using Bluetooth ( SOLVED ??? )

[Tommy Trussell]

On Sat, Jun 15, 2024 at 10:03 AM Bill Stanley <bstanle at wowway.com> wrote:

>
> On 6/14/24 16:13, Tommy Trussell wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 10:42 AM Bill Stanley <bstanle at wowway.com> wrote:
>
>> I got an answer.  I ran on the console   "hciconfig -a"   and there was
>> no response from the console so the Bluetooth hardware is not on my
>> computer.  It wasn't what I hoped but at least I know that I can stop
>> trying.
>>
>
>  I ALMOST never use Bluetooth but now that it's in the GUI I see that it's
> active. I ran your
>
> hciconfig -a
>
> command, and it gave me lots of information about the interface.
>
> Then I turned OFF Bluetooth (using the widget on the screen) and ran the
> command and...
>
> nothing -- no response
>
> SO you MIGHT still have Bluetooth but it might be turned off?
>
> There's probably a "better" way to confirm whether you do or don't HAVE
> Bluetooth, but you might try
>
> sudo lshw | grep Bluetooth
>
> If you get a "hit" then one of your built-in devices offers it. Mine shows
> up on the usb bus.
>
>
> WS=> I tried executing that command ( sudo lshw | grep Bluetooth ) and the
> reply was one word "USB". Presumably this means that some USB device
> supports Bluetooth but is it disabled?  If so, it doesn't give any
> information about what USB device and how to activate it.
>
> What GUI are you using?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Bill Stanley
>

I'm using regular Ubuntu 24.04, Gnome, Wayland.

SO the output of the command I gave originally did not include the word
"Bluetooth"? It might be that you DON'T have the Bluetooth hardware, then.
You may have been right when you said you didn't.

Are you using a mass-produced model computer, such as a Dell, HP, Gateway
;-) or something? Search for your model's specs and confirm if it SHOULD
have Bluetooth built in. If it's more than a few years old it probably
doesn't.

The lshw command is completely independent of the GUI and it may not be so
easy to decipher. But since you MAY have found a "hit," pipe the lshw
command into a file and look around the word Bluetooth in it, and you may
get some more device information to search for.

sudo lshw > lshw_output.txt

The command above will put the output into a file called "lshw_output.txt"
in the current directory of the terminal

Once the output is in a file, open the file in an editor and search for
Bluetooth. Look at the lines above and below for something that looks
like a model number and vendor name.

If you find such a thing you can search using those parameters for more
information. If you cannot find anything I would combine that with the make
and model of your computer and the version of the distro you are using. Add
different combinations until you see something useful.

(I'm in front of a different computer right now, and it definitely has no
Bluetooth installed like the other one does. I'm actually a little
surprised because I am using a USB wireless dongle and I thought *IT*
includes Bluetooth but apparently not.)

Anyway I hope I didn't lead you on a wild chase. And a newer device might
work well for what you need.
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