Ubuntu 17.10 - Bluetooth headphones don't work

Question

I did a clean install and restored my home directory from a backup, after the first attempt at upgrading from 17.04 completely trashed my system.

Now my Plantronics headphones that worked perfectly on 17.04 aren't detected. If I go to Settings -> Bluetooth it shows a few other nearby devices but the headphones never appear and the spinner just spins forever.

Solution 1

I've had a similar thing with my Sony, then I realised I needed to "re-pair". Have you tried this : To put your headset in pair mode, press and hold the power switch towards the Bluetooth icon until you hear "pairing" and the headset LEDs flash red and blue. Release the button and set the headset aside. Activate Bluetooth on your computer and set it to search for new devices. If prompted for a passkey, enter 0000 (four zeros).

Solution 2

Re-installing bluez did the trick for me:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install bluez

Comments

[Piloti]

I've had a similar thing with my Sony, then I realised I needed to "re-pair". Have you tried this : To put your headset in pair mode, press and hold the power switch towards the Bluetooth icon until you hear "pairing" and the headset LEDs flash red and blue. Release the button and set the headset aside. Activate Bluetooth on your computer and set it to search for new devices. If prompted for a passkey, enter 0000 (four zeros).

[Lee Revell]

Thanks, that worked. A lot of settings got lost even though I restored my home directory. I guess the upgrade is supposed to convert some of these files to the new format? For example, Thunderbird lost all my account information, message filters, etc.

[Piloti]

You're more than welcome. Glad it helped. I banged my head for about an hour then realised.... oh, it's a new computer [as far as the headset was concerned] and then the penny dropped! I'll post it as an answer if you don't so others can find it too.

[Suren]

The answers by @Piloti and Dman do not work for me. Any other ideas?