March 2, 2009 · Networking ·

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Blueman is a GTK+ Bluetooth Manager.Blueman is designed to provide simple, yet effective means for controlling BlueZ API and simplifying bluetooth tasks such as:

  • Connecting to 3G/EDGE/GPRS via dial-up
  • Connecting to/Creating bluetooth networks
  • Connecting to input devices
  • Connecting to audio devices
  • Sending/Receiving/Browsing files via OBEX
  • Pairing

Blueman also integrates with Network Manager 0.7, so any Dialup/Network connections will be made available (via HAL) to Network Manager.

Install Blueman in Ubuntu

Go to System--->Administration--->Software--->Sources.Now click on Third-Party Software tab, Click on add one of the following sourcelist which is suitable for you

For Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04) Users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

For Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10) Users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

For Ubuntu hardy (8.04) Users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu hardy main

Ubuntu Gutsy (7.10) Users

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu gutsy main

Now download the OpenPGP key from here and follow this instructions on how to add a OpenPGP key to a PPA 3rd party repository.

Once this is done Open synaptic from System--->Administration--->Synaptic and and click reload.

or from the command prompt run the following command

sudo apt-get update

Install blueman using the following command

sudo apt-get install blueman

Blueman will remove and replace the default bluetooth manager that came preinstalled with ubuntu.

If you want to access bluetooth manager go to system--->preference--->bluetooth manager

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29 Comments to “Blueman – Bluetooth manager for Ubuntu”

  1. steven says:

    I’ve done all the things that mention. Anyway, why there are two bluetooh icon in my panel ? which one is the blueman? How to uninstall the other one ?

    Thank you

  2. Von says:

    i was a bit skeptical abt some other application replacing d default bluetooth manager dat ships wit intrepid. I use a dongle wit my laptop and can only detect and be detected by devices,i can’t send or receive files 4rom any bluetooth device. i’m eager 2 try dis out as it might be a better option 4 me but shouldn’t we uninstall d default b4 installing dis version?

  3. Formosan says:

    Very helpful. That’s what I need.
    Thanks a lot.

  4. Mark Preston says:

    I added the PGP key first. Then installed Blueman. Worked first time. Aptitude did say

    dpkg: bluez-gnome: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you request:
    libmbca0 depends on bluez-gnome.

  5. terry says:

    thanx a lot!! works great…
    been busy looking fo this solution
    for a while.

  6. Robi says:

    Nice. But dont work. I can send file from my Nokia N96 to desktop, but cannot send file from desktop to nokia. And cannot browse nokia.

  7. mario says:

    Instalation went fine, but I have opposite problem then Robi. I can send files from laptop and can bowse other devices, but can’t receive anything.
    It was the same with default app. 🙁

  8. Fitriyanto wahyu says:

    Tanks for your tutorial Go Open Source

  9. Nick says:

    Very useful…thanks.

    However, I’m now able to pair my Parrot Boombox speaker, but can’t figure out how to send sound through it, it’s still coming out of the laptop speaker.

    Any ideas?

  10. Robi says:

    I resolve my problem. Right click on applet, click to Local services, go to Trnasfer tab and enable File Sharing (FTP), and Allow device to write/read

  11. Jarno says:

    I’ve got the same issue as Nick. My headset is connected but the sound is still going through my speakers. Does anyone have a suggestion?

  12. Brad Schauf says:

    Got Blueman installed, but fails pairing with Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000 because that mouse does not require a passcode and the “OK” button on the pairing dialog wont lite up until you type something in. Can Blueman be configured to connect to a device without a passcode?

  13. Genie says:

    This is great! I really hope it will become the default bt-manager in Ubuntu 9.10.

  14. For me `sudo apt-get install blueman` was not enough for broadband (UMTS) internet access. With my Nokia N95 on 9.04 Jaunty I got ‘CDMA or GSM not supported’. Installing/updating more packages as described here https://bugs.launchpad.net/blueman/+bug/361947/comments/11 helped!

  15. Adrian Grebin says:

    Got blueman installed, but every menu item (by rightclicking on the icon) are greyed out, i can send files to my phone that i’ve got paired before with the default ubuntu bluetooth manager, but cant do anything else not even pair a new device.

  16. ramfree17 says:

    Can you post your key id? The URL to the ubuntu keyserver is not returning anything. Thanks.

  17. Uwe Koch says:

    I installed both on a i386 and a x86 system (jaunty). First run without any faults, the second one gave me the following error:

    uwe@koch-vdm01:~$ blueman-manager
    Loading configuration plugins
    _________
    on_bluez_name_owner_changed (/usr/bin/blueman-manager:99)
    org.bluez owner changed to
    uwe@koch-vdm01:~$

    Any idea what went wrong?

  18. Uwe Koch says:

    Oops, I meant amd64 instead of x86!

  19. Uwe Koch says:

    Strange behaviour on Jaunty, the same problem appeared on my 32 bit distro too. I have to reinstall (without uninstalling) the bluez file from within synaptic and that way the bluez daemon runs, otherways it strikes.

  20. shshank says:

    Thanks for this post.Blueman is really very good,and better than other tools

  21. anonymous says:

    #To Ubuntu9.04 and lower
    #To automatically add the OpenPGP key, do:

    sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys 951DC1E2

  22. rulka says:

    Great! works perfectly on kubuntu 8.10!…just finishing the configuration about browse a device!
    thnx a lot!

  23. Rajeev says:

    i am using ubuntu 10.04LTS. can any one tell me that is bluetoothmenu package available with dialup service……… for internet acess

  24. saipreethy says:

    Connection to BlueZ failed
    Bluez daemon is not running, blueman-manager cannot continue.
    how to fix this…?

  25. Clay Berlo says:

    Just wanted to drop a quick note about my experience with Blueman and Ubuntu 10.10. Blueman is in the repository, so it’s a simple “apt-get install blueman”. On my Acer Travelmate 8172T it is the simplest way to get my Bluetooth working. Without it, I can toggle Bluetooth on and off with the internal hotkey, but the Bluetooth service never starts. Haven’t rebooted to play around with it yet, but here’s hoping everything still works!

  26. Clay Berlo says:

    Okay, a couple of reboots later and I have a configuration that works (not perfectly, but passable) on my Acer TM8172T.

    1. Install Blueman.
    2. Check Startup Applications to make sure the Blueman Applet isn’t starting by default.
    3. After login, press the Fn-F3 hotkey to toggle wireless/bluetooth.
    4. Wait for the greyed-out Bluetooth symbol to appear in the tray.
    5. Start the Blueman Manager from System->Preferences->Bluetooth Manager.
    6. When prompted, start Bluetooth services.

    From there, I connected my Bluetooth mouse and it works consistently. No need to reconnect it each time I login. Note: Bluetooth defaults to off on this system, so toggling always needs to be done.

  27. uday desai says:

    i could not enable bluetooth on ubuntu 10.04 so suggest me how to enable it

  28. Rykel says:

    This happens to my Bluetooth after a Suspend too. Would be interested to know the answer.

  29. sudo apt-get remove blueman says:

    There is a problem when you want to remove blueman. Ubuntu also wants to remove lubuntu-desktop which will destroy the visuals.

    Why can one no just remove the blueman (I have no bluetooth received on the computer)

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