Bluetooth Not Available — Fixed
If you have a Macbook, and at some point, you get “Bluetooth not available” from your laptop, and “No information found” in your System Information app for Bluetooth, it might help if you try to reset the Macbook SMC, as described in Resetting MacBook and MacBook Pro System Management Controller (SMC). I had this problem for the past couple days, and doing this fixed it for me.
(This article is largely published so that others searching for “Bluetooth Not Available” may be able to find it before taking their Mac into the shop.)
June 20th, 2007 at 2:37 am
man i tried everything possible. nothing helped. resetting the pmu. erasing bluetooth preferences. restarting. everything. so i am going to have to assume it isnt a software issue. its hardware im afraid. lame lame lame.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Macbook, OSX 10.4.10
Hey everyone,
I also tried everything I could find on the web but nothing helped to get bluetooth back again. Also ressetting the Macbook SMC didn’t help.
And when there is no bluetooth, sleep mode doesn’t work as well.
So I also thought this must be an hardware error. BUT ITS NOT!
I booted an OS X 10.4.8 from an external hard drive and bluetooth and sleep mode did work perfectly. When I go back to 10.4.10 bluetooth disappears.
SO PLEASE FIX THE BLUETOOTH PROBLEM APPLE. OTHERWISE LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL TAKE THEIR MACBOOKS INTO THE SHOPS AND WILL GET THEIR LOGICBOARDS REPLACED FOR NO REASON.
June 28th, 2007 at 7:34 am
I found this article with a web search, as you seem to have intended. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! This morning my PowerBook didn’t think it had bluetooth. I had updated to 10.4.10 yesterday afternoon, but it was working fine that evening, so I’m not positive I can blame it on that. I tried booting from my 10.4.9 clone on my external drive, but that was no better. Reseting my PMU appears to have fixed this issue.
July 8th, 2007 at 5:55 am
Macbook user. Have had sleep problems since 10.4.10, SMC reset fixed for a day. Now have noticed no Bluetooth (it may not have been there before). Will try SMC reset again…
July 13th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Well, running 10.4.9 here and exactly the same problem. Haven’t tried the fix yet but will do so before going to 10.4.10. Just wanted to add the data point of the problem occuring in 10.4.9.
Another aspect, I have had bluetooth turned off for many months since getting this Macbook and only noticed the problem when trying to turn it on after getting a bluetooth phone recently. Wanting to sync the two.
Kinda coincidental that we are all having the issue just around the same time, eh?
-bassman
July 13th, 2007 at 8:27 am
And no luck in 10.4.9 resetting the SMC…..
July 13th, 2007 at 8:52 am
I have just got this today after installing updates from apple. I cant help but think that this must be the source of the problem. First my battery now this! Sort it out apple!!!
July 13th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
My problems with sleep may be linked to bluetooth as well. This has been turned off until recently when I have been testing Salling Clicker application
July 17th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Hello all,
I’m inclined to agree with Arne’s assessment. I’m using a 13″ 2 GHz Macbook with the Core Duo (not 2) processor. I had been running 10.4.9 and recently updated to 10.4.10. The first symptom was the computer’s failure to sleep properly. Resetting the SMC seemed to remedy that. Next, my iPod, when connected via the USB cable, would mount and prompt iTunes to launch only intermittently. I’ve reset the iPod twice and the problem persists. On another forum, someone mentioned that the USB ports and the Bluetooth are somehow interconnected. I won’t pretend to understand how. Lastly, my Bluetooth preference pane has disappeared and I had successfully used Bluetooth to exchange files between the MacBook and my cell phone in the past. I may do an Archive and Install from the original disc to test this theory. No solutions, but I hope a little more information is a help to someone out there.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Me again. This just gets more strange. I literally just turned on my Macbook, without the AC cord plugged in, and thought I’d check the preferences panes for the Bluetooth module. It’s there and working! I hadn’t begun the re-install from the original OS disc. In fact, I hadn’t done anything but shut the machine down after posting on this forum last night. I was about to call my local reseller and ask them about this issue. I’m still going to just to see what they say.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Hey guys,
it’s me again. First I thought this is a problem with the 10.4.10 update, but now I think its not!
I reinstalled the system (1.4.6) and didn’t do any updates for several day. Bluetooth disappeared again. Then I installed XP on a bootcamp partition. In windows it’s even worse. The bluetooth device appears in the device manager and then disappears again and again. The system doesn’t stop saying “New hardware device found! Failed to install new device.” The apple drivers are installed properly. Sometimes it works and the next day there is this nasty error again.
Rich said “USB ports and the Bluetooth are somehow interconnected”, and I guess that’s right. Booting up OSX or Windows from USB, doesn’t give me the error.
I will bring my Macbook to the apple service now.
August 14th, 2007 at 2:07 am
Well, the Bluebooth problem isn’t just on MacBooks. I’m running an old 12″ PowerBook G4 and have been having the disappearing Bluetooth problem too … At first, restarting fixed the problem, but now that doesn’t work. Problem started not long after installing 10.4.10. I had this problem once very briefly when I first got this machine back in 2003; back then, resetting the PMU (same as SMC) fixed the problem. But not this time. Have tried resetting PRAM, PMU, deleting Bluetooth prefs, all no luck. VERY FRUSTRATING for someone who syncs a Treo every day via Bluetooth.
I was beginning to think maybe the hardware had finally failed on me … until I found this page.
Please Apple! Fix 10.4.10 and Bluetooth!!!
August 15th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I have been having same problems. Tried all that was suggested, but didn’t work. Finally, took into my local Apple store/genius bar. Told them everything I tried. They tried creating another user and seeing if it worked on that user. It didn’t. So they said it was hardware and took it in for repair. Took about 10 minutes
Lucky for me they had a bluetooth module in and did the repair a couple hours later.
