Bluetooth dongle problems

MarcLister · 31 Aug 2006 at 13:39

Right, yesterday I got my Apple wireless keyboard. I only got my new Bluetooth dongle today, so for the interim period I used my brother's Bluetooth dongle. The keyboard worked fine and I was able to set it all up quite quickly. I got my own Bluetooth dongle this morning. I plugged the dongle in and that is where it all went Pete Tong. The dongle is branded 'Safecom' as is my brother's one. However they seem to have been made by different companies. Mine is an ISSC one whilst the other is a Cambridge one.

When I put my dongle in, it appears on the System hardware list and is installed OK using the XP SP2 drivers. However when I try to find the keyboard using my dongle Windows gives up instantly. The keyboard is definitely on and in range. So when I put my brother's dongle in, Windows finds the keyboard and I can set the passkey and start writing this thread on OcUK. So now I'm thinking I need to delete the registry entry for the previous dongle, because the old dongle is stopping the new one from functioning properly?

I did that but my Bluetooth dongle still doesn't find my keyboard. Interestingly when I open the Bluetooth Devices Control Panel page, the Bluetooth dongle isn't listed under the Hardware tab. Yet using the other dongle, there is a Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator and a Generic Bluetooth Radio listed suggesting that Windows "likes" the old dongle more than mine.

So I googled for this and found a Microsoft support article. I'm guessing I now need to delete every single registry key listed there and not just the ones relating to the dongles themselves? Either that or reinstall Windows? Can anyone give me some advice on how to fix this problem? I suppose one solution would be to see if my dongle works on my brother's computer and mobile phone, if it does we'll just have to swap dongles.

rpstewart · 31 Aug 2006 at 13:43

Not sure if this is realted but it's work having I look I think.

I use a Logitech diNovo bluetooth set and if my PC crashes I have a real pain trying to get the keyboard & mouse to talk to the PC afterwards. What I have to do is go in through the "My Bluetooth Places" and disconnect the existing pairings to the keyboard & mouse (using a wired mouse) and then reconnect the Logitech ones using the connect buttons on the dongle & device.

I wonder if you need to do something similar and disconnect the keyboard before you swap dongles. Not sure if the pairing concept means that the keyboard needs to be "unpaired" as it were before it can pair with the new dongle?

MarcLister · 31 Aug 2006 at 13:47

rpstewart said:
Not sure if this is realted but it's work having I look I think.

I use a Logitech diNovo bluetooth set and if my PC crashes I have a real pain trying to get the keyboard & mouse to talk to the PC afterwards. What I have to do is go in through the "My Bluetooth Places" and disconnect the existing pairings to the keyboard & mouse (using a wired mouse) and then reconnect the Logitech ones using the connect buttons on the dongle & device.

I wonder if you need to do something similar and disconnect the keyboard before you swap dongles. Not sure if the pairing concept means that the keyboard needs to be "unpaired" as it were before it can pair with the new dongle?

I like that. That makes sense. My keyboard can't be found by the new dongle because its passkey makes it belong to another dongle. Hmm why didn't I think of that. Will try that out now.

MarcLister · 31 Aug 2006 at 14:10

That didn't work. I just noticed that when my dongle is plugged in, there isn't a Bluetooth Network Connection in the Network Connections list, but when my brother's dongle is plugged in there is. I don't understand this. My dongle is showing in the Device Manager and it is running the drivers yet there is nothing for it under the Network Connections list.

As I mentioned in the Bluetooth Devices (Control Panel menu) my brother's dongle results in the following appearing in the Hardware tab:
http://img424.imageshack.us/img424/9815/sbluetoothdongleaw6.jpg and yet when mine is connected, nothing appears under the same tab:
http://img325.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sbluetoothdonglezb5.jpg This is despite my dongle appearing in the Devices Manager.

This is the Device Manager entry for my brother's dongle: http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8467/sdongleij0.jpg and this is the same for my dongle: http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/7038/sdonglewl0.jpg

Both devices installed and OK according to Device Manager yet only my brother's dongle will detect my keyboard. Will deleting all the registry entries in the MS support article re-initialise the Bluetooth processes when I plug my dongle in?