Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Bluetooth Support

A

AaronK2

Bit poster
Short: Bluetooth USB ID is set to something different in Linux which prevents BLE usage.

Long: When using the "Share Bluetooth devices with Linux" setting, the Bluetooth device (Apple integrated Broadcom device) is loaded as follows in lsusb:
Code: 
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 045e:007e Microsoft Corp. Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth
hcitool cannot use BLE functions as a result showing the following as the result:
Code: 
$ sudo hcitool lescan
Set scan parameters failed: Input/output error
Which is not solved by resetting the device, bluetooth, nor dbus. The device works when performing a Bluetooth Classic scan but cannot seem to use the Low Energy features.

If I recall correctly, Parallels 11 allowed you to attach the Bluetooth USB Host Controller as a USB device to the guest OS. This seems to have been removed and only allows for sharing of the Bluetooth device. If someone can confirm, that would help. I believe this to be the issue as simply attaching the Bluetooth USB Host Controller would load the correct driver but sharing the Bluetooth device requires Parallels to use an intermediary driver which is recognized incorrectly.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Edit: I should also note that I am running Parallels 12 currently and did not have a problem with this in Parallels 11. Ubuntu was a fresh install and is constantly kept up to date. BlueZ is also installed along with all prerequisite packages. I can attach a USB Bluetooth device with no problems accessing BLE functionality. I cannot attach the internal Bluetooth device on my Macbook however.
 
Last edited:
Any updates on this?
I have to use BLE on linux to connect a chest strap for development purposes. I managed to install bluez and other python packages but it gives me error.
When I try to do "sudo hcitool lescan" I get the same input/output error and I can't manage to fix it. I guess it still hasn't been fixed in Parallels Desktop 13.
 
DanieleR1 said:
Any updates on this?
I have to use BLE on linux to connect a chest strap for development purposes. I managed to install bluez and other python packages but it gives me error.
When I try to do "sudo hcitool lescan" I get the same input/output error and I can't manage to fix it. I guess it still hasn't been fixed in Parallels Desktop 13.
Click to expand...
Hi @DanieleR1, Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac does not allow attaching Bluetooth USB Host Controller to a VM. At the same time, Shared Bluetooth does not support BLE. We recommend you continue using a USB Bluetooth controller, our Engineering Team investigates possibility of supporting BLE in Shared Bluetooth feature.
 
One more note: Parallels Desktop 13 does not allow attaching only built-in Bluetooth USB controller. The external Bluetooth USB dongles are supported.
The workaround for your case is use any external Bluetooth USB dongle with BLE.
 
Hi @Dmitry@Parallels ,

Thanks for responding, in my case i'd like to use the Macs built in BLE adapter in Windows 10 (1803). I was wondering if you guys were planning on allowing the attaching of the built-in Bluetooth USB controller in the near future?
 
AdamW9 said:
Hi @Dmitry@Parallels ,

Thanks for responding, in my case i'd like to use the Macs built in BLE adapter in Windows 10 (1803). I was wondering if you guys were planning on allowing the attaching of the built-in Bluetooth USB controller in the near future?
Click to expand...
Thank you for your request, it was counted. As a workaround you can use any USB Bluetooth dongle with BLE support.
 
Dmitry@Parallels said:
Thank you for your request, it was counted. As a workaround you can use any USB Bluetooth dongle with BLE support.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this advice, i passed this on to some of my users and it worked. However i now have some users who have a company policy which forbids the use of USB devices such as USB BLE dongles, memory sticks, etc. They can get around this at the moment with bootcamp (which i don't think they'd like :/), but i was wondering if support for the Macs built in BLE adapter was something being considered?
 
Hi AdamW9, DanieleR1, AaronK2,

Can you please name BLE devices that you plan to use in VMs?
 
alev said:
Hi AdamW9, DanieleR1, AaronK2,

Can you please name BLE devices that you plan to use in VMs?
Click to expand...

Hi Alev,

It was a microchip BLE device.

I'm currently trying to use Parallels 15 which says it has BLE support but i'm struggling to get this to work, is there a setting i need to set to make this work?
 
There are 2 main things:
1) Checkbox "Share Bluetooth devices with Windows" in VM configuration > Hardware > USB & Bluetooth
2) Make sure you do not connect the device to the macOS, otherwise VM won't be able to pair.
Try to remove the device from macOS Bluetooth preferences, guest OS (Ubuntu) bluetooth preferences and reboot Mac and VM. That is to be sure that older settings are removed and do not interrupt with the new connection

If it doesn't help, please share more details with as:
Enable detailed logging in Parallels Desktop Preferences > Advanced. Reproduce the issue. Then send us a report ID, acquired via Help menu > Send Technical Details...
 
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