Need to unplug and replug my dongle when starting windows for Barracuda X to connect

idk im not using razer synapse

I’ve RMA’d several barracuda X and pro for other reasons but they all have this issue. 

There is no real fix apart from yanking and reseating the dongle. 

Frankly, if you want a good experience (except for the unboxing, which is fun) you shouldn’t buy Razer. 

I’ve been a fanboy because i love their MMO/MOBA mouse lineup. These work fine though they break after 2-ish years. Had some money to spend, so I bought a load of Razer peripherals and a chair(1000+ euros). The only thing I’ve never had any issues with, is the chair. The rest will break, not work out of the box or just be an unpleasant experience. 

At least that’s how it’s been for me. Credit to the RMA tho, they will try to help and without a lot of fuss replace your product (most of the time, 1 time it took me over 3 months) but yeah, that’s my 2 cents coming from my personal experience. NEVER will I buy anything other than the mice ever again. EVER.

If you game, you will want the dongle instead of BT

Hello 

Hey all. I’m sure it’s not the same for everyone, but I suspect that this setting could be part of the problem for some (see screenshot, this properties window is from the device manager, for me, under “Human Interface Devices” → Razer Firefly V2).
I just recently built a new PC with a new install of Win11 Home 22H2 ( around 8/2023), (I didn’t have this issue on my previous pc with the same devices). I’m having this issue with both my Firefly V2 (Mousepad) and the Kraken V3 Pro. 

Much like the thread title, every time I shutdown and or restart, I have to unplug and re-plug the USB Dongle for the headset and the usb cable for the mousepad, and then they auto connect and work right away. If this power management setting is the issue, it kind of makes sense; it sleeps the device but doesn’t wake it properly; and then unplugging, re-plugging reestablishes the connection.  

*I was able to fix this issue for my mousepad by changing the setting I highlighted.

****I had to track down which item in device manager was the proper device for the Kraken V3 using a third-party tool. It’s just labeled as “USB Composite Device” and there’s a bunch labeled that. There’s no power management setting for this one so I’m not sure how else to check if that’s enabled for this. Or maybe because it’s not labeled as Razer Kraken, that means there’s an issue with the driver, even though I’ve tried reinstalling it.

I’ll keep fighting the good fight and share if I make progress any progress!

Also Razer support is upsetting, it seems if it’s out of warranty they don’t provide any kind of support nowadays. Never used to be that way in my experience. I personally have been exclusively using razer for both work and home and it’s just a bummer to see that level of service. Thanks for reading!

*I was able to fix this issue for my mousepad by changing the setting I highlighted.

****I had to track down which item in device manager was the proper device for the Kraken V3 using a third-party tool. It’s just labeled as “USB Composite Device” and there’s a bunch labeled that. There’s no power management setting for this one so I’m not sure how else to check if that’s enabled for this. Or maybe because it’s not labeled as Razer Kraken, that means there’s an issue with the driver, even though I’ve tried reinstalling it.

Can u share what third party tool u used?

Hey definitely, it's called USB Device Tree Viewer. I'll share the link I grabbed it from. It's pretty cool, after running it, it showed me the name of the headset and exactly which usb device pid it was. Then you just need to double click each unnamed USB device in device manager and check, I believe under events tab and it will tell you the PID of it.

*PS this site has those sketchy ads that say "download" so make sure you click the right one towards the top. The second link is has the official github link but I went lazy and grabbed a zip from the first one hah. I hope this helps! I was able to at least identify which unnamed device it was in the device manager, which is a good start

https://m.majorgeeks.com/mg/getmirror/usb_device_tree_viewer,1.html

https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html

agreed, not to mention the damn bloatware - except for the deathadder 2 wich i could go for over and over again only wish i don’t need to get that fucking bloatware (again) to set dpi, thank god you can save it into the mouse and delete it afterward, trash always wrecks my system in the end tho

try updating the firmware i have been having the issue and am giving this a try….see what happens.

