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Question

How to reconnect to a already paired bluetooth A2DP headset?

Applies To:
I use a bluetooth stereo headset with my Laptop running Windows7/Fedora 12 and also with my mobile phone and with my ipod. I want to connect my headset to one of above devices at a time.

I have paired my headset with all of above devices (Windows 7, Fedora 12, my mobile and my ipod). Suppose I've currently connected my headset to the ipod and now I want to use it with my mobile. All I have to do is disconnect headset from ipod and connect it to my mobile. (The 'connect' and 'disconnect' facilities are there in both my ipod and mobile).

Suppose now I want to use the headset with Windows 7. (it's already paired and shown under Bluetooth Devices). Surprisingly in windows 7 there's no way of connecting to a already paired headset. (when you right-click on the headset icon under bluetooth devices there's no 'connect' options.). Now one might ask why don't you restart the headset? But it'll never work since headset will try to connect to the last device it connected. (in this case my mobile phone). Only way I can connect my headset to Windows 7 now is putting the headset back into pairing mode, deleting the headset from windows, and re pair it. This will take a lotof time and this will also install drivers for four bluetooth profiles headset supports. (A2DP, AVRCP, handsfree, headset). (This will also create a system restore point to make things slower).

Similar to my mobile phone and ipod in Fedora linux it's just a matter of right clicking bluetooth icon and selecting 'connect'. I have not used windows for a long time and may be I miss something very obvious or the way Windows 7 bluetooth works is very frustrating.

I use Windows 7 professional in a Dell Inspiron laptop. The bluetooth stack used is the one supplied with Wndows 7.
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this question

prasanhetti

prasanhetti

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Answer

Hi Jeff,

 

Reconnecting using Playback Devices works for reconnecting an already paired A2DP Bluetooth Headset to your PC, per the OP. Headsets are usually "dumb" in the respect that you cannot ask them to connect to a specific device, they just try to reconnect to the last device they connected to. Using "Playback Devices" gets around this by getting your computer to ping the device and ask it for a connection.

 

It sounds like you're having a totally different issue to the OP, namely that you can't get your android phone to connect to your PC after you've paired it. It's probably worth starting a new thread on that issue as it is completely separate to reconnecting "dumb" devices.

 

Apologies if I've misunderstood you.

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ThursdayNext

ThursdayNext

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Hi prasanhetti,

Thank you for using Microsoft Windows forum.

We do understand that it is a slow process of Installing the drivers for your bluetooth headset but it is very important to install the latest drivers for smooth functioning without issues in the future. Like it or not, you'd have to go through the process.

a) Was the bluetooth working fine with Windows 7 earlier?

Check if your bluetooth A2DP headset is compatible with Windows 7 in : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/en-us/default.aspx

b) Did you make any changes to your computer recently?

Troubleshoot problems with Bluetooth enabled devices
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Troubleshoot-problems-with-Bluetooth-enabled-devices


Now try to update the latest drivers from the manufacturers website and check if it works.

Note if the issue still persists then you need to install the driver or the software for the device in compatibility mode.

Now try to update the latest drivers on your computer and check.

c) What was your previous Operating System?

d) Was bluetooth A2DP headset working fine with your earlier Operating System?

If it did then I'd suggest you to run it in Compatibility mode to Make older programs run in this version of Windows.

Steps in the link : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows



Hope it helped
Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support
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Azeez N

Forum Moderator
Azeez N
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2

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Hi Thank you very much for your answer.

My bluetooth headset works fine with Windows 7. The drivers are installed by default when I pair it with windows. Everything works. I can even control WMP using headset as a remote. I haven't  use the headset with earlier version of Windows since I restarted using windows with Windows 7 after a long time. Also I don't have access to other versions of windows also at  the moment.

I think my problem is not with the drivers. The problem is in Windows 7 there's no way of reconnecting to an already paired bluetooth headset. I tried the same steps as described in previous post with another headset (Jabra BT3030) the results are the same. In Windows 7 you cannot reconnect to an already paired bluetooth headset. There're no options like connect or disconnect in Windows 7 bluetooth devices. 


I've updated my Windows 7 to the latest using Windows update. Bluetooth A2DP works outofthebox. Only problem is connecting and disconnecting from a bluetooth headset.

For curiosity I checked whether Windows 7 provides connect and disconnect functions for other bluetooth devices (other than headset). I paired two mobile phones with Windows 7. (Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic and Nokia 5530 Xpressmusic). To my amazement you cannot connect or  disconnect either once paired. Only way of disconnecting from Windows 7 connecting and disconnecting is possible from mobile phone's side. Not from Windows 7. The mobile phones are shown as bluetooth devices in Windows bluetooth devices folder. But you cannot connect or disconnect from them. (you can remove them of course)

So what I figured out is the problem is not only with A2DP headsets. It's common to Windows 7 bluetooth stack/functionality. 

