Bluetooth not seeing any devices

Question

Level 1

11 points

Bluetooth not seeing any devices

Hi,

since the latest update of macOS Sierra my 2012 Macbook Pro Retina 15" is consistently failing to see any Bluetooth devices I want to connect to it. This includes 2 Apple Mouse (which work on other computers) and my Bose QC35 Bluetooth headphones (which even work with my 10-year-old Nexus One phone!).

I have deleted preference files, removed all stored devices, restarted the computer, turned Bluetooth on and off, and it just doesn't work. Sometimes it will see the headphones or the mouse and connect to them, but this doesn't happen too often. I just see an empty "Device" list in the Bluetooth Preference Panel.

What can I do?

Thanks in advance,

Albert

Posted on Apr 9, 2017 3:08 PM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,251 points

Apr 9, 2017 8:03 PM in response to DjKarras

If your Wi-Fi source is capable of generating a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network, try that to help avoid conflicts with Bluetooth.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

136,127 points

Apr 10, 2017 1:01 AM in response to DjKarras

No problem.

You can try booting into Safe Mode to see if any software you have installed could be causing a problem.

macOS Sierra: Start up in safe mode

If that still doesn't work, you could create a new user account to log into and see if they pair.

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Answer 3

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Apr 10, 2017 2:48 AM in response to DjKarras

Could be a low battery an article : macOS Sierra: Change Apple wireless mouse, trackpad, or keyboard batteries

: macOS Sierra: If your Bluetooth headset isn’t working

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

136,127 points

Apr 9, 2017 11:31 PM in response to DjKarras

DjKarras wrote:

Tried it, didn't work (although, is there a way to know I have actually done it properly? there's no visual feedback on the procedure)

Not really.

You can try resetting the Bluetooth Module.

See: http://osxdaily.com/2015/12/15/reset-bluetooth-hardware-module-mac-osx/

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Answer 5

dialabrain

Level 10

136,127 points

Apr 10, 2017 12:49 AM in response to DjKarras

As far as the Bose headphones I can't help because I don't have them.

One thing, make sure the mice aren't pairing with any other Macs nearby. I had that happen once. I had to remove the Bluetooth connection from a nearby Mac for it to pair with the one I wanted.

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Answer 6

DjKarras Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 10, 2017 1:22 PM in response to Lexiepex

OK! I've done that!

It's huge though, I put it in my Dropbox account: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dgjjvu6t9w34uzm/BluetoothReporter_2017-04-10_22.12.08. tar.gz?dl=0

I will also try safe mode as soon as I can.

Thanks everybody for the help!

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Answer 7

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Apr 11, 2017 1:03 AM in response to DjKarras

Indeed a lot to read.....

First Part: I have read a few files, but nothing found yet.

Note: something is wrong with GoogleSoftwareUpdate. If you can uninstall something that does that, do it. If not delete the StartupDisk/Users/yourname/Library/ApplicationSupport/Google folder . The whole folder. Or put it on the desktop and restart.

Do not use Google Chrome for a while.

Second Part:

Finished reading: I don't find anything obvious.

If the issue is still there: check all batteries, in the keyboard and mouse replace them for new ones even if good.

Restart in the RecoveryPartition (CMD+R) and choose DiskUtilities from the Utilities menu, in DU select "FirstAid" for both the disk and then the startup partition. the log should end with "appears to be OK".

Then choose Restart from the apple menu.

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