Intel AX210 drivers require constant re-install. Please fix.

[BobDobbs]

For almost 2 years, I have never had the Bluetooth function of the Intel AX210 module in my desktop PC, running Windows 11 x64, work reliably.  Across all the Intel BT driver updates since then, this hasn't changed.  What gives?

The Windows 11 machine has an AX210 plugged directly into the motherboard (using m.2 slot).  I added an AX210 PCie card to my older PC running Windows 10 about a month ago, since it's too old to have any m.2 slots, and the same things are happening.  Identical behavior, meaning I have to constantly reinstall the BT drivers.

Here's what happens:

1) Restart PC or turn it back on after a power-down. Get to Windows desktop. No BT icon in the system tray.  BT mouse and keyboard don't work, can't connect BT earbuds.  All such BT devices were previously paired with the PC, and worked fine before the restart/power cycle.

2) Go to Device Manager.  "Intel Bluetooth" item has the exclamation-point "broken driver" icon on it.  Right-click, update drivers, reinstall. 

2a) Some of the time - it seems completely random, I am asked to restart the computer, after reinstalling the BT drivers.  Usually, I won't, because sometimes I will have to reinstall them yet again (go back to Step 1).  BT works without restarting first, so I think the advisory is given in error or at least unnecessary.  No idea why it triggers some times but not others.

3) BT again works, until the next restart/power cycle.

Again, the behavior is identical on both the Windows 10 and 11 machines.  That's why I didn't bother making a distinction.

Intel, when are you going to fix this?  Now that it's happened on 2 different PCs, with 2 individual AX210 modules, with the only thing in common being your BT drivers, I'm pretty sure the problem is your BT drivers.

Meanwhile, the WiFi function of the AX210 works fine, on both PCs.  I never have to reinstall those (the AX210 WiFi drivers), and have yet to have an update to the WiFi drivers break anything.

I used a Kinivo BTD-400 USB Bluetooth dongle with the Windows 10 machine for years.  It was 100% reliable, so I know BT can work as it should.  Both Intel AX210 modules are much newer and should also be 100% reliable, yet their BT function is pretty much useless.  This is beyond exasperating.

To head off some of the usual questions:

-- here's some hardware specs (not that this should affect the issue, but anyway...)

Windows 10 machine: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard w/Intel Core i5 CPU

Windows 11 machine: ASRock Z690 PG Riptide motherbaord w/Intel Core i7 CPU

Nvidia GPU on both

16 to 32 GB RAM on both

various HDD's, SSD,'s and (on the newer Win 11 box) NVMe drives

-yes, I keep Windows 10 and 11 updated on the 2 machines

-yes, this happens with the latest BT drivers version (23.10.0 as of this writing, as far as I can tell)

-no, I can't find any pattern in BT disappearing & needing to reinstall the drivers.  Seems totally random.

thanks!

[佑綺_Mayu]

I can agree with the steps @n_scott_pearson  advice and recommendations 

I'd like to add a few things I noticed 

1.  For the Z77 Extreme4, I noticed there is no actual built-in M.2 Slot, I would like to know if you are using a PCie to M.2 adapter? 

If yes then there could be inconsistencies in terms of performance when you are using adapters especially for wireless cards since the card is not directly connected to the motherboard. 

2. For the Z690 PG Riptide  ( love this mobo btw) I don't see any issues with compatibility so I have no doubt it should work. The one thing I noticed however is that this is a Fenvi Wireless card so there could be a customization by them and I did a bit of research they have a driver page for wireless cards 

https://fenvi.com/drive.html 

I did check both models based from the link where you bought it (not sure if it's FV-AXE210NG or FV-AXE5400NG) but I don't see any of their drivers so you may need to contact them if they have drivers for it or they just use the Intel Drivers 

3. Since you mentioned you have a broadcom dongle, I'd recommend completely removing both first so that there is no collision then try to check if the BT will work since you can't have 2 wireless adapter drivers co existing in one system as Windows will get confused which card/driver to command 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs, 

I understand that you are frustrated and I am with you that it is important to have a reliable Bluetooth component where in you do not need to reinstall the drivers constantly. We want to help you as well in fixing this issue which is why we are continuously investigating and suggesting troubleshooting steps. Just to confirm, did the above troubleshooting worked for you? 

