High Sierra USB Install Drive Bluetooth Problem

[Richdmoore]

After installing High Sierra today, I made a Flash Drive USB install disk , like I normally have with all the previous macOS releases on my 2011 21.5" iMac. This time I used the app Install Disk Creator: https://macdaddy.io/install-disk-creator/

I then booted to the USB drive to check and make sure everything worked. The USB booted, and then I ran into a problem. The 2011 iMac was not able to find my Apple Wireless Keyboard (2AA version; A1314) or my Magic Trackpad 1 (A1339.) Even trying to put the devices into pair mode (holding the power button until the green light flashed) didn't work. The only way I was able to proceed with the install process was to hook up a generic USB wired keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, I thought it was odd, and have never had an installer forget my keyboard and trackpad before. I didn't actually start the install process as this was just a test to see if I had correctly made the boot USB installer. When I rebooted into my external SSD thunderbolt drive with High Sierra, there was no issues recognizing the keyboard or trackpad.

As an additional test, I then booted into recovery software (Command R upon powering up) and the keyboard/trackpad worked normally there.

It looks like the only time the computer forgot it's keyboard/trackpad (and would not find them) is if I use the USB install drive I created.

I was wondering if anyone else had tried to create an install USB, and if they had the same issues with bluetooth keyboard/trackpad as me? I wonder if it is because I am using bluetooth 2.1 rather than the bluetooth 4.0 that is in new iMacs?

 

[Apple_Robert]

During my use of the Developer beta, I couldn't boot from the USB installer (on my 2016 tbMBP). It also wasn't seen booting via Command+R.

Like you, I am planning on making a USB installer. I hope your bad incident is the exception.

 

[Richdmoore]

I was a bit surprised myself, but if you have a backup keyboard/mouse (or a laptop vs a desktop) it should not present too much of a problem.

 

[sirjorj]

So it's not just me... Today I backed up all my data and attempted installing High Sierra from a flash drive I made (I've done this many times before) to my main system (late 09 iMac with beyond maxed out hardware*). I booted into it, reformatted my SSD (APFS, case sensitive) and let the installer go. After a while, it rebooted, took a while, and eventually gave me the 'trying to find bluetooth mouse' screen. After fighting with it a while, I plugged in a cheap mouse I had lying around and it moved on... to the recovery mode menu again. So... i wiped the drive (again), told it to install to it (again), and let it go (again). It did the same thing. *sigh* I am now making another flash drive installer from my old 12" Macbook Air to see if that works. If not, its back to El Capitan.

I miss Apple.
#timcookera


*Max CPU they had at the time (first i7 they put in an imac), max RAM, SSD, and a GPU from the next years version

UPDATE: it looks like I will be running El Capitan for another year. Or less if I can find a decent photo workflow in Linux...

 

[Richdmoore]

So it's not just me... Today I backed up all my data and attempted installing High Sierra from a flash drive I made (I've done this many times before) to my main system (late 09 iMac with beyond maxed out hardware*). I booted into it, reformatted my SSD (APFS, case sensitive) and let the installer go. After a while, it rebooted, took a while, and eventually gave me the 'trying to find bluetooth mouse' screen. After fighting with it a while, I plugged in a cheap mouse I had lying around and it moved on... to the recovery mode menu again. So... i wiped the drive (again), told it to install to it (again), and let it go (again). It did the same thing. *sigh* I am now making another flash drive installer from my old 12" Macbook Air to see if that works. If not, its back to El Capitan.

I miss Apple.
#timcookera


*Max CPU they had at the time (first i7 they put in an imac), max RAM, SSD, and a GPU from the next years version

UPDATE: it looks like I will be running El Capitan for another year. Or less if I can find a decent photo workflow in Linux...

Thanks, I hadn't actually tried to use the boot drive to reinstall, just booted the drive up as test when I discovered the bluetooth keyboard/mouse issue. I got the recovery mode menu, but I didn't realize I can't use it to install High Sierra.

So it looks like if I have a hard drive/ssd go bad the only option is now internet recovery, correct? Does that install the latest macOS, or only the one that shipped with the computer?

Edit 1: I went ahead and booted the install usb again, and plugged in a usb keyboard/mouse. Install macOS (Upgrade or Install a new copy of macOS) is the second option. I am able to select a drive, but don't have one right now I can erase for a functional test.

