AC3165 suddenly lost ability to connect & stream to audio devices via BT, card otherwise works fine

[krzemien]

Hello All / Intel Support,

As per the subject line: AC3165 factory-fitted within my nearly 6-years old HP Omen 870-095na suddenly lost ability to connect & stream to audio devices via BT. This card (BT and WiFI) otherwise (seemingly) works fine.

Here's the story & details:

Two days ago in the middle of some work I suddenly spotted that my connected via Bluetooth Logi MX Sound speakers stopped playing sounds from my PC (Windows 10 x64 Home on-board).

I checked and thinking it's temporary tried to re-connect to the speakers - to no avail.

As it did happen before in the past I just restarted PC - but to the same result.

Having spent some more time in there enabling/disabling BT radio, getting in and out of Flight Mode, restarting PC couple of times, reinstalling drivers (barely updated week+ ago!) etc. I started paying attention to the other audio devices.

I noticed exactly the same problem with (barely used) Logi H800 headset.

I then started removing & re-pairing devices - only to get the same results: device pairs seemingly okay (although it's not acknowledged this way on the device itself), and Windows 10 also seemingly initiates / completes its configuration. However it's not possible to connect to this device at all ('That didn't work. Make sure your Bluetooth device is still discoverable, then try again') and audio just does not stream.

Also, I spotted that newly paired audio devices do not appear under 'Sound, video and game controllers' within Device Manager any more, only there's entry available under 'Bluetooth'  section.

All those audio devices above do pair with other equipment without any problems (I checked Android phone and another laptop for the sake of my sanity) and they do work as intended.

Here's the thing: Bluetooth does seem to work fine - I am able to send files to/from my mobile phone. WiFi is okay as well (although I don't use it, PC is connected to router via Ethernet) - it does work and performs as expected in both bands, 2.4 & 5 GHz.

So having thought about it a bit more (and also having browsed quite a few inconclusive threads about it on the Internet either) I decided to bite the bullet yesterday evening and to restore OS to the last backup I've had - from 12/10, so just before I installed Oct CUs from Microsoft among other things, but after I updated both WiFi & BT drivers to the latest available versions (19.51.42.2 and 20.100.10.9 respectively, as supplied via IDSA).

And it made no difference as situation remains the same.

I did check BIOS / UEFI settings (just in case) - everything remains normal.

Finally, I powered this PC down completely earlier today, removed power cord for half a day and just after I did it, I also ensured all residual power from PSU is lost (20 sec power button with no power plug).

No change.

My conclusions:

The fact that I reverted OS to its previous (working) state rules out any issues with corrupted OS and mishandled drivers. Also, to back that up further: issue occurred on Fri 21/10 and between 12/10 (so backup day) until 21/10 everything was well.

It does appear that AC3165 somehow lost ability to handle audio & streaming in some way - could failing hardware be the issue? I am obviously aware that this PC is nearly 6 years and out of support etc., but I think I still should be able to squeeze few further years of its life...

And this is my query: how do I check & verify that this is the case so I can order replacement (either another AC3165, or AC9260, or AX200 - having read HP forums it appears that any of them latter ones will also work fine) with clear head & conscience - don't have a problem replacing it etc.? Could anyone advise me on this? Any ideas appreciated.

Complimentary details via SSU enclosed for your review.

Many thanks as always,

Tad

[Jean_Intel]

Hello krzemien,

Thank you for posting on the Intel️® communities.  

In order to have a better understanding of your issue, please provide me with the following:

• When did it start to happen?
• Is this the original adapter that came pre-installed in your system or have you changed/installed a new adapter recently?

Remember that the installation or use of Intel® Wireless Adapters is subject to country-specific legal regulations. Some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapters to be certified with the antenna that is intended to be used together in the system, while some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapter to be certified at the full system level.

Installation or use of Intel® Wireless Adapters is subject to country-specific legal regulations. Some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapters to be certified with the antenna that is intended to be used together in the system, while some countries require the Intel® Wireless Adapter to be certified at the full system level.

Also, I noticed that the Bluetooth driver installed on your system is 10.0.19041.1. As your Bluetooth driver is not up to date, I would recommend you install our latest Intel driver 22.170.0, Intel’s generic graphics drivers are intended for testing. Sometimes corrupted files from previous installations of drivers can linger on a system which can cause driver updates to not work as expected. To void this possibility perform a clean installation of the driver.

