M17xr3 bluetooth??

well i just got my brand new one yesterday, and was expecting it to have bluetooth built in, since it wasnt an option i figured it was stock. if it has it i cant figure out where to turn it on or where to use it. any ideas? thanks in advanced.

 

Curiously enough the R3 doesn't ship with the complete bluetooth stack for things like BT headsets. You can get the full driver from Dell's website.

 

also i have one more question while im at it. im messing around with the 3d bundle that i got with it. i was looking at the games that it was compatible with and saw google chrome? im not sure how to get it to work though. any ideas?

 

ok so i downloaded the driver. went to install it. and its asking me to "activate bluetooth using wireless switch"...... how?

 

If you didn't alter the bios setting, the wifi switch in the upper right should toggle bluetooth as well as wifi.

 

so the button that controls wifi is the same button that controls bluetooth? its telling me to turn it on though. im obviously on the internet so my wifi is on, shouldnt that mean the bluetooth is on aswell?

i pressed the wireless button once, turned off my wifi, then again, turned my wifi back on. and nothing happend to the screen asking me to activate my bluetooth

 

anyone have any other ideas??

 

Does your BT work at all without the drivers? At the very least you should be able to pair devices using what Windows comes installed with. The Dell package adds additional functionality; if its not working without the drivers you downloaded I'd imagine that the thing is borked. See if tech support can lend you a hand.

 

i cant find how to turn the bluetooth on at all. like i said before. im not even sure i have bluetooth, because i cant find anything on my computer that says i have it. i was just under the impression that it did have it because all the websites iv found says it does

 

Use the control panel to add a bluetooth device. If you can't something's wrong, never mind the drivers from Dell.

Also in the device manager you should have a device labeled Dell wireless 375 bluetooth module with hardware ID USB\VID_413C&PID_8187.

 

Do you have a BT system tray icon that you can click on? (I know this is an obvious question with an obvious answer, but maybe cheggit?)

Also, @shadow: Can you provide link to the BT drivers? Maybe it'll assist me in getting my PS3 remote to sync with the computer?

 

Dell tech support site seems to be under maintenance. If I recall correctly there's only 1 BT driver listed for the R3 should be pretty hard to miss once its back up.

 

That same driver should've been pre-installed with my lappy, right?

If yes, how do I check that I have it already installed?

 

there is no bluetooth option in control panel or in my system tray. is it possible i dont have it at all? is the bluetooth part of the wifi card? because when i bought my laptop i custom made it online and when it gave me a choice of wifi cards i picked the most expensive one(of corse). did i pick the wrong one maybe?

 

Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology [Add $70.00 or $3.00/month1]
Alienware Recommended

thats the one i picked on the site. and that was the only placed it asked about wireless cards at all. it never gave me an option to add or not add a bluetooth, which made me think it came stock

 

I has the exact same problem i couldn't find it. I installed the file from Dell site as recommended on here and it finally popped up when I tried to connect my headphones.

 

The bluetooth option is there by default on all Alienware models.

What you need to do is click on the Lower bottom right of the taskbar where you the hidden icon. There will be red Bluetooth sign(a very small icon) and it is always off by default even if wifi is on. Right click on the icon and click turn adapter on and now you should be able to configure your Bluetooth devices.

Try it...I'd the same confusion when I got my M15x a year and half ago.

Please report in if this works or not.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the WLAN card you selected. I think we all have the same one, otherwise we wouldn't all be downloading the same drivers file, right?

If you don't see it in your system tray or control panel by default, you might have to turn on the adapter in the BIOS. So when you reboot quickly mash F2, I think, and go turn it on. That should do the trick. And then install the driver if you haven't already.

Good luck OP.

 

I had the 6300 too it's not in the tray on the bottom right. After I installed off dells site i just pinned it to the task bar.

 

i dont have it in the tray in the bottom right. Emm3, i tried installing the driver off the dell site, but when i went to install it, it asked me to turn on the bluetooth to continue, since i dont have a way to turn it on it wouldnt let me install it..... im going to try to turn it on in my bios. wish me luck.

 

okay so in my bios under the wireless tab i had the option to enable or disable the bluetooth. unfortunately it was already enabled, so im back to square one. dell doesnt make this easy do they.....

 

If you can't find it in your tray or on the control panel, you can just search it in the start menu. Just type bluetooth and you'll see something that says "Add a bluetooth device". Clicking that immediately starts scanning for BT devices that you have set to visible. This process has worked for me before and after installing the Dell drivers.

 

when i put in bluetooth at the start menu the only thing that comes up is bluetooth file transfer. when i click on that i get two options. send files or receive files. when i click send it asks me where i want to send it to but where the options to pick a place to send to it is blank. (even when i have my other bluetooth enabled laptop on) when i click receive files, it just says i failed to receive and files.....

 

What BT devices are listed in your Device Manager? At the very minimum Dell 375 should be there. That card is installed in all R3s.

 

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there is my device manager

 

What are you downloading off the dell site? I wish I could be of more help but i sold mine on Saturday so i cant look at it.

 

Drivers and Downloads


thats the driver i downloaded. and its also the driver tech support told me to download. once i download it, unzip it, and atempt to install it, i get this....
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They might have totally left the BT card off your computer. I don't see any BT radios listed.

 

Wow dude. That's such a bummer.

You should totally call for a replacement, and money back. This is seriously a disservice to you, and I bet you spent ALOT of money on it.

 

odd. i know i had issues the first time I downloaded it nothing happened. Im not sure i had that switch screen appear though. Open up the laptop and confirm its there.

 

yea i spent over 3 grand on this thing i shouldnt have to go threw like this to get it to work or do stupid stuff like open it to see if its there....... lets see what customer service has to say... i let them fiddle with with for like and hour then i had to hang up on em cuz i had to go.... ill have to make sure i have all day to wait for them.

 

Doesn't matter if you spent 3k or 2k or 1k, cuz regardless, this is one of the most expensive computers in the market, and supposedly the "premium" line. You deserve better service, most definitely.

 

and to top it all off i go to the live chat option and it asks for my service tag, put it in, and it tells me my computer was bought outside the US and to pick a different country....... ...

 

I've always been rejected for any AW chat except sales. You need to call them directly.

 

Just a follow up. I had to have dell send out a computer repair guy to my house (part of my warranty so, it was free ) he took my whole computer apart and plugged in the bluetooth card. i guess they put it in and just forgot to plug it in. genius.