Edit 2: This time I used internet recovery, no issues with my bluetooth keyboard/trackpad. I checked, and it was going to install High Sierra vs Snow leopard that originally came with the computer.

Just to recap: Making a USB flash drive made the computer forget the trackpad/keyboard and trying to pair them again didn't work. Using either the local or the internet recovery didn't have this issue. I have not tried installing a fresh copy of high sierra using any of these methods, user SirJori reported that even with a USB mouse/keyboard using a USB drive didn't work, as it was caught in a loop back to the recovery each time he tried to install.

 

[sirjorj]

Edit 2: This time I used internet recovery, no issues with my bluetooth keyboard/trackpad. I checked, and it was going to install High Sierra vs Snow leopard that originally came with the computer.

Oh, really. That is very interesting. My 'throw away' machine is one of the first 12" MacBook Air models so it is not perticularly useful anymore in terms of performance. I use it throw on new beta versions of macOS just to see what is new. Whenever I used the internet recovery, it would always revert to Lion. Now I want to try this to see if it will try High Sierra instead. If so, it is about time they did this!

UPDATE: My Air still wants to install Lion from Internet recovery.

 

[yojibo]

Just got the same situation with my iMac mid-2011.
Working fine with High Sierra after upgrade, but got bluetooth issues when trying to install from scratch - mouse and keyboard are not recognized.

What i've tried at the moment:
1. Disk Creator utility and built in command line tool to create USB stick
2. USB stick and dedicated HDD partiton (i have 2 disks inside)

No luck. All these options behave in the same way - no BT keyboard and mouse.
I'm wondering if somebody can investigate this issue

 

[pmcguiremd]

I have the same problem on my 2013 Mac Pro. I sent a report to Apple back with the beta/GM candidate. I’m using a tragic trackpad 2 with lightning connector. What has worked for me at least is to reset the PRAM and SMC before the install (which I always do before a clean install anyway) and before turning the computer on I plug the trackpad into the computer with a lightning connector. The usb installer then finds the trackpad and the install continues normally. At this point, though, I’m seriously considering going back to Sierra as there are far too many glitches I’m finding in this initial release. Also, my ix500 scanner is not working, but that’s Fujitsu’s fault as they have not updated the driver .

 

[jasoncarle]

Same problem here when trying to install from USB.

 

[chipbutty]

I have the same issue. I have a late 2015 iMac which was running El Capitan. I decided to wait for the release of 10.13.1 before installing HS thinking everything would go swimmingly So today I made a USB boot disk as I always do only to find once I'd logged in to HS that Bluetooth is completely dead and my mouse and keyboard don't work. Tried everything I can think of from deleting the Bluetooth plist file, unplugging the mouse and keyboard, reinstalling the OS, resetting the Bluetooth module. In system preferences the Bluetooth button is greyed out but it does say Bluetooth is on.

Given what a pain this is I'm surprised more people haven't reported this issue. I can no longer use my lovely Magic Mouse 2. The keyboard does work if I connect it via USB.

Have any contributors to this thread found a fix?

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
1TB SSD
4 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M395 2 GB

 

[Shiteej]

After installing High Sierra today, I made a Flash Drive USB install disk , like I normally have with all the previous macOS releases on my 2011 21.5" iMac. This time I used the app Install Disk Creator: https://macdaddy.io/install-disk-creator/

I then booted to the USB drive to check and make sure everything worked. The USB booted, and then I ran into a problem. The 2011 iMac was not able to find my Apple Wireless Keyboard (2AA version; A1314) or my Magic Trackpad 1 (A1339.) Even trying to put the devices into pair mode (holding the power button until the green light flashed) didn't work. The only way I was able to proceed with the install process was to hook up a generic USB wired keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, I thought it was odd, and have never had an installer forget my keyboard and trackpad before. I didn't actually start the install process as this was just a test to see if I had correctly made the boot USB installer. When I rebooted into my external SSD thunderbolt drive with High Sierra, there was no issues recognizing the keyboard or trackpad.

As an additional test, I then booted into recovery software (Command R upon powering up) and the keyboard/trackpad worked normally there.

It looks like the only time the computer forgot it's keyboard/trackpad (and would not find them) is if I use the USB install drive I created.

