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Bluetooth driver is bugged, even after numerous reinstallations

bluemoons
Beginner
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The last two days, I've been experiencing constant troubles with my bluetooth driver. In summary, the bluetooth toggle bar had disappeared, but did not reappear after turning my pc off and on again. When checking the device manager, the bluetooth driver seemed to be present, but greyed out. Similarly, the network adapter 'Bluetooth device (personal area network)' was greyed out. (See added .png, the icons in red are gone or greyed out).

After looking for ways of dealing with this problem online, I reinstalled the bluetooth driver again, which it successfully did, but again the icons appeared greyed out. After turning my pc off and on again for a second time, suddenly everything was fine again.

However, I quickly noticed that every time my pc went into sleep mode, the problem would occur again, after which I had to reinstall the driver many times over again, turn my pc off and on again, go on online forums to see if it had anything to do with incompatibility issues of older or newer versions ... basically anything I, a layperson, could think of.

I managed to reinstall the most recent bluetooth driver via the Intel website, and miraculously, everything seemed to work again. I then shut down my pc. The next day, I activated my pc and simultaneously activated my headphones to look for bluetooth connection. It connected successfully and keeps doing so, but only if I rigorously avoid getting my pc in sleep mode. At a certain moment, however, when the bluetooth toggle bar was visible but my headphones were disconnected for some odd 15 minutes perhaps, I saw the icon disappear, after which I checked the device manager and found everything in grey again.

By reinstalling the driver several times more, intermixed with turning my pc off and on again, somehow I managed to get bluetooth working again (this time, I downloaded it from the Acer website, where I installed the version they recommended for my particular Acer pc model). IDSA keeps, however, suggesting an update of the Intel Wireless Bluetooth Driver (to version 22.120.0.3), and I'm scared to do it. Also, I'm not sure if the currently working bluetooth driver will or won't crash when I disconnect my headphones again ...

Any ideas?

 

PS: my apologies if my rambling seems scatter-brained

 

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AndrewG_Intel
Moderator
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Hello @bluemoons

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

 

Just to make sure we understand correctly the current behavior, could you please confirm the following?

  • The last step that you mentioned is that you managed to get Bluetooth working again after reinstalling the Bluetooth driver using the recommended driver from Acer*. Is this correct? Is the Bluetooth still working fine?

Note:

We provide generic drivers for general purposes. Your computer manufacturer (OEM) might have customized drivers and software to enable or alter features, or provide improved operation on your computer. Therefore, the usual recommendation is to use the OEM driver as the first option. Also, Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA) just scans drivers updates using the Intel® database, which will only offer generic drivers when it comes to third-party systems; in this case, It is not always a must to install driver updates offered by the tool if the current OEM drivers are working fine. In that scenario, you may just disregard the update notification.

 

If the Bluetooth behavior persists after installing the Acer's driver, please provide us with the following details:

1- We understood that this issue started two days ago. Do you remember if there were any Hardware or Software changes (e.g.: operating system, BIOS, Wireless/Bluetooth driver, or software updates?) that may relate to the point when the issue started?

2- Is the Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 the original wireless adapter that came pre-installed in your system or did you integrate/replace it on the computer?

3- In Windows® Device Manager, if you right-click on the Intel® Wireless Bluetooth > Properties > General tab, do you see any error code or error message?

4- Is this a new computer? Or did the wireless and Bluetooth work fine before for a long period?

5- Are you having issues with Bluetooth only or with Wi-Fi too (both)?

6- Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) to gather more details about the system.

  • Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer
  • Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".
  • To save your scan, click Next and click Save.
  • Once you have saved the file (.txt file), please attach it to your reply.

To upload and attach a file, use the "Drag and drop here or browse files to attach" option below the response textbox.

 

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

 

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bluemoons
Beginner
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Dear Andrew G.

Thanks for replying. I can confirm that after I installed the driver recommend by Acer, bluetooth seemed to work fine. I changed the settings of my pc to never go into sleep mode (like I mentioned before, sleep mode seemed to trigger this 'bug'). Since the time of my previous post, my bluetooth driver has bugged out only once. I had a lot of different .exe files on my pc at the time (all different but similar installation wizards that I downloaded from the Intel or Acer website) and I decided to get red of them all and uninstall the (now greyed out again) bluetooth driver and start out 'clean'.

I downloaded a fresh .exe installation wizard from the Intel website (the one that was recommended for Windows 10 & 11 - I have Windows 11). Everything seemed to be working fine after that. I have experienced no problems since, but I have also been extra careful by never letting my pc go into sleep mode, shutting my pc off when I'm not actively using it, and deactivating bluetooth whenever I'm not listening to any audio. This seems to ensure that the driver icon does not grey out in my device manager.

However, this situation is not ideal and the problem isn't technically 'fixed', only manageable for now. Below, you can find the answers to your questions:

1. About two or three (maybe more, but certainly not less) weeks before the problem first occurred, I got a recommendation to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, which I did. However, I doubt that this caused the problems I've experienced with my bluetooth driver because of the lengthy interval between the installation of Windows 11 and the problems first arising.

