Buetooth handsfree calls on PinPhone

[alabasha]

Are there any OS which is capable of bluetooth handsfree calls? Nothing works, I use my phone in car and handsfree function is crucial to use a phone as dayly driver. Mobian with Piperwire NOT work at all, with Pulseaudio - it simulate work everiting is OK except it dosent call and there is not audio. Postmarket doesnt work at all with bluetooth handsfree. Another OSes doesnt work with other phone functions. Which OS is WORKING??????

[Kevin Kofler]

Why not just use a cabled hands-free kit? That should be much more reliable than Bluetooth.

[Zebulon Walton]

I've never been able to get Bluetooth audio to work. I have Mobian installed on the eMMC but have tried a few others on SD cards.

A wired headset works fine but at least with Mobian there's a quirk where you have to plug the headset in after starting your first call or the microphone won't work.

Another issue is that at least with pulseaudio the volume controls don't work during a call. Switching to pipewire gets the volume controls to work but then audio routing goes down the drain, the phone loses track of where audio output should go, so for now I stick with pulseaudio and no volume control.

On the other hand, bluetooth does work for keyboard and mouse.

I chalk these problems up to Linux audio in general being a real rat's nest.

[treebeard]

Switching to pipewire gets the volume controls to work but then audio routing goes down the drain, the phone loses track of where audio output should go, so for now I stick with pulseaudio and no volume control.

FWIW, that's been recorded as #156 but the developers seem to have ghosted us.

[Zebulon Walton]

FWIW, that's been recorded as #156 but the developers seem to have ghosted us.

Interesting. Maybe I'll give pipewire another try using pipewire-media-session instead of WirePlumber to see how that works out.

[conifera]

Are there any OS which is capable of bluetooth handsfree calls? Nothing works, I use my phone in car and handsfree function is crucial to use a phone as dayly driver. Mobian with Piperwire NOT work at all, with Pulseaudio - it simulate work everiting is OK except it dosent call and there is not audio. Postmarket doesnt work at all with bluetooth handsfree. Another OSes doesnt work with other phone functions. Which OS is WORKING??????

I have the same problem and asked about it back in February in the General Discussion section. Hoping someone can make use of it some of the details are:

I've got a bluetooth device that reports bluetooth version 2.1 and "Handsfree" capability so it should support hfp (handsfree protocol) version 1.5. It works perfectly fine with an Android phone.

On the pinephone (original) I've got Mobian with wireplumber 0.4.13 and pipewire 0.3.65-2. I switched from pulseaudio some months ago because I couldn't get anywhere with it.

I can initiate and end a call from the handsfree device but audio still goes through the pinephone built-in ear piece or speaker and the internal microphone. For incoming calls the pinephone properly causes the handsfree device to ring, and I can pickup and end the call with it, but again no audio goes through it so that I have to use the pinephone built-in ear piece or speaker and internal microphone. This tells me that at least the AT commands are being properly exchanged between the pinephone and the handsfree device.

My guess is that either the pipewire/wireplumber configuration is not correct ...

If this is to be used as a "phone", it seems to me that bluetooth handsfree ought to be a priority over things like improving camera software. Not having this working is the thing keeping this from being a daily driver for me.

[Kevin Kofler]

Handsfree kits are only a thing if you own a car. There is not really a usable hands-free kit for my bicycle. (If I really need to take or make a phone call, I just move out of traffic and stop the bicycle.) Technically, I suppose I could use one of those handlebar smartphone holders (intended for navigation app use) together with a headset-type hands-free kit, but does that really not constitute a distraction (both legally and practically)? Plus, it bears the danger of breaking the PinePhone if anything causes the bicycle to fall. I am not convinced it is an improvement over just stopping for phone calls.

So you should not assume that handsfree kit usage is an essential feature for all "daily-driving" PinePhone users (at least unless you take "driving" too literally).

[Zebulon Walton]

Handsfree kits are only a thing if you own a car.

Not necessarily. In fact while I own a car and probably most cell phone users do (at least in the U.S.) I refuse to use the phone while driving whether handsfree or not. It's too distracting.

However it is very convenient to have a hands-free headset while at home, especially if helping someone remotely with a computer or the like or even just on a long conversation where holding the phone up to your head gets tiring. Currently I have to use a wired headset since bluetooth audio doesn't work. (That works OK but not as convenient since the wire can restrict movement.)