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[krzemien]

Hello Jean,

Many thanks for your prompt response, appreciated.

Quickly:

When did it start to happen?

It happened on Fri 21/10 midday and just out of the blue I spotted that Bluetooth Audio stopped working - there was nothing in particular configuration- or OS-wise I've done on that day that could have had an impact on it.

Is this the original adapter that came pre-installed in your system or have you changed/installed a new adapter recently?

Yes, it is an original adapter that came with this PC: https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c05316319

It's worth emphasising that I never had issues with BT or WiFi (not that I use the latter really) since I got this PC back in early 2017. And as I wrote earlier:

- Bluetooth seems working per se, just the streaming bit is not

-WiFi also does work okay.

I noticed that the Bluetooth driver installed on your system is 10.0.19041.1

How come? From IDSA:

And in Device Manager:

Matching this: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18649/742233/intel-wireless-bluetooth-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

As I wrote earlier: I restored the OS to the state from 12/10 by re-imaging the OS partition using backup created then. Everything was fine since 12/10 (and obviously before) until Fri 21/10 and I've not changed or altered any drivers.

I also kept all drivers up to date as they were released by HP & vendors (including yourselves).

I will therefore appreciate your further thoughts on this and how to troubleshoot this tricky situation further.

Many thanks again,

Tad

[Jean_Intel]

Hello krzemien,

Thank you for the information provided.  

I will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details. 

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[krzemien]

Hello Jean,

Many thanks again, most appreciated.

So to sum up as I've spent some time double-checking all the above today:

• I can easily pair with/to non-Audio devices and they do work fine (I tried mouse, laptop, phone) - can exchange information, control via mouse etc.
• I seemingly can also pair with Audio device (speaker, headset) but pairing as such is not acknowledged as a success by such device, and I am unable to connect to it later ('That didn't work. Make sure your Bluetooth device is still discoverable, then try again')
• I can remove devices as I see them fit
• I can reinstall whichever BT drivers I want and in whichever way (normal, clean, etc.) - with (again: seemingly) successful results (IDSA tells me straight away if driver needs updating)
• I also cross-compared all BT-related information (via Device Manager using details tab:

with the same tab for BT on my work laptop (different card used, AX201 if I remember correctly) and all looks healthy to me.

So far It does look to me that it's a hardware-specific fault - either firmware/setting-based or hardware failure. But how do I know for sure?

Is there an utility or low-level set of commands that would allow checking for BT device capabilities (and their responses)?

[Jean_Intel]

Hello krzemien,

Thanks for waiting for a response.

There are two different types of drivers, generics provided by Intel and Equipment Manufacturer drivers, that are customized to work with each specific system. Since OEM drivers are handpicked, customized, and validated to resolve platform-specific issues, enable features and enhancements, and improve system stability, I recommend you install their latest version with a clean installation.

Also, I would like to gather the following information

• As it is a desktop confirm wireless antennas are properly seated.
• Can you test another device no Logitech brand or any other brand either headphones, speakers, etc?
• Is there any way for you to reset the speakers to factory and re-pair the devices?
• Can you go to the BIOS and disable BT and re-enable it? If you have any questions about these steps, you should contact your OEM for further information.
• Have you restarted the BT service by following these steps:
  • Press Windows Key + R and enter “services.msc” followed by the ENTER key. 
  • Find “Bluetooth support service” in the list of services, on the left side click on restart. 
  • Start the service and Restart your computer 

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[krzemien]

Hello Jean,

Many thanks again for your response.

Quickly:

Since OEM drivers are handpicked, customized, and validated to resolve platform-specific issues, enable features and enhancements, and improve system stability, I recommend you install their latest version with a clean installation.

I did try and install SP107300 (download links here: https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c06961543) yesterday and to the same result. IDSA obviously was stating that it's out-of-date driver.

