Intel's AC3165 suddenly lost ability to connect & stream to audio devices via BT - needs replacing?

[krzemien]

Hello,

As per the subject line: fitted within my Omen 870-095na WiFi/BT card (Intel's AC 3165) lost ability to connect & stream to audio devices via BT.

Having done some troubleshooting, see all here:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/AC3165-suddenly-lost-ability-to-connect-amp-stream-to-audio/...

https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/199248-suddenly-lost-ability-connect-stream-audio-devices...

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/threads/intels-ac3165-suddenly-lost-ability-to-connect-stream-to-au...

(with SysNative thread being most recent and capturing all latest actions)

and with no ultimate result either (is there no utility available that can check/test/verify card's capabilities? Or Intel does not want to share it?).

So I'm now down to the hardware replacement route most likely. I understand that I have three options (all Intel, I do not want to use Realtek):

• Like-for-like replacement with AC3165
• Upgrade to AC9260
• Upgrade to AX200

Now, because it's a bit of a faff and requires removal of graphics card etc., I would ideally want to do it once rather than discover that chosen card does not want to work for whatever reasons; that I have to return the card and source another one etc. . And I understand there are instances where the replacement may fail in that respect.

So, my queries as follows:

• Preferred replacement - AX200 - would that work in my PC in the first place? My CPU is Gen6 Intel and I did read that AX200 might just not work with it
• Second-in-line - AC9260 - any objections as per the above? It does present itself as the option that will most likely work okay
• Last option - AC3165 - but then it's a bit dated hardware now and I'd rather replace it with one of the above. Fairly cheap though and probably will work straight-away.

Also:

• Any reasons to believe that BIOS would be locked on my PC?
• vPro - how do I know that what I'm getting is a non-vPro card (putting aside seller's honesty etc. - I would be sourcing these from eBay most likely). Also why vPro-enabled card would not work actually?

I should have added that it's just BT Audio Streaming option that I'm missing which is really itching me: I do not use WiFi as I'm hard-wired to the router. No big deal though, can always connect the speakers via cable if I decide to do nothing 😉

Any thoughts appreciated before I make a decision.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Generally most HP desktop PC's had no wifi card whitelists that were made in 2014 or later.

I believe the AX200 should be fine as long as you buy the non-vPro model, which you can find on eBay.

Search by the HP part number, not the model of the Wi-Fi card.

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 ax 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.0 MU-MIMO M.2 2230 non-vPro   HP part # L35282-005

This person marked my reply as solved on a similar model with the same motherboard, but that does not necessarily mean that he actually installed the card.  I can only hope that he did.

Solved: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 upgrade options - HP Support Community - 8382420

[krzemien]

Many thanks. Have not found nor read that very thread, but having HP's reference (I was just about to dig for one myself) is of some help - and I can see there's something on eBay I can check.

Will keep you posted - or perhaps when I re-enable AC3165 (currently disabled via Slot Security option in UEFI) it will just work as intended...

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[krzemien]

Righto, so there's an update  - and the rub:

As I was not able to find sensibly priced dedicated card (L35282-005 - as per the above), I decided to take my chances and just bought OEM AX200NGW card from the seller that supports returns (in case I witness issues).

I eventually replaced AC3165 with this card an hour ago or so - was not really in a mood of doing it even though it takes only 15 minutes or so of my time (knew how to access the MoBo / remove graphics card and retrofit it all later as I removed it before when I upgraded by PC with NVMe drive which necessitated the same) - and with the positive result, i.e. PC does see the card and upon the OS being loaded Intel's tool (IDSA) told me there are updated drivers for both WiFi and Bluetooth available (as they apparently were released only couple of days ago): 22.180.0.2(4).

So far so good, got this sorted, restarted PC etc. - and all is well. Almost.

Alas, the problem I originally faced remains, i.e. I am still unable to connect / stream to audio devices even though Bluetooth as such remains entirely operational: can pair devices, send data across etc. Just the audio streaming part remains knackered.

As this procedure rules out any hardware issues clearly, and I thought that by doing the OS restore from backup - see detailed description in the links above - I ruled out OS issues either. I am literally back to square one as am not sure what and how to troubleshoot further as I remain genuinely puzzled what could be the culprit here.

So, any ideas?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Sorry, that upgrading the Wi-Fi card didn't resolve the Bluetooth audio problem.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other suggestions you can try.

I have zero experience troubleshooting actual Bluetooth problems since I never had a need to use Bluetooth.

At least you were able to install a better Wi-Fi adapter than the 3165.

