A2DP sink without pulseaudio - linux

Question

So I'm trying to make my linux server play music sent from my Android phone using bluetooth (the linux machine is the A2DP sink and the phone is the source).
What I have done so far is to:
install bluez and enable audiosource/audiosink
pair phone and server
connect to server from phone (phone says it's streaming audio over bluetooth)
But I can't hear anything. Also, most guides on the internet assumes Pulseaudio and I would prefer to use ALSA.
I currently have the following in /etc/asound.conf:
pcm.!default{
type bluetooth
profile "auto"
}
I'm running Bluez v4.99 and Alsa v1.0.25.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

I know this is an old post, but hopefully the answer is useful to people currently working on this.
You can use /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf, which is the system-wide file, or ~/.asoundrc, which is your local file. Both are read by BlueZ/ALSA. However, I think you need to include the MAC address in your config file, z.B.:
pcm.btheadset {
type bluetooth
device "XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX" #MAC address
profile "auto"
}
The best resources I've found for this are:
1) James B's blog post: Bluez must be one of the best kept secrets in Linux
He explains the structure and interface between BlueZ and ALSA, which I found nowhere else on the internet.
2) His second post with code: Bluez A2DP AudioSink for ALSA
3) The ALSA site, which introduces the structure of pcm plugins, but doesn't really explain them very well.
4) Some ALSA plugin tutorials: The ALSA wiki
Some useful commands:
$sudo service bluetooth restart
$sudo alsa force-reload
Run these after you change the asoundrc or audio.conf files.

