Can't connect to bluetooth speakers with 11.04

On Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:37:34 -0500, ceed
wrote:

Hi,

I have some bluetooth speakers I connect to with my phone.

So they work .. ok ...

However, I am
not able to connect with my Ubuntu 11.04 laptop.

What, you didn't buy them expressly with the intention of using them
with Linux and having tested that they worked with Linux before hand?
;-)

You see, in spite of your regular countering my suggestion that this
sort of thing is 1) exactly what many people do and 2) where they end
up under Linux and that you were more specific about your kit you
appear to be doing exactly the thing I suggested people do are in
exactly the same position as they would be (in many cases)? That's not
saying that some might not also be in the same position under say W7
of course but I bet it says 'Designed for Windows' on the box at
least?

The speakers are
discovered without problems as 'SP-109, but when I click 'Forward' I get
'setting up 'SP-109' failed'.

Yup, welcome to my Linux (and often OSX FWIW) world. [1]

I have tried several times and also tried
to set device type, but no luck so far. Is there anything I can do to
get it to work?

Erm, does it say what OS's are supported on the box? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. FWIW I've never found BT anything to be particularly predictable.
If it works it often works well but if it doesn't ...

[1] Yesterday I was playing with one of those little Dell OptiPlex
GX260s and was trying it with the thoughts of making it a media PC for
the bedroom. I stuck in a 200G drive (I was given it with a faulty
drive) and reinstalled XP. I then installed Ubuntu 11.04 and all
seemed to be ok however, video was tricky on both OS's due to the
basic onboard Intel graphics. I remembered I had a low profile Nvidia
PCIe card so I stuck it in and booted into XP. It found the card
automagically but still wouldn't run iPlayer full screen (white
screen). I then installed the Nvidia driver and all was well. I
rebooted into Ubuntu and it wouldn't even start and whilst it started
in safe mode once I've never made the menu recover options do anything
of use. Rebooting into the U LiveCD caused the video to crash on the
boot screen so I gave up (it was late). Mint 10 seemed ok though (so
it wasn't overheating or whatever).

This morning, Ubuntu 11.04 boots fine (!?) but still seems to cause a
greater CPU load when playing video compared with XP. However, Ubuntu
found my Freecom DTV-T USB dongle automagically and Me-TV works fine
with it so I need to re-address looking for a TV app for it under XP
(the mini CD that came with it is somewhere ...).

On 09/05/2011 05:06 AM, T i m declared:

On Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:37:34 -0500, ceed
wrote:

Hi,

I have some bluetooth speakers I connect to with my phone.

So they work .. ok ...

Yes, they work just fine with my Android phone.

However, I am
not able to connect with my Ubuntu 11.04 laptop.

What, you didn't buy them expressly with the intention of using them
with Linux and having tested that they worked with Linux before hand?
;-)

No, I didn't have a laptop with bluetooth when I bought them. If I did I
would have made sure they worked before I got them.

You see, in spite of your regular countering my suggestion that this
sort of thing is 1) exactly what many people do and 2) where they end
up under Linux and that you were more specific about your kit you
appear to be doing exactly the thing I suggested people do are in
exactly the same position as they would be (in many cases)? That's not
saying that some might not also be in the same position under say W7
of course but I bet it says 'Designed for Windows' on the box at
least?

I've only talked about what I do. I do not know how others acquire or
purchase their hardware and how you come by all your gear. I avoid
almost all hardware problems by doing my "homework", but in this case it
slipped me that I might get a bluetooth enabled laptop! :)

The speakers are
discovered without problems as 'SP-109, but when I click 'Forward' I get
'setting up 'SP-109' failed'.

Yup, welcome to my Linux (and often OSX FWIW) world. [1]

And Windows XP. Tried them on my neighbors XP SP2 (bluetooth supported)
also. No go. Same problem as on Linux: They are discovered, but when I
try to connect I get an error. I'll try them with W7 next time someone
comes over with their W7 laptop.

I have tried several times and also tried
to set device type, but no luck so far. Is there anything I can do to
get it to work?

Erm, does it say what OS's are supported on the box? ;-)

Nope.

Cheers, T i m

p.s. FWIW I've never found BT anything to be particularly predictable.
If it works it often works well but if it doesn't ...at

Agreed. I do not like Bluetooth that much, but it's great to have music
available from my phone (especially after I got Google Music on there).

