HOWTO: Belkin Bluetooth Keyboard

Warning 19 May 2007: This article may be out of date and may not work as expected with the most recent releases of Sabayon Linux (versions 3.4* and above). The procedure described in this article works with the Bluetooth software installed from the Sabayon Linux 3.3 LiveDVD. However, if you emerge the latest version of the BlueZ Bluetooth software then it will no longer work, as the way the Bluetooth software works has been changed: the files mentioned in Step 2 and Step 3 have been altered and the way a PIN is obtained has changed from the earlier version of the Bluetooth software.

Procedure to get Sabayon Linux x86-64 3.26 to work with a Belkin Bluetooth keyboard (model F8T040), 14.03.07

Carry out the following steps in the order given:

STEP 1

The first thing you need to do is find the MAC address of the Bluetooth keyboard. To do this, press the Connect button on the underside of the Belkin Bluetooth keyboard, and in a Terminal window type:

# hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:03:C9:52:14:80 Belkin Keyboard

Your MAC address will be different, so just use it instead of "00:03:C9:52:14:80" in the Steps that follow.

STEP 2

I believe the following is required to enable 'automatic' reconnection with the keyboard a) when it goes to sleep and you then press a key for several seconds, and b) when the PC boots and you then press a key for several seconds.

# sudo gedit /etc/conf.d/bluetooth

Change HIDD_ENABLE=false to HIDD_ENABLE=true

Change HIDD_OPTIONS=”” to HIDD_OPTIONS=”--connect 00:03:C9:52:14:80”

(HCID_ENABLE=true should already be in the file.)

STEP 3

# sudo gedit /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf

Add the following at the end of the file:

File: /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf

device 00:03:C9:52:14:80 {
name "Belkin Keyboard";
auth enable;
encrypt enable;
}

STEP 4

# sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart
* Caching service dependencies ... [ ok ]
* Shutting down Bluetooth ...
* Stopping rfcomm ... [ ok ]
* Stopping hidd ... [ ok ]
* Stopping sdpd ... [ ok ]
* Stopping hcid ... [ ok ]
* Starting Bluetooth ...
* Starting hcid ... [ ok ]
* Starting sdpd ... [ ok ]
* Starting hidd ... [ ok ]
* Starting rfcomm ... [ ok ]

A window entitled KDE Bluetooth Framework may pop up stating “Failed to connect to the SDP server. Please make sure that sdpd is running; without it other devices will not be able to find out which services your computer offers.” I just ignored it and clicked OK.

STEP 5

Do the following just to check that the keyboard is still paired with Sabayon:

# hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:03:C9:52:14:80 Belkin Keyboard

If the scan does not find the keyboard any more, press the Connect button on the underside of the Belkin Bluetooth keyboard and repeat the hcitool scan command.

STEP 6

# sudo hidd --connect 00:03:C9:52:14:80

From now on the Bluetooth keyboard should work. If you press a key you should be able to see what you type appear on screen.

NOTES

Note 1: If you do not type for a prolonged period of time, the Bluetooth keyboard will go to sleep (to prolong battery life). To reconnect the keyboard, press any key (Ctrl is a good choice, as it is non-printing) for a few seconds and this should automatically reconnect the keyboard. You should then be able to type again. Similarly, following a reboot, the keyboard should connect automatically if you press any key for a few seconds.

Note 2: The Bluetooth keyboard still works even if I omit Step 4. Nevertheless it does no harm to perform Step 4 and it presumably refreshes the Bluetooth configuration file so that, even before you reboot for the first time, the keyboard will be able to reconnect automatically as described in Note 1 if it goes to sleep.

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HowTo was taken directly from Sabayon Forums post here.

Authored by Fitzcarraldo