L5 Bluetooth stutter

[sherab_kelsang]

I am increasing my usage of L5 as a daily driver.
Is there a way to improve the BT connection between the L5 and BT headphones.
The experience is that the sound is stuttering or disappears and reappears.

Any advice will be welcomed.
Thanks

[tracy]

Maybe it is just Max Headroom making a comeback reappearance?

Max Headroom Channel 4 Commercial

[carlosgonz]

We need just wait till the newer firmware and driver 2.5 get shipped to Librem 5, there are important fixes related to your issues.
All is the hands of @dos to ship fast the newer driver(RSI) v2.5.1.11 to L5.

[sherab_kelsang]

I noticed you have a sense of humour.
Last time you commented on a post I made I didn’t get you are being funny.
I hope you got your L5
And that Max Headroom video is fantastic.
Cheers

[sherab_kelsang]

Thank you for the info.

[tracy]

A Navy Captain back in 1998 once said I had the driest humor he’d ever heard. I suppose sometimes my inside jokes do not sound funny. (Glad you appreciated the video.)

[pit]

@sherab_kelsang

The experience is that the sound is stuttering or disappears and reappears.

What firmware do you have? You get it by

sudo dmesg | grep redpine

See here to get the newest firmware 2.5.1.11, put it into /lib/firmware, rename the file to RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps and reboot.
For me bluetooth (audio) was very choppy up to version 1.2.20.

[sherab_kelsang]

@pit

sudo dmesg | grep redpine

what am I actually looking for?

@pit

See here to get the newest firmware 2.5.1.11, put it into /lib/firmware, rename the file to RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps and reboot.

I looked at that thread - it looks time-consuming and error-prone process.
I may wait for clearer instructions.
Thank you

[pit]

@sherab_kelsang

what am I actually looking for?

Look for the line with FW Version or Driver Version.

[sherab_kelsang]

Thank you
So
redpine_91x: FW Version: 1.2.20.0
redpine_91x: RSI FW Version : 0000.1.2.0.0502

so I assume that’s the old firmware.
I’ll
1.download the latest file from here
2. put it into /lib/firmware
3. Rename to RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps
4. Reboot and pray…
Thank you

[pit]

@sherab_kelsang

redpine_91x: FW Version: 1.2.20.0
redpine_91x: RSI FW Version : 0000.1.2.0.0502

Yes thats a very old firmware. I can confirm that bluetooth audio was very choppy with this firmware. Good luck!
You might have to change operation mode. Operation mode should be 5 from firmware 2.0 onwards. Note that it has to be adjusted twice in the file /etc/modprobe.d/librem5-devkit.conf

[Privacy2]

[Edited to correct my use of “driver” instead of “firmware” to reflect that the firmware is proprietary, but the driver is FOSS.]

We need just wait till the newer firmware and driver 2.5 get shipped to Librem 5 … All is the hands of @dos to ship fast the newer driver(RSI) v2.5.1.11 to L5.

It should be noted that the firmware is not FOSS. Given the claim that Purism wants the device to be RYF, shipping non-Free firmware is a no-no. In fact, from https://ryf.fsf.org/about/criteria , where it discusses allowing the exception of allowing non-Free drivers contained in secondary embedded processors it says:

… within which software installation is not intended after the user obtains the product.

[sherab_kelsang]

@pit

You might have to change operation mode. Operation mode should be 5

Thanks again. Seems like the mode is set to 5
redpine_hal_device_init: oper_mode = 5
And
redpine_9x: Operating mode : 5 [WI-FI STA + BT EDR]

Note that it has to be adjusted twice in the file /etc/modprobe.d/librem5-devkit.conf

Thanks for the tip

[carlosgonz]

@Privacy2

that these drivers are not FOSS

The newer driver 2.5.1.11 for Redpine it is fully GNU Libre Software. Only the firmware is closed, but this a separate thing.

[Privacy2]

I should have said “firmware” instead of drivers. Sorry for the confusion. I’ll edit.

[fsflover]

@Privacy2

Given the claim that Purism wants the device to be RYF, shipping non-Free firmware is a no-no. In fact, from https://ryf.fsf.org/about/criteria , where it discusses allowing the exception of allowing non-Free drivers contained in secondary embedded processors it says:

… within which software installation is not intended after the user obtains the product.

Relevant discussions: Questions on Bluetooth and

Blog article: Librem 5 First Impressions

We don’t intend to distribute and install any proprietary updates as a normal part of device operation in PureOS (but alternative operating systems are free to use a different policy). We also don’t intend to artificially prevent the user from installing them themselves should they wish to do it for any reason. We do provide firmware blobs for users to download whenever possible and intend to continue doing so. A big holdout for now is the modem firmware, as licensing of the update tools we got…

[Privacy2]

Thanks. I was involved in both of those discussions. The first link is actually me and the 2nd link is dos replying to me. I’ve read the discussions. It seems quite clear to me that by action (hosting proprietary firmware, employees instructing how to update, etc.) that the Librem 5 doesn’t meet the RYF embedded processor exception since the Librem 5 does not meet this requirement:

… within which software installation is not intended after the user obtains the product.

One should also note that Debian is not endorsed by the FSF as Free ( https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.en.html ) simply by hosting non-default non-Free repositories.

[fsflover]

@Privacy2

I was involved in both of those discussions.

I posted these links not for you but for those interested in the discussion. This is off-topic here.

[Privacy2]

I agree that a deep discussion is off-topic.

I feel that people should at least be informed that the firmware they are being instructed on downloading/installing is proprietary.

[NyxTheNightHerself]

Picking this thread up: I also am observing unacceptably bad audio performance over Bluetooth with my L5. This holds true with every device I have attempted to pair with it.

Most recently, I have cloned the redpine-firmware-nonfree tree to my device via

git clone https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/redpine-firmware-nonfree/
sudo cp /lib/firmware/RS9116_NLINK_WAN_BT_IMAGE.rps ./redpine-fw-image-known-good/
sudo rm /lib/firmware/RS9116_NLINK_WAN_BT_IMAGE.rps
sudo cp ./redpine-firmware-nonfree/files/firmware/RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.FW2.5.1.11.rps /lib/firmware/RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_IMAGE.rps
sudo shutdown -r now

On reboot, the results of sudo dmesg | grep redpine are

[   27.458452] redpine_91x: rsi_probe: ***** 9116 Module *****
[   27.478139] redpine_91x: redpine_hal_device_init: oper_mode = 5, coex_mode = 2
[   27.509757] redpine_91x: Received Board Version Number: 10
[   27.512583] redpine_91x: rsi_load_firmware: Loading file RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps
[   27.514475] redpine_91x: rsi_load_firmware: Failed to open file RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps
[   27.516795] redpine_91x: ***** Loaded Firmware *****
[   32.739660] redpine_91x: ================================================
[   32.739685] redpine_91x: ================ RSI Version Info ==============
[   32.739688] redpine_91x: ================================================
[   32.739692] redpine_91x: FW Version	: 1.2.0.16
[   32.739700] redpine_91x: RSI FW Version	:  1610.1.2.ab.ffbf
[   32.739706] redpine_91x: Driver Version	: RS9116.NB0.NL.GNU.LNX.OSD.2.0.0.0024
[   32.739710] redpine_91x: Operating mode	: 5 [Wi-Fi STA + BT EDR]
[   32.739715] redpine_91x: Firmware file	: RS9116_NLINK_WLAN_BT_IMAGE.rps
[   32.739718] redpine_91x: ================================================
[   32.743962] redpine_91x: rsi_send_bt_reg_params: Sending BT reg frame
[   32.744387] redpine_91x:  HCI module init done...
[   32.745939] redpine_91x: RSI HCI DEVICE "hci0" open
[   32.848214] redpine_91x: <==== Interface UP ====>
[   32.848348] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Change of ERP INFO: 0
[   32.848383] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Sending vap updates....
[   32.879393] redpine_91x: <==== Interface DOWN ====>
[   32.885967] redpine_91x: <==== Interface UP ====>
[   32.886780] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Change of ERP INFO: 0
[   32.886828] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Sending vap updates....
[   37.483436] redpine_91x: <==== Interface DOWN ====>
[   37.509755] redpine_91x: <==== Interface UP ====>
[   37.510181] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Change of ERP INFO: 0
[   37.510198] redpine_91x: rsi_mac80211_bss_info_changed: Sending vap updates....
[   41.318174] redpine_91x: EAPOL 4 confirm

What concerns me here most is the “rsi_load_firmware: Failed to open file” - it didn’t burn the latest firmware, so I have no idea whether or not it will resolve the issue. Does anyone have any insight into why this might be happening?

Thanks in advance.