Skype + bluetooth.

[niki]

I am having problem with my skype + bluetooth I have tried connecting it many times and also tried USB connection but the connection is not stable. What could be the problem.

[blasted]

I have found a guide on the problem you have.Please tell me if this is any good it looks quite positive.

1) Buy a Bluetooth version 1.1 or version 1.2 dongle with Class 1 reach ("up to 100 meters"). The brand of the dongle is not important (as long as it is not Sony Vaio!), but it is very important to check the specs of the dongle to make sure it supports "headset" services. You should go for Bluetooth version 1.2 if possible, as it has better headset support and is less susceptible to WLAN interference.
My dongle uses the Widcomm drivers and as far as I know, all Widcom drivers from version 1.4.2.10 and up support headsets. Alternative drivers are from BlueSoleil, but I don't know much about them (search the Forum for tips on BlueSoleil!).

2) Download latest drivers for the dongle from the producers' website (if avaliable).

3) Make an XP back-up point (just to be sure).

4) Install the dongle using the latest drivers for your dongle according to the manual and then reboot. In most cases, Bluetooth is NOT working correctly now - the Widcomm Bluetooth "B" icon in the system tray (lower right of your screen) is red. You might also see a white and light blue "B" icon, but that is the Microsoft Bluetooth (bad!).

Added note September 2005: Many Bluetooth dongle producers are now aware of the troubles with Microsoft drivers and have added functions in the drivers that do automatically disable the MS BT drivers, so you might be lucky that everything works fine (white non-MS BT icon) right after installing the drivers. If not continue to the next step!

5) Go through "Start" > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "System" > "Hardware" > "Device manager" and then expand "Bluetooth devices". You will most probably see two different Bluetooth drivers - one from Microsoft and a "Generic" or "CSR" (or other) driver.

6) Disable the Microsoft driver - DO NOT remove! This is the problem with XP SP2 - Microsoft Bluetooth drivers will allways be installed and will override Widcomm drivers, but they have no support for headsets! If you remove the driver, it will reinstall again if/when the dongle is reconnected, so do only disable. Hopefully one day soon MS drivers will support and work with headsets and the Bluetooth headsets will finally just be "plug and play"...

7) Right-click on the "non-MS" Bluetooth driver and choose "Update driver...". Click along in order to get to where you can manually select the driver for your dongle (the "Have disk..." option). Point to the file called "btwusb.inf" on CD or in downladed driver files and update with this driver. Reboot only if necessary. Bluetooth "B" icon in your system tray should be white now - if that is the case, then non-MS Bluetoth is now working on your PC and you're half-way through!
This is how your Bluetooth icon should look - now you're ready to play! :wink:

Note: The Microsoft Bluetooth icon will always remain visible in the control panel (root directory), but that is no problem!

8 ) Activate Bluetooth on your PC and pair with your headset according to the manual (quite simple but it takes a few steps). Experience shows that it is a good idea not to activate the "audio gateway" profile, but only the "headset" profile. If you know that you need other profiles for e.g. file sharing over BT or other stuff, then do activate those profiles, but keeping it to a minimum will surely minimize the risk of setup errors!

9) Close Skype completely, restart Skype and then choose "Bluetooth Audio" as sound input and output in Skype.

10) Connect your headset from the PC (Right-click on BT icon on the lower right of the screen, choose "Fast connection" > "Headset" and then choose your headset). Receive the incoming call on the headset itself (press "accept call" button when you hear a repeating sound in the headset). If the Bluetooth "B" in the system tray goes green, you're nearly there! Your headset is now in "call" mode so it does consume battery at the highest rate (my Logitech still has power for 6 hours in this state). All audio on your PC now goes through the headset.

11) Make a test call to Skype profile "echo123" and do a test recording.

12) If your hear audio and your own recorded testcall, you're done! CONGRATULATIONS!