Shearwater Petrel bluetooth - Windows 8.1 cannot find it

[bubblevision]

I can get my Petrel to connect to my laptop running Windows XP to upgrade the firmware using the Shearwater dongle, but I can't get it to connect to my desktop PC running Windows 8.1.

At first I tried and failed to connect with my motherboard's (ASUS X99 deluxe) on-board bluetooth adapter. Then after I read the "Alternate Bluetooth Stacks" section in the "troubleshooting" section of Shearwater's Bluetooth Quick Start troubleshooting page I disabled that bluetooth adapter in the BIOS and uninstalled the WIDCOMM Bluetooth software.

Now the Shearwater bluetooth dongle appears to be correctly installed. Under "Bluetooth" in the Device Manager I only have "Generic Bluetooth Radio" and "Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator". No yellow exclamation marks.

However when I put the Petrel into "Wait PC" mode and attempt to add it as a device in Windows 8.1, it just doesn't get discovered.

I have contacted Shearwater to ask, but does anyone have any suggestions of how I can resolve this? Does anyone have it connecting in Windows 8.1?

 

[Agility]

on my Laptop my Predator is only recognized by the builtin Bluetooth adapter after I open the Bluetooth menu and search for COM ports used.
I do not know why I have to open this every time but it works (for me)

 

[darushin]

I can get my Petrel to connect to my laptop running Windows XP to upgrade the firmware using the Shearwater dongle, but I can't get it to connect to my desktop PC running Windows 8.1.

At first I tried and failed to connect with my motherboard's (ASUS X99 deluxe) on-board bluetooth adapter. Then after I read the "Alternate Bluetooth Stacks" section in the "troubleshooting" section of Shearwater's Bluetooth Quick Start troubleshooting page I disabled that bluetooth adapter in the BIOS and uninstalled the WIDCOMM Bluetooth software.

Now the Shearwater bluetooth dongle appears to be correctly installed. Under "Bluetooth" in the Device Manager I only have "Generic Bluetooth Radio" and "Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator". No yellow exclamation marks.

However when I put the Petrel into "Wait PC" mode and attempt to add it as a device in Windows 8.1, it just doesn't get discovered.

I have contacted Shearwater to ask, but does anyone have any suggestions of how I can resolve this? Does anyone have it connecting in Windows 8.1?

I had this issue with a tablet and it turned out to be that Lenovo installed a Bluetooth helper app that was running and that was causing the issue. I uninstalled that app and all was fine. You might want to make sure there are no Bluetooth helper apps in your tray.

Daru

 

[Centexbear]

I can get my Petrel to connect to my laptop running Windows XP to upgrade the firmware using the Shearwater dongle, but I can't get it to connect to my desktop PC running Windows 8.1.

At first I tried and failed to connect with my motherboard's (ASUS X99 deluxe) on-board bluetooth adapter. Then after I read the "Alternate Bluetooth Stacks" section in the "troubleshooting" section of Shearwater's Bluetooth Quick Start troubleshooting page I disabled that bluetooth adapter in the BIOS and uninstalled the WIDCOMM Bluetooth software.

Now the Shearwater bluetooth dongle appears to be correctly installed. Under "Bluetooth" in the Device Manager I only have "Generic Bluetooth Radio" and "Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator". No yellow exclamation marks.

However when I put the Petrel into "Wait PC" mode and attempt to add it as a device in Windows 8.1, it just doesn't get discovered.

I have contacted Shearwater to ask, but does anyone have any suggestions of how I can resolve this? Does anyone have it connecting in Windows 8.1?

I think you'll get a quicker response if you post this question in the Manufacturer subthread under Shearwater.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

There might be a delay in getting a reply. DEMA is this week. Today is a set up day and guessing they may be busy. But rest assured they will get back to you. They've responded to me on Sundays and after normal business hours.

 

[WetLens]

While I like to blame Microsoft for a lot of life's ills, not sure you can hit them up on this one. We have 2 Lenovo Yoga laptops and both worked without a hitch. One of them is the first edition of the Yoga; the other is the latest Yoga Pro. Both are running Windows 8.1. Installed software and drivers per instructions and the Petrel connected first time. I downloaded daily in order to keep my log up to date and never had an issue over a 12 dive-day trip. Easiest transfer of data I've experienced with dive computers. Wife downloaded to hers every few days and again, no problems.

 

[tursiops]

Yes, my Yoga Pro/WIN8.1 connects immediately and perfectly. Couldn't be easier.

 

[hroark2112]

Something else to check is the battery in your Petrel. I find a new battery makes the computer find my Petrel a snap!

 

[ajduplessis]

Sounds like an IO problem

 

[bubblevision]

Thanks for all the advice.

The problem was not because of a drained battery.

I finally got it working. It seems that one of my mistakes was to pair the Petrel with my computer through Windows before attempting to download the logs through Shearwater Desktop. I should have let Shearwater Desktop do more of the work. In fact it only works when the "Bluetooth Network Connection" in Windows is shown as "Not connected", and the Petrel does not appear as a device in either "Devices and Printers" or the "Bluetooth" section of "Device Manager".