[pulseaudio-discuss] [PATCH 1/3] bluetooth: Do not switch to profile unless Playing

[Mikel Astiz]

Hi Tanu,

Thanks for your feedback.

> So, my point is that even with your patch module-bluetooth-device may 
> choose to activate a2dp_source or hfgw, even if their state is just 
> "connected". I'm not an expert here, so I ask you: should the state 
> checks be changed also earlier in the function so that 
> module-bluetooth-device won't get loaded at all if the only connected 
> profile is a2dp_source of hfgw, and they are not yet in the "playing" 
> state? 

The current approach seems to be that module-bluetooth-device will be 
loaded as long as the device exists and some audio profile is connected, 
which means the state is connected or playing. In a nutshell, the 
selected profile represents the interface that is actually playing.

Even if a profile is in connected state (not playing), it does make 
sense to load the module, because then you have the option to change the 
profile from PA and effectively open an audio stream. This is useful for 
example in app-initiated audio connections, for example, streaming from 
phone to PC: the app switches the profile to a2dp_source, and the device 
simply starts to stream.

The problem with this approach is that switching profiles has important 
side-effects, and must be considered with care. From my point of view, 
PA should ideally never switch a profile unless it knows it is safe and 
non app-specific. For this reason, this patch tries to set the initial 
profile according to the actual streaming state during discovery, but 
without opening new streams.

The patch does not solve the problem entirely since module-card-restore 
might still switch to a profile, but I was thinking of another patch to 
fix this second problem.

Cheers,
Mikel