Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

thrtx · 2014-01-16 03:53:31

HI,

Apologies if this is in the wrong place or ill-formatted (1st post here)

I have a new Asus Zenbook Prime, UX31A - C4063P, and I'm trying to get Bluetooth working on the dual wifi/bluetooth controller Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6235.

The wifi is working fine, using the iwlwifi module, but for some reason the bluetooth is permanently set to soft-block: yes:

$ rfkill list
0: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: asus-bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: yes
	Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

When I use the Keyboard Hard switch (Fn + F2, which serves both wifi and bluetooth), rfkill intermittently shows:

Soft blocked: no

then in the time it takes to re-enter the command it is back to blocked. It changes maybe 2 or 3 times before it stays blocked:

#rfkill unblock all

has no effect:

# rfkill list
0: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: asus-bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: yes
	Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

Can anyone help? is there any way to force soft unblock with rfkill? Another forum suggested a workaround of enabling bluetooth in windows, then rebooting in linux, which worked for some people, however I'm not a dual booter.

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Capabilities: <access denied>

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 47
	Memory at f7800000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
	Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
	I/O ports at f000 [size=64]
	Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915

00:04.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core Processor Thermal Subsystem (rev 09)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 255
	Memory at dfe08000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>

00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 42
	Memory at f7d00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: xhci_hcd

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 44
	Memory at f7d22000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: mei_me
	Kernel modules: mei_me

00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
	Memory at f7d20000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 100f
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 45
	Memory at f7d18000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
	Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
	Memory behind bridge: f7c00000-f7cfffff
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
	Memory at f7d1f000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
	Kernel modules: ehci_pci

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM76 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
	Kernel modules: lpc_ich

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 43
	I/O ports at f0b0 [size=8]
	I/O ports at f0a0 [size=4]
	I/O ports at f090 [size=8]
	I/O ports at f080 [size=4]
	I/O ports at f060 [size=32]
	Memory at f7d1e000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: ahci
	Kernel modules: ahci

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 18
	Memory at f7d1d000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	I/O ports at f040 [size=32]
	Kernel modules: i2c_i801

00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family Thermal Management Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Zenbook Prime UX31A
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 255
	Memory at f7d1c000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>

02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6235 (rev 24)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6235 AGN
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 46
	Memory at f7c00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
	Kernel modules: iwlwifi

lsmod:

Module                  Size  Used by
btusb                  18632  0 
bnep                   13317  2 
bluetooth             308988  6 bnep,btusb
x86_pkg_temp_thermal     6999  0 
intel_powerclamp        8642  0 
coretemp                6334  0 
kvm_intel             131095  0 
kvm                   388549  1 kvm_intel
crct10dif_pclmul        4754  0 
nls_cp437               5961  1 
crct10dif_common        1380  1 crct10dif_pclmul
crc32_pclmul            3027  0 
crc32c_intel           14257  0 
vfat                   10063  1 
fat                    51827  1 vfat
ghash_clmulni_intel     4509  0 
aesni_intel            46100  2 
aes_x86_64              7407  1 aesni_intel
lrw                     3573  1 aesni_intel
gf128mul                5866  1 lrw
glue_helper             4617  1 aesni_intel
ablk_helper             1980  1 aesni_intel
cryptd                  8481  3 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
joydev                  9671  0 
hid_multitouch         10369  0 
iTCO_wdt                5407  0 
iTCO_vendor_support     1937  1 iTCO_wdt
uvcvideo               72836  1 
videobuf2_vmalloc       3280  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops        2343  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core         27963  1 uvcvideo
videodev              111332  3 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
arc4                    2008  2 
media                  11751  2 uvcvideo,videodev
microcode              15216  0 
iwldvm                168962  0 
usbhid                 40577  0 
mac80211              468026  1 iwldvm
rts5139               332075  0 
hid                    90742  2 hid_multitouch,usbhid
psmouse                85460  0 
serio_raw               5049  0 
pcspkr                  2035  0 
i2c_i801               11277  0 
iwlwifi               139591  1 iwldvm
cfg80211              412662  3 iwlwifi,mac80211,iwldvm
i915                  657825  3 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     30162  1 
thermal                 8532  0 
snd_hda_codec_realtek    41295  1 
snd_hda_intel          37000  1 
snd_hda_codec         150305  3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
intel_agp              10880  1 i915
intel_gtt              12664  2 i915,intel_agp
battery                 6837  0 
snd_hwdep               6340  1 snd_hda_codec
drm_kms_helper         36254  1 i915
snd_pcm                77645  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
snd_page_alloc          7242  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
drm                   238238  4 i915,drm_kms_helper
snd_timer              18726  1 snd_pcm
snd                    59109  9 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
mei_me                  9400  0 
mei                    62286  1 mei_me
soundcore               5450  1 snd
ac                      3332  0 
i2c_algo_bit            5399  1 i915
button                  4677  1 i915
i2c_core               24164  6 drm,i915,i2c_i801,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,videodev
lpc_ich                13376  0 
shpchp                 25465  0 
processor              24903  0 
evdev                  11085  20 
asus_nb_wmi             7376  0 
asus_wmi               16250  1 asus_nb_wmi
sparse_keymap           3154  1 asus_wmi
rfkill                 15651  6 cfg80211,bluetooth,asus_wmi
wmi                     8419  1 asus_wmi
video                  11196  2 i915,asus_wmi
ext4                  474699  1 
crc16                   1367  2 ext4,bluetooth
mbcache                 6082  1 ext4
jbd2                   83440  1 ext4
sd_mod                 30821  3 
ahci                   23056  2 
libahci                21642  1 ahci
libata                171112  2 ahci,libahci
ehci_pci                4000  0 
ehci_hcd               59252  1 ehci_pci
xhci_hcd              145281  0 
scsi_mod              130669  3 rts5139,libata,sd_mod
usbcore               180104  7 btusb,uvcvideo,rts5139,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid,xhci_hcd
usb_common              1656  1 usbcore