[1] Yesterday I was playing with one of those little Dell OptiPlex
GX260s and was trying it with the thoughts of making it a media PC for
the bedroom. I stuck in a 200G drive (I was given it with a faulty
drive) and reinstalled XP. I then installed Ubuntu 11.04 and all
seemed to be ok however, video was tricky on both OS's due to the
basic onboard Intel graphics. I remembered I had a low profile Nvidia
PCIe card so I stuck it in and booted into XP. It found the card
automagically but still wouldn't run iPlayer full screen (white
screen). I then installed the Nvidia driver and all was well. I
rebooted into Ubuntu and it wouldn't even start and whilst it started
in safe mode once I've never made the menu recover options do anything
of use. Rebooting into the U LiveCD caused the video to crash on the
boot screen so I gave up (it was late). Mint 10 seemed ok though (so
it wasn't overheating or whatever).

This morning, Ubuntu 11.04 boots fine (!?) but still seems to cause a
greater CPU load when playing video compared with XP. However, Ubuntu
found my Freecom DTV-T USB dongle automagically and Me-TV works fine
with it so I need to re-address looking for a TV app for it under XP
(the mini CD that came with it is somewhere ...).

//ceed (indeed)

On Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:46:35 -0500, ceed
wrote:

On 09/05/2011 05:06 AM, T i m declared:

On Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:37:34 -0500, ceed
wrote:

Hi,

I have some bluetooth speakers I connect to with my phone.

So they work .. ok ...

Yes, they work just fine with my Android phone.

Ok.

However, I am
not able to connect with my Ubuntu 11.04 laptop.

What, you didn't buy them expressly with the intention of using them
with Linux and having tested that they worked with Linux before hand?
;-)

No, I didn't have a laptop with bluetooth when I bought them. If I did I
would have made sure they worked before I got them.

And what if they hadn't. Wouldn't you still have bought them to go
with the phone? I didn't know I was going to be finding a Linux that I
could actually install easily when I bought 99% of my stuff.

You see, in spite of your regular countering my suggestion that this
sort of thing is 1) exactly what many people do and 2) where they end
up under Linux and that you were more specific about your kit you
appear to be doing exactly the thing I suggested people do are in
exactly the same position as they would be (in many cases)? That's not
saying that some might not also be in the same position under say W7
of course but I bet it says 'Designed for Windows' on the box at
least?

I've only talked about what I do.

Yeahbut you have used the fact that I 'come by' my kit as a reason why
I 'see all my problems'. I'm saying that what I do is nearer the norm
than what you do. You speak on behalf of you whilst 'you' are
suggesting that the majority are asking for trouble and that therefore
it's their, not Linuxes 'fault' (as such). I'm saying that you can't
take the mountain to Mohammad.

I do not know how others acquire or
purchase their hardware and how you come by all your gear.

Yes you do (if you don't by now!). Further, I can't see how you can
reason for the general concepts if you are only talking about your
specific case. I appreciate we are opposites with our use / interests
in Linux / XP but there is more crossover (or likely to be more if you
actually do more than just use your machines, as is, as proven by your
issues with these speakers).

I avoid
almost all hardware problems by doing my "homework", but in this case it
slipped me that I might get a bluetooth enabled laptop! :)

Ah, then welcome to the real world!

The speakers are
discovered without problems as 'SP-109, but when I click 'Forward' I get
'setting up 'SP-109' failed'.

Yup, welcome to my Linux (and often OSX FWIW) world. [1]

And Windows XP.

Sure, now and again.

Tried them on my neighbors XP SP2 (bluetooth supported)
also.

(I wonder why 'non Windows people' seem obsessed with mentioning the
SP level of machines. ALL XP machines should be running SP3 and all
the other updates as a matter of course shouldn't they?)

No go. Same problem as on Linux: They are discovered, but when I
try to connect I get an error. I'll try them with W7 next time someone
comes over with their W7 laptop.

I've had that sorta thing with bt and GPS's and PCs etc etc. Never
really used it for anything important. My old Nokia does seem to link
up with my Garmin Nuvi GPS to give me hands free in the car and that
seems fairly reliable.

I have tried several times and also tried
to set device type, but no luck so far. Is there anything I can do to
get it to work?

Erm, does it say what OS's are supported on the box? ;-)

Nope.

I guess it should be OS independent really.

p.s. FWIW I've never found BT anything to be particularly predictable.
If it works it often works well but if it doesn't ...at

Agreed. I do not like Bluetooth that much, but it's great to have music
available from my phone (especially after I got Google Music on there).

I'll take your word for it (not into 'music' that much).