PS. Only have a week left in the first year AppleCare. and I am a Procare member, but i think that only helped with the initial genius bar reservation.
So far, bluetooth works fine. If it goes again, I will post back here
August 15th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I’m a 17″ PowerBook and I lost my Bluetooth capabilities after doing the 10.4.10 update, as well. I’ll try some of the suggested remedies and update this posting.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
I just learned from Apple that “it is important to shut down the computer (in my case). A restart is not sufficient, because the computer must be powered off, which doesn’t happen during a restart.”
Very interesting. I shut down and when I started up again… presto-chango, there was my Bluetooth!
August 21st, 2007 at 4:01 am
I got the same problem with “Bluetooth Unavailable” and is running 10.4.10. Shutting down my MacBook *without* external power worked. It did not fix the problem when I turned it off with the external power attached.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:47 am
I am following the posts here as well as on other forums. I tried every idea and “voodoo craft” people were kind to suggest. Nothing helps. It comes and goes and I am unable to find any rules.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:03 am
I have a similar problem with two Powerbook G4 12″.
Re-booting always brings bluetooth back.
Interestingly, it only happens when using a bluetooth 2.0 adaptor.
If I use the built-in bluetooth 1.0, there is no problem.
I use bluetooth to tether my powerbook to a Motorola Razr V3xx.
Rich
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I am back. A few posts up i said that i took my macbook in and they replaced the bluetooth module. well, it worked for a few days. Then it starting happening again.
Just took it in again and they are now going to replace the logic board.
Will post back if I still have troubles.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I’m having the same problem and restarting my mac mini didn’t solve the problem for good. Now i reinstalled Tiger and it’s working. The apple store did nothing and acted as if i was the first one to report it. What is going on with Applecare???? You do have plenty of computer. I had months of savingto buy my mac mini and now my PC works better than my mac, I don’r believe it. They kept my computer 4 days and tested it using another bluetooth card instead of mine. What’s the point? I’m rellay fed up with applecare. Are they scared of bad publicity? I think I’ll get in touch with reporters telling them about the stupid attitude of the genius I met. And now my internal speaker doesn’t work anymore since yesterday. So much for apple’s quality and service. In saying bluetooth was normal and functioning they’re saying i just imagined the whole thing. I live far from the apple store by bus (2 hours). It seems they just don’t care. Thanks to you guys I know i’m not alone as they seems to tell me.
i guess I will have to leave this for years.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
i’ll tell you in a few days about bluetooth and my internal speaker. I suppose if i go back to the store they’ll keep it for a week and say it’s working perfectly…the easy way to get rid of someone. I’ve never seen such a bad attitude than at the Laval Apple store. They think at first that the customer is wrong. And the the repair useless according to one of the genius/.
August 28th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
So far so good. (and they upgraded my logic board :). I had a core duo 1.83 - they gave me a 2.0 core duo
September 20th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Hi! first the LAVAL Apple Store refused to change the bluetooth as I was advises by AppleCare. They kept the computer for 4 days in August for nothing as they said wverythings looked fine. And when they tested the computer they even didn’t use my bluetooth module and use another one instead (I don’t know why) and told me there was nothing wrong.
Back home Bluetooth wasn’t working. For weeks I unpluged everything and then it was working again. FINALLY after weeks of that stupid thing BLUETOOTH wasn’t working at all and I could not make it work even unpluging everything like before. PLUS I could not use Sleep Mode don’t ask why.
Back at Apple Store I aqsked to speak with the manager, sylvio, and finally they changed the Bluetooth Module and the Antenna…just to please me as they said. But finally for the first time since August everything is working fine for days. Thanks to Applecare and shame on my Apple Store in Laval (Montreal).
September 28th, 2007 at 12:44 am
I suddenly got the “bluetooth unavailable” and macbook not wanting to sleep combo (screen goes black and then the superdrive makes its eject sound and turns MB back on). Tried PRAM, SMC, and removal of blued.plist, and some other preferences, rebooting off backup drive, and backup drive of a MB Pro (so its not OS X corrupting) all to no avail. Then I decided to swap out my third-party ram for the stock ram and bluetooth was back right away on reboot, just like the sleep function.
I should mention that the number of “application … quit unexpectedly” was increasing lately, particularly on wake-up from sleep.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Hi guys,
Glad (you know what I mean) to know I’m not the only one having real problems with this. Bluetooth not been working for a couple of months now, it does ACCEPT things from mobile phones, but says ‘Bluetooth: Not Available’.
Have tried everything, PRAM, SMC, removal of bluetooth preferences etc, not show in system profiler. Have even created a new user account where bluetooth is not even showing anywhere.
Not sure what to do as my warranty ran out last month - would Apple Care even listen to me?
Also been having a problem with the drive making an eject sound when the lid is closed over…seems to have corresponded with the bluetooth problem, was all since last update…hrmm!
October 8th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Hi,
I’ve had the same problem right from since I bought my Macbook - Core Duo 2GHz. The problem has persisted right through all software upgrades of 10.4.x, I have also had my logic board replaced and the problem STILL persists! I’m sick of it now.
Its a software issue and Apple knows about it!
Calvin.
October 8th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Before I reset anything on the laptop, can someone kindly let me know if this will harm any data on my harddrive?
I’m missing the bluetooth and keen to try it but it’s not worth losing all my work for!
Pretty sure this is a dumb question, but best safe than sorry.
