Bluetooth Headset mic records static sound only

I got the Motorola H500 to use with Skype. I made a test call, and for the first minute everything was working fine. But then it started exhibiting the same static as described here in this thread: there is a pattern of static with a couple tones mixed in and repeated about once per second. Quite disappointing.

Can someone please upload a copy of this .kext from Leopard < 10.5.4 ?

Some people suggest it works in 10.5.2! Could fixing this be as simple as using an older .kext?

It's my experience with *BSD architectures that new driver updates (kernel modules) often tend to break older drivers. Mac OS is no exception, it's more or less FreeBSD with a very classy user interface. (...and gnutar instead of bsdtar?!)

I think the other one is here:

/system/library/extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBUHCI.kext

Could someone with an older version of Leopard please upload this one as well?

If you need help doing this please e-mail me!

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edit: I'm really not sure about the AppleUSBUHCI.kext kernel module plugin. I # du /system | grep HCI and it's the closest plugin I could find to "AppleUSBHCIController"!
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To upload your .kext files if you have Leopard < 10.5.4 (preferably 10.5.2) type these commands in Terminal: (this will allow me to test the older .kexts to see if they will allow the bluetooth headsets to work properly once again)

1)
tar -cvf ~/Desktop/AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController.tar /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBBlue toothHCIController.kext

2)
gzip ~/Desktop/AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController.tar

3)
tar -cvf ~/Desktop/AppleUSBUHCI.tar /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBUHCI.kext

4)
gzip ~/Desktop/AppleUSBUHCI.tar


Then load up Firefox / Safari and:

http://www.rapidshare.com press the "Browse" button, select the .tar.gz (tarball) from your desktop and it will be uploaded. Post the link in here. Do this for both files!

I would like to add some knowledge I made myself. There is not a problem with specific headsets, it's the Mac that has the problem, no matter what headset you use. You can bring your Mac to generate the static without even having a Bluetooth headset connected! Some audio programs allow you to select a headset even if the headset is not active (i.e. switched off), an example is Audio Companion from Roni Music (http://www.ronimusic.com). Just select your Bluetooth headset as input and wait for the static to appear. Then switch your headset off, the static will keep coming. The static is obviously coming out of your Macintosh, either out of the Bluetooth module or the driver.

Hi,

I have solved the issue by using a usb dongle from Callpod that was released last month. The product url is: http://www.callpod.com/products/drone

Have tested it so far with iChat, Skype, iSoftphone, eyeBeam with a Plantronics 510 and Motorola 500 headsets and it works perfectly.

While having to use a dongle when you have built-in bluetooth is a little painful, it's great to having the bluetooth headset working with my voip while travelling.

Murch.

Hi thanks for the latest news.

Thats two people who have said it works using a Dongle. I suppose until Apple fixes this, we will have to resort to the Dongle. Having only ever owned a mac with bluetooth, i will have to go and see if i can find one, not knowing what it was before.

I hope Apple can do something about this soon.

I will be sure to let the Genius Bar people at my local Apple store know how to get around the problem because they had never heard of the problem (not ever having tried to use a bluetooth headset with a mac!!!! Can you believe it??) and did not know how to fix it.

Thanks again,
Bryce

hi There,
I am in the same situation. my BT headset was working fine with iBook G4 on tiger, then I moved to leopard and macbook and whole thing is broken. not only sound quality is miserable, range is lover than before (under 10 feet, was 40) also it does not disconnect when you drop skype phonecall. Whole thing is very windowsy, and frankly, I hate it. Apple is about to loose me.

*My question, was it officially reported as bug? Yes/No? Is apple working on fix? Yes/No? Is there workaround? Why does it work with BT dongle? Does it?*

I can confirm this still happens with 10.5.6 as well. I have a Plantronics Discovery 925 and cannot use it with the iMac due to the static. When pairing the headset I can hear audio through it, but the mic does not register any sound - only static is generated.

I'm hoping this is something that will be fixed soon - very frustrating to not be able to use the built-in bluetooth and have to buy an external dongle.

I can also confirm that the bluetooth dongle is not a fix-all. It seems to allow me to go for a longer period of time before experiencing the static, but I still get it. I'm using a D-Link DBT-120. Has anyone found a fix for this?

I can confirm the Callpod works great. Even works in some apps my bluetooth headset wouldn't work with when it was working.

I also got their Dragon v2 headset, which has the advantage of a 340' range, but takes a bit of work to make comfortable on your ear. Callpod works fine with my Motorola headset and my Blueant x3 micro too.

The way the callpod works, the mac just sees a usb microphone/speaker, not a bluetooth device, so it gets around all the bluetooth bugs and should work with any app that can use a microphone. Very easy to use, highly recommended if you're not averse to spending a little to fix your issues.

Hi,

I have a total of 6 notebook, all size of mac. recently I bought the macbook pro and gave my old macbook pro to my wife, I also have the macbook air. this is what I found out. my bluetooth headset works so good on my old macbook pro, I talk on skype for hours were just fine. since I bought the macbook air and the new macbook pro. it does not work, no matter how many headset I tried. so I spent time make booking with apple genius bar and driven 45 mins to the shop and tried to find out this problem, after spending 20 mins with the genius , he told me he don't know how to solve this problem and he didn't find any solution from online etc. I am mad.
anyway, I start using the plantronic USB headset [CS50 USB] this headset allow you to use same as wireless, it just plug into your computer with the station and you simply put the headset pcs on your ear and talk and you can walk around your home I think about 50 meter radias . but this one is kind of expensive USD300 . so I believe the new system does not allow bluetooth headset to be used with it.
DL

I just got off the phone to apple support, and the guy I spoke to confirmed that apple are aware of this problem and are working on it. He could not recommend any headsets that would work and suggested that I keep my software up to date so that I get the fix when it is released (no indication when that will be). He also suggested checking the headset manufacturer's websites to see if they release updated drivers to fix the problem.

Message was edited by: astrobadger (typo)

I don't want to disappoint you astrobadger, but judging on what the guy at Apple told you, specifically to check "the headset manufacturer's websites to see if they release updated drivers to fix the problem" indicate that he is clueless. There are no drivers you need to install with a BT headset on a Mac. As far as I know, there is NO Bluetooth headset that properly operates with the new Macbooks + Leopard. The fault resides entirely with the Macbook.

I did so much research here with several Macbooks and PowerBooks and many BT headsets and the conclusion was always the same: there is a problem in the new Macbooks. The problem existed even with older Macbooks and Tiger, but to a lesser extent (poor audio quality and occasional repeated words). There are many hints that indicate that there might even be a hardware problem in the design of the BT module inside the Macbooks, or the cabling (audio feed-back). It might be that our Macbooks will never operate properly with a Bluetooth headset!

The compromise I reached is that I use only the headphone part of the BT headset, while the microphone is the one built into the Macbook.

I don’t think it is a hardware problem as I have a iMac with the same problem. I think it is a software problem. I believe that there were a couple of other posts about how it started when they updated their software. Not sure though. Apple really should fix this.