XPS 8930, Qualcomm QCA9377 Bluetooth failures, #2

@Pischy  -

What BT driver version does Device Manager list?

What happens when you turn BT on in the "Bluetooth and Other Devices" screen in Win 10?

Did you check the Airplane mode screen to make sure Airplane mode isn't turned on?

Might also be a Power plan setting:
Open the Windows Power & Sleep screen. Click Additional Power Settings. On next screen, identify the active Power plan and click Change Plan Settings. On next screen, click Change Advanced Power Settings.

On that last screen, disable Hibernation, Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend, and PCI Express Link State Management, and change the Wireless Adapter setting to Max Performance.  Save the changes to the power plan and reboot.

Does that help?

Bought a brand new XPS 8930 Feb 5th and having a load of problems. This very problem concerns the Bluetooth service which switches on and off every 15 seconds or so in the Device Manager. Under Settings and Bluetooth and Other Devices, I get Bluetooth is turned off. I installed the latest drivers so this does not seem to be the issue (well, who knows maybe it is). My Logitech mouse works fine, but it has its own dongle of course sitting in one of the many USB ports the XPS offers up.

Any ideas?

My XPS 8930 has been doing this for a year.  The latest go round I can't get bluetooth working at all.  Plenty of posts from people going round and round on this but nothing ever is resolved.  Let us know if you figure out anything new. 

There are also issues with Bluetooth because Microsoft intentionally breaks it with their updates it because of security issues.

Some XPS 8930 users have uninstalled BT in Device Manager, rebooted, and installed the latest driver.

thanks.  I noticed I had a ghost "not recognized" USB driver so deleted all USB drivers and hubs etc did a hard boot and BlueTooth reappeared.  In previous bouts of this ordeal I've not had to do  that, just reinstalled the Qualcom driver.   Go figure. 

Glad you got it sorted.

Just another way for Microsoft to make sure you're paying attention, I guess...

This problem has been ongoing for a long time now.  See: https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-Qualcomm-QCA9377-Bluetooth-failures/td-p/7401795 . 

The only solution so far is the one stated in that link.  I just sent my new Inspiron 15 5000 PC in for exactly the problem noted there and told them that replacing the card was noted not to solve the problem.  I have a second Inspiron 15 5000 which has exactly the same problem.  Nevertheless, what did they do? They installed a new card and re-installed Win10.  Included in that reinstall was the most recent drivers for this device, which simply does NOT solve the issue.

I made no changes to the system after it was returned and merely waited.  Less than one day later, exactly the same problem arose--bluetooth works fine for some period of time and then drops out and can not be recovered even though Wifi remains active and operational.

Clearly there is some power and design issue with this card.  This has been reported repeatedly for Dell systems as well as others.  Once power is removed completely from the system at shutdown, the bluetooth reinstalls correctly and works. 

I've used multiple Dell systems for years and have always had excellent results operationally and support-wise.  This time, Dell failed.  They need to work with Qualcomm to resolve this issue or completely change to another vendor's Wifi/Bluetooth card.  Why are they even combined into a single card? 

I don't plan on spending any further time on this issue...I'm just going to get a working Bluetooth dongle and use it rather than the Qualcomm bluetooth.

@rklevy  -  This is what my Dell tech contact has suggested:

* Shutdown system. Unplug AC power cord and then press/hold power button for 10 second
* Power system on and go to Device Manager
* Check if the Bluetooth card is present and installed correctly in Device Manager
* If not, uninstall the Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) or Bluetooth yellow bang device
* Click scan for hardware changes, the Bluetooth driver should be installed

If this fails and the PC is still inside of the purchased warranty period, the user must contact Dell Technical Support to get the Bluetooth card replaced...

Windows 10 has a habit of breaking Bluetooth...

You posted this in the XPS Desktop forum but you should have posted this in the Inspiron laptop forum.

Thanks for the comment...this is NOT a problem limited to a particular model so I posted it where the broad based discussion was occurring.  It's the same problem regardless of model.

I have had the same issue - Bluetooth disappears.  I have been on at least 4 tech support calls.  

The workaround i was given was to open the case, pull out a video card (not the bluetooth card), re-seat the video card, close it up and then restart.  I think this forces a hardware recognition and bluetooth worked - for a week or so.

The next tech call, another system diagnostic and I was told that the bluetooth card was faulty.  i was sent a replacement and installed it myself.  This seemed to work - but only for a couple of weeks.

The next call, I was told it was a driver issue and that my version of Windows 10 would not allow an update.  I needed to reformat and install a clean version of Windows 10.  I did that about a month or so ago (it took about 3-4 hours).  Yesterday - the bluetooth died again.  I am waiting for a return call from a Dell tech support person.  

This isn't a low-budget computer so I am hoping Dell comes through with a workable solution.

I don't know if this is a solution for your QCA9377 or not because I don't know if the wifi/bt card I used is supported on your XPS...nevertheless, check out

https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/bluetooth-disappearing-from-laptop/m-p/7655437#M91414. 

It's clear that Dell doesn't have a clue about the problem with the QCA9377 but there seems to be a power/reset issue with that card.  It was easier, faster and much more efficient to simply replace the card with a non-Qualcomm card.  I have had zero problems since I replaced mine with the Intel card.

@MarkPM  - When the Qualcomm BT disappears, open Device Manager and on toolbar, View>Show hidden Devices. If any "unknown" device is listed, right-click and uninstall it.

Then reboot and open Device Manager again. O the toolbar, Action>Scan for hardware changes.

Does that recover BT?

@RoHe - no that didn’t work.  Even if it did, I should not have to do this for a less than 1 year old higher-end desktop.  My call with Dell yesterday didn’t come up with anything new and I had to escalate the call to dispute resolution - whatever that means.

I am looking for a replacement WiFi/BT card that is comparable with my desktop - so any suggestions, let me know as I don’t think this problem is solvable without ‘workarounds’ that become difficult to do when you BT out the moment the important zoom meeting starts and you have no audio....