Thanks in advance
October 13th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I have had the missing Bluetooth problem for several weeks. Restarting the computer (several times) did nothing. I was convinced it must be hardware. But reading the post of MRM Productions (2nd of August 15th), I Shut Down properly then Started Up and the problem was solved. I was alerted to this blog by a member of the Oxford Mac User Group. Very satisfactory.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:19 am
For me shutting down and then starting again does not work. It keeps coming and going: more going than coming, unfortunately.
October 21st, 2007 at 1:03 am
I think I found the problem!!! Heating. For the last few days I put something under the rear part of my MacBook, so that there will be space between the bottom of the laptop and the table, and the bluetooth is stable.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:02 am
No, unfortunately its not the heat
its gone again after a few days of disillusion.
I will be happy to hear if anyone finds a solution.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I am also getting the “Bluetooth: Not Available” and it sometimes turns on/off for several sequences. As a result, my bluetooth mouse no longer works.
I have had my 17″ Intel-based MacBook pro for 4-5 months and it has been flawless. I just installed the new Leopard OS yesterday and now I have the Bluetooth problem! I tried reinstalling Leopard with a clean hard drive erase first and problem still persists.
This has to be a software glitch or something triggered by my new OS update, unless it is a strange coincidence. I upgraded my daughters Intel-based iMacs and they seem to be working fine.
If I have some time, I may try putting on the orginal OS.
Cheers,
Bob
October 28th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Bob, I upgraded to Leopard too and noticed a squiggly line through the bluetooth icon in the menu bar.
I have no bluetooth icon in system preferences and under bluetooth in profiler, it says “no information found.”
I turned on my apple wireless keyboard (the white one with the number pad, not the new smaller one). THE BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD WORKS FINE but is not visually ackowledged anywhere in the OS. Very strange indeed.
I’m going to try all of the above suggestions starting with a total shut down.
I’ll post my results. I really am grateful for this page because this thread is exactly my problem. THANKS>
October 28th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I didn’t reset the PRAM or SMC (is this the same thing???), but this worked:
DISCONNECTED THE AC ADAPTER, SHUT DOWN, POWERED UP AND NOW I’M GOOD TO GO.
Thanks again for all the help, judging by some of these posts, I may be back here looking for more help. I hope the 1st Leopard update addresses this bug. Thanks and good luck.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Just to let you know, since a couple of days my iBook 12″ 1.2GHz G4 has had the same “Bluetooth: Not Available” trouble, running 10.4.10. I’ve tried all of the above (power on/off, remove battery for 5 min., zap the PRAM, etc.), it sometimes works and sometimes it doesn’t.
What does System.log in Console tell you? Mine says:
“Nov 6 11:39:18 Thijs-iBook kernel[0]: USBF: 1204.559 AppleUSBOHCI[0x2374800]::CreateGeneralTransfer - trying to queue to a stalled pipe
Nov 6 11:39:18 Thijs-iBook kernel[0]: USBF: 1204.559 AppleUSBOHCI[0x2374800]::DoIOTransfer - error 0xe000404f queueing request
Nov 6 11:39:18 Thijs-iBook kernel[0]: IOBluetoothHCIController::terminateWL .. done”
So sometimes it’s preceded by an USB error, but sometimes (the first time for example) I only see the last line. An as someone above mentioned, I too get the Bluetooth availability cycling on/off, but eventually it always stops being “available”.
It’s funny how such simple functionality is so utterly needed when it’s gone. Just turns your (expensive) notebook into something way less appealing.
November 16th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Wohoo, thanks a lot for this hint! This simple solution did the trick!
November 19th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Hi, I had the exact same problem, Macbook Pro 17″
I did what the comment directly above this one said (disconnect AC, shut down, wait a bit, turn it back on) and the problem was fixed. Try that first.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I have had my macbook for over a year and a half now. Unfortunately I have had this problem for over a year. I have brought my mac into the apple store a number of times and they are usually able to bring bluetooth back with a full restart, however this is not a solution. This problem should not be occurring in the first place. Why should I have to restart my computer every time I want to put it to sleep? Isn’t the point of simply being able to close your laptop and let it sleep “convenience”? I am restarting my computer all the time, and if I don’t, then the bluetooth is not available and putting my computer into sleep mode is impossible!!! Seriously, apple needs to get with it and fix this problem.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Hi, same issue here.
Got the logic board replaced, problem back again.
Tried PRAM, SMC, battery out, but always comes back sooner or later. Have read about a dozen different forums to no joy.
It also started shortly after upgrading to 10.4.9
Sick of it.
JC
January 8th, 2008 at 10:57 am
By the way mine is a macbook intel core duo 2GHz
January 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
‘SO PLEASE FIX THE BLUETOOTH PROBLEM APPLE. OTHERWISE LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL TAKE THEIR MACBOOKS INTO THE SHOPS AND WILL GET THEIR LOGICBOARDS REPLACED FOR NO REASON.’
I think their intention is to have so many of us pay more by taking it in to ‘apple technicians’ to have them service our computers. I therefor conclude this is not a ‘manufacturing glitch’ but a purposeful act of sabotage to make us pay more than we already have! It could be worse though, it could be spyware microsoft nightmare, but still. In the very near future I am going to convert entirely to linux and a computer that needs neither Dell/microsoft nor apple.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Well I just started getting this after installing Office on Leopard. I rebooted and voila, no bluetooth anymore. Tried all the suggestions and ended up with a very simple fix. Repair Permissions. Yes running this has cleared up this issue. I haven’t seen the issue since.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Nightmare also…. I bought my computer in september 2005, a 13inch Macbook, and I got the problem (sleep and bluetooth) for now ONE YEAR and HALF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… The computer went to 5 differents Mac dealer accros US and Canada!!!
