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Is there a way to change the OSX Bluetooth ID that is used by external Bluetooth devices during automatic paring?

I run 2 or more OSX installations on separate MacBook partitions. Devices do not automatically re-connect again if a device is paired with partition 1 and partition 2 boots up and tries to connect. I need to manually unpair the device in OSX and then re-pair it. Seems this could be avoided by changing the Bluetooth equivalent of an Ethernet MAC address at the OS or driver level because both partitions assign the same address.

Is changing Bluetooth identity possible on macOS or with a tool?

Partition 1

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Partition 2

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  • I am seeing this as wanting to only change the bluetooth address (sometimes referred as BD_ADDR)- stackoverflow.com/questions/32703686/…. Is that your problem?
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 20:55
  • Correct, I'd like each partition to assign have a unique BT address (see new screenshots)
    – anthumchris
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 13:14
  • @AnthumChris - got it, 1) run ifconfig and list result if you please, 2) run networksetup -listallhardwareports and list result if you please.
    – Lucifer Morningstar
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 14:13
  • Are there different OS versions running on the two partitions? Because the only difference I see is the first line, version, which is, if you check, is in About this Mac -> System report-> Hardware-> Bluetooth as Apple Bluetooth Software Version. I can just guess that it changes with OS updates.
    – anki
    Commented Aug 3, 2019 at 5:36
  • the same versions are running on both partitions.
    – anthumchris
    Commented Jan 4, 2020 at 23:20

1 Answer 1

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Automatically pair the same set of Bluetooth Devices, while booting MACOS from 2 independent partitions:

(Each partition contains the whole MACOS)

Use identical Bluetooth.plist file on multiple partitions:

I presume that your partitions both contain the entire MACOS, and they do not share any system storage space. I recommend simply to:

  1. Setup all the Bluetooth devices after booting with partition 1.
  2. Copy the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file to a USB drive.
  3. Boot from partition 2.
  4. Replace the partition 2 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist with the file from the USB drive.

Let me know if this worked out for you.

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  • Hello. Please note the question wasn’t super clear so I’ve edited it. I think the “or” MAC address meant like a MAC address and to change either the Bluetooth or the ethernet. What do you think of the edit and answer together now?
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 20:51
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    Give me few more minutes to add more info, please. I started by adding cautionary notes, since it is easy to break, but hard to repair.
    – Lucifer Morningstar
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 21:16
  • You have days and days to fix it, I just didn’t want you to miss my edit. Great answer after the edit now that it’s focused on bluetooth and not Ethernet.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Jun 27, 2019 at 21:49
  • extra hardware is not ideal, and I would like to manually change bluetooth device address as I can with ifconfig for network interfaces.
    – anthumchris
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 13:12
  • @AnthumChris - I thought that you are trying to avoid manual pairing every time you boot, sorry for the misunderstanding.
    – Lucifer Morningstar
    Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 14:15

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