Bluetooth Driver Install Stalls

I got my 1720 today!!!!!! Finally. (I ordered 7/10).

I did a clean install, and everything has been going smoothly, except for the bluetooth drivers. When I'm installing them it shows a window that says "Activate bluetooth using Fn+F2 or Radio On/Off Switch" and then it has a box that says "Cancel Installation". I've let this window sit for quite a while, and nothing is happening. The bluetooth light won't light up like it did before I did the clean install, which makes me think that the drivers aren't installed.

Help!

 

is your bluetooth enabled in your Bios, it may just think there is no BT installed

 

To activate the bluetooth device you need to hit Fn+F2.

 

I have seen this happen an M1210 and Vista. The Bluetooth drivers for Vista on the M1210 have not been pleasant to deal with, and there is a solution to your question. Your issue occurs even if the Bluetooth is fully enabled, and this is, indeed, part of the problem, as I will explain.

What you need to do, IIRC (this is all off the top of my head from when I did this a few months ago), is to turn off the bluetooth using the hardware switch on the side AFTER the install starts, but before it gets to that step you mentioned.

In other words, if the Bluetooth is off when you begin the install, it will prompt you to turn it on and restart the installation.

So, turn on the bluetooth before you begin the installation. Once the driver setup has completed its self-check and found the BT radio, however, you can then turn off the Bluetooth using the hardware switch, and, when prompted as above in your post, turn it back on, and it should detect it and finish installing the drivers.

 

I had the same problem with my 1520. Heres my solution. There is a problem with reinstalling windows or dropping your system to XP. You need to get the following file and install it BEFORE you install the bluetooth 355 driver set.
http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=213714

I know its on the euro site, but it works. Download this and run it and then download and run the 355 bluetooth drivers and you will be working great!

 

Bluetooth is activated in my BIOS.

I tried Samuel's suggestion, but it didn't work for me. I tried Thirstee's euro download, and while it was suspicious, it worked just fine. Thanks!

Hmmm...now I'm noticing one of the screens I had before is missing. It looks like a control panel, and it shows all sorts of things including volume, battery status, and more. Any ideas?

 

Was it a set of gadgets or where was it located and i will look at mine. Glad I could help on the bluetooth. I spent 2 hours with Dell and the girl mentioned that small file, but everytime I asked about it, she said she mentioned it by mistake. Level 2 tech was supposed to call me this am, but didnt so I tried this out and it worked like a champ!

 

I think I double clicked in the taskbar somewhere, and this handy little control panel popped up. I'm guess I missing installing something off of the driver & utility CD.

 

Probably the Dell Quickset stuff...

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=25&fileid=218854

 

When I open up the quickset stuff I get a purple screen with buttons for network, display, and system.

What I remember was a white background with a grid. It was maybe 5x3, and in each cell of the grid was a different item.

 

Whoops, I was wrong. The control panel I was looking for was in QuickSet. I didn't click on the "mobility center" button before though, and overlooked it. Thanks for the help!

 

What's up Thirstee. I followed your instructions exactly, but when I tried to install again, the program still hangs. The extracted folder and executable is in the \dell\drivers\R161378\BTW5_1\Setup.exe.

Any ideas?

 

Thanks Thirstee....this solved my 1720's bluetooth problem!! More Rep power to u!!
~Peace~

 

The Euro files did not work so well for my Vista 64 bit. I'm fighting step by step through driver re installation. There is a bit of a chicken and egg problem that the installer wants the radio on, but lacking drivers, you can't turn the radio on.

Here is what eventually worked for me:

Dell supports 64bit vista on some of the XPS line. I'm finding much of my hardware there. In this case the XPS M2010 has the same Bluetooth card that I have. (355). Get that driver.

I had the same trouble with the computer asking me to turn on the bluetooth device. Check bios, look for the radio on/off switch in manual, and so forth. Sometimes I'd get the radio on/off error, and later "This installer can be run on Windows Vista only."

The drivers extracted to dell\drivers\R140135\3100_216\, notice the Win64 folder. Find the inst.exe and execute that. In my case, it failed once, but I got the bluetooth taskbar icon, from which I could finally turn the radio on. That done, Vista finally discovered the device it and automatically installed the drivers.