Bluetooth & PAN

Hi, I have a strange problem that has driven me crazy for the last 2 days. I am trying to use dynamic lock for my laptop. However, my phone can not connect to the laptop via Bluetooth. On the other hand, I have no problem while using the Windows Phone Link application or Asus GlideX software. Moreover, If I choose to connect to my Phone via "Personal Area Network (PAN)" under the Bluetooth options, it works perfectly and the dynamic lock is working as intended. However, after I return to the range of Bluetooth connection, it doesn't connect to my phone automatically via PAN. I tried to completely remove Bluetooth drivers and install them again a couple of times. I run DICM Restore Health and SFC Scan commands twice. They didn't work either. Another strange problem is that I can't remove any Bluetooth devices. When I click on the remove device option from settings, it is not working and it doesn't give any error or warning. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hello, welcome to the forum.


I've done some research on your laptop & bluetooth issues. It uses Bluetooth 5.2. Starting with the basics - have you turned your laptop and phone on and off of aeroplane mode, therefore resetting the bluetooth connecting?
I saw some people having issues with Bluetooth and WiFi on their Rog Flow X13's, and drivers was a common issue.. I'm not sure how this would apply to your laptop however, as it is the Z13.
Something you mention - that it works with Phone Link and GlideX is interesting however, as that could suggest otherwise. You tried removing the bluetooth connection with your phone completely as well, but when you say "it is not working", does it appear to remove the device but then it is still connecting, or does it just not do anything?

Since you have this issue with removing the device, you could try uninstalling BT through device manager. (Win + X > Device manager > Expand Bluetooth > right click your phone > Uninstall), or you could do it through registry. Open regedit (Win + X > Run > "regedit") and then make a backup just incase (File > Export > save where you like) and then you can click the top bar (where it says Computer\......) and then paste the following key instead: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices and then right click on the device you would like to delete, and simply click delete.
View attachment 82984

If like me you don't see the name of the device in this and just some random numbers and letters, open each Key (folder looking thing) under devices, and on the right panel look for a "Name" variable. Double click to open and it will show the name of your device. Here's an example:


If none of this works it could be helpful to know what phone you use just for reference.


Thanks

Hi @James ,

Thank you for your reply. Yesterday, I spent another 8 hours to solve this issue. However, somehow it went worse than ever. I will try to answer your questions below and give an update on the current situation.

After your reply, I tried to remove BT drivers from the device manager. When I checked the device manager, there were like 30-35 items in the BT driver list. My phone and earbuds were shown 3 times. There were about 20 x Bluetooth LE Generic Attribute Service items. I tried to remove each of them by uninstalling option. But, it wasn't working at all. Whatever I removed was installed again automatically when it was refreshed after the uninstallation of another driver. So, I rebooted my laptop in safe mode and uninstalled everything related to the BT drivers. Then, I use the regedit to delete every device shown under the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTHPORT\Parameters\Devices" folder. I think it was a mistake but I will come to that later.

I rebooted my pc in normal mode and checked the BT drivers. It was OK at first glance. The unnecessary drivers were gone and all the devices were removed from the BT list. I downloaded Intel Driver and Support Assistant. It was showing a new update for the BT Drivers. I downloaded and installed them and restarted my pc again.

The fun part started just after this. I first tried to add my Asus Pen device. It just connected automatically and installed drivers (it can be seen under the BT Drivers in the device manager); However, it isn't shown as a known device under the settings / Bluetooth & Devices section. Similarly, I tried to connect my BT earbuds to the PC. First, It wasn't found in the scan list. But, I tried to use Airplane mode on and off a couple of times and PC managed to catch it in the list. I connected to the earbuds. It is working perfectly but it isn't shown as a known device in the settings. Strangely, even I disconnect the connection by putting them into the case, and then I open the case again to see if it connects automatically. It is. It shows as Bluetooth not connected to any device both in settings and in the system tray; however, my pen and earbuds are connecting and working perfectly fine.

So, I finally tried to connect my phone again. For some reason, it couldn't be found in the scan list whatever I tried. However, if I unpair the pc on my phone and try to re-pair it with my pc, the code appears on the laptop and when I accept the code both on the pc and phone, pc opens a window and says it is paired. However, after waiting a 30 sec time, my phone says it couldn't connect to the pc. By the way, the dynamic lock is still working whenever I restart the pc. My phone is actually connecting to the pc, because if I remove the connection by changing room, the screen locks. But, it doesn't work again until I re-pair the phone and pc again or restart the pc again.

After all this progress, I am about the lose my mind. I checked the BT drivers again. And there are like 30 items on the list again. Please see the attached photos. (My phone name is Golgefendi and the model of my phone is Samsung S22 Ultra.) (I don't know who has that TV but the only item that my pc can find is the TV. I live in the apartment.)

