Bluetooth and Trisquel 8

12 respostas [Última entrada]
amuza
Desconectado
Joined: 02/12/2018

I have tried several computers and Bluetooth USB adapters and have never managed to see Bluetooth working on Trisquel 8. I believe everything worked ok with those computers and adapters when running Trisquel 7.

Any advice?

Thank you!

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Desconectado
Joined: 07/24/2010

As always with hardware support, you can try a newer kernel. Installing the package "linux-image-generic-hwe-8.0" (in Trisquel's repository) will give you version 4.15. You can have version 4.19 or even 5.1 following the instructions on https://jxself.org/linux-libre/

amuza
Desconectado
Joined: 02/12/2018

Thank you Banana.

But I feel a bit scared of going into such a mission just for Bluetooth, I have never played with kernels.

And before considering the installation of a new kernel I wonder if am I the only one having problems with Bluetooth on Trisquel 8.

Can anyone confirm Bluetooth works on Trisquel 8?
I checked on different systems (not many) and have never seen it working.

Beformed
Desconectado
Joined: 01/12/2017

Hello amuza, I have tried different kernels without having any issues. I've used jxself's latest kernel and LTS kernel as well. I'll check Bluetooth with one of my computers later today (my T400s which is my daily driver does not have Bluetooth built in)

Beformed
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Joined: 01/12/2017

So after playing a little with my computers I found out the following:
* My T400s does not have bluetooth XD
* My X220 does have bluetooth, for whatever reason there is not a GUI that manages bluetooth by default; the only thing I found was a GUI for sending files so I tried it and it works. The kernel I'm using in my X220 is the latest version that jxself has in his repo.

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Desconectado
Joined: 07/24/2010

There is basically no risk: when you install another kernel, the previous version is still there. It is not substituted. So you can still boot the previous version from GRUB's menu (the default bootloader, you certainly have not changed it) if the new one does not work. And you can then remove the malfunctioning version of the kernel and maybe install yet another one. Anyway, as Beformed wrote, there is little reason for a newer version of the kernel to not work at least as well as the older version (well, unless you have antique hardware).

mrkskwsnck
Desconectado
Joined: 10/26/2019

Hello dear fellows,

I am new to Trisquel and Linux-libre. Just installed it on my Acer TravelMate B115-M Laptop and realized, its onboard Bluetooth is not working at all. Pity :-( That's why I stumbled over this forum thread. However, installing the hardware enablement kernel 4.15 (https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/update-linux-libre-kernel) didn't help.

Luckily, I found an USB Bluetooth dongle, which is working fine with Linux-libre. But I'd like to prefer the usage of the onboard Bluetooth chipset. And so I have two questions:

1. How to determine the chipset of either the onboard and/or the USB Bluetooth device?
2. Is there a list with compatible hardware for use with Linux-libre?

Depending on the answers to my two questions above, I am considering to give kernel 4.19+ from jxself.org a try.

Thanks in advance and
best regards

Bret Busby
Desconectado
Joined: 11/02/2019

On 18/11/2019, name at domain <name at domain> wrote:
> Hello dear fellows,
>
> I am new to Trisquel and Linux-libre. Just installed it on my Acer
> TravelMate
> B115-M Laptop and realized, its onboard Bluetooth is not working at all.
> Pity
> :-( That's why I stumbled over this forum thread. However, installing the
> hardware enablement kernel 4.15
> (https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/update-linux-libre-kernel) didn't help.
>
> Luckily, I found an USB Bluetooth dongle, which is working fine with
> Linux-libre. But I'd like to prefer the usage of the onboard Bluetooth
> chipset. And so I have two questions:
>
> 1. How to determine the chipset of either the onboard and/or the USB
> Bluetooth device?
> 2. Is there a list with compatible hardware for use with Linux-libre?
>
> Depending on the answers to my two questions above, I am considering to give
>
> kernel 4.19+ from jxself.org a try.
>
> Thanks in advance and
> best regards
>

I do not use bluetooth.

Is lshw available to run?

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
A Trilogy In Four Parts",
written by Douglas Adams,
published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................

Bret Busby
Desconectado
Joined: 11/02/2019

On 18/11/2019, Bret Busby <name at domain> wrote:
> On 18/11/2019, name at domain <name at domain> wrote:
>> Hello dear fellows,
>>
>> I am new to Trisquel and Linux-libre. Just installed it on my Acer
>> TravelMate
>> B115-M Laptop and realized, its onboard Bluetooth is not working at all.
>> Pity
>> :-( That's why I stumbled over this forum thread. However, installing the
>> hardware enablement kernel 4.15
>> (https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/update-linux-libre-kernel) didn't help.
>>
>> Luckily, I found an USB Bluetooth dongle, which is working fine with
>> Linux-libre. But I'd like to prefer the usage of the onboard Bluetooth
>> chipset. And so I have two questions:
>>
>> 1. How to determine the chipset of either the onboard and/or the USB
>> Bluetooth device?
>> 2. Is there a list with compatible hardware for use with Linux-libre?
>>
>> Depending on the answers to my two questions above, I am considering to
>> give
>>
>> kernel 4.19+ from jxself.org a try.
>>
>> Thanks in advance and
>> best regards
>>
>
> I do not use bluetooth.
>
> Is lshw available to run?
>

Syntax:

sudo lshw

then scroll up, skimming through the output, looking for bluetooth.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
A Trilogy In Four Parts",
written by Douglas Adams,
published by Pan Books, 1992

....................................................

mrkskwsnck
Desconectado
Joined: 10/26/2019

In the meantime I successfully installed Linux-libre kernel version 5.3 from https://jxself.org/linux-libre/ – Unfortunately, my onboard Bluetooth adapter is still not usable.

I identified the onboard adapter as

Device 'Bluetooth Device'
ID USB 0489:e04e
Class e0-01-01
Type bluetooth
Vendor Foxconn / Hon Hai
Name Bluetooth Device

See also https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?id=usb:0489-e04e

They say this Bluetooth device should be supported by mainline kernel versions 3.2 and newer. I confirm that I have the needed kernel modules ath3k and btusb both loaded. But I cannot say if its support was removed from Linux-libre kernel.

So I still have to use an external USB Bluetooth adapter… Pity :-(

GNUser
Desconectado
Joined: 07/17/2013

Hey there. I also had issues with Bluetooth when I first tried it, but I got it to work.
Read my old thread here

https://trisquel.info/en/forum/bluethooth-speakers-how-and-should-i

I think you will be able to get the needed info from there.

GNUser
Desconectado
Joined: 07/17/2013

Oh, and make sure you are booting the newer kernel. For some reason it could be that you installed it, but are still booting the older one. Just a thought.

mrkskwsnck
Desconectado
Joined: 10/26/2019

Hei GNUser,

thanks for your hints. Unfortunately, none of these apply for me.

As my on-board Bluetooth hardware is though supported by the mainline kernel (tested with Ubuntu since 14.04 and such) the only conclusion might be, that proprietary parts were removed in Linux-libre. However, I don't know how to prove my assumption correct.

PS: The USB Bluetooth dongle I have to use instead is Plugable USB 2.0 Bluetooth Adapter [1] which is known as BCM20702A0 Bluetooth 4.0 by the kernel.

[1] https://plugable.com/products/usb-bt4le
[2] https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?id=usb:0a5c-21e8

Best regards