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X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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marnav1
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2024 12:38 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#1 Post by marnav1 » Thu Jan 23, 2025 6:56 am

:mrgreen: Hello all newbie here,
Attempting to uprade from the stock BT 3.0 with no success at all. So far I've tried a few different things. Most of the steps I have tried are from the McConneltech site. I have tried various WLAN cards and daughtercards, the wireless speed was better but the BT upgrades didnt work. I have updated the BIOS with the whitelist removed and WiMax is enabled. PC is W10.
Installed W10/W7 drivers, did not work. The only combo that works is the stock setup that came with the computer which of course is BT 3.0. I can list the different cards I have tried if needed. I also bought a USB BT dongle and followed the instructions to a tee (TP Link 500 model) , it doesnt work either. I'm guessing its probly a setting in the bios, but except for the WiMax I do not know what else to look at. I have done alot of research on this but nothing has worked so far. Suggestions questions comments from those who have been down this path helpful.
I am also attempting BT upgrade to my T520, with similar results. Thanks ahead of time.

axur-delmeria
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Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#2 Post by axur-delmeria » Thu Jan 23, 2025 9:49 am

1. You can replace the Bluetooth adapter itself. It's next to the right speaker. The X230, T430/430s/530, and W530 come with a BT 4.0 adapter: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Bluetoot ... rd_(BDC-4).

2. You can try covering pin 51 on the mini-PCIe edge connector to force-enable the Bluetooth section of a WiFi+BT combo card.

3. Did you remove the original Bluetooth adapter before installing the WiFi+BT combo card?
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

marnav1
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Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2024 12:38 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#3 Post by marnav1 » Thu Jan 23, 2025 1:32 pm

Hello,
I've tried 3 different BT cards, none of them would connect to anything. I specifically bought a newer WiFi Bt card and scraped off pin 51, no joy. I tried it with the daughtercard removed, doesnt connect. I can see the BT devices but when I hit connect it says that didnt work. When I put it back to stock it connects immediately.

TPFanatic
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Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#4 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Jan 23, 2025 6:17 pm

i am under the impression windows gets confused about having more than one BT card in the machine.

have you tried removing the stock card prior to using a plugged in card?

Hope things work out for you. Best.

marnav1
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2024 12:38 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#5 Post by marnav1 » Fri Jan 24, 2025 6:00 am

Its probly some simple little thing, I am pretty new at this so stumbling my way thru is part of it. Its just weird I can see the devices, but connection fails except with the stock setup. I thought for sure the USB dongle would work, the driver downloaded fine but it doesnt connect either. I've watched youtube videos where the guy just installs the BT 4.0 daughtercard and it works, I tried two different ones 60Y3303/3305 neither one connects for me. :mrgreen:

RealBlackStuff
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Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Jan 24, 2025 7:29 am

Check that BIOS/Security/IO-Port Access/Bluetooth is ENabled.
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axur-delmeria
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Re: X220 Bluetooth Upgrades

#7 Post by axur-delmeria » Fri Jan 24, 2025 8:17 am

marnav1 wrote: I thought for sure the USB dongle would work, the driver downloaded fine but it doesnt connect either. I've watched youtube videos where the guy just installs the BT 4.0 daughtercard and it works, I tried two different ones 60Y3303/3305 neither one connects for me. :mrgreen:
Uninstall the old BT driver, or try with a fresh Windows install, I guess?
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

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