Bluetooth Problems

I recently received a new Logitech MX Master mouse, to replace a defective one. I am having problems with the new one; rather than posting all of them, I shall start with the first observable artifact:

When I go to PC Settings, Devices, Bluetooth, I see that my mouse is paired, but I also see something new, "Unknown Ready to Pair." I don't have any other Bluetooth devices, and if I try to pair the unknown one, the process fails. I don't know if this is a cause of any of the other problems, but it seems to me to be a reasonable place to start.

I've been unable to find any information about this entry, hence my request for information and/or assistance: Can this cause problems, how can I remove it, etc.?

Most Cell phones have Bluetooth and when within range of another device, 10Meters or so, will show in the list of things that could be paired. I have Bluetooth on several of my Notebooks and my MacBook Pro but I do use Bluetooth mice on 4 plus on 2 Tablets. My new computer, couple months ago, also has Bluetooth and Wireless even though it's a Desktop, ASUS M52BC.

Bastet said:

I have a couple of 'unknown' devices & one Samsung TV listed/appearing, none of which are ours. I suspect the Bluetooth is picking up a neighbour's devices - nothing to worry about.
Is the mouse listed as paired but not connected? Please post further.

Closest neighbors are several hundred yards away, and have been there for several years; given that the unknown device just showed up sometime over the past week, I doubt that this is the proximate cause.

As for the mouse being shown as paired, that is one of the problems I had refrained from listing, wanting to first determine if the unknown device entry is a problem. I woke the computer yesterday morning around 0500 local, to find that I had no cursor. Picked the mouse, turned it over, saw that the connection light was blinking; tried the connect button, to no avail.

First thing to try, which has worked a few times, was to turn the mouse off and back on, but had no luck, so went into the Bluetooth module There, the mouse was shown as paired, so I tuned off Bluetooth; as I have had before, had to try several times to get it to turn back on, but once I did, the mouse started working.

Computer is set to go to sleep after two hours. I am guessing that it had been asleep for an hour or so when I next woke it, only to find that the mouse was again not working. I don't recall how I restored it that time. When I woke the machine this morning, around 0530 local, the mouse was working properly. (One of the other problems, which was really bad yesterday, is for the cursor to start jumping around when I try to point it at a specific location; that has not so far arisen today.)

Berton said:

Most Cell phones have Bluetooth and when within range of another device, 10Meters or so, will show in the list of things that could be paired. I have Bluetooth on several of my Notebooks and my MacBook Pro but I do use Bluetooth mice on 4 plus on 2 Tablets. My new computer, couple months ago, also has Bluetooth and Wireless even though it's a Desktop, ASUS M52BC.

I turned off Bluetooth on my Smart Phone, which made no difference; to be certain, I restarted the computer, Bluetooth is still searching for some mysterious device.

Many more things are coming with Bluetooth, could be a TV, a Smart Watch, FitBit, just have to check all the devices in the house.

Berton said:

Many more things are coming with Bluetooth, could be a TV, a Smart Watch, FitBit, just have to check all the devices in the house.

When I turned Bluetooth back on on the Smart Phone, it informed me about Chromecast. I had installed Chromecast recently, to use the computer-to-TV streaming feature of the program that I use to convert PAL-format DVDs to NTSC, only to find out that the program has yet to be updated to use second-generation Chromecast devices, not something mentioned anywhere in the program's literature.

I don't recall seeing anything about ensuring that Bluetooth is enabled on phone when installing/using Chromecast, but a search for that a short while ago verified the need for Bluetooth. I am going to change the TV to use Chromecast sometime and then see if the Windows 10 Bluetooth module can find Chromecast. (That will have to wait: The four-hour Saturday SiriusXM program "Baroque and Beyond" is currently using the AV system.)

Mystery appears to be solved, and the mouse continues to be recognized by Bluetooth (another mystery.)

Good. If the mouse is a Bluetooth version I only worry when it is not recognized.

Test One: Activated Chromecast with my Android phone; Windows 10 Bluetooth module kept looking for the unknown device.

Test Two: Unplugged the power cable for the Chromecast, module stopped looking for any unknown device; when Chromecast repowered, Bluetooth search resumed.

Having definitively identified the unknown Bluetooth device, I did some research, and found that Chromecast uses Bluetooth to communicate with Android devices; that would explain why Windows 10 `sees' that something unknown is using Bluetooth but cannot identify nor connect to it.

One mystery solved. I am almost afraid to type this, lest the Bluetooth mouse sees it: I've not had a single incident of the mouse not being active since starting this thread.

I have marked this as Solved, as the mouse has not once repeated the failure to connect to Bluetooth since I started this thread, and as posted just above, the unknown Bluetooth device has been identified. I don't know that the connection problem has been solved, in terms of my having done anything to fix anything, but as it has not arisen, I have simply decided that it is solved (whereupon, it will likely recur...).