[Hama Bluetooth Dongle Drivers For Mac
Addison Mauldin
Turns out the dongle(Hama 49218) is imcompatible with the Surface Keyboard. I can't find any one else confirming this, but changing to a different make of dongle(Belkin Mini bluetooth v4.0) solved the issue immediately.
Just another data point. I'm able to use the Microsoft Surface Keyboard on Windows 7 with a Rosewill RNX-BT402 bluetooth adapter. Just had to make sure I installed the drivers from the Rosewill website.
edit 1: If the keyboard does not respond, try turning off the bluetooth adapter by right clicking on bluetooth icon -> open settings (not Turn off adapter) -> put checkmark on Turn off bluetooth adapter -> OK. Then right click bluetooth adapter -> Turn on. Try keyboard again.
edit 2: FYI there are many WIDCOMM driver versions. You must have the WIDCOMM driver package installed, as it starts the bluetooth service. Just having the driver for the adapter (Broadcom BCM20702) alone is not enough.
Background:
After much searching and digging through outdated forums and support threads (usually peppered with snide, and unhelpful commentary), I managed to successfully set-up a Bluetooth dongle on my Macbook. There seems to be a lot of people trying to figure out how to accomplish this seemingly simple task, but not that many offering working solutions, so I decided to add to the cause.
As an aside, I have no idea why Apple decided to put their Bluetooth card, Wifi card, and USB 3.0 ports within the same couple-square-inches of one another, but I felt like if any interference was to blame for the abysmal range of my peripherals, it was likely on the inside of the Macbook itself - not much I could do about that.
I'm now able to use my mouse without having to place it on the wrong side of my desk in order for it to be close enough to my PC and can even comfortably connect my bluetooth headphones (something I'd given up entirely), and wear them out of the room.
Neither of these is not a problem ifyou can easily use the built in keyboard and mouse on your laptop. However, I use my laptop more like a desktop when I'm at home. That is, I keep it closed and tucked away on a shelf beside my desk and use external monitors with BT peripherals. The shelf is such that I can't open my laptop without removing it, which is a significant nuisance requiring me to unplug everything, log in, and plug everything back in. If you're in a similar situation, you'll want to have a USB keyboard and/or mouse handy.
I restart infrequently so this is, at worst, a mild inconvenience to me - one which I have neither the time nor desire to research/devise a solution. If a solution is possible, it would likely involve Automator, startup scripts, Terminal, and/or modifications to configuration files which could impact system stability (which is why Apple essentially made them off-limits when they introduced System Integrity Protection in macOS Sierra). Furthermore, I'm all-too-familiar with the sparsity of resources on this topic, and it's just not worth it for me. If someone knows or finds a way to address this issue, by all means, share in the comments section I'll link to it at the appropriate spot in the tutorial (with appropriate citation, of course).
To install, simply open another Finder window, navigate to your Applications folder, then click and drag the Bluetooth Explorer icon there from the .dmg window. Once it's copied over, BTE should automatically appear when you view your Launchpad.
IMPORTANT: If you are using a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse at this point, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CONNECTION TO THOSE DEVICES W THIS STEP. Either plug in non-BT peripherals or be prepared to use the ones built into your laptop. When you're ready:
I'm using a Magic Mouse with my MacBook Pro and Mountain Lion. The cursor sometimes start to lag. I figured, the reason for this could be the distance between my Mac and the mouse (about 1.5 meters / 5 foot).
I bought an external USB Bluetooth dongle I want to plug into my monitor on my desk, so the mouse is closer to the controller. However, I can't figure out how to make OS X use the external dongle instead of the built in controller.
When I go into System Prefs > Bluetooth and hold the Option key to display the reception, I see that it is the strongest when it's next to my Mac and not when it's next to the dongle. So what can I do to change that? Thanks!
Edit: This no longer appears to work as of at least macOS 14 and Apple Silicon. I believe Bluetooth Explorer worked (if you already had it) for at least some functionality on macOS 13 on Intel. On my current M2 system, not a single bit of Bluetooth Explorer works correctly, so if you have it you can probably trash it.
The easiest way to use the USB adapter is to reboot. If you hold down the Option key while clicking on the Bluetooth menu icon, the MAC address of the adapter should be different. You can also verify in System Profiler. You'll know it's working if any existing pairings break.
The on / off button in System Preferences is a little buggy. Turning off the adapter works fine, but clicking "on" turned the internal adapter back on. I had to unplug the adapter, plug it back in, and then turn Bluetooth back on.
