RTL8723bs Bluetooth

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Thanks xalius/ good to know!

[Faye]

I think what Faye wanted to say is that https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8723bs_bt is not a Linux kernel driver. It just provides a small tool to handshake with the BT module via the UART and upload a firmware blob to the internal BT MCU. After that, the module can be attached to the BT stack (which already speaks HCI H5)  available from the current kernel/userland. So the question is rather, how would this workaround be implemented in a proper way? Make a kernel side driver that just does the handshake and firmware loading? Or have something in userland that just calls the tool from lwfinger if a rtl8723bs wifi adapter is detected? I am only a embedded hardware developer with a bit of Linux experience so I dont know what the "right" way is to do this...

Thanks for translating for me   start_bt.sh resembles the /etc/init/bluetooth.conf file (probably unsurprisingly).  Probably it would be fine to install another .conf file which runs rtk_hciattach as daemon once bluetooth.conf has started?

[lenny.raposo-pine64.pro]

Best method to incorporate this I would say is the pine_fix_whetever scripts.

I will tar up the necessary stuff and write up a systemd service entry.

Btw blueman is far more stable I find provided the startup turns the power on to the module.

[longsleep]

I might eventually package this rtl8723bs_bt but it does not have any licensing information so it is troublesome. If anyone has details or working on it let me know. Best link me to a Git repository with already has packaging

[xalius]

I was looking a bit at what firmware blobs are on the android image, because I have no clue what device classes will work besides HID since there seems to be at least a parallel interface next to the UART for audio (PCM) data, maybe some more things are needed to support that...

[lenny.raposo-pine64.pro]

no licensing info can be found from the github where it came from.

basically it comes with the firmware and the compiles the applications to attach/load it with it's start script.

It copies the .bin file(s) ti /lib/firmware/rtl_bt and leaves the application script in the build directory.

I personally moved the scripts over to /usr/local/sbin/bluetooth
then created pine64_bluetooth.sh in /usr/local/sbin

pine64_bluetooth.sh contents

#!/bin/bash
# Shell script to install Bluetooth firmware and attach BT part of
# RTL8723BS

echo "Initializing Pine64 Bluetooth Module."

/usr/local/sbin/bluetooth/rtk_hciattach -n -s 115200 /dev/ttyS1 rtk_h5 > /usr/local/sbin/bluetooth/hciattach.txt 2>&1 &
/bin/sleep 5
/usr/sbin/rfkill unblock 3
/usr/bin/bluetoothctl
pairable on
power on
quit

echo "Pine64 Bluetooth Module Active"

then added a service

bluetooth-module.service

[Unit]
Description=Start Pine64 Bluetooth Module
After=systemd-modules-load.service local-fs.target
[Service]
Type=idle
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/pine64_bluetooth.sh
RemainAfterExit=yes
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

no issues on each reboot plus blueman in mate works flawlessly

[longsleep]

Mhm any chance you can make a Debian package?

[lenny.raposo-pine64.pro]

I will build the package tonight

[jhawk]

This will answer the problem of the Bluetooth Module for Kernel. So bluetooth keyboards can login and not require autologin to get Bluetooth up and running via desktop. Great work!

jhawk

[xalius]

It's not really a kernel module, the BT/Wifi module has a UART that is connected to ttyS1, and all that project does is provide a way to upload a firmware binary that enables the module to be attached to the BT stack on the Linux side:

/usr/local/sbin/bluetooth/rtk_hciattach -n -s 115200 /dev/ttyS1 rtk_h5 > /usr/local/sbin/bluetooth/hciattach.txt 2>&1 &