This morning, Ubuntu 11.04 boots fine (!?) but still seems to cause a
greater CPU load when playing video compared with XP. However, Ubuntu
found my Freecom DTV-T USB dongle automagically and Me-TV works fine
with it so I need to re-address looking for a TV app for it under XP
(the mini CD that came with it is somewhere ...).

Found the CD and the TV app full screen under XP is about 30% CPU.
Under Linux its more like 65% (and it's all laggy and slow to launch).
But I'd never know that if I hadn't also installed Linux or wouldn't
know how much faster XP was (in this instance) if I'd only got Linux.

Cheers, T i m

On 09/05/2011 11:45 AM, T i m declared:

On Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:46:35 -0500, ceed
wrote:

On 09/05/2011 05:06 AM, T i m declared:

On Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:37:34 -0500, ceed
wrote:

Hi,

I have some bluetooth speakers I connect to with my phone.

So they work .. ok ...

Yes, they work just fine with my Android phone.

Ok.

However, I am
not able to connect with my Ubuntu 11.04 laptop.

What, you didn't buy them expressly with the intention of using them
with Linux and having tested that they worked with Linux before hand?
;-)

No, I didn't have a laptop with bluetooth when I bought them. If I did I
would have made sure they worked before I got them.

And what if they hadn't. Wouldn't you still have bought them to go
with the phone? I didn't know I was going to be finding a Linux that I
could actually install easily when I bought 99% of my stuff.

I would have looked for something that worked with both my phone and
laptop if possible. Since I have Google Music on both my phone and
laptop having it work on the phone is sufficient though. But again, if I
had had a laptop with bluetooth when I bought the speakers I would have
checked if they would work with it.

You see, in spite of your regular countering my suggestion that this
sort of thing is 1) exactly what many people do and 2) where they end
up under Linux and that you were more specific about your kit you
appear to be doing exactly the thing I suggested people do are in
exactly the same position as they would be (in many cases)? That's not
saying that some might not also be in the same position under say W7
of course but I bet it says 'Designed for Windows' on the box at
least?

I've only talked about what I do.

Yeahbut you have used the fact that I 'come by' my kit as a reason why
I 'see all my problems'. I'm saying that what I do is nearer the norm
than what you do. You speak on behalf of you whilst 'you' are
suggesting that the majority are asking for trouble and that therefore
it's their, not Linuxes 'fault' (as such). I'm saying that you can't
take the mountain to Mohammad.

Let me reduce this to the bare minimum:

If you make sure in advance that what you buy works with Linux you will
have a minimum of problems getting it up and running doing what it's
intended to do.

That's all I've said.

The reason you have so many problems is that you have not made sure it
works with Linux so you spend a lot of time to get it working. I would
have thrown it away and gotten something I know work. Since I work in
the IT industry I am getting all kinds of hardware thrown after me all
the time. I say no to most of it since I do not want to have to spend
time on getting it to work with my OS which happens to be Linux.

I do not know how others acquire or
purchase their hardware and how you come by all your gear.

Yes you do (if you don't by now!). Further, I can't see how you can
reason for the general concepts if you are only talking about your
specific case. I appreciate we are opposites with our use / interests
in Linux / XP but there is more crossover (or likely to be more if you
actually do more than just use your machines, as is, as proven by your
issues with these speakers).

I know that you get all kinds of gear donated orwell actually, I do
not know in detail how you get it all. I know that a mate or mates are
involved in the transactions, but that's as far as my knowledge go. I
purchase gear that works with Linux if it's intended to be used with
Linux. Simple, eh? :)

I avoid
almost all hardware problems by doing my "homework", but in this case it
slipped me that I might get a bluetooth enabled laptop! :)

Ah, then welcome to the real world!

Real pain in the ass world if you ask me. And I say no to the "welcome"
and stick to my bubble containing hardware I know work with Linux! :)

The speakers are
discovered without problems as 'SP-109, but when I click 'Forward' I get
'setting up 'SP-109' failed'.

Yup, welcome to my Linux (and often OSX FWIW) world. [1]

And Windows XP.

Sure, now and again.

Tried them on my neighbors XP SP2 (bluetooth supported)
also.

(I wonder why 'non Windows people' seem obsessed with mentioning the
SP level of machines. ALL XP machines should be running SP3 and all
the other updates as a matter of course shouldn't they?)

I mention it since before I tried the speakers I did some homework, the
same kind of homework I do with Linux, trying to determine if it would
be worth my time trying the speakers on XP. I found out that SP2 was the
first version that had Bluetooth working. That's why I mentioned it so
that you would not be able to say: "Doh, Bluetooth doesn't work with XP
out of the box". :)

No go. Same problem as on Linux: They are discovered, but when I
try to connect I get an error. I'll try them with W7 next time someone
comes over with their W7 laptop.

