Connecting BT headset via USB kills system Bluetooth

Originator:atomicbird
Number:rdar://11575115 Date Originated:01-Jun-2012 10:34 AM
Status:Resolved Resolved:12-Jul-2012 09:55 AM
Product:Mac OS X Product Version:10.7.4
Classification:Crash/Hang/Data Loss Reproducible:Always
 
01-Jun-2012 10:34 AM Tom Harrington:
Summary:

Connecting a Bluetooth headset via USB completely shuts down Bluetooth on the Mac, even if the headset is turned off.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Use a Mac which has at least one Bluetooth device connected
2. Get a Bluetooth headset which can be charged by USB. Plug it in to one of the Mac's USB ports.

Note: Do NOT attempt to pair the headset with the Mac, or turn the headset on. These steps are not necessary. The steps reflect only an attempt to charge a BT device via USB.

Expected Results:

Bluetooth would continue working normally on the Mac.

Actual Results:

The Mac immediately loses connections to all Bluetooth devices. Disconnecting the headset does not restore the connections. The Bluetooth menu item contains a single grayed out entry reading "Bluetooth: Not available". Bluetooth hardware utilities (Bluetooth Explorer, Bluetooth Diagnostics Utility) report that Bluetooth is unavailable. System Information reports "No information found" in the Bluetooth section.

If the affected Mac has only Bluetooth keyboards and mice, it becomes impossible to interact with the Mac except via Back to my Mac. (Testing was done on a MacBook Air specifically due to the difficulty in getting details of the system state on an iMac with only a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse).

Rebooting the Mac restores normal operation, if the headset is not connected. It's the only way I've found to get Bluetooth back to normal.

Regression:

Unclear. I have not used a Bluetooth headset in over year and have never used the current model until yesterday. I didn't notice the problem previously but I would have been using a different headset and a different version of Mac OS X at the time. It would have been the same Macs, though.

Notes:

1. The headset used in testing is a Motorola Finiti. It's shown in the attached system profile, in the USB section, as "Stealth K2".

2. The attached system profiles are from a MacBook Air (MacBookAir2,1). Identical results were obtained on a 2010 iMac (iMac11,3).

3. Other than the issue described in this report, Bluetooth works normally on both tested Macs.

4. USB continues to operate normally. I mention this because it was suggested to me that the problem relates to overloading the USB port's power capabilities. USB is not affected when this problem occurs, only Bluetooth.

5. The attached zip file contains the following information:

Console-connect.txt: Console messages that appear when connecting the headset
Console-disconnect.txt: Console messages that appear when disconnecting the headset.

Two folders, "No BT" and "Normal" which contain the same files generated when BT is not working and then again after rebooting:

* "MacBook Air.aspx": System profile
* "BT Menu.png" : Bluetooth menu screenshot
* "Bluetooth Diagnostics Utility.png": Opening screen of the Bluetooth Diagnostics Utility app
* "Bluetooth Explorer.png": for the no-Bluetooth situation, a dialog reporting "No Bluetooth hardware found". For the normal situation, a screenshot showing Bluetooth Explorer's Device Discovery window.


01-Jun-2012 10:34 AM Tom Harrington:
'Archive.zip' and 'MacBook Air.spx' were successfully uploaded

Comments

But not all headsets

To be clear, this doesn't happen with all Bluetooth headsets. I've successfully charged a Jawbone Icon, Jawbone Prime, Jawbone Era, and BlueAnt Q2 with this method without causing any issues. However yesterday I took delivery of a Motorola Finiti headset, and when I plug it into a USB port on my MacBook Pro to charge this is what happens to me. I get the "Bluetooth: Not Available" message in my menu bar, and cannot use Bluetooth on my MBP until I restart.

I'm also running 10.7.4. I don't know what's so special about this Finiti that causes this issue for me when none of my other headsets do. It also doesn't matter whether the thing is paired with the MBP or not, simply plugging it into the USB port kills the Bluetooth module on my MBP.

By bkocik at June 6, 2012, 12:39 p.m. (reply...)

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