Documentation/Bluetooth

Bluetooth Documentation

This is documentation for the Bluetooth feature.

Browsing files on a remote device

Prerequisites:

• gvfs-obexftp
• nautilus
• bluez-gnome

In your panel, right-click on the Bluetooth icon, and select the Browse device... menu item. This will bring up a list of devices in the vicinity, as well as known devices. Select the one you want to browse, and click Connect.

Stand-alone Bluetooth printing

Prerequisites:

• bluez-utils-cups
• system-config-printer

Select System → Administration → Printing. After having typed in the administrator password, select New Printer in the toolbar. Your printer should appear in the list of printers. Proceed through the wizard.

Note: If it does not, make sure the printer was made discoverable, following its manual. Note: If the printer driver wasn't automatically detected, run /usr/lib/cups/backend/bluetooth in a terminal, and file a bug against system-config-printer with the output in the Red Hat bugzilla.

Sending SMS/texts via Bluetooth

Prerequisites:

• gnome-phone-manager

Launch the Phone Manager from the System Tools section of the Applications menu. Setup your mobile phone in the Preferences (right-click on the mobile phone icon in the panel). After having connected to the phone, you should be able to send new messages by right-clicking and selecting Send Message, reception should be automatic.

Using keyboards and mice

Prerequisites:

• bluez-gnome

Right-click on the Bluetooth icon in your panel and select Setup new device..... Go through the wizard.

Note: Make sure the input device is discoverable (as per the user manual), and that it has enough battery power.

Note: If you are trying to pair an Apple Wireless keyboard, you might have to remove the batteries for it to be discoverable and connectable again.

Note: Some keyboards and mice will not reconnect to the computer unless the computer is visible/discoverable. Making it temporarily visible for the device to connect will work around the problem.

Note: Wacom tablets are not yet supported.

Sending files via Obex Push

Prerequisites:

• bluez-gnome
• nautilus-sendto

Right-click on a file or files in nautilus and click "Send to...", and select a destination device.

Receiving/Sharing files via ObexFTP and ObexPush

Prerequisites:

• gnome-user-share

Select Share Public files over Bluetooth (ObexFTP) or Receive files in Downloads folder over Bluetooth (ObexPush) in the Personal File Sharing preferences.

PIM (appointments, contacts) synchronisation (Palm only)

Prerequisites:

• gnome-pilot 2.0.16 or newer

To setup your Palm/PC synchronisation:

1. Setup your PC as the BT hotsync device on your Palm: Bluetooth → Setup Devices → PC Setup → Bluetooth Hotsync, and select your computer in the list (make sure it's made visible in the Bluetooth applet's preferences)
2. Add the Palm to the gnome-pilot setup: Preferences → Hardware → PalmOS Devices and enable some of the conduits
3. Ready to Sync! Go to Hotsync on the Palm, select your computer in the drop-down, and click the sync icon.

You can use a tool like BTSync to automate synchronisation.

Remote controls (PS3 Blu-Ray remote)

Prerequisites:

• bluez-utils 3.29

To use the remote control with your computer:

1. Make the remote discoverable by pressing the Enter and Start buttons at the same time
2. Follow the instructions to setup keyboards and mice above
3. If your application supports LIRC (such as Totem or Rhythmbox), you can set up the remote for use with it by launching the Infrared Remote Control preferences.

Comments and Discussion

See Talk:Features/Bluetooth