fitbit connect asking to plug in dongle. Dongle IS plugged in

[Lola_marigold]

I have never had a problem with using fitbit connect and syncing my Zip. I replaced the battery in the zip last week. I plug dongle in to usb port. open fitbit connect. ask it to sync and it tells me to plug in dongle!!!

I have uninstalled fitbit connect and reinstalled but I get the same message. I have unistalled fitbit connect and tried syncing without dongle..nothing is working. Help!!

Considering the fortune this company must be making on a piece of plastic with a chip in it you would think the apps would be more reliable or at least helpful advice given. I have yet to find any easy answers. 

[PureEvil]

Hello @Lola_marigold,

Welcome to the community!

I would try a different USB port and/or rebooting the computer.  While it may be a bad dongle, I've seen reports of different USB ports being temperamental for some devices.  I myself have experienced this with a USB drive on an older laptop.

Let me know if this works.

[Lola_marigold]

TY for your quick reply. I did try a different port. I will try rebooting now. 

[PureEvil · Accepted solution]

@Lola_marigold,

Also, which OS are you running?  If you're running Windows 10 you may sync with the Fitbit App using just bluetooth 4.0.

[Lola_marigold]

Seems it is working now although the first few times I tried syncing it kept telling me there was an error. all is good though. Thanks 🙂

[Mike144]

Hi,

I've just about given up and going to bin the Fitbit - I've struggled for 2 or 3 hours now and it is useless.

Got a new FB charge2 given to me by the company. I have a company Blackberry Z10 - so that's not supported. Also got a windows 7 Enterprise laptop from the company and I just can't get around this Dongle message.

If there is a solution I'll try for 10 more minutes then it's goodbye fitbit - as another useless piece of technology someone is making a fortune on. I wonder how many are sold and sit in drawers or bins as they cannot be made to work?

[PureEvil]

@Mike144,

Welcome to the community!

I'm a little confused why you're posting about a Charge 2 on the Zip forum, but okay...

I believe that if you get in touch with support and tell them that you're still running Windows 7, then they'll send you a USB dongle free of charge.

Fitbit chose not to include it in the box for the Charge 2 since most folks have smartphones or are running a current OS on their computers.  Windows 7 was released on 2009.  To put it in perspective, this is when the iPhone 3GS was released.

I hope this helps.

[Mike144]

Hello and thank you for your help.

I don't know either why I posted this on a ZIP forum - whatever that may be?

I ended up buying a dongle £30 approx., and now the app seems to work.

I get frustrated when the box the FitBit is sold in (and it isn't cheap)
doesn't contain all the parts I need to get it working - yes I accept I'm
not Tech Savvy and all my computer / tech equipment is aged. But then it
still works so why fix it?

Thanks again - for info; I'm managing over 10k steps a day and have
received a marathon badge in the first week. I'm quite pleased as I'm well
into my 60's and haven't had to change my daily routine to achieve this 🙂

[PureEvil]

@Mike144,

Ahh...  The Zip is a tracker model, like your Charge 2 is a tracker model.  Fitbit has over 10 different tracker models.

You can still legitimately contact support and ask for a dongle (especially since you bought one).  It may be nice to have for a 2nd (home?) computer.

You can say that your tech equipment is aged, but if it still works why fix it?  Well, because there are new features (like the Fitbit App) that are targeting the latest platform.  This very conversation is a viable counterpoint to 'it still works'.  

Congrats on getting it configured and working.  I started my journey with Fitbit over five years ago.