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Bluetooth 355 vanished in Windows 7 (x64) - works perfectly in Ubuntu - Software problem?
Foreword:
This post is written after extensive reading / researching on the web. Please don't tell me to check my bios or use my hardware switch for bluetooth.
Facts:
- My Dell Bluetooth 355 Truemobile thingy used to work perfectly (xp / vista / 7 - I've tried them all).
- I didn't really use it in the past so at some point, I disabled it in the bios. Now I need it again so it is enabled in bios and recognized (Bios Bluetooth module status says "present" or "installed", can't remember)
- After a clean / fresh install of any windows os, bluetooth works and is detected. I'm using Windows 7 x64
- Now, Bluetooth has completely disappeared from my system (no icon / nothing in device manager)
I can still see that the Bt355 driver was/is installed, when I type
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
before starting device manager (The Dell bluetooth radio and microsoft enumerator are there, but disconnected).
- The wireless hardware switch seems to work. It disables or enables wifi and the bluetooth icon on the keybord turns off and on.
- I've installed Ubuntu (x64) and Bluetooth works perfectly as it should (so...no disconnected cable or bios problem).
Wild guess:
- I believe the bluetooth radio was killed when my laptop was sent to "sleep" mode for the first time. This is my guess, since there are countless thread over the internet showing that the 355 radio sometimes doesn't wake up. There's even a utility to kickstart it if you've downgraded from Vista to xp
Extra info:
I've tried to reinstall the drivers but at some points it asks me to switch on the device with fn+f2 combo. I've found tricks on the web to switch on the radio by going to the widcomm directory, launching bttray.exe and starting bluetooth from there, but it doesn't work for me: bttray runs in the list of processes, but no icon appears.
My guess is that, somehow, I need to start the radio manually, but I have no idea how to do that. Registry edit?
Any help is greatly appreciated (I don't want to reformat...)
Thanks.
Petithomme
5 Posts
1
October 6th, 2012 06:00
I should learn to read more carefully. The reason I need bluetooth is to use my PS3 sixaxis controller...so I was using the motioninjoy drivers that REPLACE installed 355 drivers. To get full bt back, I just had to uninstall those drivers...
Marjiea1
13 Posts
0
October 2nd, 2012 12:00
Try preventing it from ever going to sleep. In device manager, go to the bluetooth adapter properties, power management tab and clear the box in front of: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
Petithomme
5 Posts
0
October 3rd, 2012 04:00
I've seen this trick in other forums but...there's no bluetooth adatper in my device manager anymore, so no can do :(
Marjiea1
13 Posts
0
October 3rd, 2012 19:00
If your adapter doesn't even show up - not sure what to do about that, but seems it is a Win7 detection issue not driver issue (and if still working in Ubuntu, not a hardware or connection issue.)
My adapter seems to often be detected as new hardware on boot up and drivers "installed" (re-installed).
I also had to put my "C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\BTTray.exe" into my Startup folder to keep it from disappearing (but my adapter shows in device manager.)
Petithomme
5 Posts
0
October 4th, 2012 05:00
I've ordered a Trust BT4.0 dongle...end of story but it still feels frustrating. Thanks for your help.