Bluetooth connection issues (Xfce)

Hello, it’s my first time posting on this forum and I’m a newbie, please let me know if I don’t provide sufficient information or if the format is wrong.

I’m running XFCE 4.18.1 with Manjaro 6.1.41 on an old Macbook Pro mid-2012.

I have an Anker Soundcore speaker that’s been working on the same kernel and computer two days ago. I never had connection issues so far, but sound has always been lagging.

I had a nightmarish experience yesterday setting up my VPN, I changed the power adapter, fixed the macbook chime at reboot and installed drivers and linux61-headers for a BrosTrend dongle. I had wifi speed issues with Broadcom drivers, that’s why I tried a dongle. Wifi speed issues are fixed with the dongle and the VPN is set.

Since this morning, I have huge issues with the Anker speaker connection. It connects for a while and is lagging but a while after I run youtube on chrome or firefox, the device disconnects and I get a br-connection-busy error on Bluetooth Devices. I don’t have this issue on MacOS nor on my android cellphone.

So far:

  • I tried changing channels for 2.4 GHz wifi
  • I activated only the 5G
  • I remove the dongle and connected vs USB tethering via my cellphone

Using only 5G (completely deactivated 2.4 GHz on the router) and usb tethering, I’m experiencing the same issue. After all that, I feel confident the issue doesn’t come from interference.

I then tried:

  • Changing ControllerMode = bredr in /etc/bluetooth/main.conf
  • I checked I was running only on PulseAudio

I’m trying a few solution provided on Arch Linux Bluetooth Headset page. bluetoothctl wasn’t installed, so I did. I’m trying to switch codecs but it’s failing:

$ pactl send-message /card/bluez_card.F4_4E_FD_E8_34_B9/bluez list-codecs

[{"name":"sbc","description":"SBC"},{"name":"sbc_xq_453","description":"SBC XQ 453kbps"},{"name":"sbc_xq_512","description":"SBC XQ 512kbps"},{"name":"sbc_xq_552","description":"SBC XQ 552kbps"}]

$ pactl send-message /card/bluez_card.F4_4E_FD_E8_34_B9/bluez switch-codec '"sbc"'

Send message failed: Invalid argument

I’m at a complete loss honestly. I quit trying switching codecs because I’m not even sure that’s the issue. I want to know if you have other solutions, if switching codecs could help or if buying a Bluetooth dongle would help.

Thank you so much!

inxi -v7azy:

