Bluetooth connection failing for previously trusted device

Hi all,

After I ran a full-upgrade on this machine last night and have not been able to reconnect to a bt media since. I have tried rebooting, re-installing, rinse repeat - anything I could google. What is odd is the system sees the device and the device accepts other connections, has been rebooted and is in pairing mode, but I keep getting device unavailable messages from bluetoothctl (as well as blueman) I toggled the power in bluetoothctl and received an odd report when I scanned, it may be nothing but I’ve never seen it (screenshot attached), and below is all relevant system info I could think of, thanks in advance for any help you can offer

Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS              
          Kernel: Linux 6.8.0-79-generic
    Architecture: x86-64
 Hardware Vendor: Intel_R_ Client Systems
  Hardware Model: NUC10i7FNK
Firmware Version: FNCML357.0055.2021.1202.1748
   Firmware Date: Thu 2021-12-02
    Firmware Age: 3y 9month 1w                    
Architecture:             x86_64
$ sudo dmesg | egrep -i "bluetooth|driver|firmware" 
[sudo] password for x: 
[    0.258143] Performance Events: PEBS fmt3+, Skylake events, 32-deep LBR, full-width counters, Intel PMU driver.
[    0.280174] acpiphp: ACPI Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.5
[    0.730416] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[    0.730416] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[    0.730416] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[    0.846031] Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 243)
[    0.853763] shpchp: Standard Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.4
[    0.860640] ACPI: thermal: [Firmware Bug]: No valid trip points!
[    0.861749] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 32 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
[    0.880163] tun: Universal TUN/TAP device driver, 1.6
[    0.880293] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
[    0.883862] i2c_dev: i2c /dev entries driver
[    0.886637] intel_pstate: Intel P-state driver initializing
[    1.197093] sdhci: Secure Digital Host Controller Interface driver
[    1.225211] e1000e: Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Driver
[    2.550920] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[    2.558956] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[    2.934828] hid: raw HID events driver (C) Jiri Kosina
[    2.946186] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[    2.946674] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[    4.628550] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[    4.635060] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
[    5.246058] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver ite-cir registered at minor = 0, raw IR receiver, raw IR transmitter
[    5.272774] Serial bus multi instantiate pseudo device driver INT3515:02: Instantiated 1 I2C devices.
[    5.464296] Intel(R) Wireless WiFi driver for Linux
[    5.497821] iwlwifi 0000:00:14.3: loaded firmware version 77.b405f9d4.0 QuZ-a0-hr-b0-77.ucode op_mode iwlmvm
[    5.498642] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.22
[    5.499362] NET: Registered PF_BLUETOOTH protocol family
[    5.499365] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[    5.499369] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[    5.499371] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[    5.499376] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[    6.312958] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin (v1.4)
[    6.569897] usbcore: registered new interface driver btusb
[    6.590125] Bluetooth: hci0: Found device firmware: intel/ibt-19-0-4.sfi
[    6.590317] Bluetooth: hci0: Boot Address: 0x24800
[    6.590321] Bluetooth: hci0: Firmware Version: 249-27.23
[    6.590323] Bluetooth: hci0: Firmware already loaded
[    6.593742] Bluetooth: hci0: HCI LE Coded PHY feature bit is set, but its usage is not supported.
[    8.754262] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3
[    8.754270] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast
[    8.754295] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized
[    8.759692] Bluetooth: MGMT ver 1.22
[  134.701441] ipmi_si: IPMI System Interface driver
[  140.840999] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[  140.841015] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[  140.841023] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11
