Bluetooth unstable

Good morning everyone, I bought a new HP Bluetooth 240 mouse yesterday and I struggled to connect it to my Manjaro KDE. After several attempts I managed to get it to work but this morning after starting the mouse it disconnected and it took me a while to get the system to pair even though Manjaro saw it in the Bluetooth settings.
Thanks

    ~  sudo inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --width                                     ✔ 
[sudo] password di eduardolp3: 
System:
  Kernel: 6.1.103-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
    root=UUID=641a882c-5abb-4e5b-be78-881ef49e404c rw quiet splash
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.5 tk: Qt v: N/A wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Vostro 3558 v: N/A serial: <filter>
    Chassis: type: 9 serial: <filter>
  Mobo: Dell model: 05W6N2 v: A00 serial: <filter> part-nu: 06C1
    uuid: 4c4c4544-0037-4310-805a-c3c04f4b4332 UEFI: Dell v: A17 date: 09/11/2020
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 8 GiB available: 7.67 GiB used: 2.4 GiB (31.3%)
    igpu: 32 MiB
  Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 8 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM A type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 4 GiB
    speed: 1600 MT/s volts: N/A width (bits): data: 64 total: 64
    manufacturer: Hynix/Hyundai part-no: HMT451S6BFR8A-PB serial: <filter>
  Device-2: DIMM B type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 4 GiB
    speed: 1600 MT/s volts: N/A width (bits): data: 64 total: 64
    manufacturer: Crucial part-no: CT51264BF160B.C16F serial: <filter>
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i3-5005U socket: BGA1168 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Broadwell gen: core 5 level: v3 note: check built: 2015-18
    process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3D (61) stepping: 4
    microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
    L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 945 high: 1900 min/max: 500/1900 base/boost: 2000/2000
    scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil volts: 0.8 V
    ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 882 2: 1900 3: 500 4: 500 bogomips: 15971
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon
    avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16
    cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
    flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr ht ibpb ibrs intel_pt invpcid
    invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe msr mtrr
    nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge pln
    pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep smap
    smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow
    tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt
    xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  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: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow 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; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-8 process: Intel 14nm built: 2014-15 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1616 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microdia Integrated Webcam driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-5:2 chip-ID: 0c45:6710
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.1
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
    s-diag: 414mm (16.31") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x15c5 built: 2014 res: 1366x768
    dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.1.5-manjaro1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:1616 memory: 3.75 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: N/A device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
    name: Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2) driver: mesa intel
    v: 24.1.5-manjaro1.1 device-ID: 8086:1616 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:160c class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9ca0
    class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.103-1-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: 1.2.2 status: n/a (root, process)
    with: pipewire-media-session status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0 status: active (root, process)
    with: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08b3 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp6s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: e000 bus-ID: 07:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Info: services: mld, NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-6:3 chip-ID: 8087:07dc
    class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 16.26 GiB (6.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Intenso model: SSD Sata III
    size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.2
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 4A0 temp: 41 C
    scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 15d 1h cycles: 258
    read: 20.2 MiB written: 24.1 MiB Pre-Fail: reallocated sector: 100
    threshold: 50
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVD+-RW GU90N rev: A1C1
    dev-links: cdrom
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 30 GiB size: 29.36 GiB (97.87%) used: 12.85 GiB (43.7%)
    fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 label: N/A
    uuid: 641a882c-5abb-4e5b-be78-881ef49e404c
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 27.1 MiB (5.3%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4
    label: BOOT uuid: CBD3-12DA
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 123.42 GiB size: 120.92 GiB (97.98%)
    used: 3.39 GiB (2.8%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6
    label: N/A uuid: 5a83cf39-e879-418f-93d6-9794f52566e8
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 label: swap
    uuid: c9579a4d-8aa2-4bf0-b52e-7bcde779e975
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 16 MiB fs: N/A label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-2: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 60.54 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
    uuid: C40A4E920A4E8202
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 Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:8001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 11 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-5:2 info: Microdia Integrated Webcam type: video
    driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 power: 500mA chip-ID: 0c45:6710 class-ID: 0e02
  Device-2: 2-6:3 info: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 8087:07dc class-ID: e001
  Device-3: 2-8:4 info: Realtek RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
    type: <vendor specific> driver: rtsx_usb,rtsx_usb_ms,rtsx_usb_sdmmc
    interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
    power: 500mA chip-ID: 0bda:0129 class-ID: ff00 serial: <filter>
  Hub-4: 3-0:1 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
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: SODIMM C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0 fan-3: 0
Info:
  Processes: 205 Power: uptime: 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 3.06 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 1450 libs: 380 tools: pamac,yay
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.1.1 Shell: Sudo (sudo)
    v: 1.9.15p5 default: Bash v: 5.2.26 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.35

Just remembering my own case: can you ensure that the antennas are well attached? Only one may still make the wifi works, but Bluetooth while present, will be unstable. Bluetooth is usually handled by the secondary (white) antenna.

