Question Bluetooth adapter missing on Toshiba Satellite Pro A300 ?

[Dee_Bee]

Since installing a clean copy of Windows 10, the Bluetooth adapter (which was working fine on the previous Windows install) has now disappeared from Device Manager. I'm told this is due to missing or incorrect driver(s).

As I now cannot see Bluetooth in Device Manager, I cannot determine the make/model of the Bluetooth Adapter to try and find drivers.

The full details of the laptop are: Toshiba Satellite Pro A300-2C5.

Has anybody got a similar model and can check rhe Bluetooth details for me please?

 

[Cj-tech]

Since installing a clean copy of Windows 10 Bluetooth (which was working fine on the previous copy) had now disappeard from Device Manager. I'm told this is due to missing or incorrect driver(s).

As I now cannot see Bluetooth in Device Manager, I cannot determine the make/model of the Bluetooth Adapter to try and find drivers.

The full details of the laptop are: Toshiba Satellite Pro A300-2C5.

Has anybody got a similar model and can check rhe Bluetooth details for me please?

It’s likely an Intel Driver but you can use this tool to check if it’s available and update drivers if needed: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

 

[Dee_Bee]

Thanks for quick response. I had already tried that and it's not detecting any Intel Bluetooth module I'm afraid.

 

[BFG-9000]

Given the age, try the Toshiba Bluetooth stack. The Windows 8 and later drivers are locked to only Toshiba-branded modules and not the ones they made for others like Dell, but that should presumably be no problem for an actual Toshiba.

 

[Dee_Bee]

Good call and seemed hopeful for a while until message "please plug in your Bluetooth Device" came up. After clicking 'cancel' to that request it said that the drivers had been installed and to reboot. However on rebooting Bluetooth still not visible in Device Manager. Shame!

 

[Misgar]

Since the Bluetooth chipset is not appearing in Device Manager, do you need to enable Bluetooth in the BIOS or by toggling a specific Function Key?

Is there an LED on the laptop that indicates when Bluetooth is switched on?

Some older laptops had a slider switch to disable WiFi when not needed (to save power) and sometimes this switch killed Bluetooth as well.

 

[Dee_Bee]

I have checked the BIOS - no mention of Bluetooth and the WIFI is switched on and working so that is not the issue. Thanks for all your ideas guys.
It looks like a USB dongle looms!

 

[BFG-9000]

Bluetooth modules of that era were usually USB connected using an internal cable, rather than attached to the Wifi card. And considering how sometimes USB devices need to be unplugged/replugged while powered-on to work again (often rebooting doesn't help), is a real PITA if you have to partially disassemble a laptop to get to it.

After all, no need to use PCIe when Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR only has a maximum theoretical data rate of 3Mbps but after overhead seems to do around 2.1Mbps real-world--really not ideal for tethering. Later versions of Bluetooth actually only use the Bluetooth to negotiate/set up data transfers over wifi so it makes sense to include it with a wifi card.

 

[Dee_Bee]

Thoroughly agree BFG-9000. I've no intention of delving any further into the innards of this laptop. It's working fine (apart from the Bluetooth!) with a new SSD which was easily accessible via a removable access plate - why can't all laptops have this??
Thanks for all you help. Much appreciated.
Great Forum!