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.

+ +

+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-libs net-wireless/bluez-utils +

+# 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 +Start BlueZ

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
 * Starting Bluetooth ...
-*     Starting hcid ...                                                 [ ok ]
-*     Starting sdpd ...                                                 [ ok ]
 *     Starting rfcomm ...                                               [ ok ]
 
 # hciconfig
 hci0:   Type: USB
         BD Address: 00:01:02:03:04:05 ACL MTU: 192:8  SCO MTU: 64:8
-        DOWN
+        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

-This shows that the Bluetooth device has been recognised. As you might have -noticed the device is DOWN. Let's configure it so that we can bring it -up. The configuration file is at /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf. The -required changes to the config file are shown below. For additional details -please refer to man hcid.conf. -

- -

-(Recommended changes to be made to the file are shown)
-
-# HCId options
-options {
-        # Automatically initialize new devices
-        autoinit yes;
-
-(Change security to "auto")
-        # Security Manager mode
-        #   none - Security manager disabled
-        #   auto - Use local PIN for incoming connections
-        #   user - Always ask user for a PIN
-        #
-        security auto;
-
-        # Pairing mode
-        pairing multi;
-
-(You only need a pin helper if you are using <=bluez-libs-2.x and <=bluez-utils-2.x)
-(Change pin_helper to use /etc/bluetooth/pin-helper)
-        # PIN helper
-        pin_helper /etc/bluetooth/pin-helper;
-}
-
-# Default settings for HCI devices
-device {
-(Set your device name here, you can call it anything you want)
-        # Local device name
-        #   %d - device id
-        #   %h - host name
-        name "BlueZ at %h (%d)";
-
-        # Local device class
-        class 0x3e0100;
-
-        # Inquiry and Page scan
-        iscan enable; pscan enable;
-
-        # Default link mode
-        lm accept;
-
-        # Default link policy
-        lp rswitch,hold,sniff,park;
-
-(Leave as is, if you don't know what exactly these do)
-        # Authentication and Encryption (Security Mode 3)
-        #auth enable;
-        #encrypt enable;
-}
-

- -

-After that, we have to configure the Bluetooth device PIN. That will help in -pairing this device with another one. -

If BlueZ is not started when the device is detected and you use +bluetooth frequenty, you may want to add it to the default runlevel, +so that it starts automatically on boot. To do that, use +rc-update.

-(Replace 123456 with your desired pin number.)
-123456
++(We can also add it to the default runlevel.)
+# rc-update add bluetooth default
+ * bluetooth added to runlevel default
 
 
-
-This number (of your choice) must be the same in all your hosts with Bluetooth
-devices so they can be paired. This number must also be kept secret since anyone
-with knowledge of this number can essentially establish connections with your
-devices.
-
-
-
-Beginning with >=bluez-libs-3.x and >=bluez-utils-3.x, pin helpers
-have been replaced by passkey agents. There are a few different graphical
-passkey agents available to help manage your PIN, such as bluez-gnome and
-kdebluetooth. You can also use passkey-agent (found in
-bluez-utils) from the command line.
-
-

-Services configuration +PIN Pairing

-Now that we have concluded with the configuration of BlueZ, it's time to restart -the necessary services. +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").

-# /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart
-(We can also add it to the default runlevel.)
-# rc-update add bluetooth default
- * bluetooth added to runlevel default
- * rc-update complete.
-

+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. +

-Let's be sure that the Bluetooth daemons started correctly. If we can see that -both hcid and sdpd are running, then we configured Bluetooth the -right way. After that, we can see if the devices are now up and running with -the configured options. + +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.

-(Check to see if the services are running) -# ps -ae | grep hcid -26050 ? 00:00:00 hcid -# ps -ae | grep sdpd -26054 ? 00:00:00 sdpd +

+  Find the MAC address:
+$ hcitool scan
+Scanning ...
+	05:04:03:02:01:00	friendly-name
 
-# hciconfig -a
+  Find the adapter ID:
+$ /usr/sbin/hciconfig
 hci0:   Type: USB
-        BD Address: 00:0A:0B:0C:0D:0E ACL MTU: 192:8 SCO MTU: 64:8
-        UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN
-        RX bytes:125 acl:0 sco:0 events:17 errors:0
+        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
-        Features: 0xff 0xff 0x0f 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
-        Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 HV2 HV3
-        Link policy: RSWITCH HOLD SNIFF PARK
-        Link mode: SLAVE ACCEPT
-        Name: 'BlueZ at bluehat (0)'
-        Class: 0x3e0100
-        Service Classes: Networking, Rendering, Capturing, Object Transfer,
-        Audio
-        Device Class: Computer, Uncategorized
-        HCI Ver: 1.1 (0x1) HCI Rev: 0x1e7 LMP Ver: 1.1 (0x1) LMP Subver: 0x1e7
-        Manufacturer: Cambridge Silicon Radio (10)
+
+  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. + +