If only Bluetooth worked...

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michaelzap
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If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by michaelzap »

Been using and loving Mint for years. On my main laptop (a first-gen Dell XPS 13 - Core i5) I am running the latest Slylvia 64-bit with the MATE desktop. Been using it constantly and upgrading it for years and have rarely been tempted to switch to another distro, except for one nagging issue.

Bluetooth has never, ever worked for me on this laptop. I've researched it and tried every tutorial that folks have posted, but I can never get it to successfully pair with a mouse (which is all that I really want to do, and doesn't seem to be asking all that much). It detects the adapter and starts the process, etc., but it always fails.

At different times over the years (!) that I've struggled with this, I've just decided to wait it out and keep using a USB mouse. Maybe the next kernel or system update will resolve it, or maybe I'll buy a couple more USB mice and see if one of them works. But nope it never does.

Right now I'm at the airport beginning a trip and I just realized that I left my USB mouse behind. I had a fleeting thought that maybe I'd try again and buy yet another different bluetooth mouse and see if I could get that one to work. But... am I just being a sucker?

Has anyone here ever gotten a bluetooth mouse to work with a first-gen Dell XPS using the MATE desktop? If so, how? And what make/model of mouse are you using?

Thanks in advance for any help that folks can offer with this.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
JeremyB
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by JeremyB »

Open terminal and run this command

Code: Select all

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net; lsusb; rfkill list; dmesg | egrep -i 'blue|firm'
Post output
phd21
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by phd21 »

Hi michaelzap,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

Which model XPS computer do you have? Don't these computers have a built-in touchpad and or touch screen?

If anyone here can help with your Bluetooth issues member "JeremyB" is one of them.

FYI: You can also get a tiny USB Bluetooth Dongle v4.x at very reasonable prices from Amazon.com, EBay, etc... which might work much better over using the built-in one, especially if the built-in Bluetooth adapter is a combination adapter. Search for "USB Bluetooth adapter linux" and read description and user comments.

I have one very similar to the ones below (csr 4.x) that work very well with my Bluetooth devices. I do not have a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, but it works well with my Bluetooth headsets, clock radio, etc...

Amazon.com: MIATONE Wireless Bluetooth CSR 4.0 USB Adapter Dongle for Laptop PC Support Windows 10 8 7 Vista XP 32/64 Bit Raspberry Pi Linux,Bluetooth Mouse Keyboard Headset Speaker -Black: Electronics
https://www.amazon.com/MIATONE-Wireless ... pter+linux

Amazon.com: Onvian Bluetooth Adapter USB CSR 4.0 Dongle Receiver Transfer Wireless for Laptop PC Computer
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LH6RPBW/re ... B00M1ATR4C

...
Phd21: Mint 20 Cinnamon & xKDE (Mint Xfce + Kubuntu KDE) & KDE Neon 64-bit (new based on Ubuntu 20.04) Awesome OS's, Dell Inspiron I5 7000 (7573) 2 in 1 touch screen, Dell OptiPlex 780 Core2Duo E8400 3GHz,4gb Ram, Intel 4 Graphics.
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absque fenestris
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by absque fenestris »

I have been using Microsoft® Wireless Mobile Mice for years.

1. I like little mice
2. these things are cheap as dirt
3. they work without specific drivers (OSX, Windows, Linux)
michaelzap
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by michaelzap »

Thanks everyone for your quick replies!

I'm about to board another flight, but here are some quick answers:

Code: Select all

zap@chimuelito ~ $ lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net; lsusb; rfkill list; dmesg | egrep -i 'blue|firm'
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:43b1] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: Dell BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [1028:0019]
	Kernel driver in use: wl
	Kernel modules: bcma, wl
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8001 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:5682 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0a5c:216f Broadcom Corp. BCM20702A0 Bluetooth
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
0: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
[    9.991935] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.21
[    9.991956] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[    9.991960] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[    9.991963] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[    9.991970] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[   10.120766] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM: chip id 63
[   10.136761] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM20702A
[   10.137765] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM20702A1 (001.002.014) build 0000
[   10.160366] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for brcm/BCM20702A1-0a5c-216f.hcd failed with error -2
[   10.160373] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM: Patch brcm/BCM20702A1-0a5c-216f.hcd not found
[   11.106832] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[   11.106836] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast
[   11.106841] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized
[   16.259063] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[   16.259073] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[   16.259083] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11
zap@chimuelito ~ $

