Bluetooth dongle recognised but doesn't work

[hnet]

Hey all,
Recently I purchased a bluetooth dongle (which I believe is of a known working brand) which looks a bit like this one https://www.modmypi.com/image/cache/cat ... 24x780.jpg
for use in a headless Pi2 setup.

The light on the bottom comes on as expected and the device is found when I do lsusb, however no bluetooth manager recognises it.
I have tried restarting the Pi & the bluetooth service to no avail.
It seems that the dongle is known by the Pi, but for whatever reason the bluetooth managers do not connect to it.
I did have some previous issues with undervoltage but these have since been solved and I do not believe this is the cause of the problem.
The dongle works fine under a Windows 10 setup, so I do not believe the dongle is the cause of the issues.

Thanks! hnet

[Douglas6]

What 'Bluetooth managers' do you refer to? What purpose is Bluetooth intended for? What is the response to an 'hciconfig -a' command?

[hnet]

What 'Bluetooth managers' do you refer to? What purpose is Bluetooth intended for? What is the response to an 'hciconfig -a' command?

This would be the default manager (in Raspbian) and also blueman-manager.
I am attempting to connect a wireless speaker to the Pi via Bluetooth.

hciconfig -a prints as follows:

Code: Select all

hci0:   Type: Primary  Bus: USB
        BD Address: 33:03:30:0A:6C:FC  ACL MTU: 360:4  SCO MTU: 0:0
        DOWN
        RX bytes:1106 acl:0 sco:0 events:56 errors:0
        TX bytes:736 acl:0 sco:0 commands:60 errors:0
        Features: 0xff 0xff 0xcd 0xfa 0xdb 0xbf 0x7b 0x87
        Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 HV2 HV3
        Link policy: RSWITCH HOLD SNIFF PARK
        Link mode: SLAVE ACCEPT

[Douglas6]

Blueman can potentially conflict with Simon Long's GUI Bluetooth manager extension. I would first recommend not using and even uninstalling Blueman. But that's not your problem.

The hciconfig command shows that your Bluetooth adapter is 'down'. You can try bringing it up with 'sudo hciconfig hci0 up' and check it again. If that fails, post the results.

I'm not sure what process starts the adapter at boot time; it would depend on your version of Raspbian. On Stretch it's the hciuart.service, although I'm not certain that applies to dongles. What are the results of 'systemctl status hciuart'?

[hnet]

Blueman can potentially conflict with Simon Long's GUI Bluetooth manager extension. I would first recommend not using and even uninstalling Blueman. But that's not your problem.

The hciconfig command shows that your Bluetooth adapter is 'down'. You can try bringing it up with 'sudo hciconfig hci0 up' and check it again. If that fails, post the results.

I'm not sure what process starts the adapter at boot time; it would depend on your version of Raspbian. On Stretch it's the hciuart.service, although I'm not certain that applies to dongles. What are the results of 'systemctl status hciuart'?

I have since uninstalled blueman so this shouldn't be an issue.
I attempted sudo hciconfig hci0 up, but this printed "Can't init device hci0: Operation not supported (95)".
systemctl status hciuart prints as follows:

Code: Select all

● hciuart.service - Configure Bluetooth Modems connected by UART
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/hciuart.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)

Apr 17 14:42:16 hnet systemd[1]: Dependency failed for Configure Bluetooth Modems connected by UART.
Apr 17 14:42:16 hnet systemd[1]: hciuart.service: Job hciuart.service/start failed with result 'dependency'.

[Douglas6]

I'm sorry my best guess is a bum dongle. That it works under Windows is not a good indication that it will work under Raspbian, or even Linux.

I'd be interested in any history of the dongle ("looks a bit like..." isn't really helpful.) People often have problems like yours with cheap knockoff Asian dongles that can be had for a dollar or two.

[hnet]

I'm sorry my best guess is a bum dongle. That it works under Windows is not a good indication that it will work under Raspbian, or even Linux.

I'd be interested in any history of the dongle ("looks a bit like..." isn't really helpful.) People often have problems like yours with cheap knockoff Asian dongles that can be had for a dollar or two.

Thanks for your help. It may be this specific dongle, at this point I'm considering just using a different dongle.
The same model can be found here https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThePiHut-Bluet ... B00KAE3GPW which is marketed as Pi compatible.
Interestingly, it can also be found here https://canada.newark.com/dynamode/bt-u ... dp/39T4089 and reviews show that it doesn't work with Pi. I am understandably a little confused nonetheless.

[Douglas6]

I can't find any manufacturer / vendor associated with your Bluetooth device address, which further supports my theory of a knockoff dongle. I've seen that mushroom style in both reputable and unreputable versions.

I would try to purchase a dongle from a reputable retailer. If you can determine the chipset before you buy, Broadcom and CSR are both known to work on the Pi. I would expect to pay $7 - $10 for a decent dongle; possibly less, but not much less.

[hnet]

I can't find any manufacturer / vendor associated with your Bluetooth device address, which further supports my theory of a knockoff dongle. I've seen that mushroom style in both reputable and unreputable versions.

I would try to purchase a dongle from a reputable retailer. If you can determine the chipset before you buy, Broadcom and CSR are both known to work on the Pi. I would expect to pay $7 - $10 for a decent dongle; possibly less, but not much less.

Alright, thanks for your help. I'll probably return this dongle and attempt a different brand.

[hnet]

After looking a bit further into the matter I have discovered a vendor: the packet suggests a company called "Dynamode" but if viewed closely you can spot the real vendor, a company called BlueSoleil. I believe this to be a Chinese vendor, which may explain the issues.
If possible do you know of any known working bluetooth adaptor brands?

Thanks, hnet

[Douglas6]

Most dongles use chipsets produced by a handful of companies. These are then packaged and sold by a myriad of vendors. As I said, Broadcom and Cambridge Silicon Radios (CSR) are two chipset manufacturers that are are known to work well with the Pi. Sometimes the vendors will tell you which chipset their product uses. Another strategy is to buy from a vendor staffed by and catering to Pi users, such as ModMyPi, Pimoroni, Adafruit and others. It's been awhile since I've bought a dongle, and can't recommend a specific model. Again, stick with a reputable seller; despite your experience, working dongles far outnumber the clinkers.

[hnet]

Ok, thanks. I'll have a look through those retailers.