Update: Windows Phone Link still works but I realise something odd. It couldn't connect to phone for calls. I can see messages, apps and photos. See the image below.

BT on Windows has been finicky for years...it is a complete hit or miss mess. I've given up on that tech alltogether on Windows. Occasionally I try some BT devices, but very quickly I return to wired ones if available. I've setup hundreds of computers of different brands and models...they all are the same. So I blame Windows as at this point it can't be the drivers anymore...they can't all be wrong.

On Android or Linux these issues are non existing. Everything was fine on Windows 7, but after that it's been a pain to get consistent results. Same problem existed for USB, but it seems they solved that eventually. Win8/8.1 were particularly bad. Reliability was completely random. One minute everything was fine, the next nothing seemed to work. Same drivers, same OS version, same everything, even apps, or different drivers, reboots, full shutdown/startup cycles, power management configs... made no difference what so ever...

Ok, new update. I solved everything except the devices. Now, even the dynamic lock is working very well. However, I still can't see any devices connected to my pc.

Set all 3 of these services to automatic and reboot



If they still don’t populate, device manager > disable the Bluetooth adapter, reboot and then re-enable it

Hi @dacrone,
Thanks for your interest. These options were already in automatic mode. Disabling the devices didn't change anything.

SlicEnDicE said:

BT on Windows has been finicky for years...it is a complete hit or miss mess. I've given up on that tech alltogether on Windows. Occasionally I try some BT devices, but very quickly I return to wired ones if available. I've setup hundreds of computers of different brands and models...they all are the same. So I blame Windows as at this point it can't be the drivers anymore...they can't all be wrong.

Click to expand...

I myself disagree with this sentiment. I've been using Windows since 1995, and though I can't remember when BT operation arrived, I've been using it for years without issue. 99.9 main issues are the BT device itself - faulty hardware or driver issue. Or...

The case in which a post was made decrying Windows BT was a mess. It turned out not to be a Windows issue, but a user error. Why?

Because as it turned out, the OP never had a BT Transmitter/Receiver installed on the system!!! Once that was pointed and they got a BT device, suddenly BT worked the way it was supposed to. So no, no "Windows" issue... user error. Point? - check the BT device isn't problematic - drivers?

That said, this is curious...

golgefendi said:

However, my phone can not connect to the laptop via Bluetooth. On the other hand, I have no problem while using the Windows Phone Link application or Asus GlideX software.

Click to expand...

Is this on the same device using BT (Bluetooth)?

golgefendi said:

I am trying to use dynamic lock for my laptop.

Click to expand...

Also, for clarity, what do you mean by "I am trying to use dynamic lock for my laptop"???

What shows if you right click the system tray bt icon and click Show Bluetooth Devices?

Hi @Dru2,

Thanks for your interest.

Is this on the same device using BT (Bluetooth)?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is. Let me give you the final update. Currently, I am listening songs from Spotify via my Samsung Earbuds. I can make dials by using Windows' phone link application using my Samsung Phone. I can switch earbuds between my phone and PC by using the Galaxy Buds application both on PC and Phone.

Also, for clarity, what do you mean by "I am trying to use dynamic lock for my laptop"???

Click to expand...

There is an option under "Account Protection" settings in Windows 11 named "Dynamic Lock". It works as if I can connect my phone to my PC via Bluetooth, it locks out the windows whenever the Bluetooth connection is interrupted. This option is also working well at the moment. So, I managed to use all the abilities at the same time. My Asus Pen is also working fine. However, I still can't find any device connected. Please see the image below.

dacrone said:

What shows if you right click the system tray bt icon and click Show Bluetooth Devices?

Click to expand...

Nothing.

Something is messed up with the install if bt works but doesn’t show. If you don’t want to uninstall/reinstall the bt drivers again, you can first run an online dism repair for windows and see if that fixes the lack of device listings

dacrone said:

Something is messed up with the install if bt works but doesn’t show. If you don’t want to uninstall/reinstall the bt drivers again, you can first run an online dism repair for windows and see if that fixes the lack of device listings

Click to expand...

I tried to uninstall/reinstall and DISM Online / SFC Scan cycles 3 times up to now. It doesn't work.

Download the iso for the same build of windows you have and do an in-place upgrade to repair the corruptions

dacrone said:

Download the iso for the same build of windows you have and do an in-place upgrade to repair the corruptions

Click to expand...

It's harder than any efficient repair method at the moment. I already tried to in-place upgrade. However, due to some unknown reason (or at least it is unknown to me), Asus preferred to not install basic drivers into the disk. When I first installed Windows 11 on this PC, I had to download the drivers from another computer and manually install them to disk during the Windows 11 installation. Today, When I tried to in-place upgrade, it couldn't complete the task and gave an error as "the installation failed in the safe_os phase with an error during install_drivers operation". So, I believe, I have to intervene in the upgrade at some point to fix the drivers again. As a conclusion, I am ready to give up and continue to use the computer as it is until I have to format it next time if this community can't find another solution to my case.

