Bluetooth plugin causing problems
Having taken inspiration from Boating with the Bailey's video about SignalK plugins, I installed the BT sensors one but I started having problems with a BT mouse. I'm still a total newbie to the Pi and Linux, but the mouse kept disconnecting, and the dropdown menu on the BT status bar icon wouldn't let me do anything - it was just flickering all the time. In the terminal using the bluetoothctl command I see a continuous stream of devices which seems to be swamping the interface. I ended up realising it was caused by the plugin, and disabling it stops all the problems.
I've tried reinstalling it, but still get a (shorter because nothing is paired) device list that constantly streams in the terminal and causes the menu in the GUI to flicker and not be usable.
I'm running a Pi 5 in X11 with an MVNE base and MacArthur HAT with power module and IMU onboard.
Anyone had similar issues/knows how to fix it?
3 Replies
Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the plugin.
The streaming data in bluetoothctl is normal. That's just bluetoothctl showing scan results. It only looks scary.
What's happening with the mouse is that the desktop Bluetooth interface (Blueman I believe) is competing to control the Bluetooth subsystem. Blueman may be turning scanning on and off; may be failing to connect to the mouse and restarting the BT subsystem; maybe a lot of things actually.
If you need to have your SK server and desktop running simultaneously it's best to get a BT dongle and use that instead of the on board BT. I recommend the TopLink UB-500 plus.
You will have to make sure that the mouse etc are using the on board BT instead of the dongle. The plugin allows you to choose BT interfaces. Not sure about how Blueman chooses and sets up its interface though.
If that setup works please let this forum know.
The only desktop setup I've tested on is Ubuntu which behaves differently than Rpi OS -- especially when it comes to BT.
Thanks for the reply. I do need the desktop running as well because I'm running OpenCPN at the same time, so I'll take a look at the dongle. I'll let you know how it goes 👍
Just a thought, I assume an alternative would be to uninstall Blueman and just manage the BT devices via bluetoothctl?
Eliminating Blueman might be the difference maker. I can't guarantee that. I will experiment with desktop RPi installations in the next week or so.
In the meantime, please us know how it goes eliminating Blueman and manually connecting via bluetoothctl.
When I developed the plug-in I was naive about the diversity of installations and the complications thereof. The more I know the better!