How to Fix Bluetooth Connection Problems in Ubuntu

Although Ubuntu Linux is a stable and powerful operating system, sometimes Bluetooth connections with external devices do not work properly.

If you're using Bluetooth devices on your computer, you may find that you need to reconnect your Bluetooth devices whenever your computer wakes up from sleep or hibernation. And that is a matter of concern.

This guide will show you how to fix common Bluetooth connection problems on Ubuntu Linux so that you don't have to reconnect your Bluetooth devices whenever you want to work on your PC again.

Turn on the Bluetooth service

In Ubuntu Linux, there is a Bluetooth service running in the background to ensure that your Bluetooth system is working perfectly. This is how you can check if the Bluetooth service is running or not.

sudo systemctl status bluetooth.service

How to Fix Bluetooth Connection Problems in Ubuntu Picture 1

The results above show that the Bluetooth service is working. But if the Bluetooth status is not working, for some reason, make sure to enable it so that it starts automatically whenever the system boots. You can do the same using below command.

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service

After enabling the Bluetooth service, start the service again using systemctl.

sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

Configure Bluetooth on Ubuntu

On Ubuntu Linux, the file /etc/bluetooth/main.conf stores most Bluetooth configurations. There are several parameters to configure in the file. You can open the configuration file with your favorite text editor. In this tutorial, the article will use Vim.

sudo vim /etc/bluetooth/main.conf

Automatically turn on Bluetooth

Make sure that the AutoEnable configuration at the end of the configuration file is set to true and uncommented. All lines starting with # are comments. To uncomment a line, you need to remove the # at the beginning.

The AutoEnable configuration ensures that the Bluetooth module is enabled whenever your device restarts. In addition, it allows the Bluetooth adapter to recognize newly connected Bluetooth devices around you.

How to Fix Bluetooth Connection Problems in Ubuntu Picture 2 Enable Reconnect Attempt

You can configure the Bluetooth stack so that it tries to reconnect whenever your Bluetooth device and computer lose connection. To do so, simply uncomment the line ReconnectAttempts=7 in the configuration file.

Instead of trying to reconnect to the devices manually, your Bluetooth service will now try to reconnect to all Bluetooth devices whose link was broken.

Enable Fast Connect

Another configuration that you should enable is FastConnectable. By setting this value to true, you ensure that Bluetooth devices can connect to the PC much faster in the event of a reboot or in hibernation.

How to Fix Bluetooth Connection Problems in Ubuntu Picture 3

The FastConnectable feature only works if you have Kernel 4.1 or higher. The big drawback with the FastConnectable feature is that it consumes more power on your PC.

If you are using Vim, press the Esc key after making all the changes. Then save the changes and exit the file by typing:

:wq

Reinstall Bluetooth stack

As a last resort, you can reinstall Bluez, the official and default Bluetooth software protocol on Ubuntu Linux, as well as most Linux distributions. This tutorial will use APT to install the software.

sudo apt install bluez

After reinstalling the Bluetooth stack, make sure you enable and start the Bluetooth service using the commands below.

sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

Hope you are succesful.

Jessica Tanner

Update 13 May 2021