Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

WetGeek · 2024-12-01 00:24:44

Hi, folks. I'm a retired software engineer from a place where it rains all the time, thus WetGeek. I'm a Solus distro user for many years (about 8), and my daily-driver laptop runs KDE Plasma, as do most of the machines here. Solus discontinued our MATE version a while ago, and replaced it with Xfce, which is still considered a beta, but in fact is quite complete. I've been working with Xfce since the beginning, when I installed the desktop on top of another GNOME-based edition.

When Xfce became a true DE here, it was immediately obvious that our version of it didn't have any Bluetooth support. So, I wrote that up and our devs installed the necessary support, including Blueman. That has allowed me to use a Bluetooth mouse (a Logitech M720 Triathlon), but I've been unsuccessful getting any of three different Bluetooth keyboards to work with it.

My main go-to for such a keyboard is the Arteck HB305, which supports three channels and thus will pair with three devices. In my case, those devices are my laptop, my computer across the living room that streams content to our TV, and my smartphone.

Long story short: the mouse pairs, connects, and works with those three devices, but I've had no luck with the keyboard, which is necessary for my use case. In fact, I've tried three different Bluetooth keyboards from three different providers, and the story is always the same: a keyboard apparently pairs and connects correctly, according to the Blueman UI, but I can't type a single character with it. The Arteck is a BT 5.1 keyboard, as is one of the others I've tried, and the other one will present as either BT 5 or BT 3.

Short story longer: My laptop running Solus Plasma functions perfectly in all respects. It, too, has the same model mouse and keyboard from Ligitech and Arteck, respectively. Both laptops are DELL Latitude 5580. They're identically configured - my intention was to see how Xfce would do as a daily-driver, so it has the same UI, same workspaces, same set of applications, same size swap partition, same size RAM ... well, you get the idea.

So, I'm here for the first time, and I do intend to search through the forum for evidence that this is a known issue, hopefully with a fix or at least a work-around. If there's a better Bluetooth manager for Xfce than Blueman, I'd be glad to install it and try it. So, if anyone can help me based on what I've written here, I'd be forever grateful. If any other information is needed, please just ask. So long for now ...

Added later 44 min 04 s:
I'm posting this from my Xfce laptop now, and I'm not entirely sure I'm using this software correctly, but I'm going to try adding a bit more information about my situation with Xfce and Bluetooth troubles. First of all, I thought I'd show you what y Xfce laptop looks like. I think Solus has done a great job, for a beta.

Here's what Blueman looks like with the mouse and keyboard connected.

Thus, it appears as if the keyboard (Arteck) is paired and connected, but it just doesn't work at all. I'm going to post this now, but I'll check back here occasionally.

Last edited by WetGeek (2024-12-01 15:25:46)

ToZ · 2024-12-01 10:52:03

Hello and welcome.

To post an image, upload it to an image hosting site, like imgur or imgbb, and post the link to the image. More info at: https://forum.xfce.org/help.php#bbcode.

WetGeek · 2024-12-01 12:12:17

ToZ wrote:

Hello and welcome.
To post an image, upload it to an image hosting site, like imgur or imgbb, and post the link to the image. More info at: https://forum.xfce.org/help.php#bbcode.

Thanks, I should have thought of that, but I was quite tired. At Solus, we do the same to post a long log file or the like, but for a simple screen capture we just paste it to the message. I haven't gotten anywhere with my Xfce Bluetooth investigation, so I need to keep on looking. Thanks again for your reply!

EDIT: I think I finally got it, although I'm still not sure what to expect. At first, I put the imgbb link in Image markdown, and that didn't seem to work, so I tried just copying them to the message. That makes the links available to click on, but doesn't actually insert the image into the post. Is that what I should be expecting? I feel like such a newbie! Again, thanks for your help with this.

Last edited by WetGeek (2024-12-01 14:03:46)

ToZ · 2024-12-01 15:12:29

Here is how to do it with imgbb.

Upload the image and when done, there will be a dropdown for "Embed Codes". Select "BBCode full linked" and copy paste the link that is created into your post.

WetGeek · 2024-12-01 15:27:41

ToZ wrote:

Here is how to do it with imgbb.
Upload the image and when done, there will be a dropdown for "Embed Codes". Select "BBCode full linked" and copy paste the link that is created into your post.

I keep saying "thanks," and once more I really mean it. I think I've finally got it right!

ToZ · 2024-12-01 20:17:38

What do your log files say when you connect the device?

If you have the bluetoothctl utility, can you post the output of the following (it shows info about all of your bluetooth devices):

for b in $(bluetoothctl devices | awk '{print $2}'); do bluetoothctl info $b; done

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2024-12-01 00:24:44

Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

#2 2024-12-01 10:52:03

Re: Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

#3 2024-12-01 12:12:17

Re: Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

#4 2024-12-01 15:12:29

Re: Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

#5 2024-12-01 15:27:41

Re: Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

#6 2024-12-01 20:17:38

Re: Hello from WetGeek in the US Pacific Northwest

Board footer