They change many part. Battery asset, Mainboard, what.. ever…
I reinstall OSX 100 of time,
upgrade to leopard,
downgrade to tiger,
run the computer virgin without anything plug into,
keep the BT desactivate,
Guys…. NOTHING WORK!!! In january, I had to leave my computer to INSO in Montreal for fix that thing. In a week, they didn’t found anything, I had to pay 75$CND to get back my machine….
I called apple many time but they never wanted to change the machine even after more than 5 visits to the apple dealer for that problem.
I SERIOUSLY WANT TO SUE THEM with a collective regroupment.
I found this: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6549970
Interesting. I will try the reset propose by AnlliJN from Finland and maybe the physical operation about cutting the USB cable but it’s a REAL shame from apple to leave that problem on for so many years…
Sorry guys, get your shit togheter, I go back to my shittty Vista with a SONY!
February 24th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I just tried the reset proposed by AnlliJN…. didn’t work… I guest cutting the USB wire will work, but break my 300$ apple care warranty! Damn I miss my Commodore 64!
February 26th, 2008 at 4:32 am
12″ PowerBook 1.5mhz, 1.25 GB: Tried all of the above, then one more thing::
Shut down. Unplugged. Took out battery. Disconnected Airport antenna, Removed Airport Card, and then reseated it, reinstalled antenna, put battery back in, plugged in power adapter, restarted. Bluetooth is back.
Might be just the power being truly off, truly back on; or maybe the hardware disconnect, reinstall. Whatever it was, bluetooth is working.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:35 am
12″ PowerBook 1.5mhz, 1.25 GB: Tried all of the above, then one more thing::
Shut down. Unplugged. Took out battery. Disconnected Airport antenna, Removed Airport Card, and then reseated it, reinstalled antenna, put battery back in, plugged in power adapter, restarted. Bluetooth is back.
Might be just the power being truly off, truly back on; or maybe the hardware disconnect, reinstall. Whatever it was, bluetooth is working. Icon is back on desktop, and controls are back in System Preferences…
April 6th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I fixed it by Repairing Permissions in the Disk Utility.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I’ve got my first brand new Macbook this week and have loaded XP in Bootcamp and the issues are here for me also so I suspect hardware. I get an error in my Event viewer saying
“BTUSBhub The local Bluetooth radio has failed and will be unloaded”
It disapears from my device manager and after this the machine hangs on shutdown requiring me to hold down the power button to get it to shutdown. When it reboots up an aytmatic Windows disk scan starts and picks up lots of errors on my Windows partition. These problems generally start after the machine has been in standby so I feel the on board bluetooth adaptor doesn’t reliably wake up from standby.If I boot into OSX rather than back into Windows the Bluetooth is unavaliable there either. I’ve re-installed my Bootcamp drivers just 5 minutes ago so I’m going to hope this will resolve the problem. If it doesn’t I’m going to return it and get a PC instead.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:18 am
You are the man. Thank you.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi,
Here is the fix for this:
http://bluhaloit.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/solve-intermittent-bluetooth-problems-on-the-mac-mini/
July 20th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Here is another possible solution that solved it for me: http://www.windley.com/archives/2007/10/fixing_macbook_pro_sleep_problems.shtml
August 24th, 2008 at 6:52 am
I have been having the bluetooth problem and also on and off problems getting online using airport. they said they couldn’t reproduce my airport problems in store….i’m wondering if the bluetooth thing is connected.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hi everyone
I found a simple and easy fix for the “bluetooth not available” open the energy saver menu, and put the “sleep options to never”, it has worked for myself and 3 others. It takes an hour to kick in, however the bluetooth still cuts out temporarily for short periods of time.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
SMC reset worked for me, fortunately. it was the first thing I tried… the bluetooth crapped out after I had my mbpro for about a month, was using a2dp a lot (which works great btw except for the occasional bsod).
September 25th, 2008 at 5:04 am
My Macbook won’t work too. Tried to installed back the new Bluetooth module. pls help….
October 25th, 2008 at 1:32 am
I also have the bluetooth not available problem all ready
form some time. The point is that bluetooth comes back
randomly, so that is way there are some many “fix solutions”
I THINK THERE IS REALY ONLY ONE AND THAT IS
THAT APPLE SPEAKS UP AND GET US OUT OF THE
COULD BY FIXING THIS UGLY THING, BECAUSE
THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE!!!
By the way my DVD driver is also not working
spitting out disks right away (Macbook 1.83 2 Core 2 DUO)
APPLE WATH IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 15th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Hi ,
Ive got a 15″ Mcbook pro and started seeing this also, i rebooted and somtimes this would work and then not at all.
So tired the solution of unplug AC, shut down wait a few mins and restart under battery power and it seems to work but time will tell.
Something that might be worth a note though a suggest folks to check…
My Case of the macbook pro has a Electrical charge on it, no shit it does, running the tips of my fingers over the case i can feel the charge, i even unpluged my AC to be sure and it then disappeared. So im wondering if this is a Electrical thing?
Try it your self as I hadnt noticed in for ages its that slight, but if you run your fingers along the case ( top/Bottom doesnt matter) and if you feel something unplug the ac and see if you can still feel it? Thats an electrical charge going through it and might be related?
Anyway, im now doing a Disk permissions check and will report back here to let you know if the issue returns…
All very annoying i have to say…
thanks
Mac
November 26th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Same problem with everyone here, went to Mac store today and the “GENIUS” told me it’s because the Bluetooth module has gone South. $150CAD to replace the module! This is my first mac product and it’s not impressive at all. The battery is another pain in the neck.