@leledumbo That may not be the easiest thing to check as it’s a laptop.

However, I notice that the mouse is Bluetooth 5.1, and the laptop advertises Bluetooth 4.0. Bluetooth is backwards compatible, but it’s possible that the mouse’s implementation isn’t great and is assuming 5.1. For example, it might be assuming it can use one of the new low data rate modes, which would likely break the connection.

In fact Windows 11 in dualboot did not recognize the mouse. Is there anything I can do to fix the problem on Manjaro?

That should not present any issues - but one never know - the reason I am thinking that is how a vendor will take such difference into account.

The device software will/shoud adapt to the version of the connectio point.

The vendor cannot assume the mouse will only be used with bluetooth v5 and if doing so - it would backfire.

Using the same bluetooth device in dual boot mode requires some extra attention - if I recall correct - there is a section on archwiki describing how to make a bluetooth device work across different OS.

See → Bluetooth - ArchWiki

Do not turn on microwave when you trying to pair it up. :slight_smile:
Just a joke.

Why can’t they? Bluetooth 5 isn’t exactly new (2018), and HP are clearly advertising it as a Bluetooth 5.1 mouse. Bluetooth is backwards compatible in that a host with a higher version can connect to a client with lower version. There are no such guarantees the other way around, such as in this case. For example, I have headphones that require Bluetooth 4.0, and will not connect to a Bluetooth 3.0 device.

In this case, I’m thinking that HP might be using the lower bandwidth modes of Bluetooth 5 to a) save on battery power (which they say they do on their webpage) and b) increase the connection strength, so they can save money on the internal antenna.

You are definitely right that there Bluetooth tends not to play well with dual-boot though, although that’s during the pairing process. If Win11 isn’t picking up the mouse at all, I’d be inclined to think that this is a Bluetooth version issue and the mouse connecting to Linux at all may technically be a bug.

@eduardolp3 Can you try connecting the mouse to your phone? If your phone is newer than your laptop, it may support Bluetooth 5. If it does, then you could use it to test if the mouse disconnects by itself from the phone. If you observe the same disconnects, then the mouse may be faulty. If not, then I’d say it’s more likely your laptop doesn’t support a Bluetooth 5 peripherals.

1 Like

They can - but could backfire on the brand - and usually - but necessarily - the vendor tries to assure it will work with the majority devices

One of the reasons why it is assumed it works.

The assumption you make with relation to backwards compatibility is likely correct - if a device requires a specfic protocol level - then it may not function - but then it will be documented by the vendor - so the end-user can compare the intended use-case with device specification.

When you buy a wifi dongle you look for the protocols supported and that may not be a catchall - in the sense that supporting a.c.n. does not imply support for .b.g. if you get my drift.

@linux-aahus I’m not sure if you took the time to look at the linked page, but HP advertises the mouse as Bluetooth 5.1 - specifically identifying the protocol version 3 times on their page, and specifically mentions the energy efficiency of Bluetooth 5.1 as a feature. That’s fairly clear documentation.

What I - from a general perspective - mean is - the document states the device connects using BT 5.1 - that means if your system is quipped with latest BT 5.1 then great - if not - don’t raise your expectations

  • Connection type Bluetooth® 5.1

The requirements is not a specific Bluetooth version - just Bluetooth

  • System Requirements, Minimum Bluetooth®
  • Compatibility Compatible with PCs with available Bluetooth® technology.

And adding insult to pain - Linux is not officially supported (unless you count Android a Linux)

  • Compatible operating systems Windows 11; Windows 10; macOS; Chrome OS

If the device was incompatible with - say 3.0 (I don’t know if it is a thing - just a thought example) - then the requirements would have read something like

  • System Requirements, Minimum Bluetooth® v4.0
  • Compatibility Compatible with PCs with available Bluetooth® v4.0 or better technology.

But there is no such lower bound - that is what I mean - when I expressed agreement in your thought, that the connection may depend on the receiving device’s bluetooth version.