I was wondering if anyone else had tried to create an install USB, and if they had the same issues with bluetooth keyboard/trackpad as me? I wonder if it is because I am using bluetooth 2.1 rather than the bluetooth 4.0 that is in new iMacs?

[doublepost=1513964792][/doublepost]

After installing High Sierra today, I made a Flash Drive USB install disk , like I normally have with all the previous macOS releases on my 2011 21.5" iMac. This time I used the app Install Disk Creator: https://macdaddy.io/install-disk-creator/

I then booted to the USB drive to check and make sure everything worked. The USB booted, and then I ran into a problem. The 2011 iMac was not able to find my Apple Wireless Keyboard (2AA version; A1314) or my Magic Trackpad 1 (A1339.) Even trying to put the devices into pair mode (holding the power button until the green light flashed) didn't work. The only way I was able to proceed with the install process was to hook up a generic USB wired keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, I thought it was odd, and have never had an installer forget my keyboard and trackpad before. I didn't actually start the install process as this was just a test to see if I had correctly made the boot USB installer. When I rebooted into my external SSD thunderbolt drive with High Sierra, there was no issues recognizing the keyboard or trackpad.

As an additional test, I then booted into recovery software (Command R upon powering up) and the keyboard/trackpad worked normally there.

It looks like the only time the computer forgot it's keyboard/trackpad (and would not find them) is if I use the USB install drive I created.

I was wondering if anyone else had tried to create an install USB, and if they had the same issues with bluetooth keyboard/trackpad as me? I wonder if it is because I am using bluetooth 2.1 rather than the bluetooth 4.0 that is in new iMacs?

Hi have u found a solution for this .. I am facing the same problem ..High Sierra does not install from usb drive as it does not detect my magic mouse and keyboard as soon as I connect a wired mouse and keyboard it works absolutely fine ..this problem only occurs while installing from usb ..I have been using iMac 27 inch late 2012 for 5 years now and never had any issue like this with it .. I have loaded various Mac os on my iMac over the past 5 years ..but never faced this issue ..the only upgrade I have done recently is removing my HDD and replacing it with a Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB SSD .. is the harddrive a problem .. is it a hardware issue or a software glitch ..pl if u can help

 

[Richdmoore]

Only solution I have is to do an internet recovery install, rather than a usb one.

 

[Shiteej]

Only solution I have is to do an internet recovery install, rather than a usb one.

Thank u for replying .. internet recovery works fine .. but it’s time consuming .. also I never faced this problem past 3 years as I have installed Mac OS on many occasions but I recently changed my hard drive from Hdd to SSD and since then I am facing this problem of the install process from usb .. do u think it’s related to a hardware change or it just a software bug and for me it coincidentally happened at a time when I changed my drive

 

[Richdmoore]

Thank u for replying .. internet recovery works fine .. but it’s time consuming .. also I never faced this problem past 3 years as I have installed Mac OS on many occasions but I recently changed my hard drive from Hdd to SSD and since then I am facing this problem of the install process from usb .. do u think it’s related to a hardware change or it just a software bug and for me it coincidentally happened at a time when I changed my drive

It happened using the Apple factory drive (and usb stick.)

No idea why this happened, maybe an over site for those with older computers, maybe a push to use internet recovery? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Fishrrman]

This is why I've -always- used a 3rd-party WIRED keyboard. Things just go easier that way.
I've done all kinds of system software installs this way (including High Sierra).
I -do- use a Logitech wireless mouse, with the Logitech receiver plugged into my wired (Macally) keyboard.

Best solution:
Pick up a cheapo USB keyboard, and keep it in the closest except for those times when the wireless keyboard gives you trouble...

 

[Shiteej]

It happened using the Apple factory drive (and usb stick.)

No idea why this happened, maybe an over site for those with older computers, maybe a push to use internet recovery? Your guess is as good as mine.

It happened using the Apple factory drive (and usb stick.)

No idea why this happened, maybe an over site for those with older computers, maybe a push to use internet recovery? Your guess is as good as mine.

Well it happened with the internet recovery ... and it happened with the usb bootable drive also after I connected a wired keyboard and mouse .. I don’t its really weird as I have done high Sierra install on my iMac before also but it has always detected my magic keyboard and mouse but after installing a new hard drive ( SSD) I need to connect a wired keyboard and mouse for the install process .. don’t have any idea y this happening .. thanx for writing back and trying to help ..