If drivers/dism/in place didn’t fix it, whatever you deleted from the registry royally messed it up.
When you reinstalled the drivers, did you install the whole software (intel or whatever brand it is) or only the driver inf? Installing the whole “suite” and then removing the software after may do something if you didn’t already. If you did that too, you’re pretty much out of luck at this point.

dacrone said:

If drivers/dism/in place didn’t fix it, whatever you deleted from the registry royally messed it up.
When you reinstalled the drivers, did you install the whole software (intel or whatever brand it is) or only the driver inf? Installing the whole “suite” and then removing the software after may do something if you didn’t already. If you did that too, you’re pretty much out of luck at this point.

Click to expand...

It was Intel and I always install and uninstall the whole suit. I think I am just unlucky.

Dru2 said:

That said, this is curious...

Click to expand...

golgefendi said:

However, my phone can not connect to the laptop via Bluetooth. On the other hand, I have no problem while using the Windows Phone Link application or Asus GlideX software.

Click to expand...

Dru2 said:

Is this on the same device using BT (Bluetooth)?

Click to expand...

golgefendi said:

Yes, it is. Let me give you the final update. Currently, I am listening songs from Spotify via my Samsung Earbuds. I can make dials by using Windows' phone link application using my Samsung Phone. I can switch earbuds between my phone and PC by using the Galaxy Buds application both on PC and Phone.

Click to expand...

If this is all under Bluetooth (BT) than obviously BT is working otherwise you wouldn't be able to do what you're doing.

Anyway, you should be looking here > Start, Settings, Bluetooth & devices.... for connected "Bluetooth" devices...


"Not connected" means the "connected" device (ex: JBL Flip 4) is currently powered off and not transmitting a Bluetooth signal.

Also be aware generally BT devices/dongles will NOT work when the PC is powered down. Once you power down the PC, BT ceases to work. However, If the PC is sleep, it then depends on settings BT setting, and also whether the USB ports are shutdown during sleep mode. Or "maybe" if Wake-On-Lan (WOL) is enabled.

See this post.. Allow bluetooth devices to wake PC.

BTW, also be reminded the Insider version of Windows 11, is a "beta OS", so you may experience weird behavior (and also why Microsoft warns and also asks you report bugs). Not saying that was the issue, but something to note when asking for help.

Anyway, it seems your issue is solved???

Dru2 said:

I myself disagree with this sentiment. I've been using Windows since 1995, and though I can't remember when BT operation arrived, I've been using it for years without issue. 99.9 main issues are the BT device itself - faulty hardware or driver issue. Or...

Click to expand...

It's not a matter of sentiment. Windows gets confused very easily for some reason when it comes to BT. With certain Windows patches it's a bit better and with others it's horrible. It can't be a hardware issue when same or even different cards work flawlessly on one computer but on another identical one it first works and then it doesn't but suddenly it works again. Card model, brand and driver version makes no difference except when there's actually a bad driver.

As I stated, I've setup hundreds of devices and the issue is completely random after hours of testing. Some Windows versions are worse and some really good. After Windows 7 it was all downhill. MS keeps "reinventing" same bugs in later patches that they just had fixed a moment ago...

Yes, there has been many situations where it's been a bad driver or a bad card, but in many cases it's been neither. I've even verified the machines themselves to be in mint condition as under Linux these issues never occurred except in cases where there was actually a hardware issue either on the card or the machine itself.

BT isn't the only issue, but it's most noticeable when using devices like BT mice. This same randomness happens also sometimes with GPUs and Sound cards too.

Dru2 said:

Anyway, you should be looking here > Start, Settings, Bluetooth & devices.... for connected "Bluetooth" devices...

"Not connected" means the "connected" device (ex: JBL Flip 4) is currently powered off and not transmitting a Bluetooth signal.

Click to expand...

I already checked there. The problem is there are no devices shown as connected anywhere.

Dru2 said:

Also be aware generally BT devices/dongles will NOT work when the PC is powered down. Once you power down the PC, BT ceases to work. However, If the PC is sleep, it then depends on settings BT setting, and also whether the USB ports are shutdown during sleep mode. Or "maybe" if Wake-On-Lan (WOL) is enabled.

See this post.. Allow bluetooth devices to wake PC.

Click to expand...

All these connections were done while the PC was powered and working at full performance.

Dru2 said:

BTW, also be reminded the Insider version of Windows 11, is a "beta OS", so you may experience weird behavior (and also why Microsoft warns and also asks you report bugs). Not saying that was the issue, but something to note when asking for help.

Anyway, it seems your issue is solved???

Click to expand...

My issue is not solved completely. As I mentioned above, I would like to see the connected or disconnected devices in the settings. I can't see any device is ever connected to the PC yet.