hi I have x220 + win 10, just bought bluetooth headphones but cannot activate bluetooth. FN+F5 does not set the bluetooth on. when checking bluetooth in setting is listed but is not button on-off or anything. do i need some drivers? i checked it but there is none for Win 10...thx 4 help. Blanka

Do you have the Wireless hardware switch turned on on the left side of the X220 (you should see green on the switch)?

In Windows Device Manager, do you have you have any missing drivers?

the bluetooth symbol is not on but i cannot swish it on with FN+F5. how do i know that bluetooth driver is missing? i am attaching the PrtSc of the Device manager. thank you.

You should not be showing "Other Devices" in Device Manager. See if you can find out the PCI\VEN or USB\VID number of any "Other Devices" listed and google that number to find out what the device is. Click on the "Other Device" > Details > Property > Hardware Ids. If you know the type of Bluetooth card you have, you can download and install the driver from Lenovo.

I don't recall for sure, but there might be a BIOS setting for Bluetooth. The Fn + F5 feature is part of Hotkey Features, which you might have to install. Again, the hardware switch on the side of the X220 must be on and show a green flag at the switch.

NOTES

- (For Windows XP only) If this software is updated to version 3.02.0000 or
  higher, it is also required to update the following software.
  - Access Connections to version 5.50 or higher (for the Fn+F5 key function)
  - Power Manager to version 1.70 or higher (for the Fn+F3 key function)

- (For Windows Vista/XP only) It is required to install Presentation Director
  version 4.04 or higher.

- (For Windows Vista only) The package just support Vista SP1 (service pack 1)
  or later if the Intel Video driver had been installed.

- (For Windows XP/7) If you want to use Access Connections with this package on
  ThinkPad X1, It is requred to install Access Connections to version 5.98 or
  higher to support Airplane Mode toggling in Fn+F5 dialog application.

- (For upgrading to Windows 8) It is required to install this package again on
  Windows 8 even if same version of this package has been installed before
  the Windows upgrade.

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/tw/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-x-series-laptops/thinkpad-x220/downloads

hi again, thank you. i will try 2 break the problem into smaller parts:

1. i have tryied to look 4 USB or PCI number in order to download the bluetoooth driver

1a) there are 4 PCI num, which one shall i take? or shall i take any of the USB devices? see the attachment

2b) knowing the PCI num helps me to know bluetooth driver? are they same? or once knowing USB or PCI helps me to understand what bluetooth was installed inside? 

2. hotkeays i can do later once  i have bluetooth driver...btw. all drivers are 4 up to Win8, but I have Win 10...what to do?

thank you again!

Blanka

attachment

A Google search on "PCI\ven_8086&dev_1c3d&subsys_21da17aa&rev_04" turns up the following forum thread:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/x220-unknown-device-on-Windows-10/td-p/2196827

Try installing the driver from the last post in the thread:

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=a9cebd1c-43d1-4a74-8b10-8528380e4cb3

I do not think this will solve your bluetooth problem, but after installing the above driver check Device Manager again.

Note that the bluetooth device disappears in Device Manager when the bluetooth radio is turned off.

Looking further, I see another user with an X220i had the same problem in Windows 10 and said that a BIOS update solved the problem for him.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking/how-to-turn-on-the-bluetooth-in-windows-10-on/64dc140c-2209-4d84-872d-bbf5a11f0910

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/Bluetooth-Driver-is-missing-for-Windows-10-on-Lenovo-X220/td-p/4053233

Note: personally I do not trust updating the BIOS from Windows. I burn a bootable CD and update the BIOS that way.

hi again..sorry for late reaction...having to care 4 2 sick children...

upg:

1. now the bluetooth little icon is on...green

2. i cannot still connect the laptop to my bluetooth headphones

3. i still cannot see bluetooth in device management even the icon is on

if i get it right i shall try to upg bios...the other solution...upg only bluetooth driver did not have the driver´s upg sw avaiable in posted links...

1. is this the latest version of bios (4 Wind 10 has not been developed, right?)

2. can i then upg the bios from here which is only 4 Wind 8?

3. if so... i have never upg bios, is it same like upg any other sw? in other words i just run the dowloaded upg sw and that is it? i do not want to disturb my laptop as it is a important connection to the world 4 me... :-)

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/se/cs/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-x-series-laptops/thinkpad-x220i/downloads/ds018805

thank you so much.Blanka

Updating the BIOS does carry some risk, as you can potentially brick (ruin) the motherboard. Updating the BIOS is updating the firmware (software) on a chip on the motherboard. Unfortunately this BIOS chip is required to boot the motherboard in any capacity. If the firmware does not update properly, your motherboard is likely bricked and cannot be repaired unless you solder in a new BIOS chip on the motherboard (very few people have the capability to do this).

I feel that updating the BIOS from a Bootable CD is safer than updating from Windows. In all my various ThinkPads (including my X220), I have updated the BIOS's perhaps 2 dozen times without incident. Note it is reported that updating the BIOS above version 1.28 on the X220 will throttle memory speeds to 1333. I had to replace the motherboard on my X220 early this year due to a power on problem that developed from a coffee spill on the keyboard. The motherboard I received from ebay had it's BIOS version at 1.26, so I just left it at that version. I since bought new 1866 RAM memory and a SSD hard drive to speed up the laptop. BTW, I am still running Windows 7 on this X220 and do not plan to run Windows 10 on it.

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/X220-newer-BIOS-revisions-do-not-support-memory-speeds-above/td-p/834329

One other thing regarding the X220 BIOS updates. From version 1.42 and upward, the BIOS update cannot be downgraded to a lower version (for security reasons they say).

Whether getting your Bluetooth headphones to work on your X220 is worth updating the BIOS for, I can not say. You might consider getting a bluetooth USB dongle to attach to the X220 which would likely support the latest bluetooth feature set.

Regarding your questions:

1) I do not believe Lenovo will officially support Windows 10 on the X220. So expect that not all features will work as they should.

2) Indeed, updating the BIOS from within Windows 10 while using a Window 8 version would seem like a risky proposition to me. However updating from a Bootable CD would not carry that risk.

3) Read my opening comments.