[  497.141087] Bluetooth: hci0: Ignoring error of Inquiry Cancel command
$ sudo hciconfig -a 
hci0:	Type: Primary  Bus: USB
	BD Address: 50:2F:9B:17:1D:8E  ACL MTU: 1021:4  SCO MTU: 96:6
	UP RUNNING 
	RX bytes:3495 acl:7 sco:0 events:178 errors:0
	TX bytes:4618 acl:7 sco:0 commands:157 errors:0
	Features: 0xbf 0xfe 0x0f 0xfe 0xdb 0xff 0x7b 0x87
	Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 HV2 HV3 
	Link policy: RSWITCH SNIFF 
	Link mode: PERIPHERAL ACCEPT 
	Name: 'MasterofPuppies'
	Class: 0x100104
	Service Classes: Object Transfer
	Device Class: Computer, Desktop workstation
	HCI Version: 5.2 (0xb)  Revision: 0x20f9
	LMP Version: 5.2 (0xb)  Subversion: 0x20f9
	Manufacturer: Intel Corp. (2)
$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
snd_seq_dummy          12288  0
snd_hrtimer            12288  1
rfcomm                102400  12
snd_seq_midi           24576  0
snd_seq_midi_event     16384  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi            57344  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq               118784  10 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_dummy
snd_seq_device         16384  3 snd_seq,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi
xt_CHECKSUM            12288  1
ipmi_devintf           16384  0
ipmi_msghandler        94208  1 ipmi_devintf
xt_multiport           16384  5
ipt_rpfilter           12288  1
iptable_raw            12288  1
ip_set_hash_net        57344  3
ip_set_hash_ip         49152  1
veth                   45056  0
nf_conntrack_netlink    57344  0
xt_nat                 12288  4
xt_mark                12288  45
xt_nfacct              12288  2
nfnetlink_acct         16384  3 xt_nfacct
ip6table_nat           12288  1
ip6table_mangle        12288  1
iptable_mangle         12288  1
xt_set                 20480  4
ip_set                 61440  3 ip_set_hash_ip,xt_set,ip_set_hash_net
iptable_nat            12288  1
xt_recent              24576  0
nft_chain_nat          12288  6
xt_MASQUERADE          16384  8
nf_nat                 61440  5 ip6table_nat,xt_nat,nft_chain_nat,iptable_nat,xt_MASQUERADE
xfrm_user              61440  2
xfrm_algo              16384  1 xfrm_user
iscsi_tcp              24576  0
libiscsi_tcp           32768  1 iscsi_tcp
libiscsi               77824  2 libiscsi_tcp,iscsi_tcp
scsi_transport_iscsi   172032  4 libiscsi_tcp,iscsi_tcp,libiscsi
wireguard             114688  0
curve25519_x86_64      36864  1 wireguard
libchacha20poly1305    16384  1 wireguard
chacha_x86_64          32768  1 libchacha20poly1305
poly1305_x86_64        28672  1 libchacha20poly1305
libcurve25519_generic    49152  2 curve25519_x86_64,wireguard
vxlan                 155648  0
libchacha              12288  1 chacha_x86_64
ip6_udp_tunnel         16384  2 wireguard,vxlan
udp_tunnel             32768  2 wireguard,vxlan
8021q                  45056  0
garp                   20480  1 8021q
mrp                    20480  1 8021q
qrtr                   53248  2
cmac                   12288  3
algif_hash             12288  1
algif_skcipher         16384  1
af_alg                 32768  6 algif_hash,algif_skcipher
bnep                   32768  2
ip6t_REJECT            12288  1
nf_reject_ipv6         24576  1 ip6t_REJECT
xt_hl                  12288  22
ip6t_rt                16384  3
ipt_REJECT             12288  3
nf_reject_ipv4         12288  1 ipt_REJECT
xt_LOG                 16384  10
nf_log_syslog          20480  10
xt_comment             12288  196
nft_limit              16384  13
xt_limit               12288  0
xt_addrtype            12288  15
xt_tcpudp              16384  72
xt_conntrack           12288  48
nf_conntrack          196608  5 xt_conntrack,nf_nat,xt_nat,nf_conntrack_netlink,xt_MASQUERADE
nf_defrag_ipv6         24576  1 nf_conntrack
nf_defrag_ipv4         12288  1 nf_conntrack
nft_compat             20480  134
binfmt_misc            24576  1
nf_tables             376832  972 nft_compat,nft_chain_nat,nft_limit
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     94208  1
snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl    12288  0
snd_sof_intel_hda_common   217088  1 snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
soundwire_intel        73728  1 snd_sof_intel_hda_common
snd_sof_intel_hda_mlink    45056  2 soundwire_intel,snd_sof_intel_hda_common
soundwire_cadence      45056  1 soundwire_intel
snd_sof_intel_hda      24576  1 snd_sof_intel_hda_common
