Anyone using Stereo Headphones with an X61 Tablet Successfully (Silence=No)?

[Jaded101]

Hi Folks,

As Experts live can't call me overseas I have no other support but you my virtual friends.

I have an X61 (776796U) Tablet paired with Jabra BT620s headphones and am able to control the functions of iTunes from the headset so I know the pairing is corrrect and the devices are communicating.  I just don't get any sound at all.  I thought this was a stack or driver problem, but I put Vista SP1 and the latest Thinkpad Bluetooth update (from ThinkVantage) with no joy.  Major Clue:  I don't see a Bluetooth Stereo Audio playback device when I go to set the default playback, only the bluetooth handsfree device.

Any way to get the Stereo Audio device to show up here and work correctly?

This was an old post that had no replies:

I am trying to get a pair of bluetooth stereo headphones to work with my X61 tablet running Vista32.  If I remove everything and reinstall the drivers, reconnect the device the headphones work for a while as Bluetooth Stereo Audio device.  After a reboot or switching back to regular speakers or any other change, the headphones connect only as Bluetooth Hands-Free-Audio but no longer play any sound.  The device is associated just not connected as the correct device.  Internet searching suggests that this is a stack problem that depends on fixes from the hardware vendor or an update to the BT stack from Microsoft.  Some vendors are telling users to install XP drivers while other posts tell users to install broadcom drivers (which will not install on the X61).

Is anyone using BlueTooth stereo headphones with Vista successfully?  If this is not user error, is Lenovo aware of this issue?

[Jaded101]

More Details:

I am using Lenovo's 5.1.2535.0 Bluetooth driver (published by Broadcom) that includes a 6.1.4900 Bluetooth Stereo Audio driver.  I keep getting a Bluetooth stack server error after reboot and when I look at the Audio in the 'Bluetooth Devices' applet it hangs for quite a while before it comes back saying both the Stereo Audio and the Handsfree device are disconnected.  When trying to connect the devices I get the 'Invalid parameter' error I described below.

Still nobody out there using this software?  Not even at Lenovo?

[Jaded101]

Still fighting with my headphones so I can use my computer in the library where I study and do research.  Last night I pulled off the sound drivers and bluetooth stack and re-installed.  I ended up sadly where I started.

The problem seems to be with my Stereo Headphones profile (should be part of the driver) it just is not being loaded.

[Boylicious]

Please try the following and let us know results:

1. Pair them and power them on
2. Go to Control Panel > Bluetooth Devices > Devices (Tab)
3. Select your headset and then click the "Properties" button in the bottom right (above the Apply button), a new window will appear
4. In the new window that appears, go to the "Services" tab
5. This screen should show every protocol that your headset supports. From what you've described, you should be seeing at least "Headset" and "Remote Control" present and checked. If you want Stereo Audio, you'll need to have "Audio Sink" present on this list, and it needs to be checked off. Is it there?

-=Darian

[Jaded101]

Hi Darian,

Thanks for the suggestion.

I didn't list my steps out clearly above, but I have been through that.  The remote control profile is working fine and I can control iTunes from the headset with no problem, advancing from one track to the next, pausing, stopping and starting.  I just don;t get any audio.

I think the issue is that the Bluetooth Stereo profile has a problem.  The Bluetooth Stereo device does not show up as a playback device (it normally has to be set to the default for Vista to send audio to it).  I also get an error on reboot saying that the Bluetooth stack server failed to initialize.

Any more thoughts?  If nothing else, how and what should I strip off to get a good reinstall?  I can't take the system down to bare metal (time and distribution media) until next month.

[billbolton Community Moderator]

What is the version number of the installed Broadcom Bluetooth stack on your ThinkPad?  You can find in through the Windows Device Manager.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Boylicious]

Oh sorry about that, your problem sounded like the same problem I was having... but if yuo're getting a message about stack initialization failure, I guess it goes deeper than that

I guess this wouldn't help you, if the headphones aren't even showing up as a sound device in windows, but I discovered that the configuration settings in winamp's directsound output filter can be used to test individual sound devices regardless of whether or not they are vista's default.

Good luck and best wishes.

[Jaded101]

Hi Bill,

I think the Broadcom stack is 5.1.2535.0, but I am sure the stack is the one packaged with the Lenovo Thinkpad Bluetooth With Enhanced Data Rate drivers  v 6.1.4900 from their site.  I have spent a fair amount of tread going back and forth over that already.

I tried to install the Broadcom drivers that get so much good press with no luck, saying that those drivers do not support integrated adapters.  Right now I am digging through registry objects for the hands-free playback device to see what is there that is not present for the Bluetooth Stereo device.  Perhaps a hammer will do the trick

[Jaded101]

Thanks for the suggestion!

I will tinker with that when I get off my current track.  I don't have WinAmp installed, but what's another player....

I found all the BT profile applications in the registry and the listings for the multimedia devices that should be there.  From that I should get some path information back to the installing inf and find the source files that are supposed to be there.  From that I may be able to hammer in registry entries (there do seem to be some missing, but more searching is needed to confirm) that will identify the device correctly to Vista.  If the device is missing completely I will be able to get some leverage to get this fixed.

I still have not explicitly heard of anyone using Stereo headphones over BT on this hardware, though it sounded like you might be.  I am assuming the problem is just me, but until I hear otherwise it still could be a driver issue...I doubt it though.  I bet it is me.

[Jaded101]

Sorry, while digging through the registry information on the service I noticed a typo in the version number: 6.0.1.4900.