Bluetooth on Acer R7 with intel 7260 card

I recently had my R7 replaced due to a wifi issue which is now fixed.
I had ordered an Intel 7260 wifi card to replace the card in the old laptop, but decided to send it back instead.
I am ordering more ram, and I still have this 7260 card. Because it is a better wifi chipset (compatable with the new wireless AC spec), I am thinking about upgrading the wifi chip while I have the laptop open.

HOWEVER, I recall seeing some reports on here that people who installed that card never got the bluetooth working. (it IS a combination wifi AND bluetooth card).
I do know that those reports were prior to the windows 8.1 update... so I dont know if anyone ever found a working driver, or the situation is improved in 8.1.

Can anyone comment on this? Have you upgraded to the intel 7260 and do you have bluetooth working?

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jtalb5322

I would like to bump this post. I have an intel n-6235 in my r7, and have never got it to recognize the bluetooth even in device manager.

pcazella

Hi,

I installed the 7260-ac card in my R7 and i have the same problem. Bluetooth disapear from my device manager.

jtalb5322

I have a feeling it's the way the bluetooth connects through hardware interface. The atheros bluetooth I believe con ects through usb on mini pcie interface. Not sure about the intel cards. I also updated now to the ac 7260, hoping problem was card. I have given up for now as no tech department wants to help either acer or intel because it's wifi. I will eventual find the information. It's out there somewhere though. Lol

churchpark

I just installed the Intel 6235 like a breeze, and its truly doing better than the Broadcom.. Has anyone found a solution to get the bluetooth to work yet?

vhlaxman

Did you find any solution guys ?

adessmith

Ok, something interesting happened with the bluetooth on my 7260 yesterday. I think this is worth exploring IF bluetooth is really important to you, but I'm just not motivated to open the computer up again at this point.

In the process of installing an SSD, at one point I placed the bottom cover back on the laptop without screwing it into place and started it it. I noticed 2 things when I got to the desktop.

1) The power icon in the system tray indicated there was not a battery detected. (I was running on AC power)
I figured this must have been some sort of ground issue without the bottom properly connected

2) THE BLUETOOTH ICON SHOWED UP IN THE TASK BAR!!!!
I opened it up and played around for a little while. I could detect some bluetooth devices and everything seemed to be working properly. I had installed all the windows updates just prior to migrating the data and installing the SSD so I thought "cool, one of the updates fixed the bluetooth issue".

Unfortunately, after I finished the SSD install and screwed the bottom back on the R7 the bluetooth functionality is gone again... I have no idea why this happened, what caused it to work, and why why it stopped again.
I am tempted to remove the screws from the bottom from the R7 again and see if it "comes back"... I'm just not motivated to do it at the moment.
It would be NICE to have bluetooth working, BUT I dont really need it at this point. If no one else figures this out I may re-visit this issue one day.
I just figured someone else may be able to use this information to put the puzzle together.
It seems like it is somehow hardware related and not a driver issue....???

jtalb5322

I will explore that possibility tonight as I noticed if you have no screws at all, it won't even turn on. And I am missing some screws, (threads stripped out for no reason). Thanks, good idea, and I'll post back if I find anything.

adessmith

That is odd that mine powered up with no screws and yours wouldnt.
Maybe the bottom cover has to make contact in just the right place and the screws help there.

Either way, let us know how your experiments go. I'd love to get BT working and replace my mouse with a bluetooth version with no dongle... (and free up another USB port)

PenguinJim

The battery won't work unless the two central screws underneath the R7 are fully screwed in (as pointed out here). You can still switch on using AC power. Just don't jiggle it! Smiley Wink

blu3r4y

Hi,

do you have some new information regarding to the bluetooth functionality with the Intel 7260 WiFi card?

I'm looking forward to replace my Broadcom WiFi card and I really would like to have a working bluetooth chip on-board for my bluetooth mouse.

As mentioned on another thread, bluetooth should work when you install it's driver FIRST. Is this true? (http://community.acer.com/t5/Notebooks-Netbooks/Wifi-upgrade-on-Acer-R7-intel-7260-card/m-p/198463#M33581)

Or is there any other option? Like getting a working Broadcom WiFi card?

Thanks in advance!

Mario

blu3r4y

Quick Update:

Bluetooth works with my Intel 7260 WiFi card (Model: 7260HMW). I am using the latest Intel PROset driver.

However, sometimes on startup the Bluetooth device shows an exclamation mark in device manager and is not useable. A temporary work-around is to uninstall the driver by right-click and scan for hardware changes - the bluetooth device gets recognized again and starts up correctly. I could not find a permanent fix for this rare issue.