snd_sof_pci            24576  2 snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
snd_sof_xtensa_dsp     12288  1 snd_sof_intel_hda_common
intel_rapl_msr         20480  0
snd_sof               380928  3 snd_sof_pci,snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_sof_intel_hda
intel_rapl_common      40960  1 intel_rapl_msr
intel_uncore_frequency    16384  0
snd_sof_utils          16384  1 snd_sof
intel_uncore_frequency_common    16384  1 intel_uncore_frequency
snd_soc_hdac_hda       24576  1 snd_sof_intel_hda_common
snd_hda_ext_core       32768  4 snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_soc_hdac_hda,snd_sof_intel_hda_mlink,snd_sof_intel_hda
snd_soc_acpi_intel_match    98304  2 snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
snd_ctl_led            24576  0
snd_soc_acpi           16384  2 snd_soc_acpi_intel_match,snd_sof_intel_hda_common
ledtrig_audio          12288  1 snd_ctl_led
soundwire_generic_allocation    12288  1 soundwire_intel
soundwire_bus         110592  3 soundwire_intel,soundwire_generic_allocation,soundwire_cadence
snd_hda_codec_realtek   200704  1
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    20480  0
snd_hda_codec_generic   122880  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
nls_iso8859_1          12288  1
snd_soc_core          442368  4 soundwire_intel,snd_sof,snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_soc_hdac_hda
snd_compress           28672  1 snd_soc_core
intel_powerclamp       24576  0
ac97_bus               12288  1 snd_soc_core
coretemp               24576  0
snd_pcm_dmaengine      16384  1 snd_soc_core
snd_hda_intel          61440  1
kvm_intel             487424  0
iwlmvm                868352  0
snd_intel_dspcfg       36864  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_sof,snd_sof_intel_hda_common
snd_intel_sdw_acpi     16384  2 snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_intel_dspcfg
snd_hda_codec         204800  6 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_soc_hdac_hda,snd_sof_intel_hda
cmdlinepart            12288  0
btusb                  77824  0
joydev                 32768  0
input_leds             12288  0
mac_hid                12288  0
kvm                  1409024  1 kvm_intel
spi_nor               163840  0
btrtl                  32768  1 btusb
snd_hda_core          139264  9 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_ext_core,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_soc_hdac_hda,snd_sof_intel_hda
tps6598x               90112  0
mac80211             1744896  1 iwlmvm
btintel                57344  1 btusb
irqbypass              12288  1 kvm
ee1004                 16384  0
mtd                    98304  3 spi_nor,cmdlinepart
mei_pxp                16384  0
mei_hdcp               28672  0
typec                 106496  1 tps6598x
snd_hwdep              20480  1 snd_hda_codec
btbcm                  24576  1 btusb
rapl                   20480  0
libarc4                12288  1 mac80211
snd_pcm               192512  11 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,soundwire_intel,snd_sof,snd_sof_intel_hda_common,snd_compress,snd_soc_core,snd_sof_utils,snd_hda_core,snd_pcm_dmaengine
btmtk                  12288  1 btusb
i915                 4288512  9
intel_cstate           24576  0
intel_wmi_thunderbolt    16384  0
wmi_bmof               12288  0
snd_timer              49152  3 snd_seq,snd_hrtimer,snd_pcm
bluetooth            1032192  40 btrtl,btmtk,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb,rfcomm
iwlwifi               602112  1 iwlmvm
ecdh_generic           16384  2 bluetooth
snd                   143360  20 snd_ctl_led,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_sof,snd_timer,snd_compress,snd_soc_core,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi
drm_buddy              20480  1 i915
i2c_i801               36864  0
ttm                   110592  1 i915
soundcore              16384  2 snd_ctl_led,snd
ecc                    45056  1 ecdh_generic
spi_intel_pci          12288  0
i2c_smbus              16384  1 i2c_i801
cfg80211             1355776  3 iwlmvm,iwlwifi,mac80211
spi_intel              32768  1 spi_intel_pci
mei_me                 53248  2
drm_display_helper    237568  1 i915
mei                   172032  5 mei_hdcp,mei_pxp,mei_me
cec                    94208  2 drm_display_helper,i915
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 i915
intel_pch_thermal      20480  0
serial_multi_instantiate    16384  0
ir_rc6_decoder         16384  0
rc_rc6_mce             12288  0
