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[Lizzie Zoom]

I need help please from those on here advanced in IT matters!

I have tried to link my Windows 8, upgraded to 10, desktop PC via a Bluetooth Wireless USB dongle to a Panasonic sound bar.  My laptop is fully paired with the sound bar, and until the previous Bluetooth dongle stopped working when I upgraded to Windows 10, the PC was.

I first tried an apparent all singing all dancing dongle which just gave me a "Driver Error" on the Control Panel screen. I got another one of those, only to have a repeat of that.  I looked up reviews online and others had had problems connecting to Windows 10 and just sent their dongle back.

Two days ago I tried again, via Amazon, with a USB BLUETOOTH BT WIRELESS CSR 4.0 DONGLE, with drivers, and meant to be "Plug &Play" for Windows 7/8/10.  I have again been having to swear out loud and throw things around my front room as, after repeatedly installing, then uninstalling, only to do that again and again (!!!!) I arrive at the same point.

My PC has recognised my Panasonic Sound bar, being shown as successfully connected; it is fully linked. BUT, on the Control Panel screen the Sound bar is shown with "connect" and disconnect" 'buttons, both in grey mode, so not reacting to my constant clicking onto them!!  When I check the link on the dongles details the sound bar, or more precisely speaker, is shown as connected, but when I click on that it displays a "A2DP (sink) device and that prompts me to "connect" it. BUT, again, frustration, as the system after trying to connect just gives me the message "Device failed to respond"!!!!

I have sent an email to the supplier asking for help, but I have noted many cases online where the A2DP (sink) thingy gives people real hassles, so I am not holding my breadth!

As a side issue my iTunes app works fine when just confined to my PC speakers, but is giving me a message of "iTunes detects incompatible Bluetooth software on your computer" and may not work correctly!!  (Once more I have noted online comments that this is not an unusual problem).

So, have any of you simple answers of what is wrong and how I can fix it??  (I have again gone through pages of online Windows system advice, via Bing until I feel sick with the complexity of what I should do - usually I end up with thinking of suicide as a simpler option!!

OR, should I just return this dongle as well?  If so, what can you good guys, hopefully sympathetic for my mental health, suggest as a "good" and easy dongle to use with Windows 10?

I have spent days on this issues, but i want my iTunes being played from my PC through to the Sound bar system eventually!

Many thanks in advance

[TheBoy]

Use a cable.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

And buy a record deck. Digital music is shite. 

[Lizzie Zoom]

Use a cable.

Thanks TB, but plugged in where?

The sound bar is HDMI linked to the TV, with the other ports used by a DVD player and a PlayStation 4.

[TheBoy]

Use a cable.

Thanks TB, but plugged in where?

The sound bar is HDMI linked to the TV, with the other ports used by a DVD player and a PlayStation 4.

Well, assuming the laptop is less than 5 years old, it will have a HDMI socket. But, TBH, it sounds like the soundbar is a bit crap

[Lizzie Zoom]

Use a cable.

Thanks TB, but plugged in where?

The sound bar is HDMI linked to the TV, with the other ports used by a DVD player and a PlayStation 4.

Well, assuming the laptop is less than 5 years old, it will have a HDMI socket. But, TBH, it sounds like the soundbar is a bit crap

I am trying to connect a desktop PC TB.  My iPad plays through my sound bar using Bluetooth fine; in fact the sound is great. Do you mean that I can run a HDMI cable from the PC to the back of the TV and iTunes will play through it, that is sound will come out of the soundbar as the TV sound does?

That sounds very good to me if that is the case

[TheBoy]

Use a cable.

Thanks TB, but plugged in where?

The sound bar is HDMI linked to the TV, with the other ports used by a DVD player and a PlayStation 4.

Well, assuming the laptop is less than 5 years old, it will have a HDMI socket. But, TBH, it sounds like the soundbar is a bit crap

I am trying to connect a desktop PC TB.  My iPad plays through my sound bar using Bluetooth fine; in fact the sound is great. Do you mean that I can run a HDMI cable from the PC to the back of the TV and iTunes will play through it, that is sound will come out of the soundbar as the TV sound does?

That sounds very good to me if that is the case

If its a sub 5yr old desktop it likely has HDMI.