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.41-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.1.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
    root=UUID=a74aba25-26c2-4c3d-8bf0-fddc1eefa4c9 rw quiet splash apparmor=1
    security=apparmor resume=UUID=cefd70ea-3d31-4044-b9ca-daee73168500
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.36 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm
    v: 4.18.0 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookPro10,1 v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F v: MacBookPro10,1
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple v: 262.0.0.0.0 date: 06/10/2020
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 41.7 Wh (96.5%) condition: 43.2/92.2 Wh (46.9%)
    volts: 11.8 min: 10.9 model: SMP bq20z451 type: Li-ion serial: N/A
    status: full cycles: 1107
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 8 GiB available: 7.67 GiB used: 4.22 GiB (55.0%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-3615QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge
    gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2890 high: 3229 min/max: 1200/3300 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 3159 2: 3229 3: 3093
    4: 1200 5: 3100 6: 3121 7: 3123 8: 3101 bogomips: 36735
  Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov
    constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts ept
    erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida
    lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae
    pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts
    rdrand rdtscp rep_good sep smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp
    syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic
    xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Apple driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports: active: none
    empty: VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK107M [GeForce GT 650M Mac Edition] vendor: Apple
    driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: series: 470.xx+
    status: legacy-active (EOL~2023/24) arch: Kepler code: GKxxx
    process: TSMC 28nm built: 2012-18 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8
    link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: HDMI-A-1,eDP-2
    empty: DP-1,DP-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0fd5 class-ID: 0300
    temp: 70.0 C
  Device-3: Apple FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-1.1:3
    chip-ID: 05ac:8510 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 with: Xwayland v: 23.1.2
    compositor: xfwm v: 4.18.0 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: nouveau,crocus gpu: nouveau display-ID: :0.0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4800x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1270x286mm (50.00x11.26")
    s-diag: 1302mm (51.25") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: ES-27X3 built: 2022 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82
    gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9
    modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: eDP-2 model: Apple Color LCD built: 2011 res: 2880x1800 dpi: 221
    gamma: 1.2 size: 331x207mm (13.03x8.15") diag: 390mm (15.4") ratio: 16:10
    modes: max: 2880x1800 min: 800x600
  API: OpenGL Message: Unable to show GL data. Required tool glxinfo missing.
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK107 HDMI Audio vendor: Apple driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3
    speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0e1b class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.41-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.75 status: off tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active with: pulseaudio-alsa
    type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57786 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: N/A pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:16a3
    class-ID: 0200
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme
    driver: bcma-pci-bridge v: N/A modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4331 class-ID: 0280
  IF-ID-1: enp0s20u1u2 state: unknown speed: -1 duplex: half mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  IF-ID-2: tun0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A
  IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
  IF-ID-3: wlp4s0b1 state: down mac: <filter>
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-1.8.1.3:8
    chip-ID: 05ac:8286 class-ID: fe01
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter>
  Device-2: Samsung Galaxy series misc. (tethering mode) driver: rndis_host
    v: kernel type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
    bus-ID: 3-1.2:3 chip-ID: 04e8:6863 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 233.76 GiB used: 25.45 GiB (10.9%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Apple model: SSD SM256E
    size: 233.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 9A1Q scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 199.52 GiB size: 195.33 GiB (97.90%)
    used: 25.45 GiB (13.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 label: N/A
    uuid: a74aba25-26c2-4c3d-8bf0-fddc1eefa4c9
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 1001 MiB size: 999 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 300 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 label: N/A
    uuid: F7CE-F547
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 9.65 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: N/A
    uuid: cefd70ea-3d31-4044-b9ca-daee73168500
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 200 MiB fs: vfat label: EFI
    uuid: 70D6-1701
  ID-2: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 22.81 GiB fs: hfsplus label: STARBUST
    uuid: bfeeeaca-cea7-341a-9068-c7c94686a352
  ID-3: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 619.9 MiB fs: hfsplus label: Recovery HD
    uuid: 1b83e5d4-0389-31fd-bb6f-c56c4e269eab
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:0024
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-1.1:3 info: Apple FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) type: video
    driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 power: 500mA chip-ID: 05ac:8510 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:0024
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 2-1.8:3 info: Microchip (formerly SMSC) USB 2.0 Hub ports: 2
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 2mA
    chip-ID: 0424:2512 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 2-1.8.1:4 info: Broadcom BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046
    Bluetooth) ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
    power: 94mA chip-ID: 0a5c:4500 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-1.8.1.3:8 info: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller type: bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 05ac:8286 class-ID: fe01
  Device-2: 2-1.8.2:5 info: Apple Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
    (MacBook Retina) type: keyboard,HID,mouse driver: apple,bcm5974,usbhid
    interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
    power: 40mA chip-ID: 05ac:0263 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-7: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-8: 3-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1.2:3 info: Samsung Galaxy series misc. (tethering mode)
    type: bluetooth,CDC-data driver: rndis_host interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 04e8:6863 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 3-1.3:4 info: Holtek USB Gaming Mouse type: mouse,keyboard
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 04d9:a09e class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: 3-1.4:5 info: Microdia USB DEVICE type: keyboard,mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 0c45:8016 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-9: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-10: 4-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.2
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 05e3:0626
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 86.0 C mobo: 53.0 C gpu: nouveau temp: 70.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 272 Uptime: 1h 18m wakeups: 3 Init: systemd v: 253
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 13.1.1 clang: 15.0.7
  Packages: 1211 pm: pacman pkgs: 1198 libs: 348 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak
  pkgs: 0 pm: snap pkgs: 13 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: xfce4-terminal
  inxi: 3.3.28

Most likely, you need the wl driver…

sudo mhwd --install pci network-broadcom-wl
reboot
1 Like

Oh my god I was sure I had all the drivers. It works!

Thank you so much, you just saved me from a huge headache!!!

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