Mid 2010 MBP Bluetooth not working

[KaliPaige]

Good afternoon, everybody. I'm in the possession of a mid-2010 MBP running 10.12.5 Sierra that I picked up on eBay several months ago and spruced up to fit my liking - SSD, RAM upgrades, battery replacement - and have had no problems with it until date, except for one.

Bluetooth is non-operational on this computer. In fact, there isn't even an entry for it under System Preferences. Lately I've taken up an interest in learning Swift programming and wanted to pick up a Magic Mouse/Keyboard for my desk at home, but without Bluetooth I'm stuck with USB only.

I was under the impression that Bluetooth and WiFi are integrated together on the same AirPort card; however, I have had no issues with WiFi connectivity whatsoever. What might be causing this? Are there any fixes that I can run via command line? I'm fairly UNIX savvy.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Hmm. Never a good sign if it's not visible in System Preferences. What about in System Information?

Regardlesss, try creating a new Admin user account to see if it shows up there. Also worth trying an SMC/PRAM reset.

 

[KaliPaige]

Hmm. Never a good sign if it's not visible in System Preferences. What about in System Information?

Regardlesss, try creating a new Admin user account to see if it shows up there. Also worth trying an SMC/PRAM reset.

No dice.

I set up a secondary account with admin privileges first and it still does not recognize the Bluetooth interface. I then performed a SMC/PRAM reset... nothing. Under System Information it doesn't even recognize a Bluetooth interface.

 

[keysofanxiety]

No dice.

I set up a secondary account with admin privileges first and it still does not recognize the Bluetooth interface. I then performed a SMC/PRAM reset... nothing. Under System Information it doesn't even recognize a Bluetooth interface.

Oh boy. Sounds like hardware if it doesn't even show up in sys info. You've already done an OS reinstall, upgraded to an SSD, ran PRAM/SMC reset... I think that about covers it for the software side.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The slightly good news is that the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module shouldn't break the bank on the used market.