Thats no guarantee that iTunes in particular will play DRM'd music/video through it, as all parts of the chain have to support the copy protection protocols.  Anyone "buying" online music/video need their head examining anyway.  Buy real CDs, which you own, and it doesn't matter what happens to the internet servers, you still own it. And convert them into whatever format you find convenient.

And iTunes on Windows?  Really?  Keep off the sauce.  iTunes is universally shite on Apple computers, and is even more hopeless on Windows. And generally considered insecure.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Use a cable.

Thanks TB, but plugged in where?

The sound bar is HDMI linked to the TV, with the other ports used by a DVD player and a PlayStation 4.

Well, assuming the laptop is less than 5 years old, it will have a HDMI socket. But, TBH, it sounds like the soundbar is a bit crap

I am trying to connect a desktop PC TB.  My iPad plays through my sound bar using Bluetooth fine; in fact the sound is great. Do you mean that I can run a HDMI cable from the PC to the back of the TV and iTunes will play through it, that is sound will come out of the soundbar as the TV sound does?

That sounds very good to me if that is the case

If its a sub 5yr old desktop it likely has HDMI.

Thats no guarantee that iTunes in particular will play DRM'd music/video through it, as all parts of the chain have to support the copy protection protocols.  Anyone "buying" online music/video need their head examining anyway.  Buy real CDs, which you own, and it doesn't matter what happens to the internet servers, you still own it. And convert them into whatever format you find convenient.

And iTunes on Windows?  Really?  Keep off the sauce.  iTunes is universally shite on Apple computers, and is even more hopeless on Windows. And generally considered insecure.

You are right TB, there are no HDMI ports on my PC tower, just loads of USB ports. That is why I have used Bluetooth dongles.

As for iTunes on Windows - well, yes that is what I have and works well through the PC speakers, but was even better through the sound bar when the Bluetooth dongle I had, until upgrading to Windows 10!!

As for CD's I have quite a few. But I do not possibly have as many, or could have so many, as I can get, with the latest ones, via iTunes.  For £9.99 a month it is supplying 1,000's of all the music I want for a PC, an iPad, and an iPod in my grandsons house. It will also support it on my android phone (Windows Nokia Luma 930) if I can be bothered to load the app. The iPad does that function anyway.

You sound like an old man TB who does not agree with the new fangled ways us youngsters now use to get our music

I just need to get the Bluetooth dongle that is right for Windows 10 and actually does what it is meant to do!

So, what dongle should I get please?

[Lizzie Zoom]

I have not given up yet, and I am still looking for the advice I asked for.............

However after what TB says I am now looking at a new desktop PC (or laptop - not even sure about that!!!). Looked at ones available at Argos, but it must have Windows 10 with Office and, of course, Bluetooth!

I may well go back to the Midlands company who built my last two PC's.

Any advice I will always welcome

[TheBoy]

You sound like an old man TB who does not agree with the new fangled ways us youngsters now use to get our music

I've been doing this shit long enough to have seen so many times that the backend servers get turned off (for a variety of reasons), and you are left with nothing.  Apple will do the same, and there have already been rumblings that they will deprecate iTunes in the not too distant future.



As for you issue, remember it might not be a Windows or iTunes problem, or a soundbar problem (although sounders are generally pretty shite), but a blended issue that means the whole chain doesn't work well together.  In this case, it sounds like the copy protection stuff isn't working too well somewhere, probably in the el-cheapo chinky BT driver that came with the dongle.  Might be worth changing out the whole bluetooth stack, or at least uninstalling all the older BT stuff from pre upgrade, and using the default MS stack, and hope there is a driver on Windows Update.

[Viral_Jim]

I have not given up yet, and I am still looking for the advice I asked for.............

However after what TB says I am now looking at a new desktop PC (or laptop - not even sure about that!!!). Looked at ones available at Argos, but it must have Windows 10 with Office and, of course, Bluetooth!

I may well go back to the Midlands company who built my last two PC's.

Any advice I will always welcome

Given that you seem to be well embedded in the apple 'ecosystem' why not get an Apple TV box? This would link direct to your iTunes and play any music you've bought directly from your account without the pc being involved. You can also play stuff that's held locally on your pc itunes via HomeShare (think that's what its called). This would output the media via HDMI into the TV and then out to the soundbar just like any other TV channel. As a bonus you can also watch certain streamed tv channels if you so desire.

The headline price on the new Apple TV is pretty unpalatable (£139 I think) but they take a big hit on resale and you can get a used one, with a year's warranty for about £50.

