Dell Venue 8 Not Connecting to Targus Bluetooth Keyboard

There is a bug with 4.3 Android.  Its a tiny thing bug google is not fixing it for 4.3 users.  So you need to wait until Dell pushes the 4.4 release, or you can root the device and get an fix via google play. 

I have called Dell on this and basically they have almost no technical support.  What they have is a crazy ability to route you from person to person who each tell you that this is not their department.  Eventually, you get a dial tone and the whole thing starts anew. Sort of like the movie "Groundhog Day" but way less funny.

And Google?  They also seem to be pretty uncaring as far as I can tell. 

So I am hoping Dell pushes Android 4.4 for the Venue 7 / 8 (Dell is saying publicly that they are going to but they have not told their "technical support" people, so who knows).

I just got a Dell Venue Pro 8 and updated to Windows 8.1 immediately after turning it on for the first time. I don't know whether it could connect using Bluetooth before because I didn't try it out. But it certainly can't right now. I couldn't even find where the Bluetooth setting was. Ridiculously not user friendly.

Looking through other help I went to Device Manager under control panel and uninstalled and removed the Bluetooth driver. Now, after restarting, the driver appears new and unrecognized, but I don't know which one to choose to run it as! What is it?

Well I think I found it. Then I choose it. The tablet recognizes it. But I still get the same error. Under QualComm Atheros, choose Dell Wireless 1538 802.11 a/g/n Adapter and I don't know if I've even chosen the right one. But while one of them says it works it has installed... twice? And Dell Wireless 1538 802.11 a/g/n Adapter #2 says: "Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it." and "This device cannot start. (Code 10)." This was the same error message as before my whole saga.

Restart again... only to get blue screen of death that tells me Bad_Pool_Error so FML FML FML. Oh wait. It restarts quickly and easily. Unfortunately, still no Bluetooth connectivity whatsoever. I delete the Apapter #2 and keep the one that claims to be working properly, hoping I even have the right things. Why did I wait so late in the day to give up and call tech support tomorrow? Because I am an idiot.

Also, a Bluetooth bug on the Windows 8.1 update is STUPID. That's not my fault. This device only has one mini USB that can convert to a female regular USB so I can plug in my mouse -- I was counting on Bluetooth for the keyboard. Today has been such a massive timesuck. Better luck tomorrow. To all out there with similar frustrations, I feel your pain. I am still hoping that Windows 8 in the long run will be a turning point toward a more user-friendly interface because frustrations like these are the whole reason I left Windows eight years ago and switched to Mac for most computing. However, I figured that updating my old MacBook Pro at this point would be as much money as a cheap Widows 8 tablet like the Venue, so I would keep my Mac out of date but working fine rather than go through the hassle of updating everything and try out Windows 8 on a new tablet. This tablet would be great for me if I could just get the Bluetooth keyboard to work, and it's astonishing that an operating system upgrade has caused so many problems for so many people when the system was supposedly designed with tablets in mind. How can you not work immediately to ensure Bluetooth compatibility the second you find a bug? Microsoft and/or Dell should be posting YouTube videos talking people through how to fix this issue.

UPDATE: IT WORKED!!! WOOO!

I gave it one last shot of installing the driver and restarting -- apparently it didn't take the first time. Reboot. NOW BLUETOOTH ICON APPEARS.

Sorry if I made it sound hopeless. Hope my experiences help someone else. Always try installing again and again and restarting.

The original post was referring to the venue 8 not the venue 8 pro. The Venue 8, which is based on Android 4.3 has the bug which sadly causes Bluetooth keyboards to not work.