Anyway, the bluetooth on my 5-yr-old sonyericsson cellphone has never raised any issues.
December 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Hi Thought Id give an update since my last one to help…
Since my last post ive discovered that if you unplug ur AC , and shutdown and start your MAC up again it seems to do the trick 8 times out of 10… it works for me so far on my Macbook Pro, Old version, 2.33GHZ intel , 2GB RAM
Hope that helps someone.
MAC
December 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
So i brought my macbook in before christmas to the so called “geniuses” and the guy told me an erase and reload would fix all the problems. I told him it wasn’t sleeping consistently, and the fan would start going rediculously fast for no reason sometimes. After being told it would be fixed that day I never got a call so I called two days after and it was done. I also had to have my keyboard replaced for the second time in a year. I’ve only had this macbook since august 2006 and I’m not impressed at all. I will be bringing it in again tomorrow since it started no sleep and i finally realized it has something to do with the bluetooth. I will see what this next genius thinks will fix it.
January 4th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Macbook, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, Leopard 10.5.6, same problem, “Bluetooth Unavailable”. Solution for me was to disconnect Magsafe power adapter, shutdown, wait a minute, start up. Bluetooth now available! Reconnect Magsafe at this time.
January 4th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Well it just stopped working again, just randomly while I was web surfing. The “Lost Connection” overlay graphic appeared and faded out. ARGH.
February 16th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Hi, I’ve got the same problem on my Mac Mini running on Leopard 10.5.6 as I am losing my connection to my Logitec bluetooth keyboard every time. I am not sure when it occurs and can’t reproduce it but it happens every day when I am not using the Mac. I have tried putting it to sleep and waking it up with my keyboard but that all works fine. It is when I am not there when it happens? Note that it has been stable for more than a year and this problems started several weeks ago (maybe a software update?).
March 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
It is amazing that the Bluetooth problems with “It just works” computers is still happening without Apple acknowledging that there is an issue. I found that taking the Macbook apart, and untwisting the usb connector and antenna wires from their placements resolved this issue on a Late 2006 (white) and a 2007 (black) Macbook.
April 15th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I’m using macbook w/ Leopard here and I am also experiencing the same bluetooth (BT) intermittent connection problem. I strongly believe it is related with the system temperature.
I used to have the BT connection going up and down all the time (if you use hardwaregrowler you know exactly what I mean), until I found some workaround solution that consisted in increasing the fan speed to lower the temperature (smcFanControl).
However, the problem was not solved, just delayed… More recently (and this is the reason I re-googled), I have also experienced the icon disappearing altogether. I guess faulty components (the BT module doesn’t withstand well high temp??) have the bad habit of getting worse.
June 14th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Simply shutting down the MacBook and rebooting with the AC cord unattached worked for me. BlueTooth is back. Wireless mouse and keyboard are responding. Rebooting with the AC attached did NOT fix the problem.
Hope BT stays available.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Resetting the SMU solved my bluetooth issue! Thanks!
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:50 am
If you use VMWare Fusion, and you have a VM open, it’s possible that the VM is set to autoconnect to USB devices. The Bluetooth device is a USB device, so the VM will then try to auto-bind to the bluetooth port, which makes it unavailable to OS X. If you tell the VM to disconnect from the device, voila, you have bluetooth available again.
August 30th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I have a Macbook, 2.4ghz, Core 2 duo, Leopard 10.5.7
The above has solved my bluetooth issue. All Good now (-:
Bluetooth had totally vanished, no symbol icon on the task pane or system preferences VANISHED. So i disconnected mag safe power cord, shut down (not restarted) and then next time i powered up… all was back to normal and is fine now. (i had not shut down mac for 2 weeks, as i usually just sleep it, but thats fine and many ppl do this)
It is mentioned that Apple engineers have interconnected the USB & Bluetooth somehow. This could be so, as i first encountered this problem when i had my Mobile phone synced up via USB cable and then i also tried to connect the same device via Bluetooth simultaneously to “see what would happen” haha and you guessed it, soon after is where it went weird…
This probably crashed the bluetooth hardware i’m guessing.
But all good now, thanks to what was mentioned in this thread, thanks guys!
***So…maybe Don’t try to bluetooth something that is already actively connected via USB***
kind regards mac people
Phil
August 31st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Hello there,
I am a victim as well. I have tried all of the methods available on this page, including opening my computer and reseating the airport card. Nothing worked. As I was trying to clear out space on my computer, I ran Onyx and cleared out all of the recommended cache on my system, and after I restarted my bluetooth was back. I am at work and can’t check to see if connecting my bluetooth mouse will cause it to malfunction again like usual, but I will test this when I get home and update.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:09 pm
It’s me again,
Well, my bluetooth worked for about 24 hours. I even brought my mouse to work today, very excited to use it after a full night of problem free net-surfing. And just like before, “connection lost,” “bluetooth not available.”
I wonder if installing snow leopard would help?
I’m surely not going to be able to take it in for repairs, because I live in Japan, and I’m about 5 hours from the nearest apple store.
September 27th, 2009 at 8:39 am
This seemed to fix it for me.
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I just love the close knit Apple community and how helpful everyone is and there is always a solution to any problem I have had.
I salute all the Apple pioneers and thank you for all your sweet and tears to provide the solutions.
This worked great! The issues were so different and sporadic that I was grasping at straws when I found this and was so happy to have this be the fix.
Thanks!
October 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
:/ I got the same problem, it will work for a while if i reboot and reset. But I should not have to do this once a day… apple sucks sometimes.
November 6th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
This worked for me!
Thanks!
November 6th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
[...] Technical Ramblings and Mac [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I tried this before — it did not work for me.
