Originally posted at https://lazybottom.blogspot.com/2012/01/bluetooth-pulseaudio-misery-on-ubuntu.html on 2012-01-21 # Bluetooth + pulseaudio misery on Ubuntu Precise During one of the usual `apt-get dist-upgrade` cycles I have noticed that my bluetooth speakers no longer work. I decided to spend some time debugging the issue today. It was weird because the speakers were definitely paired to my notebook as I could see the blue light on them. That usually means an active connection between the speakers and _something_. First thing to check:  ``` zsol@urgar-ubuntu:~$ hcitool con Connections:     < ACL 00:02:3C:25:C0:A2 handle 12 state 1 lm SLAVE AUTH ENCRYPT zsol@urgar-ubuntu:~$ hcitool name 00:02:3C:25:C0:A2 Creative T12 Wireless ``` Yep, speakers are definitely there. So why are they not showing up in any mixer application I tried? I vaguely remembered the label they usually get: `Playback: Creative T12 Wireless (PulseAudio Mixer)`. Aha! Must be something with pulseaudio. Back in the day I used to fiddle around a lot with the pulseaudio settings (when Ubuntu first introduced it) and I have read quite a huge amount of back-and-forth flamewars between Ubuntu/Pulseaudio developers which illustrated the huge gap between their idea of a general purpose audio subsystem. It must be something with pulseaudio and Ubuntu again! :-) Sure enough, killing pulseaudio and rerunning it from a console with debug logging showed this: ``` bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111) W: [pulseaudio] module-bluetooth-device.c: Bluetooth audio service not available W: [pulseaudio] module-bluetooth-device.c: Service not connected I: [pulseaudio] card.c: Freed 4 "bluez_card.00_02_3C_25_C0_A2" E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-bluetooth-device" (argument: "address=00:02:3C:25:C0:A2"): initialization failed. ``` After stracing through pulseaudio, it turned out that it was trying to connect to a socket that did not in fact exist. At this point I spent a considerable amount of time searching for documentation on the exact options in the files under `/etc/bluetooth/*.conf` but all my efforts were in vain. Eventually, after stepping back a few times and getting more and more desperate, I found [this](http://wiki.gentoo.org/index.php?title=Bluetooth_Headset) gentoo wiki entry which described the exact same symptoms as I had, and offered the magic configuration option - put this in `/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf` under the `[General]` section: ``` Enable=Socket ``` After restarting the bluetooth stack, everything started working - the socket has been created, pulseaudio picked it up and finally my speakers were available in all of my mixers; including `pavucontrol/paman`.