How to go about debugging an unrecognized bluetooth keyboard on windows?

My new small Bluetooth keyboard is not discoverable by windows 10. I tired to connect it to my kindly fire, and it works there labeling the device as "Bluetooth Keyboard HT7.1".

The Bluetooth light on the keyboard blinks indicating it's searching the laptop. The laptop shows the same loading sign, but never manages to find the device (but Kindle Fire was able to detect the keyboard without any problem).

My laptop supports Bluetooth 4.0, and the keyboard is supposed to be 3.0 compatible.

Any ideas on how to resolve this issue (missing driver, or something?), given that the keyboard works fine with Kindle?

PS: The device came without a manual, and given the website (not named for obvious reasons) from which it was purchased I doubt there's a support website.

Thanks

Muhammad Ali

Posted 2017-08-05T14:56:30.730

Reputation: 101

You probably need the driver. We need the exact make of the keyboard to search for it. – harrymc – 2017-08-05T15:07:18.877

Its "ETCS-Slim Aluminium Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard". Since it's not an established brand, I am not sure what kind of drivers to looks for.

Thanks for all the help – Muhammad Ali – 2017-08-05T15:31:23.310

Answers

Your model, described here, is really puzzling.

On the one hand, it is described as a Bluetooth device, which should be discoverable on your computer if it has Bluetooth, so the USB cable is just for charging. On the other hand, it is also defined as a Wired device.

The two definitions do conflict, or maybe it can be used with both.

Try first to connect the device via Bluetooth. You can also try to find it a driver when connected via USB as described below.

Trying to find a driver for an unknown device is described in the article How to easily find drivers for Unknown Devices in Windows.

You could also use one of the many products that will try to find your drivers. See for example the article 11 Free Driver Updater Tools. However, do not update your existing devices that work fine, even if one of these products claims to have found a better driver.

harrymc

Posted 2017-08-05T14:56:30.730

Reputation: 306 093

I suspect that the unknown device is the USB as it only appears when keyboard is connected via USB. I guess that it's only for charging the device.

The bluetooth connectivity is the mystery here as Kindle Fire can discover the device but windows 10 can't. – Muhammad Ali – 2017-08-05T16:14:13.563

I followed the oldest IT advice in the book:

Have you tried turning it off and on again

And that seems to do the trick. After a system restart windows detected the keyboard in a few moments :|

Muhammad Ali

Posted 2017-08-05T14:56:30.730

Reputation: 101