What I need as a solution is the ability to connect or disconnect from already paired bluetooth devices from Windows 7 itself. (not from device's end). I hope it's not a difficult task for the Windows bluetooth stack implementation.

Please don't suggest me to install Toshiba or other bluetooth stacks. I want to stick into the default windows bluetooth stack. It's simple it works. Except above problem.




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prasanhetti

prasanhetti

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3

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Same problem, purchased IQUA BHS702 A2DP Stereo BT-Headset that claims to be able to be paired with 8 devices simultaneously. But every time when in need to use it in Windows 7 with a brand new A2DP BT USB dongle, you have to remove the headset at all from the list of paired devices and then to pair it like a new device. Feels like no progress about that in this operating system. Same thing btw on Windows Mobile 6.5 on my HTC Diamond 2 aka Topaz T5353, whether i heard that Samsung, Nokia , Linux and Google OSs are take care of this issue pretty well.

PS: all the latest updates, drivers, patches are installed from scratch, so please, MicroSoft, please invent a support for it.
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Mefaked

Mefaked

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I have the exact same problem using Nokia BH-504. Seaching the web for this problem brings up dozens of people having this problem without any solutions. prasanhetti described it perfectly: After pairing everything works fine, if you switch of your BT device Windows will not recognize it is switched off. Then if you switch it back on again the BT Audio Renderer will not function properly anymore until you re-pair your BT device. What I observed though is that the Mono BT Audio device (Bluetooth Hands-Free Audio) will work even after disconnection/reconnecting the BT headset.
This is most likely a bug in the Windows 7 Bluetooth stack, since it works fine with other Operating Systems (including Linux and Windows Mobile 6.5).

@prasanhetti: Actually there is an option to connect a BT device (rightclick disconnected BT audio device in audio settings or rightklick BT device in BT devices list). However, it seems like that Windows will not recognize loosing connections to BT devices and thus these options are grayed out to me, because Windows believes it is still connected to the devices. You can observe this by righklicking your actually disconnected BT device, selecting Properties, switch to the Bluetooth tab and look for the "Last connected" field. It shows "Currently connected" although the device is switched off. I believe this might be the core of the problem.

@MS Support: Please consider escalating this to QA or wherever you post your bugs to. Plenty of people are reporting this problem in various forums throughout the web and there are no working solutions.
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DBaulig

DBaulig

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I have the same problem. I use Samsung SBH500. The device is installed and paired. It works perfectly fine. The only issue is, as soon as it is disconnected, the Headsets Icon disappears from the Sound devices panel. In the context menue of this Icon, there is a "connect" menue item. As soon as the Headset is disconnected, the icon disappears, and so there is no way to connect any more. The "Show deactivated devices"  and "Show disconnected devices" checkboxes are checked.
The only ways to reconnect now are

1. Restart the computer
or
2. Deactivate and activate the Bluetooth adapter
or
3. remove and (re)add the headset from the Bluetooth devices

This makes Bluetooth Audio with Windows 7 completely unusable. I have to be able to reconnect to a disconnected Bluetooth Audio device without restarting the whole adapter or restarting the computer.
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Wolle1212

Wolle1212

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I would just like to point out that I have the same problem with my bluetooth mouse and bluetooth numeric keypad.  With all the bluetooth devices out there, I can't actually believe that MicroSoft failed to have considered or come across this problem before issuing Windows 7.  Totally retarded!
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bobin17901

bobin17901

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Same here. I have a RocketFish Bluetooth headset, and once paired to Windows 7 and disconnected (from the device) and can not reconnect to it. I have to remove it and pair again. My friend that recommended this device has no problem having this headset paired with his MAC and his BlackBerry. I like a lot of things from Windows 7 (compared to Vista)... but definitely very disappointing to have this issue. 
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MrDeathPunch

MrDeathPunch

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:( Well there is a way to re-connect :( BUT it is a hassle too.

1. Right click on bluetooth icon on status bar
2. Click Open Settings
3. Select Audio tab
4. Turn on your device
5. Select what you need i.e. headset or earphone and click connect

WHY THE #$#@ THIS CAN NOT BE SIMPLIER !!!!!!
STUPIDITY
Whoever coded this in Microsoft deserves Shnobel Prize of the Year.
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Darkclad

Darkclad

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3. Select Audio tab
There is no Audio tab here on my computer
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Wolle1212

Wolle1212

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Let me also echo the frustration of the above users...I have the same problem with my bluetooth Kensington Slimblade Trackball Mouse, my bluetooth Apple Mighty Mouse and my bluetooth Interlink Numeric Keypad.
With bluetooth now an integral part of so many computers, especially notebook computers these days, you'd have thought someone would have recognized and addressed this problem before Windows 7's release.
I also note that Prasanhetti got a pretty quick response, but once the flood gates of criticism opened, no response from Microsoft.  Doubly sad. 
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bobin17901

bobin17901
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