"Bluetooth: not available" after El Capitan upgrade

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Level 1

12 points

"Bluetooth: not available" after El Capitan upgrade

I am seeing a frustrating "Bluetooth: not available" issue after upgrading to El Capitan last week. Specifically, after reboot the Bluetooth works, but from sleep it appears that the issue occurs and cannot recover until another reboot. The Bluetooth icon will have a wavy line noting the issue when waking from sleep. Before the upgrade there were no issues with the Bluetooth, but it appears that there is something that caused this on the upgrade.

Reading up on the issue, others have noted that removing the "com.apple.Bluetooth.plist" file in "

/Library/Preferences/" then rebooting will solve the issue, but unfortunately this does not in fact work with El Capitan (or does not work in this case).

Suggestions (if anyone knows) on how to solve would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 6, 2015 10:28 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 6, 2015 4:18 PM in response to RavenMac

Bluetooth devices become unresponsive

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Answer 2

msc03

Level 1

9 points

Oct 19, 2015 9:01 AM in response to Linc Davis

That is not helpful as the instructions given, despite the title, are not in regard to Bluetooth and this issue. Unplugging USB devices is not applicable (a Macbook Pro with nothing connected to it other than the power cord).

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Answer 3

Oct 19, 2015 9:40 AM in response to RavenMac

Reset the SMC.

Barry

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Answer 4

msc03

Level 1

9 points

Oct 19, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

Resetting the SMC did not fix the problem. Already tried that.

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Answer 5

naaomi

Level 1

0 points

Oct 22, 2015 11:15 PM in response to RavenMac

I was having the same issue after this update. I went into System Preferences --> Bluetooth and then I unchecked "Show Bluetooth in menu bar" and checked it again, it seemed to do the trick! I also turned it on and off at first, i'm not sure if that helped. I hope it works for you too!

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Answer 6

msc03

Level 1

9 points

Oct 23, 2015 4:12 AM in response to naaomi

Glad that worked for you. Unfortunately it is no longer even shown in Preferences. Apple really needs to address this with a fix.

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Answer 7

Nov 14, 2015 7:32 PM in response to msc03

Turning off the "view in menu" function restored the availability, but functionality of my outboard trackpad remained limited, which was the reason I discovered that my Bluetooth was unavailable. I still can't turn Bluetooth off and on again. So it looks like a restart is my only option.

Anyone else have a better patch for this?

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Answer 8

Nov 30, 2015 8:32 AM in response to Infinitude

I had the same problems (along with WiFi issues). Found this article addressing the bluetooth component of the issues: http://www.igeeksblog.com/fix-bluetooth-not-available-error-mac/

This appears to have solved the Bluetooth unavailable problem and stems from a bad preferences file. I tested it over night by allowing the MacBook Pro to sleep. When I woke it and logged in bluetooth was available and functioning normally.

This is the thread I started detailing the WiFi and Bluetooth issues I had been experiencing: Ongoing Wifi / Bluetooth issues after OS X El Capitan install

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Answer 9

Cuérvo

Level 1

0 points

Dec 17, 2015 9:55 AM in response to RavenMac

I have been having this issue.. I have reset the NVRAM/SMC/

even tried this..

sudo kextunload -b com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport

Response:

(kernel) Can't unload kext com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport; classes have instances:

(kernel) Kext com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport class BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport has 1 instance.

Failed to unload com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport - (libkern/kext) kext is in use or retained (cannot unload).

sudo killall -u (profile) cfprefsd

The killer part is, I can load my Bootcamp Windows side, and BT works flawlessly in windows 10... isn't that just funny.

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