iPad Air iPad Air 4th Gen won't pair with Bluetooth Speaker - How to debug?

[obsidianspider]

My brand new iPad Air 4th Gen running iPadOS 14.2 seems to be working really well, with the exception of not wanting to pair with one particular Bluetooth speaker I have. It pairs with all other Bluetooth devices I throw at it, and the problematic speaker pairs with my old iPad Air 2 running iPadOS 14.2 and my iPhone 11 running iOS 14.2.

I've tried enabling and disabling Bluetooth, resetting network settings, even going so far as making a full backup of my iPad to my iMac, then doing a restore on the iPad, not restoring any backup data, and it still won't pair with the speaker in question.

I don't see anything in the normal logs under Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data

Is there anything I can do to determine *why* just this one device is giving me a "Pairing Unsuccessful" message?

I already logged feedback with Apple, though I don't know that it will do any good.

 

[AutomaticApple]

My brand new iPad Air 4th Gen running iPadOS 14.2 seems to be working really well, with the exception of not wanting to pair with one particular Bluetooth speaker I have. It pairs with all other Bluetooth devices I throw at it, and the problematic speaker pairs with my old iPad Air 2 running iPadOS 14.2 and my iPhone 11 running iOS 14.2.

I've tried enabling and disabling Bluetooth, resetting network settings, even going so far as making a full backup of my iPad to my iMac, then doing a restore on the iPad, not restoring any backup data, and it still won't pair with the speaker in question.

I don't see anything in the normal logs under Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data

Is there anything I can do to determine *why* just this one device is giving me a "Pairing Unsuccessful" message?

I already logged feedback with Apple, though I don't know that it will do any good.

What kind of Bluetooth speaker do you have?

 

[secretk]

My brand new iPad Air 4th Gen running iPadOS 14.2 seems to be working really well, with the exception of not wanting to pair with one particular Bluetooth speaker I have. It pairs with all other Bluetooth devices I throw at it, and the problematic speaker pairs with my old iPad Air 2 running iPadOS 14.2 and my iPhone 11 running iOS 14.2.

I've tried enabling and disabling Bluetooth, resetting network settings, even going so far as making a full backup of my iPad to my iMac, then doing a restore on the iPad, not restoring any backup data, and it still won't pair with the speaker in question.

I don't see anything in the normal logs under Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data

Is there anything I can do to determine *why* just this one device is giving me a "Pairing Unsuccessful" message?

I already logged feedback with Apple, though I don't know that it will do any good.

And you are sure that the Bluetooth speaker is in pairing mode and not connected to anything else? I have done this in the past getting pissed off on why some Bluetooth speaker would not connect to a certain device until I realized that it was already paired and connected to another device in the same room.

Also what Bluetooth protocol version is this device supporting? And is it close to your WIFI network router? In the past I had issues with a BT keyboard and it turned out that the proximity with the WIFI router at work was the culprit.

 

[obsidianspider]

What kind of Bluetooth speaker do you have?

The one that's giving a fuss was a cheap promotional speaker. It's apparently a "Stark 7198-17"

 

[obsidianspider]

And you are sure that the Bluetooth speaker is in pairing mode and not connected to anything else? I have done this in the past getting pissed off on why some Bluetooth speaker would not connect to a certain device until I realized that it was already paired and connected to another device in the same room.

Also what Bluetooth protocol version is this device supporting? And is it close to your WIFI network router? In the past I had issues with a BT keyboard and it turned out that the proximity with the WIFI router at work was the culprit.

The speaker itself is super cheap ("Stark" model 7198-17) and I can't find much documentation on it regarding which version it's using. I did disable Bluetooth on other devices, I also "Forgot" the device on them when trying to pair to the new iPad. I am able to pair the speaker with my iMac, a Windows 10 PC, an Ubuntu PC, my old iPad Air 2, and my iPhone, so I have to think that the speaker is going into pairing mode.

At your suggestion I did try moving into another room far from my router and unfortunately that didn't help.

The speaker itself isn't anything amazing, but at this point, I really want to understand why it's not working when every other device I try to pair it to has no issues.

 

[Phil77354]

Try turning the speaker off and wait a couple of minutes before turning it on again. When turning it on again, observe bluetooth devices in 'Settings' on your iPad, and see if it shows up.

 

[obsidianspider]

Try turning the speaker off and wait a couple of minutes before turning it on again. When turning it on again, observe bluetooth devices in 'Settings' on your iPad, and see if it shows up.

I have tried that, even waiting overnight. It appears under "Other Devices" and when I try to pair it, I get the error message above.

 

[Phil77354]

It sounds to me as if the speaker is not sending the right 'pair' signal to your iPad.

Sometimes a bluetooth speaker requires that you hold down the power button to initiate pairing. Have you tried that?

 

[obsidianspider]

It sounds to me as if the speaker is not sending the right 'pair' signal to your iPad.

Sometimes a bluetooth speaker requires that you hold down the power button to initiate pairing. Have you tried that?

I have. When pairing with other devices, if you power up the speaker with it not connected to anything else it seems to be in "Pairing" mode, because that's how I was able to pair it with other devices. Unfortunately the spartan manual doesn't really give much insight.

 

[Phil77354]

Strange. Only other thing I can think of is to turn off bluetooth on your iPad, shut it down, turn it back on, turn bluetooth back on, and see if that makes a difference.

If the speaker pairs with your other devices then it surely should pair with the iPad. When I've had this kind of problem, restarting the iPad and/or bluetooth device, cycling bluetooth on and off, generally ends up fixing the problem.

 

[obsidianspider]

Strange. Only other thing I can think of is to turn off bluetooth on your iPad, shut it down, turn it back on, turn bluetooth back on, and see if that makes a difference.

If the speaker pairs with your other devices then it surely should pair with the iPad. When I've had this kind of problem, restarting the iPad and/or bluetooth device, cycling bluetooth on and off, generally ends up fixing the problem.

Yeah, I've tried all that. Even going so far as wiping the entire iPad and restoring back to factory settings didn't work. I just wish there was some sort of log or something to explain what is failing in the pairing attempt.

 

[Phil77354]

My only other suggestion would be to go to the Apple Support community forum, and do some searching there for similar threads, or initiate a question there. It is a different community of people from those who are active here, and it can be very helpful.

I believe you'll need to set up a profile there if you end up wanting to ask a question or initiate a discussion, the process is very similar to here on MacRumors.

Official Apple Support Community

Find answers with millions of other Apple users in our vibrant community. Search discussions or ask a question about your product.

discussions.apple.com

 

[obsidianspider]

My only other suggestion would be to go to the Apple Support community forum, and do some searching there for similar threads, or initiate a question there. It is a different community of people from those who are active here, and it can be very helpful.

I believe you'll need to set up a profile there if you end up wanting to ask a question or initiate a discussion, the process is very similar to here on MacRumors.

Official Apple Support Community

Find answers with millions of other Apple users in our vibrant community. Search discussions or ask a question about your product.

discussions.apple.com

I've found that the official Apple Support community is also heavily censored by Apple. They don't seem to like when people point out bugs. I've got a profile over there but haven't used it in a while. I'll take a peek.

 

[Phil77354]

My other thought is that if your iPad is brand new, you can schedule a one-on-one session with an Apple specialist. I have had very good experience with Apple chat support when I've had problems with one of my Apple devices.

Personal Setup - Online Personal Sessions

Get access to one-on-one sessions with a Specialist who will help you get to know your new device — only when you buy from Apple.

www.apple.com