Problems connecting to Windows 7 desktop

Hi Gordon,
I am keen to avoid using a phone but that does look like a neat solution.
Setting those environment variables in a CMD prompt did not change anything.
I noticed a slight discrepancy
you quoted BLUETOOTH_HCI_SOCKET_USB_PID=0x21e8 but Zadig shows a slightly different address so I also tried PID=0x21e6 both as an environment variable and in USB.js. But still no joy.
Two qns: does your IDE report back if no compatible adaptors are found like node-Bluetooth-hci-socket code does?

79 if (!this._usbDevice) { 80 throw new Error('No compatible
USB Bluetooth 4.0 device found!'); 81 }

Are you aware of any Live CDs that are likely to work with BLE with minimal config? I figure this might help prove the capabilities of the device.
James

Yes, that's my mistake. It should have been 0x21e6 as you say.

does your IDE report back if no compatible adaptors are found like node-Bluetooth-hci-socket code does?

Are you aware of any Live CDs that are likely to work with BLE with minimal config?

I was going to say last time but I forgot - can you go into settings and copy/paste the contents of the console tab? It might help me see if there's anything obvious.

You could give a Ubuntu 17.04 Live CD a try? https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

You could try the command:

sudo hcitool lescan

which will hopefully show bluetooth LE devices if some are available. You could also follow the instructions in the first part of this page to get Web Bluetooth working: http://www.espruino.com/Web+Bluetooth+On+Linux

Gordon,
Will try U17.04
In the meantime, the Console Tab shows the following:

We have chrome.serial - not using 'serialport' module
'noble' module couldn't be loaded, no node.js Bluetooth Low Energy  Error: No compatible USB Bluetooth 4.0 device found!
'winnus' module not found, no Windows Bluetooth Low Energy Error: The specified module could not be found. \\?\C:\Program Files\EspruinoIDE\node_modules\winnus\build\Release\winnus.node
serial_audio: Audio Sample rate : 44100
serial_audio: Audio Serial Baud 9600 Bit time 4.59375
Web Bluetooth available, but Windows Web Bluetooth is broken in <=56 - not using it
GET chrome.storage.sync = undefined
Initialising SettingsConsole
Initialising Utils
Initialising Config
Initialising Notifications
Initialising Status
Initialising App
Initialising File
Initialising Code
Initialising Serial
  - Initialising Serial Chrome Serial
  - Initialising Serial Chrome Socket
  - Initialising Serial Audio
Initialising Terminal
Initialising CodeWriter
Initialising Modules
Initialising Env
Initialising Flasher
Initialising EditorBlockly
Initialising EditorJavaScript
Initialising Send
Initialising MenuPortSelector
Initialising MenuSettings
Initialising MenuFlasher
Initialising SettingsAbout
Initialising SettingsFlasher
Initialising BoardJSON
Initialising VersionChecker
Initialising Compiler
Initialising Assembler
Initialising GetGitHub
Initialising NPMModules
Initialising ExamplePlugin
Initialising Unicode
Initialising SaveOnSend
Initialising Minify
Initialising Tutorial
Initialising Webcam
Initialising FontSize
Initialising UiMode
Initialising URLHandler
Initialising CodeLink
Initialising Project
Initialising Testing
Initialising Notification_Sound
Initialising Tern
Initialising Debugger
Initialising Tour
Initialising SettingsProfile
Initialising HelpLinks

Thanks - so:

'noble' module couldn't be loaded, no node.js Bluetooth Low Energy  Error: No compatible USB Bluetooth 4.0 device found!

Is your issue, and would be related to that USB ID thing - I'm surprised it does that even when specifying the environment variables or tweaking usb.js though. Perhaps even after it connects it's unable to get it working.

If you wanted to really dive in, I'd suggest trying the current noble NPM module with one of their examples: https://www.npmjs.com/package/noble

I doubt the new one would work (because your USB ID isn't mentioned in their list), but having some totally minimal bit of code would be a good place to get started, and you could then contact the maintainers of noble and see if they have any ideas.