[krzemien]

Yeah, I am genuinely puzzled - will definitely investigate as it really itches me now!

And yes, will probably keep this card even though do not use WiFi at all as I have wired connection to router via Ethernet. It's enough for me just to think about dismantling the PC (again) and repeating the above procedure (again)...!

[krzemien · Accepted solution]

So just to finish this off and update you all, definitely for those who encounter the same problem, and also for posterity…

TL;DR

After looking into this problem further based on the fact, that swapping hardware did not really change the situation, I ultimately established couple of weeks later, that the issue I’ve encountered sits with Windows and its Bluetooth stack (audio streaming part really) which must have got damaged by couple of unsuccessful monthly CUs that I’ve also had bumped into in previous months/years.

Ultimate repair install (so-called: In-place Upgrade, so re-installation of the OS without having to reinstall anything else, settings intact etc.) has fixed this problem and all is now well.

Details

I was understandably a bit gobsmacked with all the above to date.
To re-cap: OS restore to the date/time when Bluetooth audio streaming was fully operational – so couple of weeks prior – as well as hardware upgrade (adapter migration, from AC3165 to AX200) gave me the same results: Bluetooth itself remained operational per se, i.e. I could have paired devices, exchanged data etc., but audio streaming was stubbornly not.
I then started suspecting something unhealthy back on the software front (=device driver), related to streaming audio itself. Having a work laptop aside with similar hardware on-board (AX201), I began like-for-like comparison of what I can see in Device Manager.

I confirmed that all key components related to hardware/software installation were okay – so Intel’s drivers were definitely installed fine.

I was obviously unable to locate Bluetooth Audio devices, but I found within Other Devices section couple of them related to Bluetooth which I could not have seen on the work laptop. I started looking further and what attracted by attention were A2DP and AVRCP Transport components (signified by missing references to A2DP and BthHfAud drivers), clearly missing within my home PC (I used Driver View). These drivers are supplied by Microsoft and form part of OS.

Subsequently, by comparing IDs of relevant devices within Registry and some hit & miss game I was ultimately able to manually install relevant drivers for these Other Devices and get to the point, where I was able to connect successfully to the audio device – also marked as such by the audio device itself – but no audio was being heard.

That has further proved that audio streaming part of Bluetooth stack must have got somehow damaged, and also sometime earlier than late Oct. I am guessing – but only guessing – my experiences with unsuccessful monthly CU deployments as documented all here contributed to this very issue:

https://www.tenforums.com/windows-10-news/195310-kb5014699-windows-10-19042-1766-19043-1766-19044-17...

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/threads/windows-10-kb5007186-nov-cu-ends-up-with-0xe0000100.34831/

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/threads/windows-10-updates-since-kb4512508-aug-cu-end-up-with-0xe00...

(Please note that – interestingly – files that got knackered were actually BT-related!)

I am also guessing that damage must have occurred relatively recently – probably upon the latest occurrence, in Jun 2022, otherwise this problem would have surfaced much sooner. Also, back in Jun I actually tried to revert changes using System Restore – in vain though, should have used OS image really, as OS got stuck @ Restoring Registry stage from which I had to restart it by hard power down. Which is exactly what may have damaged these components.

So to sum up, what has taken place probably is this: the damage to Bluetooth audio streaming stack must have happened in Jun during CU unsuccessful deployment and my subsequent mop-up exercise to revert & resolve; the resulting instability was not visible & known until I possibly and very likely – my new work laptop is only few months old – tried to connect to / pair with new audio device and that has resulted in this part of OS suddenly stopping working late in Oct.

I then paused – life’s too short for any such further manual experiments at this stage – and after some thinking decided to resort to the option I really didn’t like, which was repair install, or – as it’s known – In-place Upgrade, so re-installation of the OS without having to reinstall anything else, settings intact. The other option I’ve had was to revert to Apr OS image, but then I had no guarantee that the above damage was not inflicted sooner (so would have achieved nothing and wasted another evening or so). Also, having to upgrade quite a few programs and thinking very carefully what I installed since then would also be a bit of a challenge.

And so, come one evening late Nov, and few hours later all is well and I’m sorted, and despite me having lost ca. 1 month worth of updates to OS and various other software, and having to go through re-indexing of all my contents, and other minor boring nuances as a result of this operation.

Please finally note that any usual OS repair methods: DISM or SFC are pointless and to no avail. Why is this the case? That’s possibly story for another occasion.

I hope someone will find the above useful – meanwhile will mark this thread as resolved.

I will also update other forums I sought information from (TenForums, SysNative, Intel) accordingly.