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Pairing

Find a device

The sidebar lists the devices the adapter knows. Put a new device in pairing mode and start a scan to find it.

Phones and computers start the pairing themselves. For those, make the adapter visible for pairing on its page.

The adapter page with its settings

The pairing timeline

Each device page shows the path from an unknown device to a working connection as one timeline. A device goes through these stages:

StageDone when
PairingBoth sides generated a shared key.
Saved pairingThe key is stored, so it survives power-off and reboot.
Permission to connectThe device may connect without asking.
In rangeThe device is measured in range, or connected.
ConnectionThe device is connected.
Input deviceThe kernel bound a driver. This only applies to input devices.
Audio deviceThe audio server made it available as a sound device. This only applies to audio devices.

Each step offers the action that moves it forward, and explains its current status and the Bluetooth mechanism behind it, for the radio the device uses. A step that needs attention opens by itself. The audio device step also lets you choose the audio profile.

Pair a new device

Start pairing on the first step. Bindrune then pairs, confirms the bond, trusts the device and connects, and the timeline follows along:

Animation of the timeline during pairing, until the device is connected

If the device asks for a passkey or PIN, the question opens inside the step. A stray key press can’t accept a pairing:

The pairing step waiting for an answer to a passkey question

When another device asks to pair

A request from a device you are not looking at never takes you away from the current page. Bindrune tells you which device asks and lets you open it to answer on its timeline. A connection request from a device that isn’t trusted waits on the timeline the same way, and is denied if nobody answers in time:

The adapter page, with a notice that another device wants to pair

When pairing fails

The timeline stops at the step that failed and shows the reason with what to do next:

The pairing step of a device, with the reason the pairing failed

Reconnect a paired device

A paired device keeps its completed steps. Headsets and controllers usually reconnect by themselves when they are in range; connect the others from their timeline:

A paired device in range but not connected

The connection policy is set per device: it can connect without asking, ask each time, or be rejected.

Forgetting a device deletes its keys and trust for this adapter, so it has to pair again before it can connect.