My own guess is that the bluetooth problem is temperature-related — it seems to start when my Mac is really hot from running a lot of programs at one time.
When I turn my Mac off completely and leave it off for over an hour, it seems that Bluetooth works again when I turn it on — that’s the only reasonably reliable “fix” I’ve found.
Honestly, Apple has not been helpful in resolving this. I’ve called for tech support on it twice and not gotten good advice and also gotten the sense that the technicians were unfamiliar with the problem.
I have tried many things — archive installing the OS, resetting the PRAM, resetting the SMU — and none of them has provided any lasting relief. I’ve just ended up going down the rabbit-hole of casting around the internet for articles like this one, with no real satisfaction.
For myself, I’m replacing my 3 and a half year old MacBook with a new MacBook Pro, hoping that this is the cure I need and that having a latest-model computer will have many other speed and hard-drive-size benefits.
Yay Mac! But boo how Mac has dealt with this bluetooth problem, which seems to affect enough people that I wish they had better tech support on it.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Oh, also, other things I’ve tried with no lasting success — throwing out bluetooth preference files, changing bluetooth Settings (when bluetooth is working) so that bluetooth does not wake the computer, deleting and then re-adding device pairings.
December 7th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Had same problem. Cause was heat. When bluetooth module gets at a certain temp, it fails. You can fix by downloading “smcFanControl” (do a search) and set the minimum fan speed a little higher. Fixed my problem immediately.
December 9th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Have tried everything nothing is working I have Leopard 10.6.3 mac mini late 2009.
So far Mac os reinstall will temporarily get back the Bluetooth for about 30 minutes and the back to the drawing board. I already changed the bluetooth once and the apple store. I am about to give up
December 12th, 2009 at 10:11 am
MBP 15″ Intel early 2008: tried everything from shut down and reboot, to SCM reset, NVRAM reset, scmFanControl: since updating to OSX 10.6.2, I have a strike-through BT symbol in the menubar and nothing will fix it
Sys Info>Hardware> Bluetooth says “No device found”.
I’ll continue googling for other solutions…
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:17 am
Well, I was having the same problem until I found a magical solution. I unplugged my USB mouse from my Macbook and started up fine… Bluetooth and all. Hope it helps.
-bmart
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
Oh yes and I forgot to add that I am running Snow Leopard (10.7) lastest update. I need restart a lot but didn’t reset the PRAM or reinstall the OS.
- bmart
January 14th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
January 20th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Just got the newest update this week and it killed my bluetooth! Did the SMC reset and everything works perfectly. Before that I reset the PRAM/NVRAM but that did nothing. I’m running 10.6.2 on an aluminum Macbook. Hope that helps. Peace.
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 am
Tried all suggestions here and nothing worked until I reset my PRAM (hold down control option P and R as the machine starts) which fixed the issue (at least for now anyway)
January 30th, 2010 at 1:59 am
it worked well for me. im running a 2008 white macbook.
thanks
February 25th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Apple fu*king sucks… they have NO support.. this issue keeps happening with zero resolution.
March 5th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Chalk another one up for me. My black Macbook has working BT again!
March 6th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Macbook Pro 15″, Latest system X. Same problem of the BT becoming unavailable spontaneously in the middle of a bunch of work. Not sure if this is the same as others have reported, but sounds similar. This happens every few days to me - of all the things I have tried, it always seems to get fixed if you shut down, disconnect power, and hold power button down for 10-20 seconds until it makes a noise…..then restart at it seems to be fine for a few more days. Why they cannot fix it? Who knows…
March 8th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I have a Mac Mini and a wireless keyboard. It’s been working great for the last 2 years but I suddenly starting have this issue described in this thread. Resetting the SMC did the trick. I’ve noted all the other fixes in there and will keep them in my mental tool box of Mac fixes. Thank you everyone!
March 24th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I found a fix! I tried the suggestions here, and before I also tried resetting the PRAM; restarting; fiddling with various settings in Energy Saver; turning Airport on and off; bringing the laptop to the Genius Bar (but then my Mac mysteriously was able to go to sleep at the store, so no fix then!); changing hibernation settings via Terminal; and repairing disk permissions. NONE of that worked.
I figured out that it must be the Bluetooth settings, which kept going to “Bluetooth not available.” What worked for me was downloading smcFanControl and upping the minimum fan speed to keep the computer’s temperature low (around 120 degrees F). When the temperature is at that level, the Bluetooth icon is lit up and it works, and then my mac goes to sleep! (By the way, plugging in an external Bluetooth dongle didn’t let my mac go to sleep, though it did make the icon light up.)
Might not work for everyone, but it did for me.
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Brand new 21″ iMac with the same issue.
The bluetooth icon is gone and nothing I do will fix it. I keep reading that its a heat issue. When I lost the connection I was using some heavy duty programs and the monitor was hotter than my 2nd brand new iMac (I have two).
April 7th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Same for me…. new macbook 15″ …. same problem! Woow 3 years and they didn’t solve the problem!!!!!
April 7th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Mackbook OSX 10.6.3
If you use USB Mighty Mouse, unplug it and shut down the Mackbook. Wait few seconds and start it back. Once the system is up you can plug in back the mouse.
My Bluetooth was not available under Windows XP as well, thought it looks like a hardware glitch.
Hope this simple trick will help you
April 13th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
IT WORKED! Thanks, I really didn’t want to go throuh all the trouble and money to get apple to fix it.
