubleshoot and fix it I would greatly appreciate it.

At this point however I think my BT might have been faulty from the very first moment I got the phone ... I never tried it on the 8.2 iOS it came with ... and I can't seem to revert back to 8.2 or 8.3 as those versions don't seem to be signed by Apple anymore.

Thanks for any advice in advance,

Sub

iPhone 5c, iOS 8.4.1, Bluetooth spinning wheel

Posted on Aug 15, 2015 3:48 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 15, 2015 4:02 PM in response to SubZero671SubZero671

If you see a spinning wheel in BT that means your iPhone is looking for BT devices in Pairing mode, and is not finding any. So the solution is to put the device you want to connect to into Pairing mode. Check its manual.

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Answer 2

Aug 15, 2015 4:24 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Hello Lawrence thank you for the reply.

Even when I have restored the device to factory settings, the Settings panel the BT connectivity states that it is OFF on the and the BT connectivity wheel is still spinning. Even though I have not told the phone to pair with anything since re-flashing the firmware.

The only device I have to pair over BT is an Apple Watch ... but I can't use the pairing app for the watch as it says my BT is offline ...

I do appreciate the post!

PS I have tried putting the watch in pairing mode, and even resetting the Apple Watch to factory settings... but I believe the issue is on the iPhone end.

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Answer 3

Aug 15, 2015 4:32 PM in response to SubZero671SubZero671

You do not pair an Apple watch using the BT settings. You use the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

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Answer 4

Aug 15, 2015 4:36 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Yup, which I can't do because the Apple Watch doesn't work unless the BT on the phone is operational 😉 which at the moment is not.

But just to get this thread back on track.

The phone states my BT connection is OFF at all times so it should not be 'searching' for devices before I enable it, at least this is what I would expect.

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Answer 5

Aug 15, 2015 4:39 PM in response to SubZero671SubZero671

You aren't being clear. If you see a spinning circle you have gone to Settings/BlueTooth, which you cannot do if BT is off. But you say that BT is off. This does not compute. Perhaps you can explain better?

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Answer 6

Aug 15, 2015 4:43 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

But this is exactly what I'm seeing.

When I go to Settings the Bluetooth says Off.

When I tap it I go deeper into Bluetooth settings, where I would expect an ablity to run BT on or off, just like in the WiFi menu all is see is something like this

I have no option to do anything but stare and wait but the state never changes.

So my BT is permanently off, and I cannot flip the on off switch in that menu.

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Answer 7

Aug 15, 2015 4:49 PM in response to SubZero671SubZero671

The image is private, so it did not appear. Start with Settings/General/Reset - Reset Network Settings. You will lose WiFi passwords, but nothing else.

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Answer 8

Aug 15, 2015 4:53 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Hi thanks again,

I have already done that with no avail.

Please look at the opening post which details all troubleshooting steps I've already taken, I have already done that and many other options and this did not help.

Thanks again for your posts and interest!

Maciej

PS. I am going out now I will post screenshots from my phone later or tomorrow morning.

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Answer 9

Aug 15, 2015 5:00 PM in response to SubZero671SubZero671

About the only option left is to take the phone to an Apple store. Make a genius bar appointment first.

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Answer 10

Aug 16, 2015 4:55 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

I noticed I'm experiencing 2 other issues

The on-board clock is not reliable, when the phone is in sleep mode it doesn't increment, and the automatic time doesn't sync properly.

The Wi-Fi keeps dropping randomly, which I thought was just a conflict @ my home, but I used the device on a few other Wi-Fi networks and the issue is the same.

I've found this thread which seems to be pretty much in-line with what I'm experiencing:

Iphone 5c clock & WiFi and BT issues.

So it looks like my hardware is bust.

I have a visit @ the Genius Bar on Thursday so I'll update this thread ... but so far doesn't look that good.

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