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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Matt, thanks for the feedback.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">More good news:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I have the BTooth speaker and the BTooth headset both working, and I think all is now under control.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I did install a pulse pavucontrol addon and it gives the necessary volume controls on a GUI. I am quite impressed so far.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">One of my problems was forgetting how the BT speaker worked. It has a 3-way switch labelled ‘on/off/bt’ and I was thinking I had to start it on ‘bt’ to pair it and then slide it
across to ‘on’ for the playback but that was just stupid as it slides past ‘off’ and hence drops the connection on the way. I don’t really know what the ‘on’ is for, frankly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Anyway, another problem was not heeding the loud beep from the BT speaker to indicate a successful pairing. Sometimes it didn’t beep, and sometimes it did. Turns out I needed to
try 2 or 3 times, switching it from ‘off’ to ‘bt’, to get the connection. On the linux side in Bluetooth Manager, after a search is toggled, it shows up as a ‘vibro-speaker’. But that doesn’t mean that it is properly connected. It needed a menu ‘setup’ each
time to make the connection - choosing ‘ignore pairing’ and using ‘a2dp’ for the audio stuff.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The BT headset shows up as ‘manhattan’ in Bluetooth Manager and connects fine each time, using the same menu setup method . Linux sees the extra microphone but I haven’t tested that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I intend to write up a basic how-to with details on the minimal extra addons needed to make it work. But today I got side-tracked half-way through a clean install of Peppermint 3
by the old Dell randomly shutting down … I just stripped out the PSU to test it and it seems fine so I don’t know what this next problem is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">It will take me a few more days of tinkering and testing.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">One thing is interesting : if I start multiple audio wav tracks, via File Manager, on a CD and it will play them simultaneously – quite a racket. I associated the tracks to open
with ‘aplay’ I think. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">But there is no way to stop a track playing … it just carries on to the end. I guess that’s where the special audio apps come in. I aim to play around with VLC at some point to see
if that controls the music selection and playback etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Bob.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color:windowtext"> matt johnston <insecure.email@virgin.net>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 24 April 2020 17:44<br>
<b>To:</b> Bob Redknap <r.s.redknap@reading.ac.uk>; Steven De Souza-Wilson <steven@desouza-wilson.com><br>
<b>Cc:</b> sclug@sclug.org.uk<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [sclug] linux Bluetooth problem<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Bob,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Run pavucontrol on the commandline, not sure it installs by default with pulse (but should).<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Good luck!<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Matt<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Thu, 2020-04-23 at 21:45 +0000, Bob Redknap via Sclug wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Just a follow up. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The good news …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I used the Software Manager on Peppermint 3 to install PulseAudio (again), along with various pulse addons and plugins from a long list of options, if the name suggested a link to Bluetooth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">After rebooting, I opened up the Bluetooth Manager shortcut from the desktop. It already saw the BT speaker from previous pairings, and when I selected a music track from an audio CD it did play
it through the BT speaker ! Amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">But it was too loud and the default desktop volume control moved up and down, and did nothing. A pop-up said to use a volume control on a pulseaudio mixer, but I can’t see the mixer anywhere. Maybe
it’s a command line thing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">The bad news …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I turned off the BT speaker, turned it back on … and it won’t play.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">At least I did hear something. Getting closer …<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Bob.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> Steven De Souza-Wilson <<a href="mailto:steven@desouza-wilson.com">steven@desouza-wilson.com</a>>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 23 April 2020 13:43<br>
<b>To:</b> Bob Redknap <<a href="mailto:r.s.redknap@reading.ac.uk">r.s.redknap@reading.ac.uk</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:sclug@sclug.org.uk">sclug@sclug.org.uk</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [sclug] linux Bluetooth problem<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Hi Bob <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">First thing i would do is confirm thst the speaker is workong, by pairing to a phone. I have actually had this start a similar speaker start working with other devices in tbe
past <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Steven <br id="br3">
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><br>
---- On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 13:11:50 +0100 <b><a href="mailto:sclug@sclug.org.uk">sclug@sclug.org.uk</a>
</b>wrote ----<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Hello Sclug,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">From a long-time not-so-active member on this list, I would be grateful for any suggestions on how I might fix a
Bluetooth problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I have Peppermint 3 (on a couple of old tower boxes with different m/b’s: one is a Dell Dimension 2400 and the other
a hybrid) and an unused Bluetooth speaker. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Sound from an audio CD comes out of the headphone socket and ‘Bluetooth Manager’ does pair and talk to the BT speaker
saying ‘success’ when prompted, and it shows bytes have passed up and down the link. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">But no sound ever reaches the BT speaker.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I can activate sound on the command line using e.g. aplay test.wav and this comes out of the headphone socket OK.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I think maybe it needs an extra plugin/addon/widget but I don’t know which one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Peppermint 3 doesn’t seem to have a Sound settings in in its Prefs menu either, which might have been useful to tell
it to use a BT output device.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I tried installing a Pulseaudio PAV volume control thing but it didn’t help. In fact, I had to delete pulseaudio
altogether on one of the tower boxes to get any sound out of the headphone socket.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I would like to stay with Peppermint 3 and ‘Bluetooth Manager’ if possible, but I do have a variety of live Linux
discs with any number of distros, and I would be happy to try one if I knew which one might work with a BT speaker, without a lot of extra fiddling around.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I did try installing parts of bluez, or all of it, but it got a bit confusing, and I didn’t see any GUI control,
or how to make it work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I have tried googling around but no good result so far.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I’m hoping there might be a diagnostic audio utility to run.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">I have tried VLC, and a few other audio apps but they don’t seem to find the BT device I guess.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Thanks very much for any reply,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">Bob<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">In Reading, Berks
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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