Something odd happened to me after installing the new expac. My bluetooth speakers stopped working. I investigated, and discovered that, for some reason, the Intel bluetooth radio icon itself is gone. And in my device manager, there’s an (!) next to it. In the main bluetooth setting, the icon does not even show up so it’s not matter of toggling it on/off.
I tried updating, uninstalling, and re-installing the driver from Intel’s website. I tried restarting the computer, and even just unplugging everything for a while and booting back up again. Nothing works. Anyone have other ideas? I have Windows 10. I’m not too tech-savvy so any helpful explanations/suggestions would be much appreciated!
What type of computer is this? Desktop, laptop, prebuilt, custom built, etc…
It’s hard to tell what the actual problem is because Bluetooth in Windows is a notoriously fussy beast, but I think there’s a decent chance that your bluetooth hardware may have kicked the bucket. If that’s the case, some laptops and desktops have the hardware on a replaceable card which makes it an easy fix, while others have that hardware soldered onto the motherboard in which case the only fix is getting a new motherboard, plugging in a USB Bluetooth dongle, or if you have an open card slot installing a new card.
It’s entirely possible that this is just a case of Windows breaking itself though. I’ve seen that happen on multiple machines over the past decade or so and when it happens, it’s better to just back everything up, wipe the machine clean, and do a fresh install of Windows because debugging Bluetooth issues under Windows is an endless rabbithole.
Thanks for the reply. This is a pre-built “iBuyPower” desktop that I bought from Best Buy around 3 years ago. I use it for very little besides WoW, so it’s not loaded with much.
For what it’s worth, the error message I get when I right-click “Properties” for the Intel Bluetooth under Device Manger is:
This device cannot start. (Code 10)
STATUS_DEVICE_POWER_FAILURE
And this is after I un-installed and re-installed it from the Intel website.
I’d prefer not to touch the hardware (b/c I’d have no idea what I’m doing) or re-download Windows (b/c I don’t have another copy and would have to buy it? plus the hassle). I just want to play WoW!
You might have to touch the hardware. Download CPU-Z and use it to check motherboard brand and model. Some motherboard allows you to switch wifi/Bluetooth card.
Also, there is USB Bluetooth if you don’t want to go there.
doh it sounds like a hardware failure sorry. it’s probably an m.2 wifi card. hopefully it’s just the card not the connector