I've had that sorta thing with bt and GPS's and PCs etc etc. Never
really used it for anything important. My old Nokia does seem to link
up with my Garmin Nuvi GPS to give me hands free in the car and that
seems fairly reliable.

I have tried several times and also tried
to set device type, but no luck so far. Is there anything I can do to
get it to work?

Erm, does it say what OS's are supported on the box? ;-)

Nope.

I guess it should be OS independent really.

p.s. FWIW I've never found BT anything to be particularly predictable.
If it works it often works well but if it doesn't ...at

Agreed. I do not like Bluetooth that much, but it's great to have music
available from my phone (especially after I got Google Music on there).

I'll take your word for it (not into 'music' that much).

I do not understand how one could not be into music. It's like not being
into sex, or food or love, at least as far as I'm concerned.

This morning, Ubuntu 11.04 boots fine (!?) but still seems to cause a
greater CPU load when playing video compared with XP. However, Ubuntu
found my Freecom DTV-T USB dongle automagically and Me-TV works fine
with it so I need to re-address looking for a TV app for it under XP
(the mini CD that came with it is somewhere ...).

Found the CD and the TV app full screen under XP is about 30% CPU.
Under Linux its more like 65% (and it's all laggy and slow to launch).
But I'd never know that if I hadn't also installed Linux or wouldn't
know how much faster XP was (in this instance) if I'd only got Linux.

True, but I would not bother booting another OS to save a few CPU
cycles. Again, that's me. My CPU (and wife) likes it hot! :)

Cheers, T i m

//ceed (indeed)

On Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:26:04 -0500, ceed
wrote:

No, I didn't have a laptop with bluetooth when I bought them. If I did I
would have made sure they worked before I got them.

And what if they hadn't. Wouldn't you still have bought them to go
with the phone? I didn't know I was going to be finding a Linux that I
could actually install easily when I bought 99% of my stuff.

I would have looked for something that worked with both my phone and
laptop if possible. Since I have Google Music on both my phone and
laptop having it work on the phone is sufficient though. But again, if I
had had a laptop with bluetooth when I bought the speakers I would have
checked if they would work with it.

Makes sense (and something I try to do /when/ I get the chance).

Let me reduce this to the bare minimum:

If you make sure in advance that what you buy works with Linux you will
have a minimum of problems getting it up and running doing what it's
intended to do.

That's all I've said.

I know, but you don't seem to realise (or aren't speaking for Jo
public) that:

1) Most Ubuntu users wouldn't realise that it was something that it
was recommended you should do. Probably because no where on Canoicials
site (that I have seen) does it say you should.

2) That anyone vaguely familiar with computers would probably assume
Linux was just another OS and that it would work with most if not all
the stuff you could buy to go with computers. Why wouldn't they.

So, I know you do what you do and some others here know it's a good
idea but I'm saying that the majority wouldn't.

The reason you have so many problems is that you have not made sure it
works with Linux so you spend a lot of time to get it working.

Because I don't have that luxury, along with (IMHO) most Linux users.

I would
have thrown it away and gotten something I know work.

But then you either have more money than sense, aren't a stereotypical
Linux 'hobbyist or have little patience (and I'm not passing judgment
on any of those points). ;-)

Since I work in
the IT industry I am getting all kinds of hardware thrown after me all
the time. I say no to most of it since I do not want to have to spend
time on getting it to work with my OS which happens to be Linux.

And that's the rub. ie, if you weren't running Linux you might not
have to waste any time getting it to work as it would have (probably)
been designed for an alternative OS.

I do not know how others acquire or
purchase their hardware and how you come by all your gear.

Yes you do (if you don't by now!). Further, I can't see how you can
reason for the general concepts if you are only talking about your
specific case. I appreciate we are opposites with our use / interests
in Linux / XP but there is more crossover (or likely to be more if you
actually do more than just use your machines, as is, as proven by your
issues with these speakers).

I know that you get all kinds of gear donated orwell actually, I do
not know in detail how you get it all. I know that a mate or mates are
involved in the transactions, but that's as far as my knowledge go.

A mate runs a PC shop so often keeps for 'disposal' kit that is beyond
economical repair. When such stuff is of interest to be he often gives
it to me at cost or in exchange for something I have that he wants.

