How do I play audio through a Bluetooth headset in Windows 7?

I recently did an in-place upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 RTM. For the most part, things have gone brilliantly. The only issue I've been facing is regarding my Bluetooth headset, a Dell BH200. The laptop is an Inspiron 1720.

I can get Windows 7 to pair with the headset, and even get the Bluetooth settings to show that there is stereo audio available. The problem is that the Bluetooth headset never shows up in my sound output devices list. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the Bluetooth drivers from Dell, tried turning on/off all of the features of the headset, removing the Bluetooth driver and letting Windows re-detect and install, but nothing has worked so far.

I guess I should mention that the headset worked fine in Vista. How can I make it work?

Solution 1:

After a couple of hours of agony, searching online for proper drivers for my Motorola HT820 bluetooth headset, I had to do these in order to pair my headset successfully with my Win 7 RC system

1. Uninstall Broadcom bluetooth software
2. Download and install this
3. Now, add your device, Windows 7 should automatically download various drivers
4. Go to your bluetooth devices, see an entry for your headset, right click, properties, services tab and make sure headset option is selected

5. After all these, right click volume icon, playback devices and you should find an entry for the connected bluetooth headset. Set that as default and you're good to go!

6. If there still isn't any sound, you may still need to Connect your Bluetooth headset to your PC/Laptop. Go to Devices and Printers/Bluetooth Devices, right click the icon for your headset, click "Control" and on the pop-up window, click "Connect".

Solution 2:

You'll need a driver that supports bluetooth A2DP on the Windows 7 machine. There are drivers for bluetooth the transport layer and then there are drivers for the bluetooth audio profile support. They are separate.

The first thing to do is to check Windows Update after you pair the devices. Does that find a driver? If not, you'll have to get the driver from Dell.

Update: I'm told that Dell uses Broadcom for their Bluetooth driver. Try this site for drivers: http://www.broadcom.com/support/bluetooth/update.php

Solution 3:

I wanted to share this information with anyone in case it's helpful:

I contacted Dell support with the issue, and they said that I needed to download the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack software driver and gave me the following link:

http://www.broadcom.com/support/license.php?file=SetupBtwDownloadSE.exe

I downloaded it, ran it, and it seemed to install fine, but then right at the end I got the error:

This software is not for this system, contact DELL for support.

When I replied to Dell CS with the error message, they said, "I see that the issue requires advanced software troubleshooting. As a Hardware technician, I do not have sufficient expertise regarding the issue. I suggest you to contact our advanced software troubleshooting team, Dell On Call." Dell On Call is a fee-based service. I didn't (and won't be) calling.

UPDATE: I finally got it to work! Uninstall any Bluetooth software you might have installed, then install the driver from Dell (yes, the 2007 version), but here's the kicker, install it as an Administrator! For some reason, that updated the firmware and now my headphones are working!