So, im was having the same issue and i think its the usb c on my pc, i tried with the adapter to a regular usb and it works perfect

I’m glad for you. Doesn’t work for me though. still happens. 

Just bought a Barracuda X (2022) yesterday - wish I had seen this post earlier!
Same problem as with everyone - after Every REBOOT, Win11 either fails to detect the dongle (does not show up in Device Manager), or the dongle-headset link doesn’t work (dongle detected in Sound Settings but headset cannot connect on Green Hyperspeed Wireless) - this occurs after rebooting - every reboot.

Only way is to unplug and plug in the dongle again - which is a serious no-go (why should I have to do this - the product ought to work after a REBOOT).

BTW, I have replicated this same problem on my gaming PC as well as my work laptop (i.e., 2 separate hardware) - so no excuse of ‘do update driver/reinstall driver/windows update/reboot’ lies (I’ve been in tech support, we all know the BS); both machines fully patched/windows update run today.

I will look into returning since it looks like Razer doesn’t care to acknowledge or fix this after so many months and so many users having the same single issue.  I didn’t buy a “work once only - so long as you never reboot, sleep, shutdown” product.

Or can we believe that end-users (everyone else who bought the product) doesn’t have this problem?

Bluetooth is not a viable solution for STEREO HEADSETS - this is a known problem of all BT headsets that once the mic is enabled, the sound goes telephone-quality MONO only.  (yeah, I wish this would be fixed in BT6 so we don’t need proprietary dongles)

Try it - play some left-right-stereo test on youtube (you can get quite high stereo quality as BT headphones without the mic) then go to Settings/Zoom or any app that enables the mic and the sound quality drops to MONO-only immediately when mic is in use.

i.e., you can’t use BT when voice chatting with someone (GameBar/XBox/Discord/Zoom) and play any game that requires you to have awareness where the sound coming from (left/right, e.g., footsteps, gunfire, explosions)

Note: I have verified the Razer Barracuda X goes mono when mic is enabled in BT (youtube playing left-right test and using Mic on Zoom) - sound returns to Stereo after exiting Zoom (i.e., no longer using mic).

Hey, I think I found a fix/workaround. It's not optimal but so far it works for me after firmware, pairing utility and other fixes described here didn't work (although you should still update firmware and use pairing utility). The way I fixed it is by completely cutting power supply to my USB ports when shutting down the PC (S5 state). This is accomplished through enabling ErP in your motherboard (under aps settings in asus motherboards) and disabling fast startup option in windows. I think this way the dongle loses power on shutdown and is properly initialized on startup. Of course this has certain (acceptable imo) drawbacks, such as not being able to charge USB devices on your ports when the system is shutdown and allegedly (did not notice this) a bit slower startup. You will save some power though as the ErP standard specifies less than 1 W power draw and distracting RGB will be turned off. Let me know if this works and maybe specific steps for other motherboards.

Hey guys, I have the solution

For those who are using the extra cable because there are no USB-C port on their computer, throw it away. It is that cable that causes this problem.

My solution is a bit annoying, but it worked for me :

Buy this https://www.amazon.fr/Hoppac-Adaptateur-Femelle-Transfert-Données/dp/B09QCV62C2/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=2LJ0C9TVNE9DJ&keywords=adaptateur%2Btype%2Bc%2Bfemelle%2Bvers%2Busb%2Bmale&qid=1702108731&sprefix=adaptateur%2Btype%2Bc%2Bfemelle%2Bvers%2Busb%2Bmale%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-5&th=1&tag=operagx-def-sp-cos-fr-21

To not unplug and plug everyday your dongle, you’ll need to buy an adapter, USB-C female (where you’ll plug your dongle) to USB male (the part you’ll plug on your computer).

That’s it, bye

Actually, it doesn’t work, I’m mad.

