Linux As Bluetooth Audio Sink
This is possible without using pulseaudio thanks to the awesome bluez-alsa project.
Install needed software:
apt-get install bluez alsa-utils bluez-alsa-utils
Verify Bluetooth hardware is present:
dmesg |grep hci
hciconfig
Start bluetoothd:
/etc/init.d/bluetooth start
# For debugging:
bluetoothd -n -d
Start bluealsa:
bluealsa -p a2dp-sink
Note that bluealsa does not daemonize. You'll need to implement your own
daemonization solution for it.
Start bluealsa-aplay:
bluealsa-aplay
Troubleshooting
Verify bluetoothd supports a2dp
To verify that bluetoothd supports a2dp, run:
bluetoothd -n -d
If bluetoothd is already running, it must be stopped first.
Look for the following line in the output:
bluetoothd[2657]: src/plugin.c:add_plugin() Loading a2dp plugin
Phone Pairs With PC But Does Not Show Audio Output Option
This is caused by not providing the -p a2dp-sink argument to bluealsa.
By default, bluealsa launches itself as a source feeding sound to a
Bluetooth receiver. To use the PC as a sink receiving the sound, bluealsa
must be instructed to run using the a2dp-sink profile.