Arch Linux

hully

Member

Registered: 2022-11-14

Posts: 164

If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

Hi,
I'm new to Arch.
I finally found the time and willingness to install it.
I'm so happy right now, and the repos are not only plenty of packages but also have different versions of them, including the git ones

I also switched from GNOME to a tiling window manager.

My problem is: I have a pair of bluetooth headphones.

How can I manage them if I only have a WM instead of a full DE?

I need to (1) pair them with my device and (2) switch the sound output to them.

Thank you and best regards

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,456

Website

Re: If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

These two points of DE vs WM and bluetooth software have nothing to do with one another.  You can use whatever tools you prefer just as well in a WM as you would a DE.  A DE, by definition, is just a WM bundled with a bunch of tools selected by someone else.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,612

Re: If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

Might I suggest Blueman?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Blueman

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sekret

Member

Registered: 2013-07-22

Posts: 305

Re: If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

Since I'm a heavy dmenu user (I'm using dwm, so that's pretty standard), I use dmenu-bluetooth. Does everything I need. Before that / parallel to it I simply use bluetoothctl on the terminal.

Last edited by sekret (2022-11-14 17:43:55)

gtf21

Member

Registered: 2020-06-28

Posts: 141

Website

Re: If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

I use bluez for the bluetooth protocol with pulseaudio-bluetooth to manage bluetooth audio and interact with it via bluetoothctl in a terminal. I also have blueman installed for the odd occasion in which I feel like using a GUI. I also have this script running in my polybar which shows when my headphones are connected and allows me to switch profiles easily:

https://github.com/gfarrell/dotfiles/bl … _status.sh

hully

Member

Registered: 2022-11-14

Posts: 164

Re: If you use a WM, what do you use to manage Bluetooth?

Thank you very much!

bluetoothctl looks very simple to use, and I also configured bluman to start when I click on the bluetooth button in my bar