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Asked — Edited

Questions With Bluetooth Usb Dongle

I was able to get my system up and running Christmas day using the USB Dongle purchased in addition to the Kit. Built the example BoxBot and everything ran fine all day. Today when we got ready to build our own robot from scratch, we could not get the computer to recognize the dongle. I tried it in every USB port with the same result. Even tried changing computers with no success. I can make the wireless camera work with any usb port so I assume it has to the dongle not the computer. Looking around on the web it looks like there are lots of issues using Bluetooth dongles. Any suggestions?


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Synthiam
#1  
Sounds like the computer and the ez-b have already been "paired". The steps in the tutorial page for adding the Bluetooth have already been completed. Therefore, you only need to re-connect using the same COM port as you did last time:)
#2  
Thanks for the quick response. I tried to reconnect this morning. When I go to EZ-B I cannot get the comm ports to come up in the selection box. I click "refresh" in the connection window and nothing happens.

The Bluetooth icon is not shown on my task bar. When I go to device manager the dongle is not detected by the computer.

Using my phone I can detect the EZ-Robot (I did not try to pair with it just wanted to make sure it was working).

Could the dongle have gone bad?
#3  
Sounds like it's the Dongle. Other computers wont find it either. Is the little LED light coming on on the Dongle? Only real way to know is to get a new one. Are you close to a Best Buy or other computer store where you can buy one? I had to buy 3 different ones to get mine to work. Turns out it was a combo of wrong Bluetooth drivers and my ignorance. When I finally noticed there was a light to show power I knew it was me and not the Dongle. Then I had to get the proper drivers installed that would work with my computer, the Dongle and EZB. EZ Robot only supports native MS Bluetooth drivers. However I was lucky enough to get mine to work with a well known Bluetooth driver other then MS. The MS drivers would not work with the Dongle I had. I do NOT recommend you try anything other then MS Bluetooth drivers though.

Good luck and have fun. Once you get past the BT problem it's a blast.
United Kingdom
#4  
Try unpairing the device from the bluetooth dongle (devices and printers, right click on ez-robot, click on remove device)

Then, power the EZB again and add device in devices and printers, it should pick up the EZB again and install the two com ports for it again.
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Synthiam
#5  
Windows is a bit finicky sometimes. Try unplugging the Bluetooth dongle and rebooting your computer. Usually a reboot fixes everything:)
#6  
I tried a new dongle and was able to get it to work. I will try using the original later just to make sure. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions.
France
#7  
Hey guys, sorry to bring that old topic up, but I don't think creating a new one is good, since this one is pretty close to my problem.

I got the complete kit and can't get the dongle to install the camera driver on my computer..
Tried it on another computer, it does work (at least it says wireless bluetooth device), but not on mine (I'm using windows 8 64).

I tried rebooting, nothing changed, and I opened the dongle to check it, it looks alright.
There is a constant red light on, whenever it's plugged in my computer (the same happens with the other computer though). I also tried to keep pushing the button on the dongle for a few seconds, nothing changes.

Therefore, without the proper driver, the wireless camera doesn't appear in the scroll menu of the ARC when I want to add a camera. Is there a way to get this driver online? (Couldn't find it so far... Or maybe the USB dongle has other purposes making him necessary to operate the camera anyways.)

To be more precise, my computer says the USB device is not recognized. I tried it on all my USB ports, always get the same error, any suggestions would be appreciated:)

Thanks a lot!

Adrien
France
#8  
Any ideas? I can create a new topic if this is required!
#9  
I lose connection all the time with Bluetooth... I just unplug the usb dongle, then wait a few seconds then plug it back in... I then cycle the power on the ezb controller... Frustrating to say the least... I home the EZB4 (wifi) will have a much more robust connection from PC to controller
France
#10  
Hey thanks for your comment. I tried the dongle on another computer, and I get the camera feedback. I guess the problem stems from my computer Usb ports then. Any ideas on how to make it work? I tried unpluging it for a few second, as well as resetting the computer, trying other ports, but still getting the malfunctionning USB message..

Thanks!
#11  
I unfortunately don't have time to give detailed instructions right now, but maybe this will lead you to the appropriate google searches.

If you go into Device Manager, you should see either an unknown, or a malfunctioning device listed (when the dongle is plugged in). Delete the device, then unplug the dongle, and plug it back in and let Windows try to recognize it again. It should not need a driver, it shows up as a generic video device.

If that doesn't work, post back here. I ordered early when DJ was still shipping a driver disk. I'll post the driver somewhere you can download to see if that works (again, it shouldn't need it, which is why DJ stopped including it, but since your computer is not cooperating, it might help).

Alan
#12  
After you delete the driver in device manager you may want to reboot your computer before you try reinstalling the new driver. It couldn't hurt
United Kingdom
#13  
In theory you shouldn't need to reboot, however in theory you shouldn't have any problems. And since it's windows rebooting is a good idea:)

I have a feeling I have posted the driver for the camera (from Windows 7) on the forums before, if you still have problems and/or if Alan (@thetechguru) doesn't get around to finding/posting it I'll see if I still have it or can find it.
France
#14  
Hey all,

Thanks for these suggestions. Tried to remove the dongle from the device manager, but when I plug it back, I'm still getting the error. Tried the same on all my ports, still not working. Also tried including a reboot in the process. I then tried to update manually te driver. As you said Rich, you posted it there http://www.ez-robot.com/Community/Forum/posts.aspx?threadId=4098 (generic Windows USB video camera driver).

When I tell the device manager to look for the driver in the folder where I extracted it, it says nothing was found.. I then tried to copy/paste the driver everywhere in System32, SysWow64 and found out it was already in Windows\system32\Drivers\

Hum... I'll keep searching google but got unlucky so far!

But thanks for your help, I hope we'll get this eventually :)
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