Arch Linux

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

[SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

rfkill list all output:

0: tpacpi_bluetooth_sw: Bluetooth
        Soft blocked: no
        Hard blocked: yes

Tried

sudo echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/bluetooth_enable

and

sudo echo "enable" > /proc/acpi/ibm/bluetooth

and got permission denied for both.

Bluetooth is enabled in BIOS why is it hard blocked ?

Last edited by b42 (2024-05-22 13:29:02)

Awebb

Member

Registered: 2010-05-06

Posts: 6,688

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

"sudo bla > blub" only runs "bla" with elevated rights but not "> blub". Try piping into sudo tee.

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

Try piping into sudo tee.

how exactly do I do that?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,153

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/bluetooth_enable

for example

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/bluetooth_enable

for example

operation not permitted.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,456

Website

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

Hard blocked means it is blocked via a hardware (or sometimes firmware) switch.  You cannot change this from software. Is there a bluetooth switch on the computer?  Or a keyboard function key to toggle it?

---

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

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

Okay, so I tested some things:

I have had my Wi-Fi disabled in BIOS, but bluetooth enabled.

rfkill showed bluetooth had a hard block on

then I enabled Wi-Fi in BIOS as well. Both bluetooth and wifi were hard blocked in rfkill list

Now I disabled both Wi-Fi and bluetooth in BIOS and rfkill list is empty.

So BIOS settings do work, but rfkill is blocking those signals.

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

Hard blocked means it is blocked via a hardware (or sometimes firmware) switch.  You cannot change this from software. Is there a bluetooth switch on the computer?  Or a keyboard function key to toggle it?

It does not seem there is such a switch.

I just tried booting fresh Arch installation and I cannot even get Wi-Fi from there, so I cannot get a fresh arch install now. I get a message which says that rfkill is preventing from turning on the device or something like that.

Until I boot any OS, for example when I am in BIOS settings both Wi-Fi and bluetooth work because their lights on my laptop are switched on then, but once I boot the OS they get that hard block and turn off. What can cause this issue?

c00ter

Member

From: Alaskan in Washington State

Registered: 2014-08-28

Posts: 421

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

I have had Bluetooth "disappear" on 2 Dell machines, a 2014 laptop and very recently on this 2019 desktop, even though WiFi & Bluetooth were both listed and enabled in their BIOS'. I do not know why, just that it did and neither operating system (Arch or Windows) had a software fix. WiFi continued to work. Both times it was with Arch. Originally Arch + GNOME, most recently with Plasma 6. See the link.

See here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 2#p2164862

Last edited by c00ter (2024-05-22 12:55:27)

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UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,153

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

Since we are talking "lol, lenovo". this could also be a UEFi setting, or worse, a BIOS/Windows update activating the "Airplane mode" which can as far as I've seen on the Lenovo of my dad, be only disabled in the "Lenovo Vantage" software they ship on Windows, so if you still have that, check there (and if you do have a Windows dual boot, make sure to disable Windows fast-boot!)

b42

Member

Registered: 2023-07-20

Posts: 201

Re: [SOLVED] How to enable bluetooth?

okay my bad, there is a small switch on the side of the device which does the hard kill job. sorry for this nuisance.