Solve Bluetooth problems on Ubuntu

Solve connectivity and discovery problems of Bluetooth dongles that use the Realtek RTL8761B chip.

There is a documented bug on Ubuntu (Jammy, Kinetic and Lunar) concerning bluetooth dongles that make use of the Realtek RTL8761B chip that can really drive you nuts. Behavior varies, it can stop working altogether or it will not be able to connect at all or even worse — in my case — everything seems to work fine but it will not discover any bluetooth device in range.

You will find numerous recommendations out there that claim that a firmware update will immediately solve the problem. Short answer: no, as the problem eventually lies in the kernel. Only sure way to mitigate the issue is to upgrade your Kernel, minimum to version 6.2 where the issue is allegedly alleviated (fact check: it is).

So let’s go upgrade to a newest kernel version the easy way. Before proceeding to any upgrade ensure that the box is up-to-date:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Next you need to add the cappelikan repo as it is a prerequisite for the Ubuntu Mainline Kernel Installer:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cappelikan/ppa -y

Now we are ready to install the Ubuntu Mainline Kernel Installer:

sudo apt install mainline -y

Open the application:

Choose the kernel version you want — for our issue here we will go with 6.2, and press Install. Wait till the installation completes — an additional console window will open, and as long as it is ready reboot your system:

sudo init 6

When the system is back up and running check the current kernel version:

If you go now to your Settings under Bluetooth, you will notice that eventually devices are being discovered and you can connect to them without any problem:

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