Please let us know if the issue still persists so we can continue on finding a solution for you. Thank you. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[BobDobbs]

I did finally get desperate enough to do a System Reset on the Windows 10 machine.  tl;dr: seems like it worked.  Several days and many, many restarts and power-cycles later, BT reliably comes up via the AX210.  Nice.

The Windows 10 machine was experiencing other problems that I could not fix, e.g. inexplicable video playback stuttering, and had a totally dysfunctional Bluetooth setup - in addition to the constant BT driver reinstalls that prompted my original post.

For example, I was unable to remove redundant entries in the list of Bluetooth devices. I would try to remove them and get a "removal failed" error.  I had 3 entries for my Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard at one point.  Only one was functional, that is, would show "Connected" and the battery level when the keyboard actually was connected.

Not only that but, the alternate Bluetooth adapter (Kinivo BTD-400) suffered the same problem of being disabled every other restart or so.  That never happened before I installed the AX210.  Yes, it seems Windows 10+ gets unhappy if you try to have more than one Bluetooth adapter at a time.

The Windows 10 machine was not my "daily driver" desktop, so doing a Windows reset was far less painful, vs. the Windows 11 machine where I do my "real stuff" daily.

So, a System Reset made sense.

Yes, System Reset, not a complete Windows 10 reinstall.  Faster and less painful than a traditional reinstall.  A bare-metal Windows 10 reinstall would have been my next step, had the Reset not worked.

As for the Windows 11 machine, I've disabled the AX210's Bluetooth, restarted, then installed the Kinivo BT adapter.  Drivers and support software installed automagically.  This setup is working reliably, so far.

So, I guess you can consider the original topic half-solved.

If I feel like doing a System Reset on my Windows 11 box, I'll update here whether it makes a difference.  Probably wouldn't.  I checked my records, and I originally installed an AX210 device (Fenvi AX210NGW) only a week or two after I built the PC and installed Windows 11.  So it's hard to see how a reinstall of W11/System Reset would do anything.  Not worth the effort, at this point.

To answer some questions from above:

1) the add-on card that I installed in the Windows 10 box does indeed use a PCIe adapter, since the motherboard in that case (ASRock Z77 Extreme4) lacks any native m.2 slots.

2) the Fenvi AX210NGW does indeed use the Intel WiFi and Bluetooth drivers.  There aren't any special Fenvi drivers.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs,

It is great to hear from you and learn about your experience with the Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX210. I am happy that you solved the Bluetooth issues on your Windows 10 machine by doing a System Reset. It seems like you had some issues with your settings or drivers that were affecting the Bluetooth performance. A System Reset is a good way to restore Windows 10 to its original settings.

Still, I am sorry to hear that you are still facing Bluetooth issues on your Windows 11 machine. I understand that you have used a different Bluetooth adapter as a temporary solution. However, I would love to assist you with troubleshooting the AX210 Bluetooth on Windows 11 if you are willing.

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[BobDobbs]

Thanks for sticking with this.

I think the only troubleshooting step left for the Windows 11 machine is, a system reset.

The reason I don't expect it to work and have been reluctant to try a Reset is, I originally installed an AX210 on the Windows 11 machine when it was only a couple of weeks old.  There hadn't been time for all the things that can cause a Windows install to act unexpectedly, after a few years of steady use.

That said, I'll do a System Reset on the Windows 11 machine eventually.  I find it's beneficial to reinstall/reset Windows every 2 years or so.  Once I do, I'll report here whether it made any difference.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs, 

Thank you for explaining your end and I totally understand why you are hesitant to do it. However, we did receive reports before wherein this step fixed the same issue that you are having. Thank you for trusting us in this step as well. 

