No Bluetooth adapters found RTL8821CE

LionHeartIV · 10-26-2019, 08:01 AM

I have a HP 250GT laptop, Linux Mint (cinnamon) 19.2

Open the Bluetooth app, show this message: No Bluetooth adapters found

Tried this:

$ systemctl status bluetooth
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)
Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)

Looks as though it's inactive, yet I cannot see a BIOS setting to enable it, any ideas please?

Rickkkk · 10-27-2019, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LionHeartIV

I have a HP 250GT laptop, Linux Mint (cinnamon) 19.2

Open the Bluetooth app, show this message: No Bluetooth adapters found

Tried this:

$ systemctl status bluetooth
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)
Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)

Looks as though it's inactive, yet I cannot see a BIOS setting to enable it, any ideas please?

Hi LionHeartIV,

Welcome to LQ.

Systemd services are not enabled or started in BIOS - you do that from a booted linux system. To start the bluetooth service, you would issue this command from a root command prompt or by using sudo :

Code:

systemctl start bluetooth

From the output of your status command, however, the service seems to be enabled, which means it should start at boot. Since it is not started, there may be another problem.

First verify that no hardware switch is in the Off position for the bluetooth adapter ... These come in different varieties depending on the computer ... sometimes a dedicated switch, sometimes a function key.

Also verify the radio status with the rfkill command:

Code:

rfkill

... if your bluetooth adapter appears it should not have a status "BLOCKED".

If the bluetooth adapter isn't listed with the rfkill command, I would then check to see if the bluetooth driver module and dependencies are loaded. Please report back the output of the following command :

Code:

lsmod | grep bt

... if several lines appear, including references to module btusb, your system should be able to start the systemd bluetooth service. If nothing appears, try loading the module with the following command :

Code:

sudo modprobe btusb

.. and then try the previous lsmod command again. If loaded modules now appear, you could try restarting your systemd bluetooth service with the first command and reporting the output of the status command again. If it then appears as loaded and started, you should be able to see your bluetooth device in whatever gui app you are using. Personally, I avoid gui apps and simply use the bluetoothctl command environment - if you are interested in this, let us know.

Let us know how you make out.

TB0ne · 10-27-2019, 11:50 AM

And to add to the excellent advice Rickkkk gave, check the very obvious things first:

Is the bluetooth device enabled in BIOS?
Have you turned it on (such as with a switch or FN-<KEY> combination)?

Sometimes the device isn't enabled, and if it's not it won't be picked up/used by Linux (or anything else, for that matter).

LionHeartIV · 10-28-2019, 09:32 AM

Code:

$ rfkill
ID TYPE DEVICE    SOFT      HARD
 0 wlan phy0   blocked unblocked

$ lsmod | grep bt
btrfs                1138688  0
xor                    24576  1 btrfs
zstd_compress         163840  1 btrfs
raid6_pq              114688  1 btrfs

$ sudo modprobe btusb
btusb                  45056  0
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                16384  1 btusb
bluetooth             544768  4 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,btusb
btrfs                1138688  0
xor                    24576  1 btrfs
zstd_compress         163840  1 btrfs
raid6_pq              114688  1 btrfs

beachboy2 · 10-28-2019, 09:42 AM

LionHeartIV,

Your wlan is softblocked.

Try this command:

Code:

sudo rfkill unblock wlan0

If that does not work, try these two:

Code:

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service
sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

Rickkkk · 10-28-2019, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LionHeartIV

Code:

$ rfkill
ID TYPE DEVICE    SOFT      HARD
 0 wlan phy0   blocked unblocked

$ lsmod | grep bt
btrfs                1138688  0
xor                    24576  1 btrfs
zstd_compress         163840  1 btrfs
raid6_pq              114688  1 btrfs

$ sudo modprobe btusb
btusb                  45056  0
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                16384  1 btusb
bluetooth             544768  4 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,btusb
btrfs                1138688  0
xor                    24576  1 btrfs
zstd_compress         163840  1 btrfs
raid6_pq              114688  1 btrfs

Hi LionHeartIV,

Thanks for the info. Several points here :

Your wireless LAN (wifi) adapter is soft-blocked. Although this is not likely to be the root cause of your bluetooth issue, it should be fixed. You can use the command that beachboy2 mentioned in post #5 to unblock it, substituting "wlan0" for "0".
The output of your lsmod command shows that your bluetooth driver module was not loaded. This will prevent anything from recognizing your adapter. The good news is with the next point ...
The result of your modprobe command shows that you were able to load the bluetooth adapter module manually. If you had run lsmod again after this command, your bluetooth module and its dependancies would have been listed.

The next thing to try would be to start the bluetooth service. Again, you can use the command beachboy2 mentioned in post #5. Afterward, verify if your bluetooth device is now recognized by the GUI app you are using in Mint.

Essentially, your probably seems to be caused by the bluetooth module not loading at boot. By making sure that the adapter is not soft blocked (via rfkill) or deactivated in BIOS (as explained earlier by TB0ne), you should be able to correct this. In the meantime, you are able to load it manually with the modprobe command.

Let us know how it goes from here.

LionHeartIV · 10-29-2019, 02:53 AM

Code:

$ sudo rfkill unblock wlan0
rfkill: invalid identifier: wlan0

$ sudo systemctl enable wlan0.service
Failed to enable unit: Unit file wlan0.service does not exist

Also, I've looked through the BIOS settings and don't see a setting to enable bluetooth.

