I was on a Zoom call with a few others, and suddenly the husband of this elderly couple proclaims that their computer 'stopped working'.
There was, however, some evidence to suggest the contrary as they were still in the call with us.
After a while we realize what has gone wrong: The husband accidentally disabled Bluetooth. The keyboard and mouse were both connected via Bluetooth.
Was it a laptop, so he could use the built-in trackpad temporarily to enable Bluetooth? Nope.
Did they have a USB mouse around to use? Also no.
So now they literally have to go into town to get a USB mouse. We had a good laugh about that.
But it did make me wonder: The button to disable Bluetooth is easily accessibly in macOS on this iMac, and honestly this could have happened to anyone including myself.
So why doesn't macOS warn the user before you disconnect all your peripherals?
What version of MacOS and what specific Mac and what Bluetooth mouse and keyboard?
On my 2017 iMac running 13 (Ventura) which has a Bluetooth keyboard but a USB mouse trying to turn of Bluetooth brings up a dialog that asks if I'm sure and warns me that if I turn it off I won't be able to control the Mac with a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, or trackpad, and gives me options to cancel or proceed to turn off Bluetooth.
On my 2023 Mac Studio running 14.2.1 (Sonoma) on which both the keyboard and mouse are Bluetooth it gives me a dialog that says in bold "You cannot control your computer if you turn Bluetooth off at this time", and below that in non-bold repeats that with "as you would lose your input devices" added.
It only has an "OK" button which dismisses the dialog, leaving Bluetooth enabled.
The Bluetooth keyboards on both of those are Apple Magic Keyboards, and the Bluetooth mouse on the Mac Studio is an Apple Magic Mouse. I wonder if the warnings only happen if you are using at least one Apple input device?
As a user of personal computers, I should be able to easily determine if my computer is configured for basic use.
Check your keyboard and mouse? I don't even know what you mean by that.
This computer has no input devices? Well that is simply false. The user is currently using an input device when they see this message.
Here's a better message:
"Warning!
Disabling Bluetooth will disconnect your wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. You will need to use a wired keyboard and wired mouse to re-enable Bluetooth.
Are you sure you want to disable Bluetooth?
Cancel. Disable Bluetooth. "
There should probably be a hardware button or switch to enable Bluetooth.
Better is either the button/switch to turn Bluetooth on, or do not allow disablement when either a mouse or a keyboard is connected via Bluetooth and no wired version of the same is presently installed.
It is easy to get confused. Cancel what? Cancel Bluetooth? Cancel the turning off of Bluetooth?
Better are two buttons like this: [Keep Bluetooth running] [Disable Bluetooth].
Mac OS does this often right. I say this somewhat grudgingly.
Neither message is particularly bad, but hypothetical error messages are just that. Either message would require piercing the veil between the Bluetooth transceiver and the devices that rely on it, meaning you’d have to be careful to avoid a leaky abstraction. (Bunch of HID detection spaghetti next to your clean Bluetooth disabling code).
Agree about the switch.
Check engine light? I checked! The engine is still there!
Surely they are using an output device, the screen?
"Keyboard not found. Press F1 to continue"
Jokes aside, not all bluetooth devices turn wired once plugged in. I know my MX Keys USB-C port is only for charging, for example.
• Hit ⌘-space to open Spotlight.
• Type enough of "bluetooth file exchange" to find the Bluetooth File Exchange app and launch it.
• Bluetooth File Exchange will see that Bluetooth is off and give you a dialog offering to turn it on, with turning it on the default action, so just hit return and Bluetooth will get turned on.
Lol yeah that design is really baffling!
That said, it's still possible. The charging port is near the back edge of the mouse (the side closer to the user) whereas the sensor is on the other end. It won't be comfortable but letting the cable hang off the edge of the desk should allow you to use it to turn bluetooth back on. :)
I haven't been super happy with the rechargable AAAs I've used, so I might prefer specific batteries for smaller items. But most video game controllers or presentation remotes or wireless keyboard and mouse have plenty of room for one or two AAs
Not sure when it was introduced but it’s definitely there on the latest version because I bumped into it the other day.
https://macreports.com/how-to-turn-on-bluetooth-on-your-mac-...
I don’t understand how one is supposed to do this without a keyboard or mice though:
> If you are working on documents, save them, and close them.
Well, add that to the list of things that didn't prevent or solve the problem, unfortunately.
Also, I was thinking: If I was in that situation I might SSH into it from a different machine. Yeah, good luck with that to the elderly couple.
One of the things I absolutely fucking loathe on my MacBook is it will always turn on the Bluetooth upon hard (re)boot. I never use Bluetooth; I turn it off for a reason.
It literally does not matter what I tell the operating system to do: The tooth must blue, for that is the One Apple Way(tm).
They just need to turn it off at the wall and turn it back on again, I believe - it will look for keyboard and mouse
If their car is like mine, plug the laptop in there.
For some reason, plugging my phone in for Android Auto also forces my Bluetooth on.
But again, this requires some planning beforehand. Even "ssh in, install a remote viewer and use that" would require SSH to be there and reachable from outside (as NAT is likely). In the end, this is no different from "just grab the wired mouse and plug it in. Which one? Well the one you prepared beforehand."
Also since I wear glasses all day everyday I will never use any headphones that don't have velours earpads. So much more comfortable than faux leather.
Obviously my BT keyboard did not yet connect to the computer, since it was before BT drivers loaded or something, so I had to buy a wired keyboard to press "F2" and proceed. Would be nice to have 2-3 buttons right on a case to interact with BIOS. Or you know…load BT drivers.
Doubt it works with linux, and I bet it depends on using the exact right config even on windows.