April 13th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
FYI, the bluetooth module is NOT USB related, it is I/O related obviously, but only because of the coding: if you are familiar with programming you will see in most of the I/O drivers bluetooth is mentioned. The I/O board itself is located on the left side (USB/line in, firewire, etc) of the logic board, the bluetooth module is located under the delete button on your keyboard, they are NOT in any way connected, at least not physically. USB connections do not affect bluetooth in any way it is physically impossible. After probing the bluetooth module with similar I/O testing I have come to the conclusion that this problem is either power/voltage related, or it is the I/O drivers causing the problem as they include non-bluetooth specific coding. It may or may not also depend on what you are using bluetooth for. Using bluetooth for internet (aka tethering) is not stable on any bluetooth enabled mac, and unfortunately is the most common of problems people seem to be having.
The best thing you could do (if you are desperate) is to buy an external bluetooth card/usb-to-bluetooth stick and you wont have any bluetooth problems (which again supports the theory that it is driver related). Hope this helps.
April 19th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
This happened Jan 2009. Tried everything above and it kept happening. It also stopped my MacBook from sleeping properly. I took it into an Apple Store and they replaced the BT card and the logic board. All was well until last week when it has started to happen again. I have just spoke to AppleCare on the phone and I am going to take it back into the Apple Store. The fact that the length of time it runs before the fault appears is nearly the same, I would suggest that this is a manufacturing problem.
April 20th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
This just happened to me. I restarted my Macbook and BT was back again. It wouldn’t find the mouse so I had to do “set up Bluetooth device”. Hope this helps.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Replacing the BATTERY did it!
PowerBook Pro 15″: I tried resetting the SMC and PRAM to no avail. But when I replaced the battery, I again had bluetooth. I did this with the system powered up and plugged in. I had booted from the old battery and System Profiler said “No information available” on bluetooth. With the system up & running, I removed the old battery and inserted the new (somewhat used) battery. I restarted the System Profiler and now it said I had bluetooth.
FYI, old battery had something like 320 power cycles. “New” battery had 120.
May 15th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Most of the time my Mac Pro shows the grayed out bluetooth icon in the menu bar after starting up.
The trick for me is to uncheck “Show Bluetooth status in the menu bar” in System Preferences and then recheck it. Then it works just fine.
So maybe it’s just a bug with the menu bar icon. I think I’ll leave the menu bar icon away and see if bluetooth works effortlessly.
May 20th, 2010 at 9:31 am
This did it for me, I’ve got bluetooth again. Thank you very much!
May 21st, 2010 at 4:00 pm
The solution to all your problems is resetting the SMC. The system management controller s responsible for many low-level functions on Intel-based Macs. These functions include:
Responding to presses of the power button
Responding to display lid opening and closing on portable Macs
Battery management
Thermal management
The SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor)
Ambient light sensing
Keyboard backlighting
Status Indicator Light (SIL) management
Battery status indicator lights
Selecting an external (instead of internal) video source for some iMac displays
Before you reset the SMC try all of these steps, in this order.
1. Press Command + Option + Escape to force quit any application that is not responding.
2.Put your Mac to sleep by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Sleep. Wake the computer after it has gone to sleep.
3.Restart your Mac by by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Restart.
4. Shut down your Mac by by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Shut Down.
If restarting your computer doesnt fix the problem follow these steps:
Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).
Shut down the computer.
Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
Press the power button to turn on the computer. Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter does not change states or temporarily turn-off when you reset the SMC.
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:22 pm
We think we have finally licked our Mac mini wifi problem:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2010/Home/June/Week1/RDMHomeJun0410.htm#MacMiniTempControl
We think ours is temperature related. The experiments we did with FanControl were pretty conclusive. Your mileage may vary.
June 5th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
For me, this problem appears to be heat related. Shutting down and letting it cool for an hour fixes it until it runs hot again. I’m installing smcFanControl to help avoid overheating.
June 12th, 2010 at 3:21 am
Not sure if this is the same as others have reported, but sounds similar. This happens every few days to me - of all the things I have tried, it always seems to get fixed if you shut down, disconnect power, and hold power button down for 10-20 seconds until it makes a noise…..had booted from the old battery and System Profiler said “No information available” on bluetooth….
Thank you……
____________________________________________________________
Johnpeter
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:48 am
Bluetooth disappeared from my Mac Mini running 10.5.8. The suggestion above about removing the bluetooth preferences, shutting down, leaving it for a few minutes and rebooting without anything else plugged in worked for me. I did have to repair my bluetooth keyboard afterwards but it works for now.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:18 am
This worked for me instantaneously! I feel bad for those of you with hard ware troubles…sucks. But this worked for me, thank the good lord.
July 6th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
http://bluhaloit.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/solve-intermittent-bluetooth-problems-on-the-mac-mini/ …helped me.
…mine appeared to be temperature related as well. Temps were up around 175F and bluetooth stopped working. When it came back to around 130F bluetooth came back.
July 16th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I recently started having the same issue with my Mac Mini, circa 3 years old, running Snow Leopard with all the latest fixes.
I have not tried all the workarounds mentioned here yet, other than changing the fan speed with smc - which did not help.
Strange thing is, bluetooth continues to work perfectly when using bootcamp Windows 7.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:03 am
Thanks everyone. I just had my first incident with this issue this morning. I have a 2008 Macbook 13″ hooked to the Apple large display for which I use a bluetooth mouse. Restarting did not help. But, a full shut down did it. I’ll report back if and when it happens again.
September 19th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Resetting my SMC worked. Thanks!!!
October 20th, 2010 at 10:28 am
on a macbook5,1 w/ 10.6.4 worked for me. thanks.
November 1st, 2010 at 8:00 pm
[...] http://crschmidt.net/blog/archives/223/bluetooth-not-available-fixed/comment-page-2/ [...]
