No bluetooth hardware detected

[DisapointedUser]

Hi,

After a bad adventure with an HP DV7, I swore not to buy HP ever again. I since was at Thinkpad!

I had a T430 laptop which recently was stolen and was never found.

Since, I'm broke; I bought a second hand ProBook 6470b with, awkwarldy, an i3 Processor.

I've been trying to get Bluetooth working but haven't yet been able to.

The problem is that the bluetooth hardware is never detected.

The laptop came with a BCM920702MD BT module. Windows never picks it up. Neither does Linux (Ubuntu 14.04)!

I then put a Dell Wireless 1702 wifi card into the laptop. This card integrates bluetooth too. And yes, I removed the integrated BT Module before putting the DW1702 to avoid "conflicts" between BT devices. Nothing worked. The wifi worked on the DW1702, but no BT was detected neither on Windows nor on Ubuntu. Once could blame the BT Module, but no ... they would be wrong because the Wifi card's BT did not work either.

I'm desperately looking for a solution. I hope to not be "disappointed" this time, again!

[Dudefoxlive]

I dont think the BT in the Wireless card will work.  As for the BT moduel have you looked through the BIOS to see if there are any BT options in there that might be disabled?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The only suggestion I can offer is this...

Since you don't know what the notebook went through before you bought it, if it had W7 on it at one time, and if someone installed the HP Connection Manager software so they could turn off networking devices individually by using that software (to save a miniscule amount of battery power), most likely that is the reason the bluetooth radio doesn't show up at all in W10.

Now, here is the problem...the only OS that the HP Connection Manager software works on is W7.

If you do not reinstall the HP connection manager software after you install W7, ANY networking device that was turned off at the time in the HP Connection Manager, will not reappear until the HP Connection Manager software is reinstalled and the device(s) turned back on by using the software.

They show up in the BIOS, which makes it even more frustrating as to figuring out why they don't show up in Windows.

The only solution to the problem (if that is the problem), would be to install W7, install the HP connection manager software, turn on the BT radio by using the software, uninstall the software, restart the PC, ensure the BT is still on and then reinstall W10.

I recommend you remove the Dell wlan card, and install the original hardware that came with the PC before attempting to reinstall W7.

It's possible the Dell branded card's bluetooth radio is not compatible with the HP notebook, so use the original BT module that you removed.

[DisapointedUser]

Hi,

Thanks for the fast response.

It's true that I don't know what the laptop has been through. But it lookes fine to me. It runs quietly and very cool. Which is probably a sign of a good hardware.

The Dell wifi card appears in the BIOS as "Test WLAN". Can that be the problem?

And there is no mention of BT in the BIOs, nor in System Information (Press F1 at start). Just WLAN, GPS and WWAN information.

Regarding the Connection Manager. The seller sold it with Windows 7 32 bits OS. I had a spare HDD that I had cloned long time ago on the T430 to have a backup. I simply swapped the Windows 7 32 bits HDD (the one the laptop came with) with that spare HDD. I will simply put it back into the laptop and see if BT will work. And I have already removed the Dell wifi card. It was for test purposes. The BT Module is now plugged in along with the Intel N-6205 wifi card. I will need it later for WiDi.

[Dudefoxlive]

If possible please try installing Windows 7 X64 and install all drivers and software that is available on the website.  If it installs the HP Connection Manager as mentioned by Paul_Tikkanen then see if it sees the BT.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

What I meant by what the laptop had been through was not in reference to its condition but what OS and software was installed.

After you install the hard drive with W7 on it, make sure you install the connection manager software on it, or verify that it was installed.

I am very surprised the dell wlan card worked at all.  HP used a BIOS whitelist around that time and earlier, that prevents any unsupported wlan cards from working.

I guess your model was on the cusp as to when they removed that whitelist.

Since I don't have that model I am not familiar with what exactly shows up in the BIOS.

My older HP business notebooks do show the wlan and bluetooth adapters listed in the BIOS with options to enable/disable them.

[DisapointedUser]

Sadly the HP Connection Manager software did not help.

It only sees Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

I even tried to install Broadcom Bluetooth software downloaded from drivers section (about 200 MB); but the installation failed because NO BT HARDWARE was detected.

It's like the BT module isn't connected to the motherboard, although I have checked very well to make sure that it was well plugged in.

I know about the whitelist, the 6470b model doesn't have it.

I think this problem has something to do with the bios settings indeed, even though I can't find any mention of BT.

I tried updating the BIOS to the lates (F.68) and resetting the settings to default, none was able to detect the BT hardware.

[Dudefoxlive]

It is possible that it never worked from the start and who ever had it before you did not care.  i purchased a BT module for my Dell Latitude E6520 Laptop and when i installed it the module never worked.  Even now with it installed the laptop does not see it at all.  The part number for the module is 655792-001.  I would not expect them to be expensive.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Sorry that didn't work.

Well, I assume you can narrow it down to a dead BT module or a dead connection slot on the motherboard.

I don't know if you want to throw good money after bad, but you can see if replacing the bluetooth module resolves the problem.

There are a few of them for sale on eBay.  The service manual indicates the part number for the board is 655792-001, which you can probably confirm by looking at the sticker on the module you have now.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=655792-001&_sop=15

If replacing the BT module doesn't resolve the issue, then the motheboard connector the cable goes into is probably no good, and in that event, the entire motherboard would have to be replaced.

[DisapointedUser]

I hope we are not at "Replace the motherboard" level yet!!!

Curiuously, there is an empty slot near the BT module slot. According the official dissassembly document, this slot is supposed to host F/P FFC which, I assume, is for fingerprint and doesn't have anything to do with BT.

I should have anoter BT module from an Acer laptop. I'm confident that it's working. So, I will try to find it again and plug it in.

I also found out that the BIOS shows BT FCCID (QDS-BRCM1043 for the BCM920702MD module) as seen on another 6470b laptop.

If all fail, I guess I will just have to live with BT USB Dongles. I'm pretty sure that I'll be done with HP this time.