 

[DEtadmor]

After installing High Sierra today, I made a Flash Drive USB install disk , like I normally have with all the previous macOS releases on my 2011 21.5" iMac. This time I used the app Install Disk Creator: https://macdaddy.io/install-disk-creator/

I then booted to the USB drive to check and make sure everything worked. The USB booted, and then I ran into a problem. The 2011 iMac was not able to find my Apple Wireless Keyboard (2AA version; A1314) or my Magic Trackpad 1 (A1339.) Even trying to put the devices into pair mode (holding the power button until the green light flashed) didn't work. The only way I was able to proceed with the install process was to hook up a generic USB wired keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, I thought it was odd, and have never had an installer forget my keyboard and trackpad before. I didn't actually start the install process as this was just a test to see if I had correctly made the boot USB installer. When I rebooted into my external SSD thunderbolt drive with High Sierra, there was no issues recognizing the keyboard or trackpad.

As an additional test, I then booted into recovery software (Command R upon powering up) and the keyboard/trackpad worked normally there.

It looks like the only time the computer forgot it's keyboard/trackpad (and would not find them) is if I use the USB install drive I created.

I was wondering if anyone else had tried to create an install USB, and if they had the same issues with bluetooth keyboard/trackpad as me? I wonder if it is because I am using bluetooth 2.1 rather than the bluetooth 4.0 that is in new iMacs?

[doublepost=1520678091][/doublepost]There is a workaround. Create an El Capital bootable drive, erase the internal Mac drive, install El Capital and upgrade to High Sierra. It works.

 

[man1sshhh]

Following changes worked for me:

I have been having the same issue since yesterday. I did a clean High Sierra install few days back on my internal Samsung SSD. I started facing boot related issues and several crashes (maybe due to unreliable third party apps I installed. I am not sure). So I decided to do a fresh install again. And only this time I discovered that my mid 2011 27” iMac just wont connect to my trackpad and keyboard after booting from the USB install disk. It didn’t make any sense to me, considering that I’ve been using High Sierra on this vintage iMac for months and never ran into this problem. So what changed?

My best guess was the change in file system from HFS to APFS. Previously I had the same OS installed but under HFS file system. So I decided to revert back to HFS. Tried the installation using terminal command to skip APFS conversion using my wired keyboard and mouse. Completed the installation, proceeded to setup macOS and once again booted from USB install disk after macOS setup to see if it did solve the Bluetooth connectivity issue. And it did

I am assuming that maybe APFS file system may have more glitches on old vintage Mac models. And I don’t see Apple fixing it anytime soon. So HFS+ is the way to go

 

[Abdullah Rahimi]

This time i held alt on the keyboard and seleted the high sierra usb install disk, didnt get the connection mouse error thing. Hope this helps!

[doublepost=1513964792][/doublepost]

Hi have u found a solution for this .. I am facing the same problem ..High Sierra does not install from usb drive as it does not detect my magic mouse and keyboard as soon as I connect a wired mouse and keyboard it works absolutely fine ..this problem only occurs while installing from usb ..I have been using iMac 27 inch late 2012 for 5 years now and never had any issue like this with it .. I have loaded various Mac os on my iMac over the past 5 years ..but never faced this issue ..the only upgrade I have done recently is removing my HDD and replacing it with a Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB SSD .. is the harddrive a problem .. is it a hardware issue or a software glitch ..pl if u can help

i got this fixed. what i did was i restarted my mac, held command + R. I went to utilities disk and created a partition. the partition was MacOS: case sensitive, journaled. I used a cheap wired mouse and clicked restart.

 

[zoran]

Solutions like plugging in a USB mouse or keyboard are not solutions. I’m very disappointed that Apple hasn’t solved this issue the correct way!

 

[Richdmoore]

Solutions like plugging in a USB mouse or keyboard are not solutions. I’m very disappointed that Apple hasn’t solved this issue the correct way!

I suspect all of their attention now is on Apple Silicon Macs, which means this will remain unresolved.

 

[zoran]

I suspect all of their attention now is on Apple Silicon Macs, which means this will remain unresolved.

My sentiments exactly!