m15 R5, no Bluetooth and other issues

Question

Yesterday, I was using my paired bluetooth headphones (Bose QC35), no problems. Today, nothing.

Hitting Fn+F9 just brings up a screencasting window rather than turning on bluetooth.
Looking at Device Manager didn't show any bluetooth devices
Ran Dell/Alienware SupportAssist. The only driver it wanted to "update" was the NVIDIA driver (which is an August 2021 driver, much older than the 4-day old one downloaded by GeForce Experience)

I had basically come to accept my somewhat buggy system, hoping that it was more a Windows 11 problem than an Alienware problem. Never trust a new Windows until the first service pack, right?

But this is getting really frustrating.

Sleep modes work right only sometimes.
After waking up, USB devices (mouse, camera) are often frozen, requiring that they be removed and then plugged in again, or sometimes require a reboot.
I have to uninstall/reinstall Alienware Command Center and OC controls about once every 2 weeks to restore keyboard lighting. That's definitely getting old!

I guess I can live with these various issues and just shut down my system as a makeshift "hibernate" mode. But I really want my bluetooth back.

Any idea what's going on with my bluetooth or what I can do next?

RajaJaja · Answer

Ok, I solved the issue, but it's weird how it all worked out. I appreciate ALL the help I've received here and the Dell rep Rahul! I tried just about everything, including system file checker and checkdisk, and resetting the RTC clock, and discharging flea power (which I had never heard about before, but I guess is similar to removing the button cell battery on older motherboards). Nothing worked. Bluetooth wouldn't even show up in Device Manager, even though bluetooth checked out as fine in the BIOS scan.

So what fixed it?

I don't know -- but it seems to be an issue with a USB hub that had been plugged into my USB-C port. When I record online content, I set up in my studio and connect to all my equipment on a hub. I think I had removed the hub while the laptop was asleep last Tuesday (17 Feb) and all the problems were after that (while not connected to the hub). After days of trying to get it working, today (20 Feb), I went back into my studio and as soon as I plugged my USB hub back into my USB-C port, my bluetooth suddenly came back. I've since unplugged from the USB hub in my studio and my bluetooth continues to show up in Device Manager and work just fine.

So, in summary:

Unplugged USB-C hub from laptop while laptop was asleep (90% sure it was while it was asleep).
Bluetooth did not work or show up in Device Manager (but did show up in BIOS scans).
Plugged USB-C hub back into awake laptop and Bluetooth spontaneously came back.
Unplugged from USB-C hub and Bluetooth continues to work.

Just glad to be done. Time to go back to Borderlands 3!

AdrianG001 · Answer

Did you open the back of the computer and see if the wifi card has the Bluetooth and WiFi cables connected. Maybe your computer wifi card is messed up or the actual cable has an issue.

RajaJaja · Answer

No, I haven't opened it up yet. I presumed (assumed) it might be a software problem as I've never opened it up and have treated it like my baby, so I wouldn't imagine jostling it enough to dislodge any connections. If all else fails, I'll take a peek.

A51-06 · Answer

Hi @RajaJaja !

I definitly say its a Windows 11 issue. Have you ever tried downgrading back to windows 10 again?

I would also try running these commands as an admin and then reinstalling these drivers:

sfc /scannow

chkdsk /r

chkdsk /f

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Killer AX1650/AX1675/AX1690 and Intel AX200/AX201/AX210/AX211/3165/9260/9560/9462/8265/8260/7265 Bluetooth UWD Driver | Driver Details | Dell Cayman Islands

Let me know if any issues occur.

RajaJaja · Answer

My system came with Windows 11 Pro, so I don't think downgrading is an option.

I open an command window with admin privileges and ran the system file checker and chkdsk commands but no errors showed up.

A51-06 · Answer

Did you install any updates on windows 11 that may have caused the issue?

A51-06 · Answer

Cool! Thanks for replying and happy gaming!

Alienware

m15 R5, no Bluetooth and other issues

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