Such is this recent box, a little Dell OptiPlex GX260. It was 'written
off' because it has several bad power supply capacitors (on the
motherboard) and for him to get them replaced, plus the reason for the
original fault, a bad HDD, it would have cost the customer more than
it was worth to be fixed. I enjoy doing such things and the parts so
far have cost me about 5 GBP.

So, once done, I reinstall XP (just needed chipset, audio, video and
LAN drivers, all easily found on Dells support site). Ubuntu 11.04 was
going fine as well, until I added an extra video card and it seemed to
get it well confused.

But what I do is I believe more akin to the whole spirit / use of
Linux than what you do. I'm not saying either of us is wrong here btw,
just what might be considered the norm. In fact, as Linux (via the
likes of Ubuntu / Mint etc) become more like the mainstream OS's, our
expectations of 'it should just work' will be better met but that
won't in the main be because the world is becoming more Linux savvy
but Linux will be dealing with that sort of thing better (all be it in
some cases because the bigger manufacturers are adopting Linux
better).

I
purchase gear that works with Linux if it's intended to be used with
Linux. Simple, eh? :)

Yes, I know, you keep telling me what /you/ do but have you not yet
noticed I'm not discussing on behalf of me, but yer typical Ubuntu
user. If you aren't running Ubuntu (or something close) then we don't
really have anything to discuss.

I avoid
almost all hardware problems by doing my "homework", but in this case it
slipped me that I might get a bluetooth enabled laptop! :)

Ah, then welcome to the real world!

Real pain in the ass world if you ask me.

Or 'an interesting challenge / insight / diversion / alternative'?
Just in the same way some people prefer to cycle rather than use the
car, or camp rather than use a hotel, etc etc. It's not always about
what's easiest and I certainly wouldn't expect even the DLU to
suggests that was the typical Linux experience / paradigm?

And I say no to the "welcome"
and stick to my bubble containing hardware I know work with Linux! :)

Yes, I know it makes sense for you <g> and may even the 'new way' (as
fewer people want hobbies like Linux etc).

(I wonder why 'non Windows people' seem obsessed with mentioning the
SP level of machines. ALL XP machines should be running SP3 and all
the other updates as a matter of course shouldn't they?)

I mention it since before I tried the speakers I did some homework, the
same kind of homework I do with Linux, trying to determine if it would
be worth my time trying the speakers on XP.

OK ?

I found out that SP2 was the
first version that had Bluetooth working. That's why I mentioned it so
that you would not be able to say: "Doh, Bluetooth doesn't work with XP
out of the box". :)

But I wouldn't say that would I as I said I'd assume ALL XP installs
were up to date. Just as I don't start looking for Linux solutions
until I've run update manager and additional drivers etc.

Agreed. I do not like Bluetooth that much, but it's great to have music
available from my phone (especially after I got Google Music on there).

I'll take your word for it (not into 'music' that much).

I do not understand how one could not be into music. It's like not being
into sex, or food or love, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Ah, then that's where I have an advantage over you <g>. I can 'see'
how people can be different and want / need / expect different things.
But again, you may have misinterpreted my comment slightly. I don't
'dislike' much musically and do sometimes like it on and even up loud
(I ran a mobile disco for 8 years ffs) but these days I equally like
to hear the sounds going on around me and have /never/ liked isolating
myself with earphones, especially in public. Plus (and this is a
biggie), my Tinnitus very much determines what I can listen to and at
what level, making my exposure much more selective.

Found the CD and the TV app full screen under XP is about 30% CPU.
Under Linux its more like 65% (and it's all laggy and slow to launch).
But I'd never know that if I hadn't also installed Linux or wouldn't
know how much faster XP was (in this instance) if I'd only got Linux.

True, but I would not bother booting another OS to save a few CPU
cycles.

A few! And if only it was just that. But hey, that doesn't actually
matter to me as I've always got Windows, it's more a shame for those
people who might like to run Linux on_what_they_have (inc me in some
cases) but can't for some potentially trivial reason (like no trackpad
or display). ;-)

Again, that's me. My CPU (and wife) likes it hot! :)

Good, glad to see you recognise your poll scope now. ;-)

For our immediate poll of 4 only one (daughters b/f) actually uses
Linux for some-stuff, even though we all have it as dual boot on our
machines. The reason that it isn't used in most of those cases isn't
for what it can do but for what it can't. ie, For me it's the lack of
Garmin GPS support, for daughter it's just 'clumsy', for the Mrs it's
just not what she knows and is perfectly happy with XP and for
daughters b/f, he can't update his iPod touch.

Cheers, T i m