microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Bluetooth not supported (Built-in and USB-BT Adapter)

Open
#242 39 comments 64 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

feature wsl2
Dominant language
C++
Stars
33.7k
Forks
1.8k
Avg merge
3d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
116

Description

I am interested in running and accessing bluetooth through Bash. However, after trying to use the laptop's Bluetooth chip and a USB adapter, both of which support BT 4.0, it seems like this is not supported.

root@localhost:/mnt/c/Users/guest1# sysv-rc-conf bluetooth on
root@localhost:/mnt/c/Users/guest1# sysv-rc-conf -list | grep bluetooth
    bluetooth    2:on       3:on    4:on    5:on
root@localhost:/mnt/c/Users/guest1# hcitool scan
    Device is not available: Address family not supported by protocol
root@localhost:/mnt/c/Users/guest1# service bluetooth start
    * Starting bluetooth                                                           Can't start daemon: No such device
    Can't open RFCOMM control socket: Address family not supported by protocol
                                                                     [ OK ]

Is there some property that I need to add in order for Bluetooth to be accessible, or is it due to a lack of permissions and accessibility to my hardware?

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the reported commands in WSL: sysv-rc-conf, hcitool scan, and service bluetooth start, using both the built-in chip and USB adapter if available. Investigate whether the Bluetooth hardware is exposed to WSL and whether the reported address-family and RFCOMM errors have an identifiable entry point; done means Bluetooth access works or the limitation is clearly documented.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
bash
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.