Rickkkk · 10-29-2019, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LionHeartIV

Code:

$ sudo rfkill unblock wlan0
rfkill: invalid identifier: wlan0

$ sudo systemctl enable wlan0.service
Failed to enable unit: Unit file wlan0.service does not exist

Also, I've looked through the BIOS settings and don't see a setting to enable bluetooth.

Hi LionHeartIV,

For your first command, use the identifier and not the device name (sorry - didn't mention this earlier). So :

Code:

rfkill unblock 0

Then make sure the module is loaded before trying to start bluetooth. Again :

Code:

lsmod | grep btusb

... if it's not there, load it manually :

Code:

sudo modprobe btusb

... then try starting bluetooth ... Your second command isn't correct either. It should be this :

Code:

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service

... if not already the case, this will configure bluetooth to start at boot.

To start the service manually (for testing or other ...) :

Code:

sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

In all distros I've used, the ".service" part of the command is implied and can be omitted, as I described in my first post.

Check what appears in your bluetooth gui app afterwards and let us know.

Cheers.

TB0ne · 10-29-2019, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LionHeartIV

Code:

$ sudo rfkill unblock wlan0
rfkill: invalid identifier: wlan0

$ sudo systemctl enable wlan0.service
Failed to enable unit: Unit file wlan0.service does not exist

The device that rfkill listed was "wlan" not "wlan0". So trying to unblock device wlan0 won't work, and neither then will the follow-up command.

Quote:

Also, I've looked through the BIOS settings and don't see a setting to enable bluetooth.

And I also suggested that you look for a key-combination/switch to turn bluetooth on; again, your device isn't showing up at all, so either it's turned off or won't work under Linux.

Try typing in

Code:

dmesg | egrep -i "firm|blue|net"

...and posting that output. Could be you have a combination bluetooth/wifi card, and the firmware isn't getting loaded to enable the bluetooth module.

LionHeartIV · 10-29-2019, 08:06 AM

Again, thanks for your continued help. Followed the latest instructions:

Code:

$ sudo rfkill unblock 0
$ lsmod | grep btusb
$ sudo modprobe btusb
$ sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service
Synchronizing state of bluetooth.service with SysV service script with /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable bluetooth
$ sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service
$

Opened the Bluetooth app, still get the attached screen shot...

Also, don't have a Bluetooth/WiFi function key on this HP laptop.

LionHeartIV · 10-29-2019, 08:09 AM

Code:

$ dmesg | egrep -i "firm|blue|net"
[    0.057020] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[    0.057020] audit: initializing netlink subsys (disabled)
[    0.372325] NetLabel: Initializing
[    0.372326] NetLabel:  domain hash size = 128
[    0.372326] NetLabel:  protocols = UNLABELED CIPSOv4 CALIPSO
[    0.372342] NetLabel:  unlabeled traffic allowed by default
[    0.404927] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[    0.405476] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[    1.798985] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[    1.804104] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[    1.953219] r8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver 2.3LK-NAPI loaded
[    1.984593] [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_01.bin (v1.1)
[    4.609273] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
[    5.051720] audit: type=1400 audit(1572353505.729:8): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action" pid=618 comm="apparmor_parser"
[    5.051722] audit: type=1400 audit(1572353505.729:9): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" profile="unconfined" name="/usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-helper" pid=618 comm="apparmor_parser"
[    5.408366] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eno1: link is not ready
[    5.454846] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eno1: link is not ready
[    5.457379] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlo1: link is not ready
[    9.701224] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eno1: link becomes ready
[  398.313525] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.22
[  398.313608] NET: Registered protocol family 31
[  398.313608] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[  398.313637] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[  398.313642] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[  398.313687] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[  469.259952] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[  469.259956] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast
[  469.259964] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized

Rickkkk · 10-29-2019, 08:13 AM

Hi LionHeartIV,

... OK. Still not quite there ...

Could you please post the results of these commands :

Code:

rfkill

...then :

Code:

lsmod | grep btusb

and :

Code:

systemctl status bluetooth

Thanks.

LionHeartIV · 10-29-2019, 08:19 AM

Code:

$ lsmod | grep btusb
btusb                  45056  0
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                16384  1 btusb
bluetooth             544768  11 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb

LionHeartIV · 10-29-2019, 08:27 AM

Code:

$ systemctl status bluetooth
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2019-10-29 14:59:29 EET; 27min ago
     Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
 Main PID: 2472 (bluetoothd)
   Status: "Running"
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
           └─2472 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd

Oct 29 14:59:29 kj-HP systemd[1]: Starting Bluetooth service...
Oct 29 14:59:29 kj-HP bluetoothd[2472]: Bluetooth daemon 5.48
Oct 29 14:59:29 kj-HP systemd[1]: Started Bluetooth service.
Oct 29 14:59:29 kj-HP bluetoothd[2472]: Starting SDP server
Oct 29 14:59:29 kj-HP bluetoothd[2472]: Bluetooth management interface 1.14 initialized

Rickkkk · 10-29-2019, 08:34 AM

Hmmm. Looks good.

I'm beginning to suspect there's something amiss with that gui app you're using ... As previously mentioned, I don't use these ... What is under the "Settings" tab ?

Also, have you tried the bluetoothctl command line interface instead ? (let is know if you are unfamiliar with this and we can assist you if you want to try it).