Last edited by thrtx (2014-02-04 00:33:41)

thrtx · 2014-01-16 04:21:27

On the intermittent response from rfkill, I issued

watch -n .1 rfkill list

and when pressinf FN+ F2 for the briefest moment another line in rfkill appears, with hci0, but also set to

soft blocked= yes
hard blocked= no

thrtx · 2014-02-03 10:29:32

Minor update: Now running the latest kernel (3.12.9-2-ARCH) and linux-firmware 20140123.418320b-1: Now when issuing

# rfkill unblock 1

the LED on the F2 key goes on for about a quarter of a second!

If I ever figure this out I will post back, more than likely a future update will resolve it

thrtx · 2014-02-04 00:18:23

OK, so I think this is pretty much solved, or at least a workaround:

I use E17 (or E18 now I guess), and using econmann GUI I can enable bluetooth! rfkill list now results in

$ rfkill list
0: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: asus-bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
3: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

It would be interesting to know why rfkill wasn't able to power the bluetooth on, yet econnman was. Any ideas?

WonderWoofy · 2014-02-04 00:19:40

connman has direct control over rfkill functionality. So even if you use rfkill directly, connman can then turn it back off.

thrtx · 2014-02-04 00:33:20

That explains the way it was on for a moment then back off again. Thanks!

WonderWoofy · 2014-02-04 01:17:30

Indeed, I ran into this issue a while back while trying to test the BT of my new phone. I couldn't figure out why my BT on my computer would not unblock until I ran 'connmanctl technologies' and realized I had set it to 'off'.

BTW, I use connman alone, and it is a great thing. The connmanctl interface works quite well, and when run w/o any arguments it is interactive with completion and everything!

thrtx · 2014-02-04 11:15:37

Thanks for the tip; I'll have a closer look at connmanctl!
Should I remove econnman for it to work properly, or is that only an interface? It might run into similar problems as with bluetooth...

WonderWoofy · 2014-02-04 21:11:08

econnman is just a graphical frontend to the connman.service as far as I know. Since you are a GUI network management user, I just thought i would point out to you that there is a built in CLI interface as well that is quite nice.

I have never used econnman, so I cannot comment on what problems it may or may not cause. But in the event that you have issues with the graphical tools, it is always a good idea to see if the same problems exist without the frontend.

thrtx · 2014-02-05 01:23:41

Thanks I will try it out when I have a new network to connect to. I really like the command completion in connmanctl, much better than remembering lengthy commands.

WonderWoofy · 2014-02-05 01:25:43

Completion is always good.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-01-16 03:53:31

Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#2 2014-01-16 04:21:27

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#3 2014-02-03 10:29:32

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#4 2014-02-04 00:18:23

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#5 2014-02-04 00:19:40

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#6 2014-02-04 00:33:20

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#7 2014-02-04 01:17:30

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#8 2014-02-04 11:15:37

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#9 2014-02-04 21:11:08

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#10 2014-02-05 01:23:41

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

#11 2014-02-05 01:25:43

Re: Bluetooth on Advanced-N 6235: always soft-blocked [SOLVED]

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