no stereo on reconnect or by default for Sony 1000xm2 headphones

[Jonathan Brier]

Expectation: Bluetooth headphones attach with stereo sound on every connect.
Issue: only stereo after manual switch of settings on first pair. Reconnect only has mono connection.

Ubuntu 17.10 on a System76 Serval WS.

Mono audio with the Sony 1000XM2 bluetooth headphones is the default on first pairing and is the only option after turning off the bluetooth or headphones.

On a new pairing the default is HSP with mono audio. Manually I have to change to A2DP in the sound settings and I am able to have stereo sound. Disabling bluetooth or turning off the headphones followed by a connection will result in mono audio in HSP and switching to A2DP will also be mono.

Temporary Workaround: remove the headphones from the paired devices and pair again as a new device to get access to stereo sound again. This procedure has to be repeated on every reconnect.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.10
Package: bluez 5.46-0ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.13.0-17.20-generic 4.13.8
Uname: Linux 4.13.0-17-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.7-0ubuntu3.5
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sat Dec 2 14:54:12 2017
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InterestingModules: rfcomm bnep btusb bluetooth
MachineType: System76, Inc. Serval WS
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.13.0-17-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=90a6c4ca-5b2a-461e-8792-18cd7e54a2fb ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: bluez
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/08/2016
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.05.10RSA
dmi.board.asset.tag: Tag 12345
dmi.board.name: Serval WS
dmi.board.vendor: System76, Inc.
dmi.board.version: serw9
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: System76, Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1.05.10RSA:bd03/08/2016:svnSystem76,Inc.:pnServalWS:pvrserw9:rvnSystem76,Inc.:rnServalWS:rvrserw9:cvnSystem76,Inc.:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.family: Not Applicable
dmi.product.name: Serval WS
dmi.product.version: serw9
dmi.sys.vendor: System76, Inc.
hciconfig:
 hci0: Type: Primary Bus: USB
  BD Address: 44:85:00:36:47:F9 ACL MTU: 1021:4 SCO MTU: 96:6
  UP RUNNING PSCAN INQUIRY
  RX bytes:18865088 acl:249 sco:362504 events:45487 errors:0
  TX bytes:53430737 acl:40447 sco:362442 commands:2995 errors:9

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Jonathan,

We have made some changes to PulseAudio in Ubuntu 18.04 that might help you (because PulseAudio is what handles Bluetooth audio profiles). Please try live booting that to see if it has improved the situation:

http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for bluez (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for pulseaudio (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]