Bluetooth acting erratically...

RealityGone · 09-12-2008, 05:21 AM

I hope this is the correct place for this thread since it has to do with laptops & peripherals (a bluetooth mouse). However, I feel it mostly has to do with WinXP. If I am mistaken, I apologize and hope that a moderator will move it to the correct section.

I am using a DELL Inspiron E1705. I have always had slight issues with my bluetooth. It would make the windows "disconnect/reconnect" sound (like when you unplug a USB device) randomly unless I disabled bluetooth. I recently purchased a Targus bluetooth mouse (I don't know the model...) and this has made me more aware of the issue with my bluetooth.

The mouse works for the most part, but occasionally it will stop responding (the bluetooth logo in the system tray is white). However, I can usually enable it. I figure this is due to the mouse going into sleep mode. However, the mouse seems to go into this mode even while I am using it. When this happens I also get the disconnect/reconnect sound & often the logo will go red (but not always... it always goes white though).

The main problem is that sometimes the bluetooth logo in the system tray will go red like it is disabled, this is when i get the disconnect/reconnect sounds. This causes the mouse to be non-functional for much longer than the 2 seconds it should take to wake up.

I have replaced my bluetooth chip and I still have the same problem. I am using the WIDCOMM bluetooth software. Anyone have any ideas? Is this just the way windows works? Is there some setting that will make this stop happening?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

RealityGone · 09-12-2008, 08:43 AM

Now I have noticed that the bluetooth totally disables for awhile (the icon goes red & i have to disable/reenable the adapter). Quite frustrating.... =(

RealityGone · 09-18-2008, 12:40 AM

Further information...

The sound seemed to be caused by the Bluetooth LAN coming & going. This, however, is just another symptom of the problem which i now suspect to be something faulty with the bluetooth hardware. However, I have tried 2 different bluetooth chips with no change.

RealityGone · 09-20-2008, 07:22 PM

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention. The bluetooth device itself disappears and reappears in the device manager as it goes in & out. Thus leading me to believe it is a hardware issue.

Last night I opened up the laptop and reseated the cable between the bluetooth chip & the board. But to no avail. I am thinking I need to replace the cable, or it is something wrong with the motherboard.... in which case I'll buy a USB bluetooth dongle :-/

anyone else think of anything?

09-12-2008, 05:21 AM	#1 (permalink)
RealityGone Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4 OS: dual boot WinXP Pro SP3 & Ubuntu My System	Bluetooth acting erratically... I hope this is the correct place for this thread since it has to do with laptops & peripherals (a bluetooth mouse). However, I feel it mostly has to do with WinXP. If I am mistaken, I apologize and hope that a moderator will move it to the correct section. I am using a DELL Inspiron E1705. I have always had slight issues with my bluetooth. It would make the windows "disconnect/reconnect" sound (like when you unplug a USB device) randomly unless I disabled bluetooth. I recently purchased a Targus bluetooth mouse (I don't know the model...) and this has made me more aware of the issue with my bluetooth. The mouse works for the most part, but occasionally it will stop responding (the bluetooth logo in the system tray is white). However, I can usually enable it. I figure this is due to the mouse going into sleep mode. However, the mouse seems to go into this mode even while I am using it. When this happens I also get the disconnect/reconnect sound & often the logo will go red (but not always... it always goes white though). The main problem is that sometimes the bluetooth logo in the system tray will go red like it is disabled, this is when i get the disconnect/reconnect sounds. This causes the mouse to be non-functional for much longer than the 2 seconds it should take to wake up. I have replaced my bluetooth chip and I still have the same problem. I am using the WIDCOMM bluetooth software. Anyone have any ideas? Is this just the way windows works? Is there some setting that will make this stop happening? Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Last edited by RealityGone : 09-12-2008 at 05:30 AM.

09-12-2008, 08:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
RealityGone Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4 OS: dual boot WinXP Pro SP3 & Ubuntu My System	Re: Bluetooth acting erratically... Now I have noticed that the bluetooth totally disables for awhile (the icon goes red & i have to disable/reenable the adapter). Quite frustrating.... =(

09-18-2008, 12:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
RealityGone Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4 OS: dual boot WinXP Pro SP3 & Ubuntu My System	Re: Bluetooth acting erratically... Further information... The sound seemed to be caused by the Bluetooth LAN coming & going. This, however, is just another symptom of the problem which i now suspect to be something faulty with the bluetooth hardware. However, I have tried 2 different bluetooth chips with no change.

09-20-2008, 07:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
RealityGone Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4 OS: dual boot WinXP Pro SP3 & Ubuntu My System	Re: Bluetooth acting erratically... Oh, I guess I forgot to mention. The bluetooth device itself disappears and reappears in the device manager as it goes in & out. Thus leading me to believe it is a hardware issue. Last night I opened up the laptop and reseated the cable between the bluetooth chip & the board. But to no avail. I am thinking I need to replace the cable, or it is something wrong with the motherboard.... in which case I'll buy a USB bluetooth dongle :-/ anyone else think of anything? Last edited by RealityGone : 09-20-2008 at 07:28 PM.