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Windows 10 (Latest).

MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC (integrated Intel BT) - this board

None of the suggested solutions on other posts (e.g. device manager, driver update, etc.) have worked for me, and most are several years old.

At various inconvenient times (such as right before I need to make a video call), Bluetooth simply disappears from my settings, my headphones don't pair, and I'm out of luck. Sometimes, it comes back on it's own after a period of time/various restarts. Not usually.

I have tried:

  1. Removing Devices, Re-pairing
  2. Removing all devices/drivers from the device manager (now they are gone and I can't seem get them back).
  3. Unplugging the machine overnight.
  4. Checking MSI BIOS for a section that may enable/disable - no good, looks like this bios for this board has it fixed on. There isn't even an option in the BIOS
  5. Checking WiFi still works (it does - not on airplane mode stupidly), and I thought maybe the module on the board would be the same.
  6. Resetting CMOS via the JBAT pins, and via removing the onboard battery. I can confirm CMOS was reset. I do think this has worked in the past, but then again since it seems to be so random, it's hard to confirm - could have just been the restart.
  7. Windows is up to date.
  8. Verifying the BT headphones still work with other devices (yes).
  9. Tried services.msc, checked that BT was running - it wasn't, so I made it run. Didn't change anything.
  10. Updated BIOS via MSI flashback process, to latest version.
  11. Installed latest intel BT drivers.
  12. Very odd: The last time I did this, I booted into Ubuntu, and there was also no BT (not sure if that's an Ubuntu thing or not, though). I tried "repairing" windows, which then turned into a terrible BSOD cycle. I ended up having to virtualize windows on my mac, to create a bootable USB, to wipe my drive to start over. And then I still didn't have Bluetooth. I figured the module must have been broken somehow, and resigned myself to this, but then spontaneously after a few days, it came back, and stayed back for ~9 months. Now it is gone again.

Questions/Possibilities:

  • Can dirty power cause this? I live in a house that is ungrounded. The PC is connected to a power bar/surge protector, though. I haven't had a lot of other issues here (occasionally my knock off Korean monitor fritzes out, but that might be it's own thing).
  • Could static or some other environmental variable cause this? This might explain why it comes back randomly.
  • What other diagnostics can I perform to isolate the problem? A straight RMA on my board might no longer be an option (out of warranty?), and the turnaround is terrible (Weeks, and this is a work machine).
  • On the intel driver assistant, you'll note that my BT doesn't even show as a device, and it isn't recognized as a device that needs a driver.

Images:

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Gryph
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  • Try installing the driver for [Intel Wireless Bluetooth for Windows 10](https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29538/Intel-Wireless-Bluetooth-for-Windows-10?v=t), currently version 21.90.2 from 5/20/2020. – harrymc May 28 '20 at 19:16
  • @PimpJuiceIT. I actually did this, and forgot to add it to the list above. Did a BIOS update, then drivers, then CMOS, the drivers again (just in case). – Gryph May 28 '20 at 19:58
  • @harrymc that is the driver (vrs) currently installed. Tried uninstalling, reinstalling and repairing as well. – Gryph May 28 '20 at 19:59
  • There are left only two options: Bad wifi adapter or interference. Using an external USB adapter (of good quality) would be one test. – harrymc May 29 '20 at 08:26
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    @PimpJuiceIT I'm thinking it must be intermittent hardware failure. If a complete reinstall and CMOS reset doesn't do it, I don't know what else it could be. Thanks for trying. – Gryph May 30 '20 at 04:43
  • @harrymc it must be the adapter experiencing intermittent failure. It's just so strange because it returns on occasion, for extended periods. By interference, do you mean some kind of internal interference? Not interference b/t my headset and the board. I'm quite confident that a separate bt adapter would solve the problem. It seems a sin here, and I'm starting to understand that bt sound is less than ideal anyways.. – Gryph May 30 '20 at 04:44
  • I meant any kind of intermittent interference by a near electrical appliance, although somewhat less likely. If the sound is not great, maybe the computer is too far from the transmitter or there are intervening thick walls. In this case, get a better router or use [this method](https://superuser.com/a/492003/8672). – harrymc May 30 '20 at 05:49

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