Bluetooth headset must be disconnected or turned off and on in settings before playing audio.

[lpcrierie]

My bluetooth headset must be disconnected or turned off and on in the bluetooth settings before playing audio.
I'm using Windows 10 with the Sony h.ear MDR-100ABN model headset and Broadcom based bluetooth driver. All updates are installed.

The bluetooth dongle I'm using can be seen in the link below, if that helps.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GCJSK9A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Does anyone know what's wrong? This is incredibly annoying and happens every single time I go to use the headphones.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Norton]

Try running Windows native Troubleshoot.

 

[lpcrierie]

Try running Windows native Troubleshoot.

I tried this, it did not come up with any results.

 

[Saltgrass]

My bluetooth headset must be disconnected or turned off and on in the bluetooth settings before playing audio.

Not all Bluetooth devices the same but if you look at the Bluetooth devices in settings, does the device show as paired before you try to connect to it?

If it does, with the device's power on, can you select connect and if so what happens?

There is a checkbox on the Bluetooth settings to allow devices to find the dongle, is that checked? Mine is currently not checked but different devices may need different settings.

Pay special attention to how the chimes sound. Since different conditions produce different version of those chimes it might help you understand what is happening.

The page on your Bluetooth Dongle say Win 10 has a driver and you do not need to install one. Does that seem to be correct and it is showing as a Broadcom device?

 

[Norton]

Have you not attempted to contact SONY in the past six months?
http://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/100abn/v1/en/contents/TP0001111738.html

 

[lpcrierie]

Have you not attempted to contact SONY in the past six months?
http://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/100abn/v1/en/contents/TP0001111738.html

I attempted to receive help from Sony, but they insisted it was an issue on Microsoft's end.
I then contacted Microsoft and via remote assistance, they had uninstalled the Broadcom Bluetooth driver, which was then reinstalled after my computer rebooted and my headset connected. This seemed to fix the issue. I will give it a few more days and mark this thread solved unless it persists.

 

[lpcrierie]

Alright I'm back, and the issue came back too.

 

[bassfisher6522]

AFAIK.....this is exactly how bluetooth works. It's temporary and only meant to connect when needed. This is true for my bluetooth speaker that I and by I, I mean my wife and kids use....works. Same as when you pair your phone to your car for hands free use. Although some auto manufacturers have software written for it to reconnect automatically when it's in range. This is quite different from my speaker and your headphones as there is no software for them.

BTW....what make/model bluetooth headset do you have?

 

[lpcrierie]

AFAIK.....this is exactly how bluetooth works. It's temporary and only meant to connect when needed. This is true for my bluetooth speaker that I and by I, I mean my wife and kids use....works. Same as when you pair your phone to your car for hands free use. Although some auto manufacturers have software written for it to reconnect automatically when it's in range. This is quite different from my speaker and your headphones as there is no software for them.

BTW....what make/model bluetooth headset do you have?

The make/model is Sony h.ear MDR-100ABN. What you said about bluetooth does make sense, only when I first got the headphones, they did not give me this issue for the first few months.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Looking up your model headset....there is no software/driver for it....just plug and play connection type.

https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=MDR100ABN&LOC=3#/downloadTab

Since this is just a connect/use bluetooth device with no driver/software package.....this issue could be any number of things. A software update from windows, a bluetooth driver update, a generic bluetooth driver being used....and it can go on.

Suggestions: either keep connecting like you are doing or look into a new bluetooth head set.

P. S. : just thought of something.....does it use rechargeable batteries or just regular batteries. It might be worth checking into and replacing the batteries.

 

[lpcrierie]

Looking up your model headset....there is no software/driver for it....just plug and play connection type.

https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=MDR100ABN&LOC=3#/downloadTab

Since this is just a connect/use bluetooth device with no driver/software package.....this issue could be any number of thing. A software update from windows, a bluetooth driver update, a generic bluetooth driver being used....and it can go on.

Suggestions: either keep connecting like you are doing or look into a new bluetooth head set.

P. S. : just thought of something.....does it use rechargeable batteries or just regular batteries. It might be worth checking into and replacing the batteries.

Well it is rechargable, but I'm convinced it is a software/driver issue, because I tried connecting them with a laptop and had no issues for 2 weeks.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Check what bluetooth driver the laptop is using vs what driver the PC is using and having the issue with.

 

[lpcrierie]

Check what bluetooth driver the laptop is using vs what driver the PC is using and having the issue with.

It uses the same main two drivers, the h.ear driver which is the model of the headphones, and the Broadcom usb driver which seems to be that of the bluetooth dongle. The rest are Microsoft's bluetooth enumerator, bluetooth LE enumerator and bluetooth protocol support driver.

 

[lpcrierie]

Update: I tried disabling a driver one by one to see if one was unnecessary or causing the issue. Nothing changed for them all except the h.ear driver (headphone driver) specifically. The issue has currently gone with the h.ear driver disabled. I will give it a week to see if the issue has been resolved and provide the solution if so.

 

[lpcrierie]

Update: Issue came back after waking system from sleep mode. The driver was still disabled.

 

[lpcrierie]

In an attempt to contact Broadcom support, their website states they cannot provide support for Bluetooth devices that use Broadcom-based drivers. So if Broadcom can't help me and I've exhausted Sony's and Microsoft's support, I don't know what else to do.

 

[Wolfie]

Did you look here?:

http://zoweetek.com/drivers-and-manuals/

 

[lpcrierie]

Did you look here?:

http://zoweetek.com/drivers-and-manuals/

Well that was just about as helpful as a moldy sponge. Half of those links resulted in "nothing found," while the other half consisted of manuals for keyboards and remotes.
Not one thing for a bluetooth dongle can be found there.

 

[Wolfie]

Then why don't you contact them, they might help solve the problem?.

 

[lpcrierie]

Then why don't you contact them, they might help solve the problem?.

Well because their only email is for sales and I refuse to call china.