Bluetooth gone…

togel · 01 Mar 2023

A few days ago when I was going to start using a BT based Logitech mouse, I discovered that BT was gone. Not visible on the Device Manager, not on the settings and not in the Action Center.

I have been reading posts on the forum and tried solving the problems myself. All without success. BT is simply gone. The diagnosis tells me the device has no BT. It was working fine before.

The device is an Acer 8943G with the latest Windows 10 update. (Windows 10 Home, rev. 22H2, OS version 9045.2604.)

I have a feeling that one of the latest updates could have coursed this to happen, but as my Acer S3 with the same updates is working fine that is probably not the case.

The local Acer Customer Support suggests buying an external BT adapter, but that solution is not very attractive...

As I am just an average user, I lack the knowledge and detailed skills required to dig deeper into the problem. I saw on the forum that other members had experienced the same type of problem, but I still feel that I need personal attention to just my problem in order to solve it.

I also read that when this thing happens, the reason could be that the BT for some reason was inactivated in BIOS.
I have tried many other things myself, but going into BIOS is something I simple don’t know to safely do, not to mention how to check and set the BT status.

If any of you experts out there would be kind enough to spend a little time reading my post and hopefully give me a solution to the problem, I would be more that grateful.

Thank you for your time.

/togel

Hearsepilot · 01 Mar 2023

Right click My Computer, Select Manage, Select Device Manager, go to View >Show HIdden Devices. Does anything show with exclamation marks, Does BlueTooth show at all?

togel · 01 Mar 2023

Hi Hearsepilot,

Thanks for your quick response.

No Bluetooth shows and no marks...

Bastet · 01 Mar 2023

If your Bluetooth is disabled then do the following to enable it.
Uninstall the device from device manager and restart Bluetooth service.
Start > services.msc
Right-click "Bluetooth Support Service."
Choose Automatic.
Go to device manager and right-click on your computer name and click "Scan for hardware changes"
Install the Bluetooth device drivers from the manufacturer's website, if any.

If the device isn’t showing under device manager or under show hidden devices then shutdown the pc, unplug the power cable & then reconnect, then go to device manager & see if there’s any unknown devices showing, if so uninstall this & then scan for hardware changes & hopefully Bluetooth will reappear.

MisterEd · 01 Mar 2023

Your laptop comes with Bluetooth 2.1. Even if it was working it might not work with the Logitech Bluetooth mouse. It depends upon which model you have. If the mouse has Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) then that might not be compatible with the old Bluetooth 2.1. If you want to use the mouse with your laptop you might have to buy a Bluetooth USB dongle.

BTW, I had to buy Bluetooth USB dongles for two of my desktop computers so I could use Xbox One wireless controllers with them.

togel · 01 Mar 2023

Thank you Bastet and Mister Ed,

As it is dinner time here now I will follow your instructions tomorrow and report back. The mouse is not a LE model.

MisterEd · 01 Mar 2023

togel said:

Thank you Bastet and Mister Ed,

As it is dinner time here now I will follow your instructions tomorrow and report back. The mouse is not a LE model.

I expect since the laptop came with Windows 7 there was a Windows 7 Bluetooth driver. You might try to locate it and reinstall it. The problem is whether it is compatible with the current release of Windows 10 or not.

BTW, I saw a post on the Acer forums where someone with the same model laptop had Bluetooth suddenly stop working. Unfortunately, the thread ended before the problem was resolved.

togel · 02 Mar 2023

Hi Bastet.
The Bluetooth did not show in the Device Manager, so I followed your instructions to unplug the power cable. After that five unknown USBs shoved. I uninstalled them and scanned for hardware changes. Unfortunately the BT did not come back.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi Mister Ed,
Yes, I had the W7 BT driver on file so I reinstalled it. Acer support says they don't have the driver...
During the installation process a message came saying the device has no BT.
I have a feeling that it stopped working after a W10 update, but I dont know which. I also have an Acer S3 with the same W10 and all updates with a working BT.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi again.
I read an old post on the forum that if the BT is gone it might have been disconnected in BIOS. Is that a possibility?

Bastet · 02 Mar 2023

Thanks for the update. I would check to see if bluetooth is disabled in the BIOS, if it doesn’t show there or it is not disabled then most likely the BT module has failed. BT dongles are relatively cheap these days.

togel · 02 Mar 2023

Hi again and thanks for your reply.

How can I check the BIOS status? I have no clue how to do it. Besides, the local Acer Support person said there was no way of activating/deactivating BT in BIOS. I am not sure I believe that as I read a comment here on the forum about checking the BIOS status. I just don't know how to do it...