Persistant Bluetooth Issues

[PsychoPsyops]

Hello everyone,

I have a pair of Sony h.ear MDR-100ABN wireless headphones, which connect to my desktop pc via bluetooth dongle when turned on.

Nearly every single day I use them, I get two reoccuring issues.


1. After the headphones are turned on and connected, no audio will play until I go into the Windows 10 bluetooth settings, disable the headphones and reenable them. Only after I do this, does audio finally play.

2. After using the headphones for an hour or two, the audio will start to constantly and consistently skip until the headset's power is turned off and on again.


My Windows 10 is fully updated as well as the drivers. I had already tried a clean re-install of Windows 10 as well.

Does anyone know a fix? This is incredibly annoying.

Thank you in advance.

 

[PsychoPsyops]

What is the default audio playback device?

Check Device Manager - ensure that all BT required/related services are started at boot time.

The default playback device is my monitor. It should automatically switch to the headphones when they are turned on and connected, like it had when I first got them. I've tried making the headphones the default device, but it did not change anything.

 

[Ralston18]

How is the monitor receiving its audio? Make and model monitor?

Apologies but I think I have lost the bigger picture....

"Connected" being the Bluetooth headphones turned on, paired, connected via BT?

 

[PsychoPsyops]

How is the monitor receiving its audio? Make and model monitor?

Apologies but I think I have lost the bigger picture....

"Connected" being the Bluetooth headphones turned on, paired, connected via BT?

The monitor has it's own audio card. My speaker system his hooked up to it via headphone jack. This is my default device that I use for audio during the day.
You are correct for the term "connected."

 

[Ralston18]

Must dig deeper.....

Open Task Manager and check the various tabs for Bluetooth related processes and services. See what is and is not running before and after when you first connect the BT headphones. Then compare that to what is and is not running after you go through the initially stated "disable the headphones and re-enable them".

What you are looking for in Task Manager are dependencies that cause the initial failure. Right-click Bluetooth services and go to the Properties screens to list the dependencies. Something is simply not being started or perhaps stopped by something else.

No need to make any immediate changes. Key is to just look for the moment and get a sense of what is happening and any configuration options available to you.

Once working, the audio may begin failing due to some "power saver" setting or perhaps some resource conflict. With respect to the latter, BT works until some threshold is reached and the audio starts skipping etc.. Powering the headsets off frees the resources up and you start over until the threshold is again reached. Etc., etc..

Again you will need to watch the computer's resources via Task Manager and/or Performance Monitor.

Hopefully something will turn up there...

 

[PsychoPsyops]

Must dig deeper.....

Open Task Manager and check the various tabs for Bluetooth related processes and services. See what is and is not running before and after when you first connect the BT headphones. Then compare that to what is and is not running after you go through the initially stated "disable the headphones and re-enable them".

What you are looking for in Task Manager are dependencies that cause the initial failure. Right-click Bluetooth services and go to the Properties screens to list the dependencies. Something is simply not being started or perhaps stopped by something else.

No need to make any immediate changes. Key is to just look for the moment and get a sense of what is happening and any configuration options available to you.

Once working, the audio may begin failing due to some "power saver" setting or perhaps some resource conflict. With respect to the latter, BT works until some threshold is reached and the audio starts skipping etc.. Powering the headsets off frees the resources up and you start over until the threshold is again reached. Etc., etc..

Again you will need to watch the computer's resources via Task Manager and/or Performance Monitor.

Hopefully something will turn up there...

I can't tell by task manager man, especially since the list is so long it makes me scroll.
And now the audio skips frequently.
I'll just buy a new dongle one day.

This probably has something to do with it to, seeing as how all my usb ports are 3.0, rather than 2.0.
https://imgur.com/a/vQtG7

 

[PsychoPsyops]

Just in case it matters to anyone, I took captures of what the device state looks like when it isn't playing sound, vs. when it is.
"Connected Music" shows when I first turn the headphones on and no sound plays.
"Connected Voice, Music" shows after I disconnect and reconnect them (without turning them off) and sound does play.

https://imgur.com/a/v8yTg

 

[PsychoPsyops]

Bump

 

[Ralston18]

What is the status of the microphone - does it have its' own mute switch or button?

Right click the small speaker icon in the lower right screen area.

Double check all of the configuration windows, tabs, and properties with respect to both the headphones and the microphone.

Especially if there is any other third party audio related software installed.

My thought is that the correct driver(s) are not being loaded at boot time. However, once Windows is up and running, plugging in the headsets results in the correct driver being identified and installed.

Default device (at first turn on) vs "new device" when plugged in again....

Compare the "speaker icon" settings between no sound and sound.

Will take some effort but likely to spot the culprit.

 

[PsychoPsyops]

What is the status of the microphone - does it have its' own mute switch or button?

Right click the small speaker icon in the lower right screen area.

Double check all of the configuration windows, tabs, and properties with respect to both the headphones and the microphone.

Especially if there is any other third party audio related software installed.

My thought is that the correct driver(s) are not being loaded at boot time. However, once Windows is up and running, plugging in the headsets results in the correct driver being identified and installed.

Default device (at first turn on) vs "new device" when plugged in again....

Compare the "speaker icon" settings between no sound and sound.

Will take some effort but likely to spot the culprit.

It does not have it's own mute button.

As for the speaker icon settings, whether the audio is being played or not, the settings look identical, which is what can be seen in the following picture.

https://imgur.com/a/SVg1N

 

[Ralston18]

Yes they do appear identical but they are not.

One is "Headset" and the other is "Headphones".

Plus in an earlier image "Connected music" and then "Connected voice, music".

Not a matter of semantics. It is just that your computer is responding to the underlying code, the associated device configurations, and the physical connections being detected (or not).

And somewhere in all that Windows, device drivers, and physical connections come into some conflict.

I had a problem with some Bluetooth Headphones a few months ago - nothing worked and Windows seemed to be the issue. Finally some update fixed the problem and my Bluetooth Headphones started working as expected. Paired, connected, played audio...

All I can think of, at this time, is to go back to as basic an audio configuration as possible. E.g.., just the Sony Bluetooth headphones.

Run the Windows 10 troubleshooters for "Playing Audio", "Bluetooth", and "Hardware and Devices".

Just to cover the possibility that some update has fixed things but your system has not quite caught up.

Disable all other audio devices and connections.

Very much a "do-over". However, there is an advantage in that you have learned more and may spot something that has been overlooked. Or someone reader may note some error of omission or commission on my part. That is fair game and okay with me.

 

[PsychoPsyops]

Alright, here to say that the Windows April 2018 Update (1803) fixed the issue. My bluetooth headphones now automatically play audio after a few seconds of connecting. I had tested this every day for the past week. Thank you for your help.