raspberry pi bluetooth speaker setup

bluetooth_raspi.md

install

alsa

sudo apt install bluealsa

pulseaudio

sudo apt-get install pulseaudio-module-bluetooth 

make auto connect

echo "load-module module-switch-on-connect" | sudo tee -a /etc/pulse/system.pa > /dev/null

add user pi to bluetooth group

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo adduser pi bluetooth

disable raspi soundcard

I'm assuming that you don't use external analog speakers plug into the 3.5 mm jack. If this is true, let's disable alsa

This avoids soundcard being selected by default, if bluetooth is the only speaker it makes your life easier

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Page down to the bottom of the file and look for two lines that read:

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

and change to

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
#dtparam=audio=on

Edit the bluetooth unit file to stop loading the SIM profile.

A failed attempt at loading the nonexistent SIM access profile (sap) is being made.

This will get rid of the sap related error messages, but it is not mandatory.

Everything will still work without changing the unit file.

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service

[Unit]
Description=Bluetooth service
Documentation=man:bluetoothd(8)
ConditionPathIsDirectory=/sys/class/bluetooth

[Service]
Type=dbus
BusName=org.bluez
ExecStart=/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd
NotifyAccess=main
#WatchdogSec=10
#Restart=on-failure
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_ADMIN CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
LimitNPROC=1
ProtectHome=true
ProtectSystem=full

[Install]
WantedBy=bluetooth.target
Alias=dbus-org.bluez.service

change

ExecStart=/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd --noplugin=sap

Connect to speaker

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo bluetoothctl 

after connecting and trusting the device it will auto connect on boot

[NEW] Controller B8:27:EB:C3:57:51 raspberrypi [default]
[NEW] Device 11:11:11:11:11:11 MY_SPEAKER
[bluetooth]# scan on  
[bluetooth]# pair 11:11:11:11:11:11  
[bluetooth]# trust 11:11:11:11:11:11  
[bluetooth]# connect 11:11:11:11:11:11  
[bluetooth]# scan off
[bluetooth]# quit