Downgrading Widcomm?

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sbiddle

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#1336 6-Apr-2004 19:02

I've got a small issue with the Widcomm software under Windows 98. I upgraded by software to V1.4.2 but have since managed to break by USB dongle. I've gone and got a new USB dongle but this isn't recognised by the current install. I uninstalled the Widcomm software and reinstalled the OEM software for my new dongle which was an older version and all seems fine except for the fact Widcomm says it can't find a local device. The USB dongle does work and Windows has installed the drivers correctly. My guess it that the Widcomm software still had a registry entry or file somewhere from the older version.

Does anybody have any suggestions to save me having to reinstall Windows?

While I'm here does anybody happen to have a list of dongles recognised by the Windows XP SP2 Bluetooth suport? My old CSR one that broke did but my Microtune one isn't.

freitasm

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#4632 6-Apr-2004 19:12

You may have to remove the Bluetooth software, unplug the dongle, and edit the registry, deleting all Widcomm keys. Then reinstall the Bluetooth software from the O&M.

sbiddle

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#4653 7-Apr-2004 17:34

I'd tried that but without any luck. I believe part of the issue may have been that my original dongle was a CSR one and my other one (a DSE one) wasn't. I've gone and spent $45 today on a new CSR one which has solved the problem! :-)

Obviously there are issues involved in downgrading Widcomm, particularly if you are running the latest version. Looking at the Billionton site (brand of my new adapter) there are firmware upgrades for their adapters if you're experiencing the same problem I had but I can't find any firmware upgrades for the DSE one and can't even track down who makes them.

freitasm

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#4657 7-Apr-2004 22:29

DSE has drivers for Bluetooth 1.3.2.7 available for download. Although they don't have HID (mouse and keyboard) support, they are fairly new.

And looking for these drivers I've found that their DSE Bluetooth dongle is only NZ$29 (around US$24). This is a good price for a Bluetooth dongle!

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#4676 8-Apr-2004 20:55

I've just found out the DSE Bluetooth dongle is made by Aiptek, and is listed in www.aiptek.com.tw

Unfortunately no firmware updates appear to exist anywhere for the dongle..:-(

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#4677 8-Apr-2004 20:57

What about the DSE hosted drivers (1.3.2.7)? Are you using them already?

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#4706 10-Apr-2004 19:28

I am using them. The problem is I was using a CSR Bluetooth dongle on both my laptop and a DSE one on my desktop. The one on my laptop broke so I thought I'd use the DSE one, the 1.4.1 CSR software wouldn't work with it being a different chipset so I uninstalled that and then tried numerous times to install the 1.3.2.7 DSE software. The software itself installs fine and if you go to advanced|hardware it shows the device working fine however it says it can't find a local bluetooth device when you go to search for anything. Installing a copy of 1.3.2.7 CSR software on the same machine works fine with my new dongle and I'm now running 1.4.1 on my laptop. There just appears to be an issue with changing brands of dongles once Widcomm is installed. I with they'd develop one version of the software and have updates on their site from all previous versions rather than all these stupid OEM versions..:-(

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#4975 21-Apr-2004 23:02

I bought a DSE dongle yesterday and it is using a CSR chipset. I looked up the tech specs in the manual and it says so. Also Windows XP SP2 has detected it as CSR.