Bluetooth Driver support for Dell XPS 8500

So I recently purchased a pair of Sony wireless headphones (WH-H900N) which I had no trouble pairing with my phone, but can't duplicate the feat with my Dell XPS 8500 running Windows 7.


I do the pairing setup, the computer says it is paired but the pairing lights on the headphones keep flashing the discovery pattern. In devices the headphones show up, named correctly etc but when I open the Bluetooth Operations window there is no Audio option displayed.


I suspected my BT drivers were lacking, so I went to Dell to download new drivers, they were the same ones I already have installed (version 9.2.0.514,A00 last updated Jun 13, 2014).


Any ideas about what to do next?

Hi madkiwi-

Don't know much about it but-

In Control Panel, Sound, Playback, try setting the headphones as the default device.

Hello,
Is the batteries of the Headphones fully charged? Are there any obstruction between the computer and the Headphones?

wither 2 said:

Hi madkiwi-

Don't know much about it but-

In Control Panel, Sound, Playback, try setting the headphones as the default device.

In the Sound>Playback panel the headphones are not even listed.


The only place the headphones appear is under the Devices and Printers panel.

iko22 said:

Hello,
Is the batteries of the Headphones fully charged? Are there any obstruction between the computer and the Headphones?

Headphones were 100% charged, I was right next to the computer with no obstructions.

madkiwi said:

Headphones were 100% charged, I was right next to the computer with no obstructions.

Then you need to check that the computer is using a compatible version of Bluetooth.

The Headphones operate with Bluetooth 4.1.

I am unable to find which Bluetooth the computer uses from the manufacturers website, so you will need to look under Device Manager to find the Bluetooth version your computer supports.

Also, in the Sound, Playback, right click and select Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices. Is your headset listed?

iko22 said:

Then you need to check that the computer is using a compatible version of Bluetooth.

The Headphones operate with Bluetooth 4.1.

I am unable to find which Bluetooth the computer uses from the manufacturers website, so you will need to look under Device Manager to find the Bluetooth version your computer supports.

Well that's most likely the problem. The newest drivers are Bluetooth 4.0 + HS.


The wireless chip is Atheros 1703 (Dell 1703) and it appears no further updates are going to be offered.



Adding an 500 GB SSD as boot drive and installing a Geforce GTX960 a couple years ago may be the limit to upgrading this machine.


Is there a USB plug & play Bluetooth dongle that would do the trick for my application?

madkiwi said:

Is there a USB plug & play Bluetooth dongle that would do the trick for my application?

Yes, you could try a Bluetooth 4.1, 4.2 or 5 dongle and connect to your computer via USB. Any of these versions would be backward compatible with your Bluetooth 4.1 Headphones.