Bluetooth (only) doesn't work well on MS SP4 (FydeOS You for Surface Pro 4 v19)

:pushpin:Question Description

Have you searched the community for related issues?

  • No similar issues found. Or at least, no one asked for a solution, or maybe I used the wrong keywords to search on this forum

Please describe the problem you’ve encountered in detail:

  • Description:
    The Wi-Fi is working fine, the Bluetooth is marked as enabled, there are no errors on enabling/disabling the Bluetooth connectivity (either using the settings’ toggle or using the quick settings’ toggle). But : no device is detected (except a payment terminal in a shop near me), the SP4 is not detected either on another device. Typically, my phone and my laptop are invisible to each other.
    Before you ask, yes, my phone’s Bluetooth is working well, I’m actively connected to a watch and I have no issue connecting to other Bluetooth devices from it.
    It’s just the SP4’s Bluetooth that doesn’t work well. I thought about a “driver” issue, so I did some research. As the device combines Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the driver is, to my understanding, the same. And regarding lsusb and lspci values in chrome://system/, the device registered in the system is effectively a Marvell card.
    I’ve searched this forum for a solution, I’ve searched some Linux’ forums for a solution, all say that I must enable the right driver, which looks to be already done as the good one is detected on chrome://system/ and the Wi-FI (on the same component) is working fine.

:computer:System & Device Information

  • Hardware & System Configuration:

    • Processor: Intel(R) Core™ i7-6650U CPU @ 2.20GHz
    • Graphics Card: Intel Corporation Iris Graphics 540 (integrated GPU)
    • RAM: 16 GB
    • FydeOS Version: FydeOS for You (Surface Pro 4), v19.0-SP1
  • Relevant System Logs:

    • Open the Chromium browser and enter /var/log/messages to retrieve logs.
    • Log Details: (Tell me what kind of logs you need as I don’t have any error, I don’t know what I should look for)
  • Relevant LS informations:

    • lsusb details:

      Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/12p, 480M
      ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
      /sys/bus/usb/devices/usb1 /dev/bus/usb/001/001
      |__ Port 5: Dev 3, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 480M
      ID 1286:204c Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. Bluetooth and Wireless LAN Composite
      /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5 /dev/bus/usb/001/003
      |__ Port 5: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 480M
      ID 1286:204c Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. Bluetooth and Wireless LAN Composite
      /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5 /dev/bus/usb/001/003
      |__ Port 7: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
      ID 045e:07e8 Microsoft Corp.
      /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-7 /dev/bus/usb/001/005

    • lspci details:

      02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8897 [AVASTAR] 802.11ac Wireless


Fydeos is Chromium OS. The Bluetooth on chromium os can only detect mouse, keyboard and speaker, not phones or other computers.

1 Like

Indeed that’s what I found on ChromeOS/ChromiumOS documentation about Bluetooth, but I hoped that it was only a material limit, not a software limit, so FydeOS For You for SP4 could handle BT connection with any kind of device just like Windows/Linux does. But as long as it is a software limitation, I think there’s no way to go further and solve it. That’s sad…

Anyway, thanks for your answer :slightly_smiling_face: