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Bluetooth preferences not working (unable to load pane)

Hello Folks,

I just upgraded to Monterey and BT stopped working. When I open preferences I am getting a message "Preferences error" "could not load bluetooth pane". I can't see the reset bluetooth option in the menu.


I have tried reboots, resetting SMC and also deleting the bluetooth.plist files etc., with no luck. I now really regret upgrading to Monterey.


Anyone has any insight into resolving this?


thanks


MacBook Pro 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 6:27 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 12, 2021 6:42 AM

SalTheCat wrote:

Hello Folks,
I just upgraded to Monterey and BT stopped working. When I open preferences I am getting a message "Preferences error" "could not load bluetooth pane". I can't see the reset bluetooth option in the menu.

I have tried reboots, resetting SMC and also deleting the bluetooth.plist files etc., with no luck. I now really regret upgrading to Monterey.

Anyone has any insight into resolving this?

thanks


The "reset" option is gone in Monterey.... it used to be Shift Option Keys and click open the BT icon in the Upper right menu bar



I would try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc. Login and test.


Reboot and test will take a little longer as caches get rebuilt.



If no resolve—

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)


Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232



11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 12, 2021 6:42 AM in response to SalTheCat

SalTheCat wrote:

Hello Folks,
I just upgraded to Monterey and BT stopped working. When I open preferences I am getting a message "Preferences error" "could not load bluetooth pane". I can't see the reset bluetooth option in the menu.

I have tried reboots, resetting SMC and also deleting the bluetooth.plist files etc., with no luck. I now really regret upgrading to Monterey.

Anyone has any insight into resolving this?

thanks


The "reset" option is gone in Monterey.... it used to be Shift Option Keys and click open the BT icon in the Upper right menu bar



I would try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc. Login and test.


Reboot and test will take a little longer as caches get rebuilt.



If no resolve—

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)


Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201232



Nov 29, 2021 4:51 PM in response to SalTheCat

Did you do a full re-install (erase and install)? I had the same problem and the only fix that worked for me was the complete re-install. You should also run the diagnostic test (press D when restarting) to make sure there are no hardware issues, before doing the re-install. This took me several hours, but I can confirm that Bluetooth was fully functional again.


Note that in addition to the BT pane not loading, I also couldn't load Mouse/Trackpad panes, but they just hung with a spinning ball instead of reporting an error.

Nov 29, 2021 8:36 PM in response to KYC888

Yes, I had to scratch the hard-drive and then reinstall the OS after exhausting all other possible solutions. After that the BT started working fine.

(On a side note, I backed up my laptop data onto a new external hard drive prior to the reformatting, but unfortunately that hardrive broke when I tried to retrieve the data, so I lost all the data and had to start from scratch. Luckily critical personal files were saved on the cloud, but everything else was gone!!)


Now recently the Wifi quits working occasionally when I try to use the laptop after putting it to sleep. I am really frustrated and regret upgrading to Monterrey. Apple Inc. must do a better job of testing it before releasing these updates.


I hope you are able to fix your mouse/trackpad issues.


Nov 30, 2021 6:12 AM in response to SalTheCat

@SalTheCat The full re-install worked for me (Bluetooth, Mouse, Trackpad panes all work perfectly). Unfortunately I had to do it twice (taking many hours longer) because the first time when erasing my Fusion drive it was split into two overlapping drives and I couldn't identify this until after the restore. I had to reset the Fusion drive before the second re-install.

Dec 22, 2021 2:33 PM in response to SalTheCat

Ah, okay. My suggestion makes no sense to me all but it did work. Someone on some other Mac help site suggested unplugging all USB devices and rebooting then plug whatever USB devices you're using, back in. I know USB has noting to do with Bluetooth but it did solve my Bluetooth issues as well and an issue I was having with opening DMG files (I couldn't) and computer not recognizing my external hard drives -all working properly now. Good luck!

Bluetooth preferences not working (unable to load pane)

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