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I am trying to change my advertised bluetooth device class from computer to phone, running ubuntu 12.04. I downloaded the bluez sources and edited the main.conf file to change the line 

Class = 0x000100

to something else. I used 

Class = 0x0c025a

Then I ran make && make install. I think that works ok because the /etc/bluetooth/main.conf file has been updated with my changes.

Now, the problem is that when I actually try to connect to a device

hcitool cc <bdaddr>

I see that I am still advertising myself using the Class 0x000100 and not 0x0c025a.

What am I missing here to get this changes to take effect?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
10

First, find your interface name:

hciconfig

It should give you the name of the interface, e.g., hci0.

Given that display your interface class:

hciconfig hci0 class

That should display your device class.

Finally, with super user privilege:

sudo hciconfig hci0 class 000408

should set up new class of your device.

A useful reference of bluetooth classes with hexadecimal and binary representations can be found here: http://www.question-defense.com/tools/class-of-device-bluetooth-cod-list-in-binary-and-hex

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2

The BlueZ hostname plugin overrides the Name and Class settings in /etc/bluetooth/main.conf. Follow these steps to specify the Bluetooth Class of Device (CoD):

  1. Skip loading the hostname plugin when starting the bluetooth daemon by modifying /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service. Example:

    sudo sed -i 's/bluetoothd/bluetoothd \-\-noplugin=hostname/g' /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service

Alternatively you can specify an inclusion list using --plugin=<plugins>. See bluetoothd(8) and https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/bluetooth/bluez.git/tree/plugins

  1. Edit /etc/bluetooth/main.conf and specify Class in the General section. Specify Name as well if you want something other than BlueZ X.YZ:

    [General]
Class = 0x1c0420
Name = UbuntuCarAudio

  2. Reboot or restart the bluetooth service for the changes to take effect:

    sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service bluetooth restart

  3. Verify the changes by running hciconfig -a or echo 'show' | bluetoothctl. hciconfig -a will show you the decoded Class of Device (CoD) information:

    Name: 'UbuntuCarAudio'
Class: 0x1c0420
Service Classes: Rendering, Capturing, Object Transfer
Device Class: Audio/Video, Car Audio
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  • Thanks for this detailed answer, while it does work fine for the Name, the Class doesn't get overridden anymore, instead it's set to 0x000000. Any idea what could cause this?
    – cfz42
    Nov 11, 2018 at 21:02
  • @cfz42 I have seen the Service Classes bits get ignored, but I don't know what causes this - maybe BlueZ inspection of running services? You could try using hciconfig, e.g sudo hciconfig hci0 class 1c0420
    – Chris Sidi
    Dec 23, 2018 at 4:46
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You need to change class name in /etc/bluetooth/main.conf file.

Class = 0x00041C

Then restart bluetooth service

sudo service bluetooth restart

Then turn off your bluetooth from top panel icon and turn it on.

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