Hello everyone The same problem: when restarting (if the USB ports are powered on) or inactivity for a long time, the dongle goes to sleep and cannot return correctly and establish connections with the headphones. I tried all the ways, but it didn't help.

Please tell me, does everyone have a dongle with a connector not in the middle, but closer to one of the sides?

not sure what you mean tbh

I’ve put it in the back in a usb C slot, i’ve used several USB-A to USB-C convertorcables, not solved the problem. 

OR

Friends, I think I've found a solution, at least for myself! Before that, I reconnected the dongle to the headphones using the utility 

https://mysupport.razer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5994?_ga=2.87909016.1642709554.1703672609-1174432804.1703672609&_gl=1*19tqqem*_ga_3TRK53PM75*MTcwMzY3MjYwOS4xLjAuMTcwMzY3MjYyMC40OS4wLjA.

In my case, using a standard extension cord/adapter connected to the USB 2.0 port on my motherboard (on the back of the system unit) helped, I'm not 100% sure yet, but the problem has not yet manifested itself, even after restarting the PC everything immediately worked fine.

bestdomeNapierGreen934 wrote:

kevinbracke wrote:

bestdomeNapierGreen934 wrote:

Please tell me, does everyone have a dongle with a connector not in the middle, but closer to one of the sides?

not sure what you mean tbh

 

I’ve put it in the back in a usb C slot, i’ve used several USB-A to USB-C convertorcables, not solved the problem. 

OR

 

had the issue with both types. barracuda x and pro

bestdomeNapierGreen934 wrote:

Friends, I think I've found a solution, at least for myself! Before that, I reconnected the dongle to the headphones using the utility 

https://mysupport.razer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5994?_ga=2.87909016.1642709554.1703672609-1174432804.1703672609&_gl=1*19tqqem*_ga_3TRK53PM75*MTcwMzY3MjYwOS4xLjAuMTcwMzY3MjYyMC40OS4wLjA.

In my case, using a standard extension cord/adapter connected to the USB 2.0 port on my motherboard (on the back of the system unit) helped, I'm not 100% sure yet, but the problem has not yet manifested itself, even after restarting the PC everything immediately worked fine.

 

it probably will reappear, ive dont this quite a couple of times to no avail. 

For me the issue will not manifest for a couple of days, weeks even. But then it’ll happen again. 

This still works after a month. Give it a try its only one bios and one windows setting. (Enable ErP  in motherboard power settings and disable fast startup in windows)

EDIT: The BIOS CHANGES WORKED FOR ME. I have an ASUSTEK TUF-GAMING B550M-PLUS and changing:

USB Power delivery in Soft Off State (S5) → disabled

Fast Boot → disabled

meant the headset was available on boot.

Props to @Hansbert123 for the pointer and big thumbs down to Razer Support for not even suggesting this

---- END EDIT

Just adding my note to this because I’m having exactly the same issue and Razer Support is… lacking.

It’s frustrating because the new Barracuda X (2022) headset I have was an RMA to replace an earlier model. The earlier model worked fine as far as the dongle was concerned. I only returned it because the casing was cracked and it was still under warranty. The new model was all they had available for the RMA, so I went with that and now I have the same issues as described above…

I thought I’d found a workaround, by using the USB-A to USB-C adapter, but this morning I had to unplug and replug it from there as well, so even that is not a permanent fix. At least I don’t have to get to the back of my computer to do it though, which is something.

It’s so frustrating that this is a newer headset and it works worse than the old one. And Razer Support, my god… It seems they don’t even read your previous replies and just cut and paste the same things every time. The first RMA took me about a month to sort out, then I had no return labels for the old headset and I had to chase that. Now the support call I have open for the issue on the new headset is just going round and round in circles. Given that this is a known issue, not a single one of the replies I’ve had from them has suggested any of the things on here - except the pointless pairing utility.

I’ll try the BIOS change next and report back if it worked.

Otherwise, hopefully someone will post a definitive fix on here, and I certainly will if I find one. I