How to reconnect to a already paired bluetooth A2DP headset?

Anonymous
2009-12-03T13:50:48+00:00

I use a bluetooth stereo headset with my Laptop running Windows7/Fedora 12 and also with my mobile phone and with my ipod. I want to connect my headset to one of above devices at a time.

I have paired my headset with all of above devices (Windows 7, Fedora 12, my mobile and my ipod). Suppose I've currently connected my headset to the ipod and now I want to use it with my mobile. All I have to do is disconnect headset from ipod and connect it to my mobile. (The 'connect' and 'disconnect' facilities are there in both my ipod and mobile).

Suppose now I want to use the headset with Windows 7. (it's already paired and shown under Bluetooth Devices). Surprisingly in windows 7 there's no way of connecting to a already paired headset. (when you right-click on the headset icon under bluetooth devices there's no 'connect' options.). Now one might ask why don't you restart the headset? But it'll never work since headset will try to connect to the last device it connected. (in this case my mobile phone). Only way I can connect my headset to Windows 7 now is putting the headset back into pairing mode, deleting the headset from windows, and re pair it. This will take a lotof time and this will also install drivers for four bluetooth profiles headset supports. (A2DP, AVRCP, handsfree, headset). (This will also create a system restore point to make things slower).

Similar to my mobile phone and ipod in Fedora linux it's just a matter of right clicking bluetooth icon and selecting 'connect'. I have not used windows for a long time and may be I miss something very obvious or the way Windows 7 bluetooth works is very frustrating.

I use Windows 7 professional in a Dell Inspiron laptop. The bluetooth stack used is the one supplied with Wndows 7.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-07-20T14:39:16+00:00

Hi Jeff,

Reconnecting using Playback Devices works for reconnecting an already paired A2DP Bluetooth Headset to your PC, per the OP. Headsets are usually "dumb" in the respect that you cannot ask them to connect to a specific device, they just try to reconnect to the last device they connected to. Using "Playback Devices" gets around this by getting your computer to ping the device and ask it for a connection.

It sounds like you're having a totally different issue to the OP, namely that you can't get your android phone to connect to your PC after you've paired it. It's probably worth starting a new thread on that issue as it is completely separate to reconnecting "dumb" devices.

Apologies if I've misunderstood you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-03-15T10:12:59+00:00

    I think I've found out how you reconnect an A2DP headset.

    1. Pair your device, confirm that it is working yadda yadda.
    2. Disconnect your device, connect to something else and confirm that you are not automatically reconnecting to windows.
    3. Right click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
    4. Select "Playback Devices"
    5. You should see your paired devices in here.
    6. Right click the paired device and you will see "Test, connect, disable, set as default...etc etc etc.
    7. Obviously you'll be wanting to click "Connect" at this point.

    Hope that helps. I worked for me. I agree though that it is counter intuitive. Having the connect / reconnect option in the bluetooth device section as well seems sensible.

    EDIT There's still no "disconnect" option though. "Connect" just greys out.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-03-22T17:31:59+00:00

    I'm having the same problem with my Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000.  I have three laptops (an old IBM that has a USB Bluetooth, an HP with integrated Bluetooth, and a Lenovo netbook that I installed an internal Bluetooth module in).  All of these run Windows and Ubuntu Linux in a dual- or tri- boot configuration.  I switch my mouse between systems frequently and in Ubuntu it's as easy to reconnect the mouse as pressing the connect button on the mouse, clicking Bluetooth->Microsoft Optical Notebook Mouse 5000->Connect, and it works.  On Windows 7 (on the same PC, so not a hardware issue) I have to remove the mouse, hold connect, search for Bluetooth devices, and then re-install the mouse just to get it working.  This is a missing feature in 7's Bluetooth drivers, it has nothing to do with the manufacturer's drivers or the device itself, the fault IS flat out Windows 7 lacks a Bluetooth Connect option, which makes reconnecting to "dumb" devices (ones that do not initiate connections or only initiate to the last paired device) a pain to use between multiple PC's, operating systems, or mobile computers.

    TI-BASIC for 83+, QuickBasic, and now VB Express, Programming is Cool!

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-03-28T14:45:15+00:00

    I have the same problem. Microsoft should release an update to address this problem soon.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-03-29T16:37:10+00:00

    Update: if you turn on the windows 7 update features, there is an update for CSR Bluetooth radio. Install that update to solve this problem. I have a Plantronics Pulsar 260 and an unnamed USB Bluetooth Dongle working properly with Windows 7. Now whenever I turn on my Bluetooth headset, Windows automatically redirects all sounds to it via stereo channel.

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