Bluetooth blocked through rfkill

Question

rfkill list 1

command gives me:

1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

However, when I run the following command,

sudo systemctl status bluetooth.service

I get this error:

bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
 Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2019-01-27 13:55:21 +03; 1h 4min ago
     Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
 Main PID: 950 (bluetoothd)
   Status: "Running"
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
           └─950 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd

systemd[1]: Starting Bluetooth service...
bluetoothd[950]: Starting SDP server
systemd[1]: Started Bluetooth service.
bluetoothd[950]: Bluetooth management interface 1.14 initialized
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Blocked through rfkill (0x12)
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Blocked through rfkill (0x12)
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Blocked through rfkill (0x12)
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Blocked through rfkill (0x12)
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Blocked through rfkill (0x12)
bluetoothd[950]: Failed to set mode: Failed (0x03)

I use Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS. When I start bluetooth, it searches for the devices, but it never finishes.

I have the same problem running Ubuntu 18.04 on a Dell Latitutde. I was able to connect to my headset using the GUI. I had a short period where I had sound output over the headset but then the connection broke down. — bomben, Jun 04 '20 at 07:52
i really confused why it's closed? This is technical issue requires the help. I completely disagree with closing it. — Sergii, Jun 11 '22 at 13:11
@Sergii It is closed because it is not a programming problem. It belongs to https://askubuntu.com/ or https://superuser.com/ or https://unix.stackexchange.com/ — Dalija Prasnikar, Jun 11 '22 at 13:14

score 46 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 19 '20 at 22:57

46

I currently have this problem in Mint 19.3 (kernel 5.4.0-48-generic) on an X1 Carbon ThinkPad. My rfkill showed Bluetooth as Hard blocked. No idea why the following is necessary, but it worked for me:

sudo rfkill unblock bluetooth

I've had to do it twice in the last two weeks, which suggests something random is happening that results in Bluetooth being blocked after a restart. Random issues are always a hoot.

edited Oct 19 '20 at 22:57

Jeremy Caney

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answered Oct 19 '20 at 16:05

fyejm5

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Also worked for me on Manjaro GNOME! Just remember to restart Bluetooth after that with `sudo systemctl restart bluetooth` – John Mar 11 '21 at 16:15
1

Solved the problem (Ubuntu 21.04) – Philippe Delteil May 06 '21 at 18:23
Had the exact same issue, and this solution also worked for me on Linux 5.13.0-1-MANJARO x86_64 21.0.7 Ornara. – Mauri Q Jun 18 '21 at 13:11

LiteApplication · Answer 2 · 2021-12-19T20:46:26.583

5

I had the same problem : rfkill did not show the device as blocked but the commands

# rfkill block bluetooth
# rfkill unblock bluetooth

worked for me.

I hope I was helpful

PS : the # means run as root (via sudo or directly logged in as the root user)

edited Dec 19 '21 at 20:46

answered May 27 '21 at 15:24

LiteApplication

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Bluetooth blocked through rfkill

2 Answers2