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Enable Bluetooth on Lenovo T400 or T500?

Anonymous
2013-01-27T07:03:35+00:00

I have a Lenovo T500 (2242) laptop on which I clean installed Windows 8 Pro. It does have the bluetooth hardware inside, and that worked fine in Vista and Windows 7, though I needed Lenovo's "Access Connections" software to turn on the bluetooth radio. And by this I mean actually turn it on so that the OS could see it and use it; if the radio was turned off via Access Connections (specifically the included FNF5 utility), then neither the OS nor the rest of Access Connections even knew the card was present. There is no hardware switch specific to this. There's a switch for turning WiFi on and off, which I keep in the "on" position at all times.

Now under Windows 8, I cannot turn the Bluetooth card on. It is enabled in BIOS. I see the Bluetooth light come on during the BIOS part of boot, but as soon as Windows starts, the light goes out, and Windows does not seem to know the card is present. I have installed the following software or driver packages in my attempts to solve this:

  1. Bluetooth with Enhanced Data Rate Software II for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkPad (actually this did not install; Win8 warned it was incompatible and directed me to the Broadcom site; see #4).
  2. ThinkVantage Access Connections for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) - Notebooks (installs but is no help - the software runs but says nothing at all about bluetooth)
  3. Hotkey Features Integration for Windows 8 (32-bit, 64-bit), 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit, 64-bit), XP (32-bit, 64-bit) and 2000 - ThinkPad (installs, but hotkeys such as Fn + F5 produce no action at all).
  4. Broadcom bluetooth driver installer package. The installer tries to find an installed bluetooth device. It fails. Apparently because the card is not turned on!

None have helped at all. There is no evidence that the Bluetooth card is installed.

In other forums I have seen advice to enable the Bluetooth card from within the "Change PC settings" Win8-style control panel. It is not there; see this image for confirmation.

Can anyone help me get this silly bluetooth up and running? I have included "T400" in the title because the T400 and T500 were essentially the same computer - one just has a larger screen and chassis size than the other.

Thanks for your consideration.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-05-06T12:24:11+00:00

    Hello,

    Lenovo has released Hotkey Features Integration on 30 Apr 2013. I've installed but it didn't help at my case.

    I've manually browsed to the extraction folder (C:\DRIVERS\HOTKEY\OSD\F5-8M in my case) and found file "TpFnF5.exe". It does exactly what I need - manages all radios. I assume Windows 8 has taken control over Fn+F5 which originally should launch this app.

    Hope it helps.

    PS: in C:\DRIVERS\HOTKEY\OSD\F5 is similar app but without "Airplane Mode" switch.

    Mantas

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-01-28T04:42:42+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting the query in Microsoft community!

    We will guide you in enabling the Bluetooth on the computer.

    Try the suggestions provided from the methods and check.

    Method 1:

    You may enable Bluetooth by following the steps from the link:

    Make sure Bluetooth enabled and other wireless devices are

    on and discoverable: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/why-isnt-windows-finding-device#section\_1

    Method 2:

    You may update the latest Bluetooth drivers from the manufacturer website and check.

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/why-isnt-windows-finding-device#section\_1

    Method 3:

    Follow these steps and check if the Bluetooth Support Service is started.

    a. Press Windows Key + R, type services.msc, hit Enter.

    b. Right click on the service named-Bluetooth Support Service.

    c. Check if it is started, if not click on Start.

    Please reply with the results. I would be glad to assist you further.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2014-12-21T15:47:38+00:00

    Hello,

    Lenovo has released Hotkey Features Integration on 30 Apr 2013. I've installed but it didn't help at my case.

    I've manually browsed to the extraction folder (C:\DRIVERS\HOTKEY\OSD\F5-8M in my case) and found file "TpFnF5.exe". It does exactly what I need - manages all radios. I assume Windows 8 has taken control over Fn+F5 which originally should launch this app.

    Hope it helps.

    PS: in C:\DRIVERS\HOTKEY\OSD\F5 is similar app but without "Airplane Mode" switch.

    Mantas

    This worked perfectly for me

    Problem was Bluetooth devices not showing in any of the following areas: Windows 8.1 PC Settings, Device Manager, or even in BIOS.

    Lenovo T400, Windows 8.1,

    Here's the link to download the Hotkey Features Integration

    http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-74261

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-17T10:09:00+00:00

    hello.

    I got through this thread mshklm I have the same problem that you are solving.

    You refer to the page below and be used to study the linkash post 8 and do it that long.

    Act in accordance with the procedure described blutosm and I got activated.

    From here the user silviuk thank khobshon this problem nearly Description 1 year I got the dargersh solving with plenty of thanks and thanks ... polar. I hope you are using the mashclton to select description.

    1. Create a bootable USB stick with Ubuntu Desktop 32 or 64 bits (say 12.10 or the latest). I suggest using LiLi USB Creatorhttp://www.linuxliveusb.com, it takes care of everything (5-10 minutes).
    2. Boot from the newly created USB stick. Choose "Try Ubuntu" when asked.
    3. Go to the upper right corner and click the user icon. Choose "System Settings". A Control Panel-like window appears.
    4. No go to "Bluetooth" and enable it by dragging the slider to the ON position (until it lightens up).
    5. Reboot you computer into your Windows 8 installation and install the Lenovo Bluetooth drivers (I recommend ThinkVantage Update, but you can also download it from the Lenovo website).

    Link description: home page

    http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=106987

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-18T22:05:03+00:00

    The second point turned out very useful. After installation I was able to turn on bluetooth on T500 with Windows 8. My bluetooth device hadn't been shown in the device manager, and windows 8 couldn't turn on it in PC Settings->Wireless.

    I launched Access Connections and clicked the second line from the bottom on a new task panel indicator's menu, then a windows showed up and I clicked turn on bluetooth.

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