Thinkpads Forum

I have had a T61 for about 3 weeks now, and have installed Vista 64 on it. For some reason, I can't enable the Bluetooth radio. The drivers won't install properly, because the radio is not enabled. The Fn + F5 key doesn't do anything to turn it on, what am I missing?

Here is the proof (I think) from my order that I should have Bluetooth as expected, but I am starting to wonder if it is missing or malfunctioning:

62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42X1482 SBB BLUETOOTH W/ ANTENNA
42X1483 SBB BLUETOOTH SCREW
42V8654 SBB CL.PLATE T61WLAN BLTOOTH

Thanks for any help. If I do need to call Lenovo, who do I call on this? I am coming from 9 years of Dell laptops, but really like the Thinkpad better so far.

-Josh

Check that it is enabled in the BIOS.
With my T60p, it was disabled by default. Took me 4 hours to figure out

Did you look in Mobility Center in Vista for bluetooth control? I know WAN on/off is located there (sorry, I currently don't have a Vista install).

Generally for Fn + F5 to work in Vista, you need the ACPI Power Management driver, the Lenovo System Interface driver, and the Hotkeys feature driver. This along with the Lenovo supplied wireless drivers for Vista.

Hmm, I think I am definitely missing something. I have looked in the BIOS before and looked again and I just plain must be overlooking the setting that enables Bluetooth. Any chance you remember what it is? Also - I looked in Windows Mobility center and didn't see it there. I think my problem is that the hardware is not enabled, therefore the BT drivers won't install (and device manager doesn't even see it) and so secondary programs such as Windows Mobility Center don't see it either. Thanks!

-Josh

I don't have a T61, but it looks like the BIOS setting should be under Config > Network > Internal Bluetooth Device. You may have to scroll down to see it.

GomJabbar - thanks for sticking with me on this one. Unfortunately, I seem to be missing it.

In BIOS under Config -> Network, I only have the following settings:

- Wake on LAN
- Flash over LAN
- Ethernet LAN option ROM
- Hard Drive Direct Memory Access (DMA) (weird place for this?)
- Wireless LAN Radio Frequency

Nothing for Bluetooth? Would this be the first time in history that a Thinkpad came off the assembly line and a component that was ordered was inadvertantly left off?

I was getting my information from the following link: BIOS simulator - ThinkPad T60/p wide screen. I don't see a BIOS simulator for a T61.

Why don't you go to the following link and see what parts shipped with your ThinkPad? Parts lookup

If you see bluetooth listed there, then you probably have a hardware problem. If bluetooth is not listed, then you either mistakenly ordered a ThinkPad without bluetooth, or there was a mistake at the factory. I am not sure, but I think this webpage queries your ThinkPad to actually see which parts were installed.

You can run PC Doctor for DOS to further check for bluetooth.
PC Doctor for DOS bootable CD - ThinkPad

GomJabbar wrote:
Why don't you go to the following link and see what parts shipped with your ThinkPad? Parts lookup

That link is pretty cool, and shows no sign of Bluetooth. I guess I need to call them since I have confirmed that it shows up on my order receipt and I paid for it.

Hi!

Just FYI, when I did a clean install of Vista on my R61, I could not enable Bluetooth either and pressing Fn-F5 did not do anything.

After installing the Lenovo Hotkey software, pressing Fn-F5 opened up a window allowing me to enable the Bluetooth radio. After that, the computer on its own recognized the hardware and installed all the necessary software (it probably helped that I had Lenovo's System Update also installed).

I hope this helps, at least a little bit!

Pablo B.

How 'bout that little hardware switch in the front of the machine that disables all wireless? =/