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User profile for user: Goran Peuc
Goran Peuc Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

"Bluetooth not available" on every other restart

Hi folks,


I got 5K 27" iMac and restored onto it Time Capsule backup from my MacBook in an attempt to have two as identical as possible systems (iCloud + Dropbox do wonders). Running 10.11.4 (15E65).


Anyhow, what is happening is that iMac Bluetooth dies on reboot. It says "Bluetooth not available". However, if I then plug in an ordinary USB mouse, and restart computer again, on that second boot Bluetooth will be OK.


So naturally, I unplug the USB mouse, and keep working with Bluetooth peripherals.


But then, if I restart computer, Bluetooth will again not be available. So again I have to plug in USB mouse just so I could control the mouse pointer, and do restart again. And then again, on that second restart Bluetooth comes back online. And it's like that continuously, I can replicate the situation without a flaw. Reboot > Bluetooth dies > plug in USB mouse > reboot > Bluetooth is back.


What the ****?


I tried SMC & PRAM reset, does not help.


Should I try fresh OS reinstall? Because the only thing I can think of is that Time Capsule backup I got from MBP is doing something strange to the system.

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on Apr 24, 2016 3:01 AM

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11 replies
User profile for user: andreadamiani
andreadamiani
User level: Level 1
14 points

May 2, 2016 3:56 AM in response to Goran Peuc

I had the exact same problem.


I solved it in this way:


  1. Turn on the iMac
  2. No Bluetooth
  3. Connect an USB Mouse (or your Magic Trackpad)
  4. Reboot
  5. Log in
  6. Bluetooth now works
  7. Holding Option+Shift click on the Bluetooth Icon near the clock in the upper right corner of the screen
  8. Select Debug>Restore Bluetooth Module (I'm translating directly from Italian, so the menu item may be different; it should be the first one in the Debug menu anyway)
  9. Confirm you want to restore
  10. Immediately unplug the USB Mouse of the Magic Trackpad
  11. All bluetooth devices gets disconnected
  12. The Magic Keyboard should automatically reconnect
  13. Either
    1. Your Magic Mouse automatically reconnects
    2. Or, a Bluetooth assistant should now appear, searching for bluetooth pointing devices
      1. Wait for it to find your Magic Mouse\Magic Trackpad
      2. Confirm within the timeout
  14. Reboot the iMac
  15. Now, even after the reboot, the bluetooth should have survived!

Hope this helps someone 😉

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User profile for user: andreadamiani
andreadamiani
User level: Level 1
14 points

May 12, 2016 8:53 AM in response to zootnik

The only thing it comes in my mind is that the debug option is not showing if the bluetooth is currently in a "non available" state.


To recover from a "non available" state you can either:

1. Follow the first part of the procedure I wrote some posts above (but I think you've already done it)

2. Try to delete the the bluetooth .plist as shown in Re: what would deleting file com.apple.bluetooth.plist do?


After you have recovered from a "non available", option+shift click on bluetooth icon should show the Debug option.

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"Bluetooth not available" on every other restart

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