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zap@chimuelito ~ $ inxi -Fxzd
System:    Host: chimuelito Kernel: 4.4.0-124-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: MATE 1.18.0 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: Dell (portable) product: XPS 13 9343
           Mobo: Dell model: 0TM99H v: A00 Bios: Dell v: A07 date: 11/11/2015
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-5200U (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8779
           clock speeds: max: 2700 MHz 1: 2200 MHz 2: 2296 MHz 3: 1009 MHz
           4: 2211 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Broadwell-U Integrated Graphics bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@59.93hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 5500 (Broadwell GT2)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 Intel Broadwell-U Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-124-generic
Network:   Card: Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: wl bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlan1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 128.0GB (73.4% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_SSD_PM85 size: 128.0GB
           Optical: No optical drives detected.
Partition: ID-1: / size: 110G used: 81G (78%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
           ID-2: /boot size: 236M used: 146M (66%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 8.19GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0C mobo: 49.0C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 232 Uptime: 8 min Memory: 1402.8/7603.3MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 
zap@chimuelito ~ $ 

Code: Select all

zap@chimuelito ~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8001 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:5682 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0a5c:216f Broadcom Corp. BCM20702A0 Bluetooth
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
zap@chimuelito ~ $ 
I have the first generation of non-touchscreen XPS 13s. This was before they sold these with Ubuntu on them, so I got it with Windows and then wiped it clean. I definitely don't want to use a USB dongle for bluetooth, since this laptop only has two USB ports and the main reason that I don't like to use a USB mouse now is because it means that I only have one port free.

I have a really nice Microsoft bluetooth mouse in a drawer back home that I would love to use someday, but it's one of the many that I could never get to pair with this rig.

I'm getting called to board, but I'll be interested to see what insight folks have when I get to LA in a few hours.

Thanks again!
JeremyB
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by JeremyB »

In terminal

Code: Select all

wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/r2pb41rhx65t9zi/BCM20702A0-0a5c-216f.hcd
sudo cp BCM20702A0-0a5c-216f.hcd /lib/firmware/brcm/
Reboot
michaelzap
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by michaelzap »

Interesting!

When I use the firmware file that you provided (thanks!), I am able to pair with a Logitech M535 bluetooth mouse that I picked up at BestBuy this morning. So that's progress! However, it's completely unusable, since the pointer just sort of meanders around the screen lagging way behind my movements and sometimes not reacting to them at all. I can't accurately click on anything (I can't even pick out one Control Center icon if I really work at it) either. I tried turning off the trackpad entirely to see if that might be conflicting somehow (right now I just have it set to disable itself when I'm typing), but that only led to a fun game of trying to re-check the enable box with the bluetooth mouse that goes where it wants and registers clicks randomly.

Any idea what this new info might mean or how to resolve it?
mikecolley
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by mikecolley »

My M557 Bluetooth mouse works normally with Cinnamon 17.2 on an old Elitebook 8730w. I have to re-connect to it every time I boot using the touchpad to make the connection, but outside of a double clicking left mouse botton, it works normally. - Mike
michaelzap
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Re: If only Bluetooth worked...

Post by michaelzap »

I'm now back from my trip and trying again to make this work (now with the mouse that I really want to work - a Microsoft Sculpt Touch mouse). There was a firmware update while I was away which I applied, and when I tried again to pair with this mouse, it failed (I also tried with another generic Microsoft bluetooth mouse, and it also failed to pair). So I copied the firmware that you linked to again and rebooted, removed the devices, rebooted, and tried again. Even with the firmware that you sent, my laptop is not discovering these mice at all (so of course, it's not able to pair with them). Ideas?
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