bluetooth dongles that work with vista

[kevinf2090]

what is a bluetooth dongle that you guys use that comes with drivers and software that work with vista

 

[Synomenon]

Pretty much any USB bluetooth dongle out there will work with Vista. Once you plug it in Vista will install the generic Microsoft bluetooth software.

 

[kevinf2090]

ok that worked but i don't see where i can go to pair devices up

 

[Synomenon]

Do you see the bluetooth icon in the taskbar? If not, go to the control panel to open up the bluetooth settings window where you can pair things with your PC.

 

[kevinf2090]

i don't even see anything related to bluetooth in control panel or the taskbar. i think it only installed the hardware but not the software, it is listed in the device manager as bluetooth adapter though

 

[kevinf2090]

now i've got the bluetooth places on the desktop but whenever i double click on it, it prompts me to pair something instead of listing all the bluetooth devices and profiles that i already paired

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Just FYI, I messed with a bluetooth dongle forever in Vista, and I could never get it to work. I was trying to sync my PDA (iPAQ 2795b) to my desktop but I eventually gave up. Then I put XP back on the machine, installed the Toshiba bluetooth stack drivers that came with the dongle, and it was working fine in 10-15 minutes of messing with it. I feel your pain. I can't recall which dongle it was that I couldn't get working with Vista, but I'll edit this post when I get home and find out.

 

[kainlongshot]

FYI . . . it does work in vista . . . x 64 . . . ultimate. However it does require a lot of work to get working. Here's the thread I posted a long time ago about the same issue

First, this isn't for my phone. . . this is a headset I'm using for my computer. So I hope that clears your admonishment of "goofy" headsets. Yes I do own a mono bluetooth headset I use for my phone but found it inconvenient. I'd rather pay complete attention to the road than have a head set on. If its that important, I'll pull over and answer it.

I digress. The headset I'm using, are for my computer. Original purpose was to get rid of my wired headset that I either trip over, get tangled up in, etc. A better link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16875982001
So with that out of the way. . .

I did manage to get my headset working. It was vista's fault. Vista has a built in bluetooth stack that is pre-"gimped". It only allows file transfer, mouse, and keyboard. It is not OEM. I am running vista ultimate x64. Widcomm has a set of drivers (heavily modified by users) that will work with virtually any set of dongle/headset/peripheral. There is some need to tweak and patch the drivers to get full functionality. Sound quality isn't that great for what I felt is a bit much for a set of good headphones, but I'm pretty sure its a driver issue. Until Motorola comes out with branded dongle that has native Vista support (currently all of them are on xp only). I'll stick to my el cheapo stick for now.

and

Here's the Patcher http://www.dev-hack.com/pafile...ndex.php?act=view&id=3
Here's the Drivers http://www.dev-hack.com/pafile...ndex.php?act=view&id=2

Not to keep harping, but I'm pretty sure Vista RTM has a stripped down version of their stack. Prior to the new driver installation, the headset is recognized, and profiled correctly as a headset. But when you connect to the device it asks for a driver. . . which is odd. Why do you think there are so many thirdparty bluetooth stacks running around, namely anycom, toshiba, and bluesoliel? The widcomm drivers contain the missing audio and headset profiles that (vista was missing) needed for the device to connect. Thats why it works. I've never fiddled with XP's native stack. They may very well be more "complete" but as I see it Vista's stack is gimped. I even went to test it to try to find out if you were right, at a friends computer, also running vista ultimate. He uses a blue tooth keyboard and mouse. I plug my blue tooth dongle, paired the two using Vista's stack, viola, and keyboard connected and so did the mouse - but no headset. I agree you definitely have to make sure the hardware id is accounted for, and I eventually had to do that using the patcher program. But . . . that was only used so that the new widcomm driver could see it. The original vista stacker could already see the dongle and the headset.

Thats how I got my headset working. More than likely you suffering from the same issue I have . . . incomplete bluetooth profiles.

 

[zig3695]

on virgin native original vista installs, just as xp was, any usb dongle will install either automatically or manually with the generic drivers.

the problem is, as soon as you install a 3rd party bluetooth driver package, or simply buy a pc from a OEM, that will usually strip windows of its bluetooth capabilities, to avoid interference with the new driver package.

what you need to do is re-activate the native bluetooth stack. its not a simple process from what i know. best way is to install windows yourself and dont use 3rd party bluetooth drivers. ever.