Answer 2

Here you find a manual to configure bluetooth with ALSA or Pulseaudio:
-tested on Linux Mint 17.3 Mate, 64bit / Ubuntu 14.04 Mate, 64bit-
HOW TO MAKE ALSA AND BLUETOOTH WORK TOGETHER WITHOUT PA
This part is for pure ALSA-based systems without Pulseaudio like KXStudio, QStudio64,Tango studio..!
Be sure that Pulseaudio is deinstalled and your soundcards
configured right in ALSA!
delete pulse-audio cookies and files in
/home/USERNAME/.config/pulse
Modify your bluetooth-audio.conf:
type:
gksudo pluma /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf
Set
# This section contains options which are not specific to any
# particular interface
[General]
Enable=Socket
Save the file.
setup ~/.asoundrc file
type:
sudo hcitool scan
Scanning ...
XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
Stereo Headset
Create a hidden-file named .asoundrc in your home-folder!and write:
pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm {
type bluetooth
device "XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX"
profile "auto"
}
}
Replace “XX:XX..” with the adress of your device.
Save the file!
Run these after you change the asoundrc or audio.conf files:
sudo service bluetooth restart
sudo alsa force-reload
or reboot your computer!
———————————————————————————————————–—-
Go to your blueman-applet at your taskbar, search & setup your new device!
Note: Some bluetooth-devices need a passphrase (eg. 0000) by default
while some others takes shuffle-pairing.
Keep your found and paired device to “trust”!
Connect your device as AUDIO via A2DP!
————————————————————————————————————
If your device is connected with your system you can play sound with totem (gui), vlc (gui+terminal), mplayer (terminal), qmmp (gui), banshee and browsers over bluetooth while setting the output in players to “default”!
—————————————————————————————————–———
RENAME THE .ASOUNDRC IN HOME-FOLDER TO “.ASOUNDRC_OFF”
TO GET YOUR OLD SYSTEM-SETTINGS WITHOUT BLUETOOTH BACK!
type: mv /home/USERNAME/.asoundrc /home/USERNAME/.asoundrcOFF
->to disable the bluetooth-specific asoundrc
type: mv /home/USERNAME/.asoundrcOFF /home/USERNAME/.asoundrc
-> to enable it!
Alternative:
Make two “scripts” to activate/deactivate bluetooth with .asoundrc in your home-folder:
Create one empty file and write/paste:
#!/bin/bash
mv /home/USERNAME/.asoundrc /home/USERNAME/.asoundrcOFF
or:
#!/bin/bash
cd /home/USERNAME/
mv .asoundrc .asoundrcOFF
To activate your .asoundrc for bluetooth again, create another file with following entry:
#!/bin/bash
mv /home/USERNAME/.asoundrcOFF /home/USERNAME/.asoundrc
or:
#!/bin/bash
cd /home/USERNAME/
mv .asoundrcOFF .asoundrc
Make the files executable and run them with “open with terminal”!
Now you have two “buttons” to switch bluetooth-sound On or Off.
Give them individual-icons:
;-)
————————————————————————————————————-
PLAYERS
————–
It’s recommend to use totem, Qmmp or Banshee-player - because there is nothing more to do than
play and listen! Also totem-player shows videos too.
VLC-player needs the “default” sounddriver for bluetooth to working right!
Check in: /home/USERNAME/.config/vlc/vlcrc
that alsa-audio-device
in >>line1666<<
is:
# ALSA Device Name (string)
alsa-audio-device=default
Use this commands to use players with terminal:
To play music, type:
MPlayer
———––
mplayer /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
If you hear no sound or get errors try:
mplayer -ao alsa:device=default /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
VLC-Player
—————-
cvlc /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
vlc /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
rvlc /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
To add whole directories type:
rvlc add /home/USERNAME/Musik/
type: start/stop/next... to navigate!
or use the vlc-gui.
—————————————————————————————————–——-
To use mplayer with graphical-interface you have to install the gui-package:
type:
sudo apt-get install mplayer-gui
Open a terminal via Ctrl-Alt-T and use the commands below.Use the lines and type/copy one by one to avoid confusion(!):
cd /usr/share/mplayer/skins/default
for FILE in *.png; do sudo convert “$FILE” -define png:format=png24 “$FILE”; done
cd /usr/share/mplayer/skins; sudo rm default; sudo ln -s Blue default
———————————————————————————————————–
Now you can start the mplayer-gui without errors!
If you prefer the terminal type:
gmplayer /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
or
gmplayer -ao alsa:device=default /home/USERNAME/Musik/1.mp3
if you have problems!
terminal command without gui:
mplayer /DIRECTION/TO/FILE
Available Output-Modules and Drivers:
mplayer -vo help
———————————————————————-
BLUETOOTH WITH PULSEAUDIO
————————————————–--------
For Linux systems that comes with pulseaudio:
(1.) Edit /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf and uncomment the following line:
AutoConnect=true
Run the following command to install latest packages for blueman and related modules:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:blueman/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade blueman
enter code here
(3.) Check if the following lines are added in /etc/pulse/default.pa:
.ifexists module-bluetooth-discover.so
load-module module-bluetooth-discover
.endif
If not, add the lines.
REBOOT!
Run the new blueman-applet.
Right click on the panel applet and turn bluetooth on.
The old profie of you bluetooth device would still be there, remove it.
Right click on the blueman-panel applet and select Setup New Device.
Complete the wizard for your device.(If you have problems with “pairing” restart your system and skip this step!)
Now you get a connected bluetooth device!
To send/hear audio over it just follow these 2 steps:
Open Mate-volume control-settings (or pavucontrol) with rightclick in taskbar,
browse to “HARDWARE” -
and use the dropdown to turn the Built-in audio profiles of all other soundcards “off”
so that the bluetooth-device gets active!
use the other dropdown to set the bluetooth device to use A2DP
Now start the totem-player or vlc (with pulseaudio-output) to send audio to bluetooth!
Enjoy your sound!
;-)
WLAN-ISSUES:
——————–—
In case you see a WiFi connection drop after connecting to the bluetooth device run the following
command:
$ echo “options iwlwifi 11n_disable=1 bt_coex_active=0 power_save=0 auto_agg=0 swcrypto=1” |
sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf > /dev/null
tested 2017 for LM 17.3 (Rosa) MATE and Ubuntu 14.04 by chalee:
http://mayastudio.tumblr.com/bluetooth

Answer 3

My guess is that your audio path isn't routing the bluetooth to your speakers. I have seen similar issue, which was fixed by manually doing step 5 "Connect PulseAudio bluetooth source to PulseAudio ALSA sink" from this link: http://jprvita.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/1-2-3-4-a2dp-stream/

Answer 4

I just tried to do the same thing, I'm using Fedora 19, so your mileage my vary. These are the steps I took.
Made computer discoverable
Pair phone to computer (it had a headphone logo next to it)
On my HTC phone I clicked "connect" on the pairing
Go into gnome3's sound settings
Go to the input tab
Select the bluetooth item for your phone
Maybe adjust volume...