Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing SSP Broken

[BubbaJ]

Since installing Ubuntu 11.10 (with Linux 3.0), Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) is broken and will not allow my SSP headset (Samsung HM1000, EDR + 2.1) to reconnect after initial pairing and disconnect. I am able to pair and connect at first. Before I diconnect, everything works as expected. But after disconnecting, I am no longer able to re-connect the headset. I have to un-pair then re-pair the device to connect again to get it working. After re-pairing the headset it stays connected until I disconnect. Then again after disconnecting, I am again not able to connect.

I have been using the same BT usb dongle and BT headset in Ubuntu 10.10, 11.04, and 11.10. Everything worked fine in Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04, which I think were based on Linux Kernel 2.6.35 and 2.6.38 respectively. In those versions, I was able to pair and connect / disconnect / connect without issue.

I posted an email on the Bluez developer mailing list and it seems that there is a known issue in the way SSP pairing is working (http://marc.info/?l=linux-bluetooth&m=132914064106062&w=2) in Ubuntu 11.10. It seems there is a patch that has been released to correct the issue: (http://marc.info/?l=linux-bluetooth&m=131292182215271&w=2), and a recommendation to incorporate the fix in stable releases (http://marc.info/?l=linux-bluetooth&m=132817560218886&w=2).

I am able to work around the issue by running the command: sudo hciconfig hci0 sspmode 0 to disable sspmode to default back to legacy connection. However, after rebooting, I again have to disable sspmode in order to connect the headset. Seems like this is a very basic use case that left uncorrected can result in very poor user experience.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 931860

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[BubbaJ (azstuenthome)]

---
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: debbie 9252 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 26
   Simple ctrls : 18
Card29.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 1RHT71WW-3.04'
   Mixer name : 'ThinkPad EC 1RHT71WW-3.04'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 2
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card29.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'Console',0
   Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined penum
   Playback channels: Mono
   Limits: Playback 0 - 14
   Mono: Playback 3 [21%] [on]
CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['sh', '-c', 'dmesg | comm -13 --nocheck-order /var/log/dmesg -'] failed with exit code 1: comm: /var/log/dmesg: Permission denied
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012)
MachineType: IBM 2373PPU
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
 Socket 1:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
 Socket 1:
   no card
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-15-generic root=UUID=8e82110c-928a-47f7-ba15-e767a29d933e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-15.26-generic 3.0.13
Tags: oneiric running-unity
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-15-generic i686
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2012-01-24 (18 days ago)
UserGroups:

dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
dmi.board.name: 2373PPU
dmi.board.vendor: IBM
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373PPU:pvrThinkPadT42:rvnIBM:rn2373PPU:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2373PPU
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T42
dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

I see this patch has made it into Linus' tree with the following commit:
18daf1644e634bae951a6e3d4d19d89170209762 Bluetooth: Fix l2cap conn failures for ssp devices

[BubbaJ (azstuenthome)]

Thanks for the update. I am not familiar with the commit process, or the process by which those commits make there way back into existing or new Ubuntu releases, e.g. 11.10 or 12.04.

You mentioned that the patch made it into Linus' tree. From a user's perspective, when could I expect to see the patch incorporated into the existing release, 11.10? Will the patch be incorporated into the 12.04 release at launch?

[sahas (napster-it)]

That fix was made to Linux 3.2.15 whereas the kernel used in 12.04 LTS is 3.2.0-24-generic.I can confirm that the same problem exists in Precise as well.

[sahas (napster-it)]

A simple workaround for this problem is listed here:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/68939/issues-with-bluetooth-connections-in-11-10

[BubbaJ (azstuenthome)]

The fix to this bug was included in the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was based on Ubuntu Kernel 3.2.0-23.36 which maps to Mainline Kernel v3.2.14. Officially the fix was included in Mainline Kernel v3.2.15, but the fix was backported to Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36 prior to the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release (see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/981162 Bluetooth: Fix l2cap conn failures for ssp devices). The fix was officially included in Mainline Kernel v3.2.15 which maps to Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.38.

For Ubuntu 11.10, the fix was included in Ubuntu Kernel 3.0.0-20.34 which maps to Mainline Kernel v3.0.30. The fix was officially included in Mainline Kernel v3.0.28, but this version was not specifically mapped to an Ubuntu Kernel version.

I would expect, but have not verified, that the fix has also been backported to the kernels for other Ubuntu releases. As such, I plan to close this bug as the issue has been resolved.

[bford16 (bford16)]

This is still a problem in Precise Pangolin 12.04. Maybe the fix is released, but it is not helping me...

[Anton Anikin (anton-anikin)]

I have the same problem in Ubuntu 14.10 with kernel 3.15.0-4