Installing Bluetooth Dongle and it's software

[fixit7]

I got the Bluetooth dongle plugged in .
And installed this.

apt install bluez*

sudo apt install blueman

This is the rest that i have not done yet.

Is this right?

Starting the Bluetooth Daemon

To have Bluetooth available each time you boot your computer, we need to enable and start bluetooth.service, the daemon that Bluetooth connectivity. We do this with systemctl.

Enabling the service means it'll be started with each boot of your computer. Starting the service makes it run right away, so you can use Bluetooth without having to reboot your computer.

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service

sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

Checking the Status

We can check that Bluetooth is up and running using the rfkill command. This scary-sounding command lets us check the health and status of wireless communications, and Bluetooth falls into that category.

Using rfkill without any command-line parameters lists the wireless adapters, and shows whether they are blocked or unblocked.

rfkill

We can see that Bluetooth is present, but blocked. We can sort that out using rfkill with its unblock option. Of course, you might find that your adapter is unblocked, in which case you don't need to perform the next step.

rfkill unblock bluetooth

Now we can check the status once more.

rfkill

[ericmarceau]

(Cross-reference to earlier discussion. )

Is your Echo powered up ?

I see 2 bluetooth devices:

• ideapad (notebook computer; ideapad_bluetooth)
• hci0 (unknown)

I don't see anything identifying itself as the Echo.

What are these commands reporting now?

inxi -i
inxi -Eaz

[fixit7]

Reread my post. I pasted part of another site that had instructions on installing Bluetooth.

inxi -i
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
driver: r8169
IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 40:8d:5c:44:af:9b
IP v4: 192.168.42.4/24 type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: 2001:5b0:b870:4a80:faca:f60e:619e:1104/64 type: temporary dynamic
scope: global
IP v6: 2001:5b0:b870:4a80:8e48:a10d:b569:97c6/64 type: dynamic mngtmpaddr
noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: fe80::24a7:ca9a:8a1a:c7ef/64 type: noprefixroute scope: link
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR93xx Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: f8:1a:67:1d:ef:a2
IP v4: 192.168.42.5/24 type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: 2001:5b0:b870:4a80:b977:32ee:f424:829c/64 type: temporary dynamic
scope: global
IP v6: 2001:5b0:b870:4a80:e935:d624:21b6:1af5/64 type: dynamic mngtmpaddr
noprefixroute scope: global
IP v6: fe80::3070:d089:1129:b0d0/64 type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: ;; communications error to 193.108.88.1#53: timed out
~$ inxi -Eaz
Bluetooth:
** Device-1: ASUSTek Broadcom BCM20702A0 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8**
** type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 6-1:2**
** chip-ID: 0b05:17cb class-ID: fe01 serial: **
** Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: bt-v: 4.0**
lmp-v: 6 sub-v: 220e hci-v: 6 rev: 1000 class-ID: 7c0104
Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch sniff
link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object
transfer, audio, telephony

[Alarik]

I would suggest that you open up "App center" and in the search-bar type "Bluetooth" - the App center should then give you an option to install some apps and I would recommend the following ones: "bluez"; "modem-manager"; "ofono" and "bluez-tests"

All of the above apps are Canonical apps so they should work and help with your settings

[ericmarceau]

@fixit7

I pasted part of another site that had instructions on installing Bluetooth.

That was not posted as a quote. It appeared to be your own content.

Regardless, I seem to be annoying you with my questions, so I will leave it to others, who most certainly have more experience with Wireless/Bluetooth/Echo, to assist you further.

[fixit7]

No you were not annoying me. There is a language gap and I sometimes have to make edits to my post. I am still working on it. In case I can not get it going, can I use the Bluetooth for other things?

[fixit7]

I have got the Amazon Echo working.

[ericmarceau]

I really don't know much about the Bluetooth "ecology". But you could review these links to give you a better idea of what it can be used for:

• New IoT Platform for Wireless Device- Bluetooth Low Energy - Aumraj

• Connect Your Phone Or Computer to Multiple Bluetooth Devices - thinglabs

• The Matter Enabled IoT - Qorvo

• What's New in Core Bluetooth - WWDC19 - Videos - Apple Developer

Regarding getting your Echo "plugged-in" or recognized/enabled, you need to install the packages

• bluez,
• bluez-utils, and
• blueman

"bluez-tests" and "modem-manager" (for ModemManager), as recommended by @Alarik , wouldn't hurt either.

After that, start the

blueman-manager

That should give you the GUI to get things set up, according to what I've been able to determine.

Make sure your Echo is plugged in and "broadcasting" before you start the "blueman-manager".

If blueman-manager doesn't see it when it opens, then try power-down and restart of the Echo.

If that doesn't work, it is definitely an Echo issue, and maybe the Echo user manual can give guidance as to what needs to be done.

[ericmarceau]

@fixit7

I have got the Amazon Echo working.

Does that mean you have it communicating (sending/playing music) over Bluetooth ?

If not, you may also find this article of interest.

[ericmarceau]

One last thing, looking at the Echo's Quick Start Guide for Gen3, it seems to suggest that you may have no choice but use the Amazon App to perform some minimum configuration activities via smartphone ... before the Echo is recognized by your computer's Bluetooth or Wifi.

[fixit7]

I have my Amazon Echo working fine.

I am looking to see if I can use the Bluetooth Dongle for other stuff.

[fixit7]

Eric,

My Echo is working fine. That means there are no problems.

[fixit7]

I made you a short video of it working.

I will upload it to some site where I can post a .mp4 for you.

It's is 2 Mb but I can not see a way for you to download it.

Still working on it.

[jymm]

What did you do to get it working? That might help someone else struggling with it.

[fixit7]

Thanks for the idea.I will work on that so it can help someone else.

Right now I am working on receiving a package from a major carrier who has "mis-directed" 3 packages worth about $300 and has denied paying my claim.