No doubt TB will be along momentarily to explain how sh!te they are, but I think it would offer a straightforward solution to your issue.

Re. Choosing a bluetooth dongle - I really have no idea, sorry.

[TheBoy]

Nothing against an Apple TV box here, aside from my dislike of Apple...


...despite typing this on a MacBook Pro, tethered to an iPhone to get Internet, and listening to my iPod!  Oh shit, they've hooked me, haven't they

[Lizzie Zoom]

You sound like an old man TB who does not agree with the new fangled ways us youngsters now use to get our music

I've been doing this shit long enough to have seen so many times that the backend servers get turned off (for a variety of reasons), and you are left with nothing.  Apple will do the same, and there have already been rumblings that they will deprecate iTunes in the not too distant future.



As for you issue, remember it might not be a Windows or iTunes problem, or a soundbar problem (although sounders are generally pretty shite), but a blended issue that means the whole chain doesn't work well together.  In this case, it sounds like the copy protection stuff isn't working too well somewhere, probably in the el-cheapo chinky BT driver that came with the dongle.  Might be worth changing out the whole bluetooth stack, or at least uninstalling all the older BT stuff from pre upgrade, and using the default MS stack, and hope there is a driver on Windows Update.

Yes, with iTunes I only pay monthly and can cancel, which I have done on numerous occasions, at anytime.  With IT nothing is certain, nothing guaranteed, and I am just waiting for the whole thing to suffer a major (international) full blown cyber attack.  Been here too long not to be totally cynical about all this new fangled stuff.

Thanks for the advice TB, as you are one person I know is fully conversant with IT systems and all the problems us mere simple mortals will never fully comprehend apart from switching things on and turning them off with some loading in between!!

I am in email discussions with the supplier of the stupid Bluetooth thingy, but if they cannot give me any simple and effective answers, Amazon will be receiving the thing back!  

[Lizzie Zoom]

I have not given up yet, and I am still looking for the advice I asked for.............

However after what TB says I am now looking at a new desktop PC (or laptop - not even sure about that!!!). Looked at ones available at Argos, but it must have Windows 10 with Office and, of course, Bluetooth!

I may well go back to the Midlands company who built my last two PC's.

Any advice I will always welcome

Given that you seem to be well embedded in the apple 'ecosystem' why not get an Apple TV box? This would link direct to your iTunes and play any music you've bought directly from your account without the pc being involved. You can also play stuff that's held locally on your pc itunes via HomeShare (think that's what its called). This would output the media via HDMI into the TV and then out to the soundbar just like any other TV channel. As a bonus you can also watch certain streamed tv channels if you so desire.

The headline price on the new Apple TV is pretty unpalatable (£139 I think) but they take a big hit on resale and you can get a used one, with a year's warranty for about £50.

No doubt TB will be along momentarily to explain how sh!te they are, but I think it would offer a straightforward solution to your issue.

Re. Choosing a bluetooth dongle - I really have no idea, sorry.

Thanks jimmy!

If I had an Apple box I would be committed to yet another contract with payment, as I have in the past had Sky and BT, but now enjoy the simplicity of Freeview Play that gives me everything I need.

I am retired now, but in the commercial world I had to deal with our companies IT Management provider spending all too much time on the phone running through their instructions, involving delving into the dark world of programme checks, corrections, and everything else, to get our main servers working again. Thank God I do not have to deal with that shite again!!

No, I like things simple and there to enjoy without mucking around with IT; leave that to the youngsters and the likes of TB!

As for the dongle, bloody things!!, I am now just considering updating my dest top PC with a newer model that has Bluetooth and loads of HDMI sockets.  It will have Windows 10 again, but now I just want to source the cheapest and easiest way of getting certain programmes like Office with Excel and Powerpoint, let alone any other model useful ones.  My current system is 6 years old now so no doubt considered obsolete!!

[Viral_Jim]

If I had an Apple box I would be committed to yet another contract with payment, as I have in the past had Sky and BT, but now enjoy the simplicity of Freeview Play that gives me everything I need.

Lizzie, this isn't correct. By default there is no subscription. I believe you can subscribe to specific channels and pay for them if you choose to. You can also buy films and boxed sets via iTunes and your Apple TV will play those for you. However, if all you want is music, it's just the Apple TV box and your iTunes login that you need.