Dell Truemobile 300 BT installation problems

Question

I finished installing the card received from Dell (I did not purchase it with the system originally) and started the laptop.  The BT led was always on so I thought that was good news.  However, I went to the Device Manager and did not see any new hardware, which I found odd. I decided to give the software a try, so I installed the driver Dell lists as the latest one for Truemobile 300 for an Inspiron 8600, found here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=INS_PNT_P4M_8600&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3122&devlib=5&category=5&releaseid=R82522 The installation tells me to press Fn + F2 to turn the BT radio on, when it's already on.  I tried with it on and off and I keep getting the same message, so I cancelled installation. I then tried the link to the previous software version: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=INS_PNT_P4M_8600&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3122&devlib=5&category=5&releaseid=R65891 That one installed fine, but did not see any BT devices on my laptop. What could be wrong?  The hardware seems to be installed OK, as the light's on.  It's actually always on, which I don't know whether that's normal.  Besides, there's not a lot that can go wrong with the hardware installation.  One end (any end) of the jumper cable to the card and the other end to the laptop connector. I've seen a lot of people have problems with the BT and no real solution, but at least they can all see the hardware in the Device Manager. Any advise? TIA

viper11885 · Answer

I'm not very familiar with the BT installation. But, try to get into the BIOS (F2 on Dell startup screen) and see if there is an option to enable the BT card.

Razor1973 · Answer

It is enabled.

DELL-BobT · Answer

Razor1973,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Please view the following knowledge base article:

What Wireless Network Card Do I Have in My Dellâ„¢ Inspironâ„¢ 8600 and How Do I Install the Driver?

Razor1973 · Answer

That's the first thing I did and it did not work for me.

For starters, when I installed the hardware and switched my laptop on, the little blue light goes on for a second or two. However, once inside Windows, the Device Manager does not see any new hardware. Is this normal behavior or is the adapter simply defective and I shouldn't even bother with the software?

BTJOE · Answer

Razor, I have exactly the same problem, have you had any luck in sorting this out? Thanks

Da_mENIZ · Answer

Same problem here with Latitude D800, old software worked fine, but didn't sync. m$ Outook well, so I make and upgrade which I regret for last two days. I've tried all suggestions on this forums, but no luck.
I'm VERY Surrprised that none of the DEll tech guys reply to this, as it is obvious a problem for an year or so, and many users complain about it.

Regards

wlivesey · Answer

Here is what worked for me. No special driver installs required.

I installed my MS Bluetooth mouse using the dongle and software that came with it.
I shut down my computer and removed the microsoft dongle.
I installed the dell bluetooth card.
I rebooted.
I set up my mouse with the new card, like I did with the dongle.

Maybe I was just lucky or something but I didn't have to install any drivers from dell. It just worked out of the box. I thinking the MS install loaded the appropriate drivers.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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