ite_cir                32768  0
rc_core                73728  5 ite_cir,ir_rc6_decoder,rc_rc6_mce,cec
intel_pmc_core        118784  0
intel_vsec             20480  1 intel_pmc_core
pmt_telemetry          16384  1 intel_pmc_core
pmt_class              12288  1 pmt_telemetry
acpi_tad               20480  0
acpi_pad              184320  0
sch_fq_codel           24576  2
overlay               212992  6
iptable_filter         12288  1
ip6table_filter        12288  1
ip6_tables             36864  3 ip6table_filter,ip6table_nat,ip6table_mangle
br_netfilter           32768  0
bridge                421888  1 br_netfilter
stp                    12288  2 bridge,garp
llc                    16384  3 bridge,stp,garp
arp_tables             28672  0
dm_multipath           45056  0
msr                    12288  0
drbd                  458752  0
nfsd                  847872  5
lru_cache              16384  1 drbd
parport_pc             53248  0
ppdev                  24576  0
auth_rpcgss           184320  1 nfsd
lp                     28672  0
nfs_acl                12288  1 nfsd
parport                73728  3 parport_pc,lp,ppdev
lockd                 143360  1 nfsd
nvme_fabrics           36864  0
grace                  12288  2 nfsd,lockd
nvme_keyring           20480  1 nvme_fabrics
efi_pstore             12288  0
sunrpc                802816  17 nfsd,auth_rpcgss,lockd,nfs_acl
nfnetlink              20480  13 nft_compat,nfnetlink_acct,nf_conntrack_netlink,nf_tables,ip_set
dmi_sysfs              24576  0
ip_tables              32768  4 iptable_filter,iptable_raw,iptable_nat,iptable_mangle
x_tables               65536  30 ip6table_filter,xt_conntrack,iptable_filter,ip6table_nat,nft_compat,xt_LOG,xt_multiport,xt_tcpudp,xt_addrtype,xt_CHECKSUM,xt_recent,xt_nat,ip6t_rt,xt_comment,xt_set,ip6_tables,ipt_REJECT,xt_nfacct,ipt_rpfilter,iptable_raw,ip_tables,iptable_nat,xt_limit,xt_hl,ip6table_mangle,xt_MASQUERADE,ip6t_REJECT,iptable_mangle,xt_mark,arp_tables
autofs4                57344  2
btrfs                2043904  0
blake2b_generic        24576  0
raid10                 73728  0
raid456               192512  0
async_raid6_recov      20480  1 raid456
async_memcpy           16384  2 raid456,async_raid6_recov
async_pq               20480  2 raid456,async_raid6_recov
async_xor              16384  3 async_pq,raid456,async_raid6_recov
async_tx               16384  5 async_pq,async_memcpy,async_xor,raid456,async_raid6_recov
xor                    20480  2 async_xor,btrfs
raid6_pq              126976  4 async_pq,btrfs,raid456,async_raid6_recov
libcrc32c              12288  6 nf_conntrack,nf_nat,btrfs,nf_tables,drbd,raid456
raid1                  57344  0
raid0                  24576  0
hid_generic            12288  0
usbhid                 77824  0
hid                   180224  2 usbhid,hid_generic
uas                    28672  0
usb_storage            86016  1 uas
crct10dif_pclmul       12288  1
crc32_pclmul           12288  0
mmc_block              65536  0
polyval_clmulni        12288  0
nvme                   61440  6
polyval_generic        12288  1 polyval_clmulni
sdhci_pci              94208  0
ghash_clmulni_intel    16384  0
intel_lpss_pci         28672  0
nvme_core             212992  8 nvme,nvme_fabrics
cqhci                  40960  1 sdhci_pci
sha256_ssse3           32768  1
ahci                   49152  0
intel_lpss             12288  1 intel_lpss_pci
xhci_pci               24576  0
video                  77824  1 i915
e1000e                356352  0
sha1_ssse3             32768  0
thunderbolt           516096  0
sdhci                  90112  1 sdhci_pci
nvme_auth              28672  1 nvme_core
libahci                53248  1 ahci
idma64                 20480  0
xhci_pci_renesas       20480  1 xhci_pci
pinctrl_cannonlake     36864  0
wmi                    28672  3 video,intel_wmi_thunderbolt,wmi_bmof
aesni_intel           356352  4
crypto_simd            16384  1 aesni_intel
cryptd                 24576  3 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel
$ systemctl restart bluetooth; systemctl status bluetooth
  bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2025-09-09 03:25:58 UTC; 28ms ago
       Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
   Main PID: 369439 (bluetoothd)
     Status: "Running"
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 18750)
     Memory: 908.0K (peak: 1.2M)
        CPU: 135ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
             └─369439 /usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd

