105

In System Settings > Bluetooth, the Bose QC 35 is visible when searching for devices but pairing fails.

After multiple attempts and playing with the PIN options I managed to pair it but once selected in System Settings > Sound, it would fail and fall back to Built-in Audio or playback some garbled sound.

4
  • Likely an issue with this bug
    – Jeremy31
    Oct 5, 2016 at 10:36
  • 4
    About the garbled sound: I had this too but just needed to go to pavucontrol -> "Configuration" (tab), and then for the Bose QuietComfort 35 profile select "High Fidelity Playback (A2DP Sink)". Hope this helps!
    – sunyata
    Nov 30, 2016 at 16:28
  • 1
    The issue I have with "A2DP sink" is that you cannot use the microphone (it defaults back to the other) Mar 9, 2019 at 0:40
  • 1
    I don't have enough rep to answer this question but this other question worked like a charm: askubuntu.com/a/1243890/1113068 In a terminal: mv ~/.config/pulse/ ~/.config/pulse.old; systemctl --user restart pulseaudio
    – Sofía
    Feb 8, 2021 at 13:29

5 Answers 5

186

It seems the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 does has issues with pairing with Bluetooth LE (Low Energy).

Get back to a clean state

I would recommend to clean up you past attempts to pair:

  • On Ubuntu, remove the headphones from the Bluetooth paired list.
  • On the headphones, hold the switch in Bluetooth pairing position for 10 seconds to delete all paired devices (You'll get a voice confirmation).
  • If you can, deactivate Bluetooth on other surrounding devices to make sure they won't interact.

Deactivate Bluetooth LE

Edit Bluetooth configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/bluetooth/main.conf 

Replace:

#ControllerMode = dual

with:

ControllerMode = bredr

Restart Bluetooth:

sudo service bluetooth restart

Pair

  1. Make sure the headphones are in pairing mode.
  2. Pair with System Settings > Bluetooth
  3. Select & test the headphones in System Settings > Sound. You may want to choose High Fidelity Playback (A2DP Sink) for high playback quality.

Reactivate Bluetooth LE (optional)

As it is only the pairing that has to be done without Bluetooth LE, once it is paired you can go back to the original configuration:

sudo nano /etc/bluetooth/main.conf 

Replace:

ControllerMode = bredr

with:

#ControllerMode = dual

Restart Bluetooth:

sudo service bluetooth restart

Troubleshooting

If you have issues connecting back after disconnecting/rebooting:

  • Make sure you have the computer and Bluetooth turned on before the headphones.
  • If Connection is grayed out in System Settings > Bluetooth, you can use the Bluetooth menu in the menu bar (next to the clock) to do Connection On/Off.
24
  • 7
    @Galgalesh You have to choose High Fidelity Playback (A2DP Sink) in System Settings > Sound.
    – Victor
    Dec 29, 2016 at 18:20
  • 2
    For me the solution worked once. After two weeks i removed all my Bluetooth devices. Now when i am try to connect the Bose headphones like described in the solution, but every times 'setting up "Bosequietcomfort 35" failed' shows up. Over terminal bluetoothctl shows me the device connected, but in the Bluetooth UI not and even the sound settings. What can i additionally try?
    – sepplhans
    Jan 24, 2017 at 7:44
  • 1
    Worked on my Bose AE2 Soundlink :)
    – Nick
    Feb 15, 2017 at 12:52
  • 2
    This worked with my Base QuietControl 30's on Ubuntu 16.04.10. Aug 23, 2017 at 19:32
  • 3
    For me, the additional steps outlined in this answer (modifying /etc/pulse/default.pa) made it work.
    – sunside
    May 24, 2018 at 9:20
54

The accepted answer did not work for me. This blog entry worked: http://erikdubois.be/installing-bose-quietcomfort-35-linux-mint-18/

  1. Create /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf

    [General]
    Disable=Socket
    Disable=Headset
    Enable=Media,Source,Sink,Gateway
    AutoConnect=true
    load-module module-switch-on-connect
    
  2. In /etc/bluetooth/main.conf set

    ControllerMode = bredr
    AutoEnable=true
    
  3. Restart bluetooth

    sudo service bluetooth restart
    
  4. Connect your headphones
  5. Choose High Fidelity Playback (A2DP sink)-mode in sound options
6
  • Mine worked here too and I was even able to change the ControllerMode back to dual once the setup was complete.
    – RexFuzzle
    Jun 7, 2017 at 7:11
  • Worked for me. My QC35 was not connecting, until I follow the exact path: Dont start QC35 yet, Open System Settings > Bluetooth, click +, then start QC35 and you will see the name added.
    – SM Adnan
    Jun 15, 2017 at 23:57
  • This was helpful for me. In addition, I had to update the Broadcom WiFi driver to the latest version following the instruction here to resolve an issue with stuttering audio playback.
    – mikkola
    Sep 18, 2017 at 19:51
  • 1
    This worked for me. Steps: Unpair qc35 from previous attempt (bletoothctrl, then delete device). start scan for new device. Trigger new pairing in bose companion app.
    – heeen
    Oct 27, 2017 at 9:55
  • Does not work on Mint 19.3. Dec 3, 2020 at 1:46
10

I have the Bose Quietcomfort 35 II on Linux Mint 19.2. None of the solutions here worked for me. The only thing that worked was downloading the Bose Connect app on my Android phone and:

  1. Connect your headphones to the phone
  2. Connect your headphones to the Bose app
  3. Go to "Connections" and make your headphones ready to connect
  4. Pair with blueman or blueberry
  5. Now both your phone and your computer will be connected. You can now disconnect your phone.

You won't have to do this again because the devices will be paired.

5
  • Works on Mint 19.3. It can be tricky to get the device to use Audio sink/A2DP mode. I was unable to switch between them once connected. But if one disconnects, and asks to connect in audio sink mode, it worked. Dec 3, 2020 at 1:49
  • Could you elaborate on step 4 please?
    – Sofía
    Jan 20, 2021 at 15:14
  • @Sofia blueman and blueberry are both programs on Linux Mint that you can use to handle Bluetooth
    – Zerquix18
    Feb 2, 2021 at 2:15
  • Worked on Mint 20 when nothing else did! Thank you so much!
    – abhishek
    Nov 5, 2021 at 14:23
  • Also was the only solution to work on Mint 21.1
    – Alexey
    Feb 1, 2023 at 13:36
1

The solution above didn't work for me. I got it to work, but you need to set it up manually every time you reboot.

  1. First close bluetooth and bluez by effectively stopping them (not restarting), then starting them again using systemctl start bluetooth and sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth start.
  2. Start bluez manager and connect the device using setup with the audio sink profile.
  3. Manually change sound to the headphones.

I am a newbie with scripts, maybe someone more experienced than me can make a script that does all these actions at boot.

0

Similar headphones, Bose SoundLink AE2. Year 2024, Debian 12 Bookworm, can't pair. Tried every tip online, nothing worked.

Ended up disabling the motherboard Bluetooth and plugging in a cheap USB Bluetooth adapter instead (LogiLink BT0015 with Qualcomm CSR8510 A10 chipset), and it works perfectly with that one.

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