(As a side note: please note that as this driver is >2 years old, there might have been vulnerabilities discovered in that version of BT driver that might have been resolved by the later releases, hence me always using the latest available one - and for quite some time either - with no issues at all until last week)

Furthermore:

(...)confirm wireless antennas are properly seated

Good point. Will check this later but have no reasons to believe they're not as this PC is stationary. Please bear in mind that otherwise Bluetooth connections work fine and I constantly discover my neighbour's devices around us.

EDITED TO ADD: Affirmative, no problem here.

Can you test another device no Logitech brand or any other brand either headphones, speakers, etc

I just tried one of my audio systems (Marantz MCR-611) with the same disappointing result.

Is there any way for you to reset the speakers to factory and re-pair the devices?

I checked that already and don't believe this can be done - at lest it's not mentioned in their manual anywhere.

Can you go to the BIOS and disable BT and re-enable it?(...)

I checked and there's no such option in there. I might have disable power for buses & USB devices, but am wary something might go awry and I might not boot up this PC properly. But will check that as well.

EDITED TO ADD: I just checked that by using Slot Security option

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/ish_3912651-2318005-16

and powered off PCIe / M2 slot that hosts AC3165 card which resulted in both WiFi & BT hardware missing in Windows after OS restarted, obviously.

I then re-enabled this again - had to resort to complete power cycle afterwards - and to no avail: situation remains unchanged, both WiF & BT options are present and operational, with the exception of connecting/streaming to audio devices.

Have you restarted the BT service(...)

Yes, one of the first things I've done.

My question still stands: Is there an utility or low-level set of commands that would allow checking for BT device capabilities (and their responses)?

[Jean_Intel]

Hello krzemien,

Thank you for all the information provided.

Based on your question, I found a Microsoft Article that shows Bluetooth Test Platform, take a look as it provides information on how to test Bluetooth for Audio Devices, and it may help you with what you are looking for.

Also, I would resume my investigation, and I will post back once I have further details.

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[krzemien]

Hello Jean,

Many thanks again for your response.

I did indeed look at BTP with interest briefly but it appears that it requires 3rd Party hardware (Traduci) in order to execute any of these tests. I might be mistaken and will check it more thoroughly over the weekend.

Another thing I should have also added: I do own Sennheiser MB Pro 1 BT headset that uses its own BT800 transceiver & dedicated EPOS software - I do use it for work on my work laptop. I set it up on my PC and it does work flawlessly (headset is connected to BT800 rather than AC3165 though).

All in all it all points to hardware fault within AC3165 I'm afraid. But how do I know for sure before I decide the next steps?

[Jean_Intel]

Hello krzemien,

Thanks for waiting for a response.

Since you have exhausted the most relevant troubleshooting, I would recommend you check with your system's Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for further support.

I will close this thread. If you need any additional information, submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[krzemien]

Hello Jean,

Excuse me, but: what?

The problem sits with AC3165 clearly - which is manufactured by Intel. At which point OEM comes into this picture?

All I need is a advice / guide / confirmation from YOUR (Intel) side that AC3165 hardware is possibly dead in that respect (or perhaps not?) so I can source replacement (or fix it somehow?).

Does that sound that unachievable?

[krzemien]

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

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 the above procedure rules out any hardware issues clearly, and I thought that by doing the OS restore from backup - see my earlier post - 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?

[n_scott_pearson]

I recommend that you do a clean install of the Wireless and Bluetooth driver packages. Remember that these packages contain custom drivers for each of the supported cards and only the one needed will be installed. Switching cards can get things into an incomplete state. Uninstall the existing Intel Bluetooth and Wireless driver packages, reboot and then install the latest Bluetooth and Wireless packages.

Hope this helps,

...S 

[krzemien]

Thanks - but I've done it numerous times already - and please also do remember that the larger task at hand was a complete OS restore to the time when all was well (t-10 days) - and all to no avail.

So I guess problem lies elwewhere and I am more than motivated to get to the bottom of it.

It almost feel that the fault lies with Microsoft routines extensions, i.e. AVRCP Transport, A2DP SNK etc. that are not being correctly picked up and installed when device is re-paired and connected to the computer.

Luckily I do have work laptop that's fitted with similar hardware (AX201), so probably painful exercise is upon me now...

[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-10-19042-1766-19043-1766-19044-1766-a-3.html#post2436071

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-0xe0000100.29179/

(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, HP) accordingly.