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Would have thought that connecting Headphones is some basic stuff that should create no complications on an operating system in the year 2020. Not so on Ubuntu....

I followed this article Pair Bose QuietComfort 35 with Ubuntu over Bluetooth with no success.

Here are my steps,that I am taking:

  • Putting Headphones in pairing mode
  • Open System Settings Bluetooth

Device List says: Unknown Not Set Up

There is no option to click anything whatsoever.

Through another article I found an instruction on how to install a bluetooth manager called Blueman. In the installed software it shows up as "Bluetooth Manager" so these are the steps I am trying with this guy:

  • Remove all the entries that are showing up there. I have no idea why there 5 or so of them.
  • Turn Headphones off
  • Click on search (this makes sure that I know which one I will have to connect to. Since Ubuntu can not tell me the name of the device, it just shows a nasty long number)
  • No entries in the list (where the heck did the last 5 come from?! anyway)
  • Turn on Headphones and put them into connection mode
  • Click on search
  • it shows a device with a nasty long number
  • right click, connect
  • Connection Failed: Software caused connection abort

So do I really have to go back to Windows just because my Bluetooth is not working?!

Image of failed pairing

Update Nov 14: Wow, after I don't know how many hours, suddenly I was able to connect.

My first Bluetooth Device on Ubuntu

I didn't change anything, other than fiddling around with this article: (Maybe that did change a lot under the hood, I am just a Greenhorn) https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Bluetooth_headset#Tested_headsets

Unfortunately the Ubuntu Bluetooth Saga isn't over at this point.

I have no sound on my Headphones! And as you can see in the screenshot, trying to reconnect the device just fails. And, the Headphones never gave me any confirmation signal that it actually did connect.

So the Saga continues, and hours of human life span goes into such important task as to connect a headphone with their computer. I mean, it's just 2020.

Update Nov 20 My BeatsPill+ also does not connect to Ubuntu. I have now 3 Bluetooth devices that won't connect to Ubuntu, but do perfectly so on another Laptop with Windows, on this very Laptop when Windows is running, on two different IPhones, and I would almost bet on any other device except the brand new Ubuntu that I just installed recently. Very bad.

BeatsPill Connection Failure

Ubuntu Greenhorn
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1 Answers1

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If you are running kernel version 5.9 or newer, the kernel may be the problem.

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=209745

It seems that Link Layer Privacy being enabled in 5.9 breaks bluetooth for some mice. There are some workarounds for disabling Link Layer Privacy but they are not for the technically faint of heart. A simpler solution would be to revert your kernel back to 5.8.

SteveSong
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  • supposedly uname -r shows the kernel version. My system shows: 5.4.0-53-generic – Ubuntu Greenhorn Nov 20 '20 at 20:43
  • In the end, I found that a newer kernel resolved these issues for me with Microsoft bluetooth keyoard and mouse on Arch linux. Experimenting with different kernels is the likely route to resolving this problem. – SteveSong Nov 25 '20 at 14:10