After discovering my Dell Latitude E6440 wasn't manufactured with Bluetooth hardware I purchased a USB 5.0 dongle on eBay. Unfortunately I didn't read the listing carefully enough and after I received it I discovered it's only compatible with Windows. Is there a way to install drivers to make it function with Ubuntu? It has the BR8041 chipset.
I ran the command lsusb and received the following results:
First of all, USB5 does not exist at all (yet) and is, just like USB6 or USB8, a fantasy term used to mislead consumers. They also often do this if they can not fully comply to any USB standard at all, so we already can draw the conclusion that the manufacturer is not trustworthy.
See this: https://www.xda-developers.com/usb-standards-explained/
The reason it works with windows has nothing to do with compatibility but everything with the manufacturer dropping a driver to microsoft to make up for the hardware flaws, bridge the incompatibility gap and, ofcourse, flipping the bird to Linux, BSD, Dragonfly, Open Solaris, QNX or any other non-windows platform.
Cambridge Silicon (the manufacturer) is defunct since 14 August 2015, so I wonder how old that dongle really is ( looking at the date the manufacturer folded, it theoretically could be USB3.2 at most, althoug I presume it is USB 3.0 or less).
According to https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=60824 the kernelsupport for this piece of hardware is a bit spotty.
I highly advise you to read that bugreport carefully
For now, the solution is: You either patch the kernelsource yourself or try out different kernelversions to see which one will make it work.
Thank you for the information, tkn. It looks like I'd be better off returning it to the seller and buying a decent quality Dongle.
Try Amazon, Best Buy or some other commercial place not eBay. Read carefully to say it supports Linux out of the box. They are not that expensive so pick a good one. Here was a quick example from a search:
linux supported USB bluetooth dongle?
$11.98 4.1 out of 5 stars 235 ratings
About this item
[Range and Rate】: The transmission distance of our bluetooth adapter is up to 33ft/10m and the transfer rate up to 3 Mbps - An efficient bluetooth saves more time for you
[High Compatibility】: This adapter creates cable-free connections between PCs and bluetooth-enabled devices like smartphones,mouse,speakers,headsets/headphones, Keyboards, Supports 32bit/64bit Win 10/8/7/ Vista and XP
[Space Saver】: Say goodbye to cable - Leave it on laptop or PC no need to remove. It seamlessly gets plugged into a computer/laptop without blocking surrounding USB ports
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Low Energy】: USB bluetooth dongle applies the latest bluetooth 4.0 with low energy (BLE) technology and it is backward compatible with bluetooth V3.0/2.1/2.0/1.1
[Service】: Lifetime warranty - We guarantee to replace all defective products free of charge
