I am new to Libreelec, but the first issue I noticed when using it is the problem with connecting my bluetooth speaker. I have searched many threads, but haven't found an exact procedure how to eliminate problems during connecting. I have been figuring this for a while and I want to provide a guide for people with similar problems.
I am using Libreelec 8.2.5 on PC Intel-i5 4210 processor.
What I encountered at first was that the PC was unable to find my bluetooth speakers. I searched a few forums and they suggested using bluetoothctl for connecting the device.
Using these commands I was able to find the device, pair and mark it as trusted:
bluetoothctl
Now wait for your device to show up, and continue with:
I tried to use command connect MACAddress, but I always got this error:
Various forums suggested using pactl commands, loading modules module-bluetooth-discover or pulseaudio-bluetooth-module, but these are not available on libreelec. Other solution suggested restarting pulseaudio, and this is where i found the solution. I tried to execute pulseaudio -k, but it showed me a message saying that pulseaudio is not running.
I tried to set pulseaudio as the default audio device in the system setting. Then, I was finally able to connect my device with bluetoothctl command:
In my opinion this is not how it should work and the system should be able to figure this itself. Introducing a feature where the default audio device would be automatically changed after connecting bluetooth would also be welcomed
TL;DR:
If you have trouble connecting bluetooth devices, set pulseaudio as the default audio device in the system settings BEFORE connecting device.