Asus BT-400 Bluetooth dongle and Raspberry Pi

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Here is a solution.

First switch to admin mode:

sudo -i

Now get the necessary packages. This will install all necessary software.

apt-get install bluetooth bluez blueman

Then use the lsusb command to list the connected USB devices…

lsusb

The result will include something like this:

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0b05 17cb Vendor Desc.

Now you have to find the correct device. When you found it, copy the ID without colon and write it into the /sys/bus/usb/drivers/btusb/new_id. You can do it like this:

echo "0b05 17cb" >> /sys/bus/usb/drivers/btusb/new_id

Now we will use a tool called modprobe which allows us to load modules on our running system.

modprobe -v btusb

Almost done! Just edit the config with nano  (save= crtl+o ; quit= crtl+c)…

nano /etc/default/bluetooth

… and copy the few lines below

HID2HCI_ENABLED=0
HID2HCI_UNDO=0
HIDD_ENABLED=1

Restart bluetooth and you are ready to go!

invoke-rc.d bluetooth restart

 Testing the bluetooth dongle

Check the device is on and everything is up and running using this command:
/etc/init.d/bluetooth status
This should come back with something like this:
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
 Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled)
 Active: active (running) since Wed 2015-11-18 10:38:48 GMT; 5min ago
 Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
 Main PID: 3800 (bluetoothd)
 Status: "Running"
 CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
 └─3800 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd

Pair the Pi with a keyboard (for example)

Use the hcitool to scan for devices:
hcitool scan
 This should come back with something like this:
Scanning ...
       00:0F:F6:82:D1:BB       Motorola Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard
Pair the Pi using the ID of the device. We’re using the PIN 1234 like this:
/home/pi# echo 1234|bluez-simple-agent hci0 00:0F:F6:82:D1:BB
RequestPinCode (/org/bluez/3964/hci0/dev_00_0F_F6_82_D1_BB)
Enter PIN Code: Release
New device (/org/bluez/3964/hci0/dev_00_0F_F6_82_D1_BB)
Now we need to trust the device so every time the Pi reboots, it connects automatically.
/home/pi# bluez-test-device trusted 00:0F:F6:82:D1:BB yes

Test the device as an input

/home/pi# bluez-test-input connect 00:0F:F6:82:D1:BB

After a reboot the keyboard should still connect. It’s possibe a keystroke is needed to connect. Connection can take a few seconds.

/home/pi# hcitool con
Connections:
       < ACL 00:0F:F6:82:D1:BB handle 41 state 1 lm MASTER AUTH ENCRYPT

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