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Random Bluetooth Disconnects

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zerubbabel
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Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#1 Post by zerubbabel »

My Bluetooth Logitech keyboard and trackball randomly become non-functional, and I have to reboot before I can use them again. Sometime I have to remove the device from the Bluetooth configuration, and rediscover it. This has been happening for a month or so, and I'm guessing it came in with an update a while back. I'm running Testing/Buster with all updates applied (on a Dell Latitude E6540 i7, 4 cores, 16 GB RAM). This is a great annoyance, and I'd love to know whether anyone else has experienced and found a solution to this problem.

My wireless adaptor is: Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 Wifi+Bluetooth 4.0 WLAN Card 7260HMW GGTNW

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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#2 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Is power management enabled for that device? Check the output of

Code: Select all

/sbin/iwconfig # in the wireless-tools package
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zerubbabel
Posts: 29
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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#3 Post by zerubbabel »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:Is power management enabled for that device? Check the output of

Code: Select all

/sbin/iwconfig # in the wireless-tools package
zerubbabel@dz:~$ /sbin/iwconfig
eno1 no wireless extensions.

lo no wireless extensions.

wlp3s0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on

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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#4 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

zerubbabel wrote:

Code: Select all

Power Management:on
Try disabling the power management:

Code: Select all

# iw dev wlp3s0 set power_save off
If that fixes the disconnects then you can use a udev rule to make the change permanent:

Code: Select all

# /etc/udev/rules.d/70-wifi-powersave.rules
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="net", KERNEL=="wlp3s0", RUN+="/sbin/iw dev %k set power_save off"
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zerubbabel
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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#5 Post by zerubbabel »

Well, I appreciate your help, and I did as you suggest, but it will take time to tell whether it makes a difference.

However, now my Logitech MX ERGO Bluetooth trackball can no longer be paired, although I have been using it without any problem for almost a year. But suddenly, a month or two ago, it started freezing (randomly, as far as I can tell), and now, although it is recognized as a device, it will not pair. My Logitech bluetooth keyboard is still working, so far...

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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#6 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

zerubbabel wrote:now my Logitech MX ERGO Bluetooth trackball can no longer be paired
Well if you think that is because of my suggestion then use the `iw` command to re-enable the power management.

Have you checked if the card is seated correctly in the socket?

An intermittent fault may indicate a hardware problem.
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zerubbabel
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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#7 Post by zerubbabel »

No, I'm not thinking it has anything to do with your suggestion about the power, and I don't think it's a problem with the wireless card, as my bluetooth keyboard and wifi connection are working fine.

Hope I'm not being confusing. When my bluetooth devices lose their connection, after a cold reboot the Logitech keyboard comes back readily, but the trackball is now not coming back. It is recognized as a bluetooth device, but does not pair.

I am wondering whether the cause is an update to the bluetooth software, and whether I should drop back a version or two.

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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#8 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

zerubbabel wrote:I am wondering whether the cause is an update to the bluetooth software
Does stuff work in Debian stable?

Any clues in the systemd journal?
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zerubbabel
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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#9 Post by zerubbabel »

I've been running Debian Testing for the past year or so, so I don't know whether this problem exists in Stretch, but I doubt it. Looking at the update history for bluez, it looks as if the update to version 50.50-1 on August 8th coincides with the time my troubles started. What's the safest way to revert to the previous version?

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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#10 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

Not sure, try

Code: Select all

# dpkg --install --force-downgrade foo.deb
Then pin it afterwards, perhaps?
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zerubbabel
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Re: Random Bluetooth Disconnects

#11 Post by zerubbabel »

Well, I'm baffled. The downgrade to an earlier bluez didn't help, so I went back to the latest version, rebooted, and still no trackball. Then I thought that maybe there was something wrong with the trackball. So I booted Linux Mint 19 from a flash drive to see if the trackball would pair then, which it did without any trouble. Then I rebooted Debian from the hard drive, and the trackball paired right away. Odd...

But the Logitech bluetooth keyboard and trackball are still getting disconnected at apparently random intervals. It is very annoying...

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