If you want to work around this without rebooting, you can use Bluetooth Explorer from the OS X developer tools. You'll need a (free) developer account. There's a ton of useful tools to debug interference, pairing issues, and so on.
Looked in here: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration. There i found a bluetooth plist file. I trashed it, rebooted, and then my USB dongle was finally recognized. I did not need to reset any SMC, NVRAM.
You shouldn't have that much of a reception issue from 1.5 meters. Even with some interference between the mini and your mouse, BT should be fine so I might be suspect of something else causing the issue rather than the Mac Mini BT card. But yeah, go into System Preferences > Bluetooth and turn it off.
I am trying to compile a list of USB BT Dongles that will work with XP/LabVIEW. I have bought 18 dongles and only 6 of them work with LabVIEW, if anyone else know of any that are not listed, please can you add to the list for the benefit of the community - thanks!
When using Bluetooth with LabVIEW you must use a device that is supported by the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack or the WIDCOMM stack. The following list shows currently known USB dongles that offer this support. This is due to the bluetooth implementation working on the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack so that it can support many devices, instead of seperate drivers for each device type. If a USB dongle is not supported by the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (and therefore LabVIEW) then this is a Microsoft Issue. This is included in the XP Service Pack 2, and is available from Microsoft to install it on Service Pack 1. You can check if you have the correct driver installed by right-clicking on My Computer Properties Hardware Device Manager Bluetooth Radios. Expand Bluetooth radios and ensure that the Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator appears in that list.
Devices supported by Microsoft Bluetooth Stack, and thus LabVIEW (under Windows)
Tha above list was compiled in 2007, and does not appear to have been updated so I will add your known working devices to our list. It would be useful to know if you installed any software included with the device or not.
What I'll do is keep an eye on the thread for a few days to let other people add to the list, then I'll update things at our end in one go. But this thread can always be added to anyways, and I'll make sure a link to it is kept on our records too.
I have found Windows 7 to support natively many, many more BT dongles than XP. I have about 25 different USB dongles and only half of them would work with LV & WinXP but almost all of them work with Win7 by simply plugging them in (and not installing any drivers).
I can look into this issue for you, when you get this error is it when running a VI? Also could you look in device manager > bluetooth for me and let me know which drivers are installed for your system?
Contents hide1Package contents2Safety instructions3Product characteristics4System requirements5Getting started6Care and maintenance7Warranty disclaimer8Recycling information8.1Note on environmental protection:9Declaration of Conformity10Documents / Resources10.1References11Related PostsPackage contents
- Bluetooth v5.0 USB Adapter
- These operating instructions
- Protect the product from dirt, moisture and overheating and use it in dry environments only.
- Do not use the product in areas in which electronic products are not permitted.
- Do not use the product in a damp environment and avoid splashing water.
- Do not drop the product and do not expose it to any major shocks
- Dispose of packaging material immediately in accordance with the locally applicable regulations.
- Do not modify the product in any way. Doing so voids the warranty.
- This product is intended for private, non-commercial use only.
- Use the product only for the intended purpose.
- Do not use the product in the immediate vicinity of heaters, other heat sources or in direct sunlight.
- Only use the article under moderate climatic conditions.
- As with all electrical products, this device should be kept out of the reach of children.
Please be aware that the maximum range may be reduced by obstacles such as walls, people, etc.
Warning:
Do not force the device into the USB socket. Doing so can damage the USB port. The drivers and software for your Hama product are already integrated into Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7. The installation of additional drivers is therefore not necessary. The integrated Bluetooth Stack supports all common Bluetooth profiles, which means that the installation of an additional Bluetooth Stack is not required.
Hama GmbH & Co KG assumes no liability and provides no warranty for damage resulting from improper installation/mounting, improper use of the product or from failure to observe the operating instructions and/or safety notes.Recycling informationNote on environmental protection:
Following the implementation of European Directive 2012/19/EU and 2006/66/EU into the national legal systems, the following applies: Electrical and electronic devices as well as batteries must not be disposed of with household waste. Consumers are obliged by law to return electrical and electronic devices as well as batteries to the designated public collection points or to the point of sale at the end of their service lives. Detailed information on this topic is defined in the national laws of the respective country. This presence of the above symbol on the product, operating instructions or package indicates that the product is subject to these regulations. By recycling, reusing the materials or other forms of utilising old devices/batteries, you are making an important contribution to protecting our environment.