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ThinkPad Bluetooth Guides & Procedures



First up, make sure your ThinkPad's Bluetooth is turned on, on the A30, A31 and T30 series machines the Buetooth button is next to the Bluetooth light. On the X23 and X24 series the button is on the right hinge cover. On the X30 machines the button is on the lower middle of the LCD bezel.

1. Make sure your operating system can see the Bluetooth device.
To do this you'll need to get into Device Manager.

  1. In Windows 2000, click Start and select Settings. Then click Control Panel and then double click System.
    For Windows XP click Start and then Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance and then System.
  2. Click the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager button.
  3. The Bluetooth device should appear under Network Adapters. If there is an exclamation mark on a yellow background then that indicates there's a problem with the device. The next step would be to either update the drivers for the device or update the BIOS file for the machine.
  4. To update the device drivers visit the ThinkPad drivers page on the Lenovo support site.
  5. To update your BIOS file visit the BIOS update page on the Lenovo support site.
    Note: The Embedded Controller may also need updating.
2. Check that the Bluetooth profiles match each other.
Bluetooth devices must have the same profile to communicate with each other. Check the users manual for your device to find out which profiles are required for the devices to communicate.

3. Turning the ThinkPad's Bluetooth application back on after standby
If the machine has been in standby or hibernation mode then you'll need to turn the Bluetooth back on after the machine restarts. You can do this by pressing Fn + F5 to open the Wireless Radio Control, you can turn the Bluetooth back on from there.

4. Can't Find Your Device In Bluetooth Places When Using Windows XP
  1. Make sure the device you want connected is enabled for the Bluetooth connection.
  2. Ensure that there aren't any other Bluetooth devices searching for the device you want connected, simultaneous searching isn't allowed.
  3. If you've checked the two steps above, turn the Buetooth on your machine off and then on again using the Wireless Radio Control (Fn+F5) or by restarting the machine and then try searching for the device again.
Note: Various ThinkPads have a button for turning the Bluetooth off and on (please see the info at the start of this page).

5. The Computer Has connected To the Bluetooth Device But You Cannot Use Device Services
First up you'll need to make sure the Bluetooth connection for the device is enabled.

For Windows XP
1. Double click My Bluetooth Places.
2. In Bluetooth Tasks click View Devices In Range.

For Windows 2000
1. Double click My Bluetooth Places.
2. Double click Entire Bluetooth Neighourhood.
  • If you can't find the device then it may have stopped responding. Check that its Bluetooth connection is enabled.
  • Check your connection and make sure there aren't any other computers searching for the device. Simultaneous searching is not allowed.
  • If you're sure the device is enabled but not responding then turn the ThinkPad's Bluetooth power off and then on again or restart your computer then try connecting again.
The Bluetooth Device Has A Yellow Exclamation Mark Next To It In The Device Manager Window (Windows XP)
  1. Turn on the Bluetooth with the Wireless Radio Control (Fn+F5).
  2. Click Start, then Settings and then click Control Panel.
  3. Click the Performance and Maintenance icon.
  4. Click the System icon.
  5. Click the Hardware tab.
  6. Click the Device Manager button and the Device Manager window will open.
  7. Expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers branch (if it's not already) and right click Integrated Bluetooth.
  8. Select the Update Driver button and the Hardware Update Wizard will start.
  9. Ensure that the "Install the software automatically (Recommended)" radio button is selected and then click the Next button.
  10. Follow the prompts to install the Bluetooth drivers

The above items cover a lot of the ThinkPad bluetooth problems you may encounter but if they don't then you may want to take a look at the Lenovo troubleshooting page.



Click here to leave our ThinkPad Bluetooth page and go to our IBM/Lenovo guides index page


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