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  1. Bug #268502
  2. Comment #79

Comment 79 for bug 268502

Revision history for this message
Dominique Meeùs (dominiquem) wrote :

1. I do use a D-Link DBT-122 Bluetooth adapter with kernel 2.6.27
=====================================

Kernel: uname -r
2.6.27-11-generic

Bluetooth dongle: lsusb
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 2001:f111 D-Link Corp. [hex] DBT-122 Bluetooth adapter

Bluetooth software: dpkg --get-selections | grep blue
blueman deinstall
bluetooth3 install
bluez deinstall
bluez-audio deinstall
bluez-cups install
bluez-gnome install
bluez-utils deinstall
bluez3-audio install
bluez3-utils install
gnome-bluetooth install
libbluetooth2 install
libbluetooth3 install
python-bluez install

Bluetooth software version: dpkg -l bluetooth3
... bluetooth3 3.26-0ubuntu14 Bluetooth stack utilities
(This workaround -- blue3 instead of blue4 -- was given by emersom on 2008-11-07 in https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/289836 and I confirmed there the same day that it worked for me also)

This combination recognises the adapter: hcitool dev
Devices:
 hci0 00:13:46:00:55:A0

Adapter is active: hciconfig
hci0: Type: USB
 BD Address: 00:13:46:00:55:A0 ACL MTU: 377:10 SCO MTU: 16:0
 UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN
 RX bytes:937 acl:0 sco:0 events:22 errors:0
 TX bytes:332 acl:0 sco:0 commands:22 errors:0

Adapter sees my phone: hcitool inq
Inquiring ...
 00:13:70:0E:8A:77 clock offset: 0x30c9 class: 0x520204

but reads the details only as root: sudo hcitool info 00:13:70:0E:8A:77
Requesting information ...
 BD Address: 00:13:70:0E:8A:77
 LMP Version: 1.2 (0x2) LMP Subversion: 0x4db
 Manufacturer: Cambridge Silicon Radio (10)
 Features: et cetera
(funny: a few years ago I has also: Device Name: Nokia 6021)

The most important: I could pair (don't ask me how) and I use to backup my phone's address book and calendar about once a week with Wammu, wich is all I ask to Bluetooth.

2. There seems to be Bluetooth problems at three different levels
=====================================
A. Kernel
---------
Some Bluetooth adapters may not function with kernel 2.6.27. This is definitely NOT the case with D-Link DBT-122 because I DO use it successfully. See 1. above. See also 2008-11-07 in https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/289836

B. Bluetooth version
-------------------
Some Bluetooth adapters may not function with Bluetooth 4 -- see my initial post as https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/291298 and on 2008-11-04 in https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/289836 -- but function with Bluetooth 3 as explained above and on 2008-11-07 in https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/289836.

C. Pairing
----------
Even if one has no kernel problem and/or solved the Bluetooth version problem to the point that hciconfig shows an active device, there can be still problems of pairing. A lot of people in this and other bugs (marked as duplicates) complain about pairing.
Pairing has always been tricky and poorly documented. Forums are full of advice about different flavours of "pin helper", including replacing the pin helper altogether by 'echo "PIN:1234" '. When I began using my dongle with my Nokia phone two or three years ago, I had to hack the pairing in this way. (Story, in French, http://www.meeus-d.be/linux/bluetooth.html.) This was under control of /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf. I do not now if it is still the case.

Ideally, one should file A, B and C as three different bugs. But when Bluetooth is not functioning, it is not clear for everybody whether it is the case of A, B or C. Therefore it make sense also to keep A, B and C together under one bug number -- but then one should mind the fact that there are (at least) three different problems.

It would be interesting that somebody post here links to some documentation about pairing and pin helper in the present situation (Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04). I am afraid that sometimes the kernel is accused for what is ultimately a tricky but secondary problem of pin helper with easy workaround once you know where it is hidden and how it works.