Mario

jtalb5322

I've never, NEVER, gotten any response in device manager for the Intel bluetooth. I thought I read somewhere that the mini pcie connector in the r7 isn't actually wired like a full standard mini pcie. I tried to test by soldering usb connection on card, pins 36 and 38, to a usb port, but connections are way to small on the pcie connector for me to mess with. I'm just using bluetooth dongle when I need it.

jtalb5322

That's with several different bluetooth driver versions also. Nothing worked for me. Also tried aida64, and didn't report any bluetooth or usb connection unkown.

blu3r4y

Wow, that's strange. Maybe we got slightly different Intel 7260 WiFi cards and your card has same compatibility problems with the R7 ???
I bought mine a few weeks ago from Amazon in Germany. Here's a picture of my card:

61u167EBR+L.jpg

I installed Intel PROSet Version 17.0.2 from 08.05.2014, which is VERY up-to-date. Have you tried this one?
(https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=eng&changeLang=true&DwnldId=23868)

Here are some drive details: (sorry for the german language)

Screenshot 2014-05-31 22.51.02.png Screenshot 2014-05-31 22.51.25.png

And sometimes it doesn't get recognized. In fact it says "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)":

Screenshot 2014-05-31 22.51.02.png

Screenshot 2014-05-31 22.51.25.png

61u167EBR+L.jpg

Screenshot 2014-05-31 23.01.45.png

jtalb5322

I will try that later. Thank you.

jtalb5322

I think i was already on that version, as when i went to install, it asked for repair or remove. I tried repair. No difference. I will pull the card and compare to your picture when i get a chance. I've been living without it working for a good while, i just keep re-visiting the issue cause it's something to do. I can live without it, but it's in there, it should work. These are the fun little problems that sometimes keep me thinking. Thanks.

adessmith

I really think this is some sort of physical/mechanical issue and not a driver issue.
Bluetooth does not even appear in my device manager.
At some point, when I didn't have all the screws in the bottom of my R7 (or possibly NO screws, I cant remember), bluetooth actually showed up and worked... then after completeting the HDD install I was working on, and fully securing the bottom to the laptop, it disappeared again...

blu3r4y

Yeah, it seems like a buggy hardware / antenna problem. I experienced a similar behavior on my R7 while assembling the WiFi card.
I even read about such curious problems with open and closed notebooks cases.

Moreover I just wanted to add, though my bluetooth does show up in the device manager, it's everything else than stable ...
On daily use it has some serious problems, e.g. it disconnects my bluetooth mouse every ~ 15 minutes ...
By now I just don't use bluetooth - it's frustrating.

Mario

gemman69

I have just installed the Intel 7260 card. It worked with the old driver installed right away. Excellent performance, but the bluetooth doesn't even show up in device manager. I then installed the Intel driver, but no difference.

Has anyone ever actually solved this issue?

adessmith1

https://community.acer.com/t5/Legacy-Laptops-and-Netbooks/The-only-way-I-get-my-Bluetooth-working-is-to-reset-the-battery/td-p/477931

I tried this and it works for me. A regular paper clip is not quite small enough... turned off the R7 and removed the power, then held the reset button down on the bottom for a while (with a staple)... restarted, and now bluetooth works!... Not sure how long it will though...

As a side note, I had to create a new username here because it said I didn't have an account. It appears that my account has been deleted somehow and I can't reset my password... I know for a fact I am trying to use the correct email address because I have emails saved from acer that were sent to the address they say is NOT found when I try to reset my password.
Crazy!

I'm thinking it's about time to replace this machine. I spent over $1,000 on it and then had to send it back to the manufacturer multiple times within the first few weeks due to the wifi issue and the space bar issue (which still isn't fixed). Eventually I just had to take it apart and spend the money to fix the wifi problem myself because after mutliple attempts they couldn't seem to get it right... (even after sending me multiple new or refurbished units). and then bluetooth would never work after replacing the wifi chip... I won't EVER be buying an Acer again... When I spend this much money on a brand new laptop I don't expect to have to spend weeks at a time without it shipping it back and forth hoping that one day it works!!! (which is why I gave up after about 3 tries)

These laptops should have been recalled due to their KNOWN problems.
Check out this thread with over 74 PAGES of people complaining and trying to get their laptops fixed!
http://community.acer.com/t5/2013-Archives/Poor-Wifi-on-new-Aspire-R7-571/td-p/94855

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