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    #1

    Is kbluetooth still broken?

    There are numerous posts informing that kbluetooth was broken at the release of 8.10

    Does anyone know if it is still broken? This suggests it is fixed https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ce/+bug/280997

    However I dont understand 99% of that page.

    Furthermore I dont really understand anything about bluetooth so not sure what to expect. I can click on the menu item kbluetooth4 but nothing seems to happen (eg no item in the sys tray). I rummaged around /usr/bin and found a few bluetooth files. They run and pop up windows but I dont really understand what they are asking for.

    I have looked but cant find a beginners HOWTO which seems relevant to KDE bluetooth tools. All I want to do (or rather my wife wants to do) is copy files off her phone onto the PC, but I cant work out if I am not working it right or it is not working.

    Many thanks for any guidance.

    Simple Simon
    Tags: None
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    #2
    Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

    My tests would suggest KDE bluetooth support is not quite there yet in the Kubuntu alphas. The command-line tools worked fine, I was able to transfer files between my LG VX9900 and a Lenovo T61. Bluetooth is running in the system tray but it doesn't see any of my devices. I had to scan and pair from the command line and use obexftp to transfer files.
    linux && bash = "the future"
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      #3
      Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

      hi ukchucktown, could u post what you did frm the commandline? for scanning , pairing, and transferring...
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        #4
        Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

        I don't remember the exact set of commands I issued, it was 3 months ago and I don't use my LG phone anymore. I'll pull it out later today and post my steps if I have time.

        I used the bluez tools: hcitool, l2ping and rfcomm. I have a VX9900 phone. To identify the device, I put the phone in Discovery Mode using the Bluetooth menu of the phone. It stays in Discovery Mode for one minute. During that one minute interval, I entered hcitool scan from the command line to get the MAC address of the phone. Once you have the MAC address you should be able to move forward, the bluetooth connectivity is working. To confirm enter l2ping <mac_address>, you are ready to transfer files with proper phone support.

        I used obexftp for file transfer. You will need to install obexftp from the repositories. It's not installed by default and it only works if your phone supports the OBEX protocol. My old LG phone does but not my new G1. I have not had much luck transferring files to it from Linux over bluetooth so far, problem could be the phone (it may not support it). I'd be interested if anyone has a G1 working over bluetooth in 9.04. I plug it into USB and mount it.

        I'm sure someone can post some good Ubuntu docs. I'm still pretty new to the Ubuntu distro. Below are some Gentoo docs that cover the details of using the bluez tools. You can skip over the kernel configuration. Everything is basically the same, Kubuntu is using bluez.

        http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/bluetooth-guide.xml


        Cheeers, UK
        linux &amp;&amp; bash = &quot;the future&quot;
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          #5
          Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

          The one part I could not remember was how I paired it the first time. I had to use kdebluetooth to pair my laptop and phone the first time because the new bluez communicates through DBUS and PIN requests are made through DBUS so setting the PIN in a config file doesn't work like it did in 3.x. I don't have a command-line way to pair, yet.

          The newer releases (4.x) of bluez don't provide much detail on PIN configuration or the new configuration files. Until the documentation improves I can't offer much more advice beyond the wiki page for bluez (be warned, it's technical...http://wiki.bluez.org/). The old way is dead and most of the documentation online explains the old way. If you get paired with the phone transferring files is pretty easy. Here are a few commands you might find useful...

          >hciconfig -a
          you have driver issues if you don't see anything. the output is similar to ifconfig for network cards. The device name should be hci0.

          >hciconfig hci0 piscan
          make the device in your computer discoverable by your phone

          >hcitool scan
          scan for discoverable devices

          >l2ping <device address>
          ping a bluetooth device. useful to confirm connectivity

          >obexftp -b <device address> --list
          list folders on device.
          linux &amp;&amp; bash = &quot;the future&quot;
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            #6
            Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

            great info bro. thanx. just a pity that windows users dont need to do all that. ;( , hopefully we will get there soon...
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              #7
              Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

              Originally posted by ukchucktown

              http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/bluetooth-guide.xml

              Cheeers, UK
              i checked out the site. right at the bottom, they have listed kde bluetooth software;


              For KDE

              KDE makes use of kdebluetooth and provides more utilities than its Gnome counterpart as seen below.

              * kbluetoothd: Bluetooth Meta Server.
              * kbtsearch: Bluetooth device/service search utility.
              * khciconfig: KDE Bluetooth Monitor.
              * kioclient: KIO command line client.
              * qobexclient: Swiss army knife for obex testing/development.
              * kbtobexclient: A KDE Bluetooth Framework Application.
              * kioobex_start
              * kbtserialchat
              * kbemusedsrv: KDE Bemused Server.
              * kbtobexsrv: KDE OBEX Push Server for Bluetooth.
              * kbluepin: A KDE KPart Application.
              * auth-helper: A helper program for kbtobexsrv that sends an authentication request for a given ACL link.

              sad these things are not available yet in kubuntu.
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                #8
                Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

                It does kinda work in KDE 4.2.4. It was a lost cause in earlier 4.x versions of KDE. If you want you can always install the gnome-bluetooth package (apt-get install gnome-bluetooth). It will install a gnome applet (runs in the system tray) into /usr/bin. The applet executable is bluetooth-applet if I remember correctly. To be honest, it does a better job than the KDE version right now. You can start it from a terminal. Once started you should see the icon (same as the KDE icon but smaller and not as pretty) in the system tray. Put your phone in discovery, pair it with the gnome applet running in the system tray and all the command-line tools should work without further issue. The problem is always the initial pairing.
                linux &amp;&amp; bash = &quot;the future&quot;
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                  #9
                  Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

                  i have installed blueman. Wiith that i can transfer files from my laptop to my phone but not vice versa. Any ideas? bluetooth functionality was the main reason i switched frm mandriva to kubuntu....
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                    #10
                    Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

                    I had problems with bluetooth on itrepid too. Then I upgraded to jaunty and bluetooth works perfect.

                    I just miss 1 feature: Send to bluetooth on file rightclick.
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                      #11
                      Re: Is kbluetooth still broken?

                      can u post yr working combo?

                      1. what phone do u have
                      2. what packages u have installed?
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