Saturday, May 16, 2009

Windows 7 and Bluetooth Issues on DELL M4400

Since yesterday evening I have been trying to get Internet connection sharing happening between my new brand HTC Touch HD, and me brand new Dell Precision M4400 running Windows 7 RC.

My new laptop

as could be expected, there were some issues. In fact, I still haven’t managed to get it working, but I am 1 step closer to a solution. The first and most overriding problem was that the device drivers on my DELL weren’t working properly. A quick google search and a few clicks later, and I found this discussion on notebookreview.com from someone having the same problem as me with their M6400.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=340326

So I tried it, and sure enough it worked. I decided to do the right thing by the community and reply to the thread, thanking them and adding the DELL M4400 to the list of laptops that it works with, as well as adding a link to the right driver downloads for the M4400, but alas, even after registering with the website, it appears as though I don’t have the necessary privileges to reply to the forum. So I will disseminate the information here on my blog.

So if you have a DELL Precision M4400 and are trying to get your bluetooth to work, you need to

  1. Download these drivers from DELL 
  2. Open the folder where the downloaded executable resides
  3. Right Click and select “Troubleshoot Compatibility”
  4. Select “Troubleshoot Program”
  5. Select “The Program worked in earlier versions of windows, but won’t install or run now” and Click “Next”
  6. Select “Windows Vista” from the top of the list and select “Next”
  7. Click “Start the Program”

At this point the bluetooth drivers should install no problems.

I have now successfully created a bluetooth connection between my phone and my PC, and can happily use some of the bluetooth networking features. Unfortunately, Active Sync doesn’t quite seem to connect properly over bluetooth, I think it’s a problem with “Windows Mobile Device Center” on Windows 7 RC, and of course I still haven’t been able to get Internet connection sharing working. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

11 comments:

  1. This helped me so much with my new M4400 running the Windows 7 RC. Thanks for documenting it.

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  2. Anonymous1:00 am

    At first this worked then after about an hour my Plantronics Bluetooth 590 headset dropped along with the Microsoft Bluetooth 5000 mouse. After trying many versions and trying to clean the registry now after installing bluetooth it doesn't find any devices to pair with. I'm on Windows 7 RC1 Build 7100. Must be something in the registry.

    When I figure it out I'll post.

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  3. Anonymous6:30 am

    Looks like the 2nd bluetooth service was disabled somehow. After reinstalling the driver from Dell R216468 and enabling the services my devices paired up and are working great.

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  4. Anonymous7:11 am

    Same Anonymous here. Today the bluetooth just seems to drop mid job. I'll be using the bluetooth mouse and Plantronics headset then bam it just drops. Bluetooh light stays on keyboard icon but even with network switch off?!? I think we need a real 7 370 driver unless we can find the conflict.

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  5. Anonymous2:03 am

    I have an Inspiron Dell 1545 running on windows 7. I have successifully Downloaded the drivers R197543 from DELL webiste stated above and successifully installed the bluetooth. It is working very well. Thank you for documenting and sharing. Graft

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  6. Anonymous11:51 am

    This worked perfectly for me on my Precision M4440. Thank you for this post!

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  7. Anonymous2:14 am

    Does this work on Windows XP?

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  8. I've had the same problem with my Dell M4400 where the Bluetooth works fine and then drops off for no apparent reason. I've installed the R216468 driver package from Dell twice now. Finally though I think it's been solved. There is a setting in the properties for the Bluetooth Mini-card that allows Windows to turn off the BT to save power. I've switched that off and have had no problems . . . so far.

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  9. Anonymous5:04 am

    Thank you so much! I googled it before and never found anything that helped! You rock! ;)

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  10. Anonymous5:48 am

    http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails?driverId=Y22N9&fileId=2935025844

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  11. the drivers you linked to does not show on the dell site

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