BlueZ - The Bluetooth Stack

-Installing BlueZ +What is BlueZ?

Now that the device is detected by the kernel, we need a layer that lets applications communicate with the Bluetooth device. BlueZ provides the official -Linux Bluetooth stack. The ebuilds that provide what we need are -bluez-libs and bluez-utils. Devices that need Broadcom firmware +Linux Bluetooth stack. The ebuild that provides what we need is +bluez. Devices that need Broadcom firmware files or the like may need bluez-firmware.

+ +

-# emerge net-wireless/bluez-libs net-wireless/bluez-utils
+
+BlueZ permission control
+
+
+
+Before installing, it is a good idea to choose how to control users' ability to
+use bluetooth.
+
+
+
+There are two methods:
+

+
+  "consolekit": identifies users who are sat in front of the computer,
+  and grants them access;
+  "plugdev": allows members of the plugdev group to use bluetooth
+
+
+
+
+Although the permission policy can be tuned by editing the dbus permission rules
+for bluez, the consolekit USE flag must be set accordingly
+

+  consolekit — means the consolekit method is used and requires
+  it to be enabled in some dependencies
+  -consolekit — selects the plugdev method, and does not
+  require any consolekit support in dependencies.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Installing bluez
+
+
+
+Now we can install the package, using the following command.
+
++# emerge net-wireless/bluez
 
 
+
+
+This ebuild might require certain USE flags to be enabled for other ebuilds:
+

+  sys-fs/udev must have the extras flag enabled
+  When bluez is built with consolekit enabled (see above),
+  sys-auth/pambase must have it enabled too.
+
+
+
+
+Now the bluetooth stack is completely installed, but you need other tools to do
+anything useful with it.
+
+
+
+You can get some tools enabling the test-programs USE flag
+for bluez, which will install some testing utilities. But this is a
+limited set of tools, mainly intended for testing — you probably want to
+install an external bluetooth utilities package.
+
 
 
+
 
-BlueZ configuration and PIN pairing
+BlueZ configuration
 
 
 
 Now it's time to see if the Bluetooth device is being picked up correctly by the
-system. We start up the required Bluetooth services first.
+system. We start up the required Bluetooth services first. (It may have been
+started when you plugged the device, if it uses some hotpluggable interface
+(like USB).)
 
 
+
+
  (Start up Bluetooth)
 # /etc/init.d/bluetooth start
@@ -273,9 +344,14 @@
         #encrypt enable;
 }
 
+
+
 
+
+PIN pairing (<c><bluez-4</c>)
+
 
-After that, we have to configure the Bluetooth device PIN. That will help in
+After configuration, we have to configure the Bluetooth device PIN. That will help in
 pairing this device with another one.
 
 
@@ -298,9 +374,65 @@
 kdebluetooth. You can also use passkey-agent (found in
 bluez-utils) from the command line.
 
+
+
+
+ 
+PIN Pairing (<c>=bluez-4</c>, with <c>simple-agent</c>)
+
+
+In =bluez-4, there is no global PIN — when a device is paired you
+need some bluetooth utility to input a PIN. One such utility
+is simple-agent, part of bluez testing utilities (when built
+with USE="test-programs").
+
+
+
+Before pairing, you must know the bluetooth adapter id
+(run /usr/sbin/hciconfig, if you have several adapters, you need to
+choose which one you want to pair.
+
+
+
+
+You also need the MAC address of the device you want to pair with the
+adapter. Some devices have this written in some label, others don't. To find it
+out, make the device visible and run hcitool scan — the result is a
+list of devices, with their friendly names and MAC addresses.
+
+
++  Find the MAC address:
+$ hcitool scan
+Scanning ...
+	05:04:03:02:01:00	friendly-name
+
+  Find the adapter ID:
+$ /usr/sbin/hciconfig
+hci0:   Type: USB
+        BD Address: 00:01:02:03:04:05 ACL MTU: 192:8  SCO MTU: 64:8
+        UP RUNNING PSCAN
+        RX bytes:131 acl:0 sco:0 events:18 errors:0
+        TX bytes:565 acl:0 sco:0 commands:17 errors:0
+
+  And then pair the device
+$ simple-agent hci0 05:04:03:02:01:00
+RequestPinCode (/org/bluez/..../hci0/dev_05_04_03_02_01_00)
+Enter PIN Code: 1234
+  (Now the remote device will ask you for this same PIN.)
+Release
+New device (/org/bluez/..../hci0/dev_05_04_03_02_01_00)
+
 
+
+Other bluetooth packages might be able to handle pairing. This involves a tool
+which initiates pairing or a tool which listens for pairing requests, or both.
+
+
 
 
+
 
 Services configuration