Here are the steps I’d recommend for troubleshooting this issue:

1. Clear Bluetooth Cache and Paired Devices

# Stop bluetooth service
sudo systemctl stop bluetooth

# Clear bluetooth cache
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/bluetooth/*

# Restart bluetooth service
sudo systemctl start bluetooth

# Try pairing the device again from scratch

2. Check for Firmware Issues

The dmesg shows the firmware is already loaded, but let’s verify:

# Check if firmware files are present
ls -la /lib/firmware/intel/ibt-*

# Check for any firmware-related errors
sudo dmesg | grep -i "firmware\|bluetooth" | tail -20

3. Reset the Bluetooth Controller

# Reset the HCI interface
sudo hciconfig hci0 down
sudo hciconfig hci0 up

# Or try a full reset
sudo rfkill block bluetooth
sudo rfkill unblock bluetooth

4. Check for Package Issues

Since this happened after an upgrade, there might be version conflicts:

# Check bluetooth-related package versions
dpkg -l | grep bluetooth
dpkg -l | grep bluez

# Check if any packages are held back or have issues
sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt --fix-broken install

5. Try Manual Pairing with Verbose Output

# Start bluetoothctl with debug info
sudo bluetoothctl

# In bluetoothctl:
power on
agent on
default-agent
scan on
# Wait for your device to appear
pair [DEVICE_MAC_ADDRESS]
trust [DEVICE_MAC_ADDRESS]
connect [DEVICE_MAC_ADDRESS]

6. Check System Logs for More Details

# Monitor bluetooth activity in real-time
sudo journalctl -u bluetooth -f

# Check for any related kernel messages
sudo dmesg -w | grep -i bluetooth

7. Kernel Module Reload

If the above doesn’t work, try reloading the bluetooth modules:

sudo modprobe -r btusb
sudo modprobe -r btintel  
sudo modprobe -r bluetooth
sudo modprobe bluetooth
sudo modprobe btintel
sudo modprobe btusb

Additional Questions for the User

To better help diagnose this issue, it would be helpful to know:

  1. What specific error messages appear when trying to connect via bluetoothctl?
  2. What type of Bluetooth device are you trying to connect (headphones, mouse, keyboard, etc.)?
  3. Can you share the screenshot mentioned in the original post showing the odd scan report?
  4. What packages were upgraded during the full-upgrade? Check with:
    grep "upgrade" /var/log/apt/history.log | tail -20
    

The most likely causes are:

  • Corrupted bluetooth cache/pairing data
  • Kernel/firmware compatibility issues after the upgrade
  • BlueZ stack version conflicts

I’d start with clearing the Bluetooth cache (#1) as this is the most common fix for post-upgrade Bluetooth issues, then work through the other steps systematically.

Hey thanks for trying to help. It ended being an issue with Pipewire/Wireplumber + PulseAudio on that system.

I was able to finally connect by removing Pulse’s config files for a fresh start.

rm -rf ~/.config/pulse ~/.pulse* ~/.config/pulse-cookie

But still had no audio output, wasted some time trying to fix Bluez before I figured out that Pipewire SPA wasn’t loading so I reinstalled and reloaded

sudo apt install --reinstall libspa-0.2-bluetooth
systemctl --user restart pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber

And finally it was routing over bluetooth instead of defaulting to alsa

pactl list cards short
49	bluez_card.5C_B3_BE_3D_06_FB	module-bluez5-device.c

Also, I believe the issue arose when I installed steam and some workarounds to make a notoriously stubborn game port correctly; the full-upgrade just exposed it.

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