November 18th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Alright folks, something to file under “weird” for you all:
I lost bluetooth on my secondhand Macbook 13″ after upgrading to Snow Leopard. The OS told me it wasn’t available, I tried both PRAM and SMC resets, tried deleting the preferences file, got no positive results.
However, it’s working now. What fixed it was trying out that rinky-dink little media remote that came with it. Once I used that to pull up the media menu, the bluetooth preferences came back, it saw the bluetooth mouse I had paired before the upgrade, and it’s survived several reboots.
No ideas why, but something to try for others who have issues with all the standard fixes out there.
November 22nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
ON a PowerBook G4, 2007, 15inch.
Read through this feed. Tried PRAM, SCM, Energy Saver Trick, etc. and then finally I just took the battery out and started up with the plug in. BINGO. Bluetooth was back. Before this problem started I had replaced the dead original battery with a refurbished battery ordered online. The battery works. But it would appear that it interferes with Bluetooth somehow.
January 13th, 2011 at 3:16 am
Had this with my MacBook. Tried removing battery and also Cmd+Opt+P+R during boot. Worked.
Then had it with an iMac. Tried just Cmd+Opt+P+R first. Did not work. Then unplugged for a minute and booted again. Worked.
January 24th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Found your page after a quick Google search, performed the SMC reset as described in your link, problem solved. Thanks!
February 3rd, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Thanks! Got my Bluetooth back with this tip.
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:40 am
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
March 24th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
MacBook 1,1, purchased 2006. For several weeks, computer had refused to stay asleep, but awoke itself immediately–much as everyone else has been describing. System Profiler showed Bluetooth to be Not Available.
Reboot did not help. SMC Reset and PRAM Reset at home did not help. Apple Genius was inches away from selling me a new logic board or Bluetooth controller. On second visit to Apple Genius, a SMC/PRAM Reset did work, but within half an hour the problem was back.
Sitting here at home nursing my wounds, I found this web page. Installed smcFanControl and found CPU temperature to be upwards of 67 C. Turned up the fan speed and didn’t notice much effect. Being impatient, I then fetched a cold pack from the freezer, placed it under the MacBook and watched the temperature drop. Around 50 C the Bluetooth controller reappeared in the status bar and the system regained the ability to sleep.
My conclusion as a scientist–this problem is totally correlated with temperature. Keeping my computer on ice does not sound very practical, but I am hoping that having more control of the fan will keep the temperature down.
Remaining mysteries–(1) why this happens, (2) why this only appeared after the computer reached age 5 years (maybe to ask this one is to answer it), (3) why, when the computer is in a vicious circle of sleep-wake up-sleep (but not otherwise doing anything), but temperature does not drop far enough to correct the problem.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
I am currently writing this on an old Thinkpad 770 running Ubuntu Linux. My Mac Mini Core Duo is off due to Bluetooth having suddenly disconnected during a mouse click. I keep a spare wired mouse to shut it down. I once had Bluetooth on a Win XP machine and tried to use it to sync with my Nokia phone at the time (8 years ago maybe.) It would lose the signal in the middle of the sync. Bah!
I have concluded that Bluetooth is crap and the only solution is to get rid of it. Not sure if it is hardware or software. Don’t care. You can’t use an Apple computer if the mouse doesn’t work.
I’ve found that Logitech’s proprietary wireless mouse adapter works just great on Macs, Win XP, and Linux machines. So that’s my next stop.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Oh, and for phone syncing, I now use a wired connection.
July 2nd, 2011 at 6:04 am
Hi - I just had the same problem with my bluetooth keyboard after years of no issues. The bluetooth symbol was crossed out and said unavailable. I turned the mac off, took the battery out the back (and out of the keyboard - although not convinced this had anything to do with it). Turned the mac back on and it worked. Phil
August 9th, 2011 at 6:38 am
Resetting the SMC worked for me!
Thanks.
September 20th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
FIXED THE “BLUETOOTH NOT AVAILABLE” PROBLEM!!!!!
I had the same “bluetooth not available” problem… Bluetooth (and everything associated to it including the Preference Pane) had entirely vanished… No mention of any Bluetooth software in System Profiler… icon squiggled out… It was scary!!
For hours I googled and tried everything… Repaired permissions, nothing…. P-RAM, nothing… Rebooted, nothing…
Finally fixed it by taking the battery out for a couple of minutes, pressing the Power button, then putting the battery back in and starting up. All fixed.
Never had such a panic in all my life, so happy it’s resolved. It happened after installing Auto Tune 7, also after my Macbook crashed while tethered (via bluetooth) to my mobile phone. I suspect it was the latter that caused the problem. Hope this fix helps someone else.
September 21st, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Thanks, this has fixed the problem for me.
September 25th, 2011 at 3:51 am
I had the same problem when bluetooth disappeared. At the same time, when I put the MacBook on, a bar appeared in the start-up screen which ‘filled up’ before the computer came on. I shut down and restarted several times but still no bluetooth. Then I followed the simplest advice on here and unplugged the AC power lead, shut down and restarted - it was back! The bar had disappeared, too. Thanks for the advice, it’s hopefully saved me a lot of time, hassle and probably money.
July 24th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
I had the same problem with the Bluetooth disappearing on my Macbook. Your suggestion to reset the SMC did the trick.
THANKS!!
May 9th, 2013 at 11:58 am
Not to hijack this thread but, I need to find a place to bring my Mac for repair. Has anyone ever heard of this mac repair service? It’s right in West Los Angeles, which is close by my home. It’s called - Mac Repair Los Angeles, 11322 Santa Monica Blvd, Ste B Los Angeles, CA 90025 - (310) 966-9099.