[pulseaudio-discuss] [BUG] Using bluez 5.5 & pulseaudio a bluetooth headset cannot be used as a recording device.

[Mikel Astiz]

Hi Alex,

On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Alexander Winnig
<vernehmlassung at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>> I re-copied a new wheezy-image on my sd-card. Now pactl list sources
>>> short shows the bluez-device. But still, an empty file is the output.
>>
>> How exactly did you record the file? Did you ensure that you're
>> recording from the right source? If you use parecord, you can give the
>> source name with --device=sourcenamehere
>
>  parecord -r --device=bluez_source.00_1A_7D_11_C0_66 mm.wav
>
> in my case. Creates a crackling sound in the earpiece and a mm.wav of zero
> bytes, no matter how long I record.

I tried to reproduce your issue without success, with two different
headsets. It could be an issue with your specific headset (any chance
you can test a different one?) or more likely, according to your
previous messages, your system is broken with multiple versions of the
same component or an incorrect configuration (PulseAudio, BlueZ).

A possible checklist you could follow is:
1. Make sure BlueZ's audio.conf is properly set. You might need to add
a line with "Disable=Socket".
2. Make sure the headset is connected (PA card exists) and profile is
set to "hsp".
3. During recording, make sure the profile's state is set to
"available: yes". You can see this with pacmd list-cards.
4. During recording, make sure the source is "state: RUNNING" (pacmd
list-sources). This confirms (3) meaning that SCO audio is streaming
fine.

If all this work fine but the issue persists, I'd have to see the
output of hcidump during recording.

You can also repeat the test with module-suspend-on-idle unloaded
before connecting the headset (e.g. disable it in default.pa). Perhaps
the headset has issues with audio suspend&resume.

>
>>
>>> I have the impression that you need to make the headset believe that a
>>> phone call is coming in for it's mike to become active.

The audio stream (SCO) should start streaming as soon as parecord is
launched. No need for phone calls or anything.

>>
>> I've never heard of such headsets. At least my headset allows PulseAudio
>> to use the microphone at any time.
>>
> By Headset I mean this
> http://www.iqua.com/sites/default/files/images/slim_high5.jpg
>
> So I talked to the carwhisperer author martin. He said that he couldn't help
> me in this case as he doesn't know his code anymore well enough. If you are
> interested, find his code at
> http://trifinite.org/trifinite_stuff_carwhisperer.html#downloads
>
> Maybe you / someone else can find the real cause.
>

Cheers,
Mikel