Bluetooth & USB Ports sporadically stop working on Mac Pro (2012)
I have a mid-2012 Mac Pro. Several months ago, the Bluetooth & USB Ports would sporadically stop working. Any hard drives connected to the USB port are unmounted (not gracefully) and the wireless keyboard & trackpad are no longer connected. I have to logon remotely from my laptop in order to shut down the computer since the keyboard can't be connected — even a USB keyboard or mouse won't work. Restarting once occasionally solves the issue, but it usually takes several restarts. Once or twice, the problem resolved without restarting. This problem is becoming more frequent. At first, it would occur about once a month. Now, it occurs every few days.
Does anyone have any idea what would cause this issue that impacts both USB and Bluetooth connectivity? The Firewire ports seem to be OK. It seems likely that I will need to take it in for repair, but would like to know what the problem is first if possible. I’m not sure how much money I want to sink in this 6 year old computer, but I would like to repair it if it isn’t too expensive — my guess is that it will need a new logic board which probably won’t be worth it. I suspect the computer will be EOL’ed by Apple in the next year or so, so parts may not even be available soon.
I’d appreciate any thoughts on what the problem may be.
Thanks, David
Mac Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13), mid-2012