Bluetooth speaker pairs but won`t connect

Question

I am having issues trying to connect to a Bose bluetooth speaker. It can be successfully paired but won`t connect.

lsusb output:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0489:e036 Foxconn / Hon Hai 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 174f:144d Syntek 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0eef:7902 D-WAV Scientific Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 15d9:0a4c Trust International B.V. USB+PS/2 Optical Mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

lspci output:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM76 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
02:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller (rev 07)
02:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Device e232 (rev 04)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 07)

What is your Ubuntu version? Kernel version? Do other bluetooth devices work well? — Pilot6, Jun 09 '15 at 20:40
Ubuntu 14.04 - 64bits, kernel: 3.13.0-53-generic, I can transfer files from/to my phone. Suspect it is something to do with pulseaudio bluetooth-module — Thiago Petrone, Jun 09 '15 at 20:43
Your bluetooth adapter is supported with this kernel. I will post a link with solution. — Pilot6, Jun 09 '15 at 20:44
possible duplicate of How to get Bose Soundlink Mini Bluetooth Working — Pilot6, Jun 09 '15 at 20:44
used to work fine (I know how to operate it), uninstalling blueman didn`t solve, every dependency installed — Thiago Petrone, Jun 09 '15 at 20:47
You can update kernel to the latest for 14.04. Maybe there is some regression. Run in terminal sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-vivid and reboot after installation finishes. — Pilot6, Jun 09 '15 at 20:49
No risks at all. It is a standard supported kernel and you can always boot from the old one using grub menu. Nothing will be removed. — Pilot6, Jun 09 '15 at 20:53

score 35 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 16 '16 at 13:08

35

Run these commands:

sudo apt-get install pulseaudio-module-bluetooth
pactl load-module module-bluetooth-discover

Then try deleting/removing the device from bluetooth devices and pair it again.

I tried this and it worked

edited Dec 16 '16 at 13:08

Zanna

70,465

answered Dec 16 '16 at 11:31

user631559

366

to make it work had to do usermod -a -G bluetooth pulse – melkyades Sep 11 '17 at 12:13
worked immediately! Thanks! – Nikhil VJ Sep 09 '19 at 19:21
1

Mint 20 gives Failure: Module initialization failed from the second command. sudo does not help. – CoderGuy123 Apr 04 '21 at 18:40
worked like charm. Thanks!! – Deepak Apr 09 '21 at 20:14
This solution worked on Ubuntu 20.10 – Vahid Apr 18 '21 at 00:42
I am accepting this answer since so many people were helped by it ;) – Thiago Petrone Apr 22 '21 at 14:29

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 06 '22 at 08:48

3

in my case this commands helped me

sudo apt-get install pulseaudio-module-bluetooth
sudo killall pulseaudio
pulseaudio --start    
sudo systemctl restart bluetooth

answered Nov 06 '22 at 08:48

Raskul

129

On my machine it looked like pulseaudio did not start at all, even after reboot. – Markus Zeller Aug 11 '23 at 07:02

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 09 '21 at 07:47

I have been facing a similar problem -

Bluetooth getting paired
Connecting to my Bluetooth speaker, not connecting to my Bluetooth headphone
in both cases the device was not listed under the sound output devices.

installing the pulseaudio-module-bluetooth package and loading the Bluetooth module resolved my issue.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 08 '22 at 23:50

0

This is the 'magic trick' that I use to "fix bluetooth" when it's messed up in Ubuntu 20.04.

sudo rmmod btusb
sudo modprobe btusb

I keep this in a handy ~/bin/fix-bluetooth.sh shell script.

Nothing else works, but this does every time, for me.

answered May 08 '22 at 23:50

Stachu

103
4

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 09 '15 at 23:36

0

Found this thread in another forum that solved for me: Bluetooth a2dp not working (connection logs incl)

answered Jun 09 '15 at 23:36

Thiago Petrone

193
1
1
5

I ended up making a clean install and the problem was solved. I am not able to test this solution anymore. Thanks anyway! – Thiago Petrone Jun 01 '16 at 17:55

Bluetooth speaker pairs but won`t connect

5 Answers5

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