Bluetooth headset

This article describes the setup of a bluetooth headset.

Prerequisites
A Bluetooth installation must be done first. If you use simple-agent, no GUI programs or applets are needed. Here is how to setup ALSA sound.

ALSA configuration
Edit (systemwide) or  (user level). Add one of the following code snippets, and replace the MAC address with the one of your bluetooth device.

Restart ALSA.

Testing
Play a sound file. When it works, please add your device to our Hall of Fame.

Audio socket
Some setups (non-PulseAudio) need Socket enabled, if there's no sound.

Can't open input device
Compile and load the uinput kernel module, when things don't work, and the logs show this error: Output of Syslog

No audio service is available
After updating to -4.97 it might happen, that a Bluetooth headset is connected, but ALSA / PulseAudio fails to pick up the connected device.

An error message like this might be shown in the output of PulseAudio: Debug output of PulseAudio

To fix this, the following needs to be done:
 * 1) Enable the audio socket of bluetoothd


 * 1) Restart bluetoothd by doing one of the following things:
 * 2) * Turn the software wireless kill switch off and on again


 * 1) * Turn the hardware wireless kill switch off and on again
 * 2) * Reboot the computer
 * 3) Reconnect the Bluetooth headset

List of working devices

 * Dell BH200 - works as headphones - microphone not yet tested
 * HFBLU-ST6 - works as headphones - microphone doesn't seem to work with preliminary testing
 * Nokia BH-214 - works as headphones - microphone doesn't seem to work with preliminary testing
 * HBH-DS200 - works as headphones - microphone not yet tested
 * Plantronics BackBeat GO - works as headphones - microphone not yet tested