I'll be waiting if the System Reset worked for you. In case it did not, feel free to let us know in this post and we will further take a look at this for you.

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[BobDobbs]

Very nearly ready to do a System Restore on the Windows 11 machine.  Or reinstall W11 if needed.

Over the weekend I got my new Bluetooth 5.0/5.3 (turns out the difference is only drivers) USB dongle.  Attempted to install it.

Even with the AX210 disabled in Device Manager, the new dongle doesn't work right.  Ther drivers do install, and I can do some Bluetooth functions such as transferring files, but Windows insists I need to "restart to complete driver installation" even though I already restarted several times, or that there is a "driver error" on the new BT adapter.

I can't remove previously-paired Bluetooth devices. I get the same "Removal failed" error I saw on the Windows 10 PC before doing a System Restore.

I don't know how it got this way, but it appears the Bluetooth config on the Windows 11 machine is in a hopelessly broken state, outside of any problems particular to the AX210.

This is pretty much what I saw on the Windows 10 machine, so I suspect it can be fixed the same way - System Restore.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs, 

I appreciate that you pay attention to details in your system. For now, it is best to first try out our recommended troubleshooting which also include a system restore and see if it will work as well on Windows 11. If it does not, please let us know and we will further investigate this concern for you.

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs, 

I am just checking in if you were able to conduct a system restore. Please let us know if the issue persists so we can further help you.

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[BobDobbs]

I will probably do the System Restore on my Windows 11 machine this weekend.  Will post results as soon as practical.  Thanks for your continued engagement.

[BobDobbs · Accepted solution]

Ok- that wasn't quite as bad as I remembered.

Did a System Reset on the Windows 11 machine. 

AX210 BT drivers are loading every time so far, across multiple restarts and power cycles.

If it keeps doing that for a couple more days, I'm ready to call this "fixed."

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hi BobDobbs,

Thank you for trusting our recommendation and I am happy to hear that it is working fine now in your end. I agree that you should also monitor the system. Feel free to let us know if the issue comes back by replying to this thread. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs,

How are you doing? I am just checking in on your system. Did the issue comes up again? Feel free to let us know by replying to this post. I'll be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[BobDobbs]

It does seem like a reliable fix.  Have done a bunch more restarts, added and removed BT devices, everything I would normally do.  I am happy to report that the AX210 comes up reliably, and functions properly.

The Windows 11 System Reset seems to have also resolved another long-standing problem I had with the system. 

Since I built it, the motherboard's wired Ethernet adapter (a 2.5 Gbit "Killer", which I believe is another Intel product) would occasionally fail to come back up after a restart, power cycle, or the system being in "Sleep" mode. I would have to manually disable, then re-enable, the adapter, sometimes several times, to get it to work again. I estimate this happened about 1 out of every 3 reboots/power cycles.

After the System Reset, the "Killer" adapter has also been100% reliable.  I realized that I haven't had to mess with it since then.

Don't know how it happened, but something must have gone terribly wrong on this Windows 11 machine, when I originally installed everything 2 years ago.  It was haunted, until the recent System Reset.

Thanks again for the persistence and help with troubleshooting. 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello BobDobbs, 

We are thrilled to hear that this step has solved the issue with your Windows 11 machine. You have done a great job in following our suggestion and working with us in this thread. Thank you for trusting us. You have shown a positive and helpful attitude in our community, by engaging with other members in an informative way. We will stop monitoring this thread now, but you are always welcome to post a new question in our community if you need any more help.

Let me also repost here the references of the troubleshooting we have recommended: 

1. Codes 10, 22, 28, 31, 43 or 45 Errors in Device Manager for Bluetooth® or Wireless (Wi-Fi) Devices - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000031150/wireless/wireless-software.html
2. Bluetooth* Adapter Not In Device Manager - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000090393/wireless/intel-wireless-ac-products.html

We wish you the best in your future endeavors! 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician