I have been trying to use my new L5 with bluetooth but it is choppy and stuttering. Not usable. I see that this has been a problem back to 2022 and I think from my reading that this should not be an issue now? (I would stand corrected on that however). From past posts I tried to determine my firmware by this:
sudo dmesg | grep redpine
But this doesn’t work. It just returns me to a cmd prompt.
Any tips about what to do in this situation, or pointers to a post that I couldn’t turn up that may help?
WPAN(BT) is very very complex itself and more complexed on Gnu System and Gnu Hardwares so thats why wpan failed in L5. However there are many fixes on crimson time on Gnu Redpine module.
… is looking for the wrong card. The second command that I gave you shows that you have the newer SparkLAN card instead of the older Redpine card.
… is the currently supported PureOS release for the Librem 5 but crimson is later and may fix some problems (as alluded to by @carlosgonz) so then it would become a question of whether your use case (and expertise) gives you the option of reflashing and running unsupported later software (which may have other bugs) - after backing up your existing phone contents in its entirety of course.
Thanks for that. I’ll persevere with things and may reflash this if it needs it. But I can probably get away. I’ll try some things and see how it goes.
For the record: I’ve been bitten by the same issue, and it occurs just the same when I play back a media file from the local filesystem through a Bluetooth speaker, without Wi-fi or any other network connection in the mix.
Just close the bluetooth settings when you have a connection going. Then try playing your music or whatever you are sending over the bluetooth connection.
I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying. If I have a connection going how do I close the bluetooth settings? You might have to be a bit more concrete for me I’m afraid.
If I use a bluetooth speaker AND a bluetooth mouse with my laptop, every mouse movement leads to choppy sound.
That’s just what you get with bluetooth and NOT a problem of the Librem5.
As someone already mentioned, if possible use just one bluetooth device. As a workaround I use Logitech devices with their “unifying” usb stick attached to a usb dock which takes load off your bluetooth. Or simply wired devices.
If you leave the settings app open it continues to poll the Bluetooth environment and that appears to cause the problem. After you pair your device in the app, swipe up to close it.
Counterexample: I’ve been using Bluetooth audio since 2005. That’s 19 years. I never experienced stuttering with any combination of Bluetooth audio source and sink. Until I switched to the L5, which is when Bluetooth audio became entirely unusable for me due to its choppiness.
19 years of personal experience is still anecdata, and may not be statistically significant. But it’s some evidence.
Thanks for clarifying that. I can confirm that following the advice to close the ‘settings’ box gave me perfect bluetooth for about 30mins in my car going to work this morning. It didn’t miss a beat and I was able to confirm that opening this box resulted immediately in the stuttering, so this appears to be the culprit. I’ll try it during the day, but I’d say that this is the solution. What I didn’t mention yesterday was that in one of the work vehicles yesterday it worked perfectly which bamboozled me, but I must have inadvertently had the ‘settings’ box closed.
I really appreciate the help put forward here. Beyond getting the issue sorted it also gave me some education about BT in general, so thanks.
I will test this today and mark as solved later unless there is a hiccup.
It may be. But I have given this a run for over an hour again since I last posted in two different vehicles (not that that should matter) and its still performing without fault. I’ve also had a BT earpiece as well in addition and again, no fault.
But I’ll keep at it and see how it goes on the weekend. I just have my fingers crossed.
Dude, that is not normal behaviour. Not sure what is wrong with your setup, but I’ve been using a Bluetooth mouse for years at work, while listening to music over my Bluetooth headset, and the sound is crisp. Bluetooth is perfectly capable of driving various different devices simultaneously. Even on 10+yo hardware like some of my old thinkpads (x220 era, to give you an idea of how old).
Also: they explicitly stated they only connect to one device at a time. So how is this even relevant?
No, it isn’t. Hardly anyone has these issues with Bluetooth, but you do. Therefore the issue is Bluetooth? Logic would dictate the problem is not Bluetooth, but your particular setup. Likewise, if the L5 is having issues with Bluetooth that other devices don’t have, it’s not Bluetooth, it’s the bloody L5. Either the hardware (unlikely, as these are standard chips), or the software.