2. The Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 came pre-installed in the system when I bought my pc (Acer Swift 3).

3. Currently, the device manager tells me that Intel® Wireless Bluetooth is working fine. Previously, when the different icons were greyed out in my device manager, it showed 'error code 45', which apparently means that the device is disconnected. I was however unable to connect it in any way because I didn't know how, or why it got disconnected in the first place. This error code persisted every time I reinstalled the driver after it greyed out (while it was working, it said in the general properties that everything was working fine).

4. The computer is four years old. There have never been any issues of any kind, except for the Spotify app, which sometimes automatically reinstalls when I try to open it. This takes a few seconds, a minute max. Perhaps the following might be interesting for you to know: during the process of iteratively discarding and reinstalling my bluetooth driver, I ran 'System Restore' (specifically the option that retains all personal documents, but gets rid of apps and settings) since this reinstalling didn't seem to work. However, this didn't accomplish anything specific, except for me having to reinstall a lot of apps aside from the Bluetooth driver. I also ran, as an administrator, the command sfc /scannow in the command prompt window to check the integrity of my system files and repair them if necessary, but no integrity issues were found.

5. Wi-Fi works fine, no connectivity issues whatsoever.

6. The .txt file is attached like you asked.

 

As I'm writing all this, I'm using my bluetooth successfully and I 'operate' within the abovementioned parameters that I've identified to in a way 'protect' my bluetooth. I'd be very grateful if you could solve this annoying little issue.

Thank you for your time!

 

Bluemoons

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AndrewG_Intel
Moderator
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Hello bluemoons

Thank you for your response and for all the details provided.


As per Microsoft's website, Error Code 45 occurs if a device that was previously connected to the computer is no longer connected. Microsoft's recommendation to resolve this problem is "to reconnect the hardware device to the computer". So it seems that this refers to a problem at the hardware level when a device is somehow disconnected from the computer (and maybe not related to a software problem).


However, would like to recommend the following steps to try to discard software issues:


In this case, let's try first a clean installation of both Bluetooth and Wireless drivers. The driver or software for your Intel® component might have been changed or replaced by the computer manufacturer (OEM), therefore, we recommend trying this first using the customized drivers from Acer* website.

We tried to check for Acer's drivers and we found only this regarding laptop model "SF314-56G". It seems there are no Windows* 11 drivers available for this system, but only for Windows* 10. We recommend checking with ACER* Support for the proper validated drivers for your system.

Once you have the proper ACER drivers, follow the steps in these articles for installation instructions:

  • How to Perform a Clean Installation of Bluetooth Drivers
  • Clean Installation of Wireless Drivers                      
  • Note: During the process, after uninstalling the drivers and before installing the Acer* drivers, you may clear out your temporary files: Press the Windows* Key + R to open the run box. Type Cleanmgr.exe and press OK. Here you will need to make sure Temporary Files are checked, you may uncheck everything else, then press OK. Reboot your computer and proceed to install the drivers.
  • We recommend installing the Bluetooth driver first, followed by the wireless driver.


If the behavior persists, we recommend repeating the steps by this time using the Intel® generic drivers:

  • Intel® Wireless Bluetooth® for Windows® 10 and Windows 11* Version 22.120.0.
  • Windows® 10 and Windows 11* Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel® Wireless Adapter Version 22.120.1.


Also, please make sure that the operating system is up to date and install any pending updates.

Finally, we noticed that the system is running BIOS version 1.06 and it seems there are newer BIOS versions available on the Acer* website>> Latest 1.14. We recommend checking with Acer* Support if this BIOS may help with this behavior and for installation instructions.


Please let us know the outcome of the steps and if the behavior is fixed or persists.


Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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bluemoons
Beginner
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Dear Andrew G.

 

Thank you for your response. I have done what you proposed in your previous message, but unfortunately, the bluetooth issues are quite persistent. During the last week, bluetooth seemed to be working fine, but it bugged out again a few hours ago. I have attempted several times to reinstall the bluetooth driver as per your instructions, but it doesn't seem to help.

This issue has given me a lot of headaches over the last couple of weeks, and since it doesn't seem to be solvable, I'll be using a wired set of headphones from now on. In any case, I'd like to thank you for your help.

 

Kind regards

Bluemoons

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AndrewG_Intel
Moderator
3,278 Views

Hello bluemoons

Thank you for your response.

We understand that you have decided to use a wired set of headphones from now on.

Just in case, we will review further if there is any additional information or recommendation to share with you. We will be posting back in the thread as soon as possible.


Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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AndrewG_Intel
Moderator
3,263 Views

Hello bluemoons


After reviewing this further, based on the issue and all the troubleshooting steps you have tried so far, our recommendation is to report this to your OEM ACER* since this may be related to a hardware issue with the wireless card. For your convenience, here is the link to ACER* Support.


Having said that, we will proceed to close this request now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.


It has been a pleasure to assist you.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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