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Make sure the Bluetooth daemon is running:

{{{
# /etc/init.d/bluetooth status
bluetooth is running
}}}

It it is not, start it using

{{{
# /etc/init.d/bluetooth start
}}}

Note: This page describes Debian Bluetooth information for end users. For developer information see the Bluetooth page.

Using Bluetooth in a Debian system

Introduction

We assume you have a Bluetooth adapter in your computer and a Bluetooth device (such as a mobile phone or PDA). This documents describes what you need to do to use Bluetooth to communicate with other Bluetooth devices.

The steps described below are required before you can use the services Bluetooth offers. Once you have setup Bluetooth, you can for example

  • exchange data with devices, such as sending music or videos to/from your phone
  • use a mobile phone to give your computer mobile internet access
  • use Bluetooth peripherials with your computer, such as a Bluetooth wireless mouse

See the links below for details.

Preparation

Install Bluetooth support (package bluetooth ) : 

aptitude install bluetooth

Read /usr/share/doc/bluez-utils/README.Debian.gz to get some understanding of what's going on (in testing/unstable, it's bluez instead of bluez-utils).

Make sure the Bluetooth daemon is running: 

# /etc/init.d/bluetooth status
bluetooth is running

It it is not, start it using 

# /etc/init.d/bluetooth start

Pairing

For security reasons, Bluetooth devices will only talk to each other if they have been "introduced" first (a bit like in real life :-)). This is referred to as Pairing.

Note that pairing is usually only required the first time two devices interact. Afterwards, they will remember each other, and no exchange of PINs is necessary. This will however depend on the devices involved (on some devices this may be configurable).

To pair devices, you need a passkey-agent. Options are:

Pairing using a GUI tool

  • gnome-bluetooth 

aptitude install bluez-gnome

(or apt-get install gnome-bluetooth)

  • or kdebluetooth for KDE 

aptitude install kdebluetooth

Restart X-Windows. This is required for the pairing pop-up in the next step to appear correctly.

On your Bluetooth device you can now try to pair. On the device you need to choose something like the "setup", "connect" or "Bluetooth" menu and then search for Bluetooth devices. You should find your Debian system, called something like debian-0, where debian is the hostname of your Debian system. On your device, select the Debian system. The device will then ask for a PIN, you can make one up. (choose four digits, say 2309 )

On your computer you will get a pop-up information balloon asking for the PIN, something like Pairing request from Phone (xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx) where Phone is the name of your phone and xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx is its MAC address.

Click on the information balloon.

Another window will pop-up. It asks for the PIN, enter the one you just made up. (e.g. 2309 ) and press [Enter].

Your phone sees that the PIN matches and shows it on its display.

Both devices are now paired.

  • /!\ further help requested

Pairing using bluetooth-agent

If you do not want to or cannot use Gnome or KDE, you can also use bluetooth-agent for the pairing. bluetooth-agent is part of package bluez if you use Debian testing or unstable, so should already be installed.

Just start bluetooth-agent (as root), giving an arbitrary PIN, such as 4835: 

# bluetooth-agent 4835

Then, as described above, choose something like the "setup", "connect" or "Bluetooth" menu on the device to be paired, and search for Bluetooth devices. Select your computer once found; the device should prompt you for a PIN. Now enter the PIN you gave to bluetooth-agent, and pairing is completed.

Tips

A Broadcom bluetooth dongle may start off in hidden mode (bug report here)

To fix this you can run: 

# dbus-send --system --dest=org.bluez /org/bluez/hci0 org.bluez.Adapter.SetMode string:discoverable

This should probably instead be added to /etc/init.d/bluetooth.

Helpful Commands

Display your Bluetooth device (for proof that it was installed properly) 

hcitool dev

Search for remote Bluetooth devices 

hcitool scan

Restart the Bluetooth services 

sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

Force connection to device 

sudo hidd --connect <BT_Address>

Helpful Configuration Files

/etc/default/bluetooth - Default HID bluez setting - enable for mice and keyboards 

HID2HCI_ENABLED=1

/etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf - HCI bluez settings - configure static device information 

device 00:1E:52:FB:68:55 {
    name "Apple Wireless Keyboard";
    auth enable;
    encrypt enable;}

KDE Issues

Since the PIN should be implemented on a user level, we need to make some changes to /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf

comment out the line 

passkey "2309";

and add the following line directly below it (Note: kdebluetooth includes the program kbluepin): 

# passkey "2309";
pin_helper /usr/bin/bluez-pin;

KDE also expects a file /etc/bluetooth/link_key to be present. 

# touch /etc/bluetooth/link_key
# chmod 644 /etc/bluetooth/link_key
# /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

In KDE, run kbluetoothd. Click on the Bluetooth icon in the system tray, this loads Konqueror with the Bluetooth:// URL. You should be able to see your device and do some simple file transfers by clicking on the device and choosing the proper transfer protocol.

Scanning for the PC from your device should bring up a window in KDE that asks you for a PIN. Now you can send files to your PC (KDE should bring up a program to handle this).

Some of this information was gleaned from ubuntuformus

HID : Human Interface Device

See also

CategoryHardware CategoryModem