Cannot enable bluetooth

hi there, first time around: I’ve browsed through the archives and it seems similar problems have been reported by and then but I cannot solve the issue nonetheless:

  • newly installed leap 15.4 on 6y old thinkpad T460s

  • KDE plasma 5.24.4

  • in system settings → bluetooth, bluetooth is listed as “disabled”

  • pushing the “enable” button does not have any effect (does not switch the reported status to “enabled”)

  • system tray icon “bluetooth” is hidden. when hitting “add new device” it goes into infinite “scanning” loop and (unsurprisingly) does not find any devices.

  • ‘rfkill’ lists devices “tpacpi_bluetooth_sw” and “hci0” (both of type “bluetooth”) as SOFT and HARD unblocked.

with which I am at my wits end…

simple question: how can I get bluetooth enabled and functional?

thank you,
joerg