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andrew davidoff · Nov 20, 2003, 10:56 AM

Hello All,

I've searched but can't find any information on this.

All of a sudden my 17" pb thinks it doesn't have any bluetooth hardware installed, when it does. Came that way from the factory.

A bit of history:

I don't use any bluetooth devices, but I've always had the bluetooth status indicator on my menu bar and the preference pane in system prefs. Everything seemed to be working OK.

I wiped my harddrive and installed 10.3, previously running 10.2. I clearly remember the bluetooth pref pane and status indicator still existing and functioning correctly after this upgrade.

Shortly after the upgrade, but _before_ installing any updates / patches, I noticed a wavy line through the bluetooth status indicator. The pref pane is gone (although the system files seem to still exist), and the bluetooth assistant tells me I don't have any bluetooth hardware.

I haven't tried wiping and reinstalling again. My main concern here is whether or not this is actually a hardware problem, or if anyone else has experienced this and attributes it to software.

Thanks in advance.
Andrew Davidoff

jia_zhuang · Nov 20, 2003, 01:34 PM

I am having the same problem except I'm still running 10.2 if my memory serves me correctly. this happened shortly after I installed the latest bluetooth update from apple through software update. lucky for me I made a shortcut of the bluetooth system preference icon and when I click on it, all the options are greyed out, but it says bluetooth power is still on. when I go into system profile, there is no bluetooth adaptor. Wonder what is causing all this??? I don't use bluetooth but would like to know its there and how to turn it on or off.

wanderlust · Nov 20, 2003, 02:44 PM

I saw this problem as well. There are solutions to this problem, it was discussed pretty extensively on Apple's discussion board; however, I'm unable to access it right now for some reason so I can't get the exact answers. You might run over and check yourself, but I'll try to post them when I can get into it again. The fix entails resetting your internal battery, almost like resetting the PRAM. You have to turn off your machine, remove the battery and hold down a key combination. Anyway, that apparently worked for many, it did not work for me. I finally updated from 10.2.6 to 10.2.8 and that fixed my problem. I have not seen the problem since updating to Panther, but there are others who, even with Panther, are running into this same problem. So you are not alone.

andrew davidoff · 03:46 PM

Thanks for the info and quick responses all.

I tried resetting the PMU and it did not help. I have never reset the PRAM before, but will find out how and try it after work.

edit: Well, I reset the PRAM and NVRAM too, still no luck.

on an unrelated note, when I view a 'reply' page or a 'new topic' page on this board, safari east up almost 100% cpu. my fan just came on! what gives?

Thanks again.
Andrew Davidoff

wr11 · Nov 20, 2003, 05:23 PM

I have had bluetooth issues and I have spoken to apple about them.

Their solution that worked for my problem was to remove the "blued.plist" file from:

/private/var/root/Library/Preferences/

You'll have to either sudo or login as root to remove or rename this file.

andrew davidoff · Nov 20, 2003, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by wr11:

Their solution that worked for my problem was to remove the "blued.plist" file from:

/private/var/root/Library/Preferences/

I moved this file out of the way and the problem persists. I logged in as root too, to see if it persisted across multiple users including root, and it does.

Thanks for the tip though. I'm very impressed with the quality of responses on this board, and how quickly they come. I will be hanging around.

Andrew Davidoff

gunnmjk · Nov 20, 2003, 07:55 PM

I had the same problem on my 15in Al model. Although it was a bit wierder. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't, almost alternating after each time I /shutdown/ the computer. Calling applecare, they first made shirt it wasn't a hardware problem. ie. Reset the PMU, PRAM, even suggest reinitializing (thankfully I'd done that in the past, and didn't need to do it again) So finally I sent my computer to Apple, where they either Reseated the bluetooth, or put a new one in I'm not sure. But it works perfect now. Hope that helps.

andrew davidoff · Nov 20, 2003, 07:57 PM

Originally posted by gunnmjk:
So finally I sent my computer to Apple, where they either Reseated the bluetooth, or put a new one in I'm not sure. But it works perfect now. Hope that helps.

I would have to go through CompUSA to get the work done, but it's my understanding that they usually send the machines off to Apple. How long were you without your computer?

Thanks,
Andrew Davidoff

Karim · Nov 22, 2003, 11:18 AM

Shutdown (don't restart) your computer. Pull the power cord and pull out the battery. Wait five minutes. Reinstall battery and powerup.

You should have your bluetooth back, if not, it is likely a hardware fault.

jia_zhuang · Nov 22, 2003, 11:47 AM

I shock my powerbook around a little and hit it lightly and now the bluetooth is working fine again. Maybe its just a loose connection???

andrew davidoff · Nov 23, 2003, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Karim:
Shutdown (don't restart) your computer. Pull the power cord and pull out the battery. Wait five minutes. Reinstall battery and powerup.

You should have your bluetooth back, if not, it is likely a hardware fault.

That didn't work for me either. I'm guessing this is just bad hardware or it needs to be reseated.

Originally posted by jia_zhuang:
I shock my powerbook around a little and hit it lightly and now the bluetooth is working fine again. Maybe its just a loose connection???

Um...I don't plan to try this.

Andrew Davidoff

andrew davidoff · Nov 25, 2003, 10:15 PM

Just another update...

I just realized that there's a hardware test app on the original restore CD. I ran it and it said there was no bluetooth hardware detected, so I am now 100% sure this is a hardware(ish) issue.

Also, I reset the nvram and 'all' via the open firmware prompt (vs. the key combos) and no luck.

Andrew Davidoff

andrew davidoff · Jan 15, 2004, 09:40 PM

final update. got it back from apple. i don't know the details except that they replaced the bluetooth module. all is well now.

andy

wanderlust · Jan 17, 2004, 07:12 AM

Whew! Toughy, eh? Well, I'm glad you finally got it resolved.

slider · Jan 17, 2004, 10:30 AM

I also had this problem with my 15" Al I had them fix it when I sent it in for my spots problem. From the invoice I got back it looks like they replaced the module. I love the turn around speed.

atl_adam · Jul 10, 2006, 11:26 AM

Also, I had just UnInstalled Symatec software and Bluetooth had suddenly stoped working. I had Zapped PRAM & NVRAM to no avail. I also had removed the file com.apple.bluetooth.plist that didn't work either. Removing the battery did the trick.