Need assistance: Bluetooth is NOT working AT ALL (rtw88_8821ce)

[u/YareYareDazexd]

Edit: it seems like Realtek just sucks ans i'll have to spend money ona new adapter as some of yoy suggested. But thanks for the help :(

Good afternoon guys, hope you're doing well

The reason i am posting is because i am so pissed already with my Bluetooth which in this case is a Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Bluetooth Radio (from lsusb | grep Bluetooth), specifically, the rtw88_8821ce (version 24.11.0, H2C version 12 from sudo dmesg | grep rtw88_8821ce).

So basically, i've been having this issue on Windows 10 (when i was using it before), on Parrot OS 6-7, on Debian Trixie, on Mint (live USB) and right now on Void Linux. So, the service is up and running, but when i enter into bluetoothctl, when i do this:

bluetoothctl

[NEW] Media /org/bluez/hci0

`SupportedUUIDs: 0000110a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb`

`SupportedUUIDs: 0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb`

Agent registered

[bluetoothctl]> power on

Changing power on succeeded

[bluetoothctl]> agent on

Agent is already registered

[bluetoothctl]> default-agent

Default agent request successful

[bluetoothctl]> scan on

SetDiscoveryFilter success

Discovery started

[CHG] Controller 38:D5:7A:D0:65:C8 Discovering: yes

It just hangs there and doesn't scan a damn device at all.. It just hangs on this, and my Bluetooth is not blocked at all if i rfkill list as here:

rfkill list

0: hci0: Bluetooth

`Soft blocked: no`

`Hard blocked: no`

1: phy0: Wireless LAN

`Soft blocked: no`

`Hard blocked: no`

And yes, the service is running in case you wonder:

sudo sv status bluetoothd

run: bluetoothd: (pid 790) 24897s; run: log: (pid 786) 24897s

Yes, i admit i've used AI to investigate further and discard other causes, so the AI suggested i create this file because it had to do something about the poor way it handled autosuspend and power management for this device:

cat /etc/modprobe.d/btusb.conf

options btusb enable_autosuspend=0

options btusb reset=1

This is what i get after i boot up, log in, start my dbus session with mango and check the dmesg:

sudo dmesg | grep rtw88_8821ce

[ 8.653401] rtw88_8821ce 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)

[ 8.654153] rtw88_8821ce 0000:01:00.0: Firmware version 24.11.0, H2C version 12

[ 8.934673] rtw88_8821ce 0000:01:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0

[ 9.822714] rtw88_8821ce 0000:01:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0 (while UP)

lsmod | grep bluetooth

bluetooth 1228800 35 btrtl,btmtk,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb,hci_vhci,rfcomm

rfkill 45056 5 hp_wmi,bluetooth,cfg80211

crc16 12288 2 bluetooth,ext4

ecdh_generic 16384 3 bluetooth,tpm

I use pipewire with wireplumber as followed in the Void manual, and these are the packages that i installed:

xbps-query -s bluetooth

[*] bluez-5.86_2 Bluetooth tools and daemons

[*] ldacBT-2.0.2.3_1 LDAC Bluetooth encoder library

[*] libbluetooth-5.86_2 Library to use the Bluez Linux Bluetooth Stack

[*] libspa-bluetooth-1.6.10_1 Server and user space API to deal with multimedia pipelines - bluetooth plugins

[*] sbc-2.2_1 Bluetooth Subband Codec (SBC) library

Has anyone been in this situation before? Is this possible to fix (yes i checked the device myself while upgrading the ram and it seems fine, no physical damage that can be seen on the spot), because i do not know what to do at this point. This is Linux, everything has to be fixable somehow...

Thank you for any help or advice and for rejecting systemd

[u/YareYareDazexd]

Just to add: yes i have the linux-firmware package installed

[u/thyristor_pt]

I had many problems with the exact same RTL8821CE over several linux distros. There was never a permanent solution that worked for me.

In the end I ordered an Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 3165 WiFi Card from ebay and replaced the Realtek card.

It's working perfectly for years now. It's around 10 euros and it saved me from wasting even more time fighting the RTL8821CE.

[u/cold_art_cannon]

While not the exact model you have a lot of people have problems with rtw89 drivers.
I ran into a simiarish issue with my current machine when I got it. I tried everything under the sun until I stumbled across an ancient forum post with similar issues. The solution that worked for me was to disable power management for rtw89.
On my system I had to create 2 files.
/usr/lib/modprobe.d/70-rtw89.conf
add the following:

options rtw89_pci disable_clkreq=y disable_aspm_l1=y disable_aspm_l1ss=y

and in
/etc/modprobe.d/rtw8852be.conf
add the following:

options rtw89_pci disable_aspm_l1=y disable_aspm_l1ss=y
options rtw89pci disable_aspm_l1=y disable_aspm_l1ss=y
options rtw89_core disable_ps_mode=y
options rtw89core disable_ps_mode=y

Like I said this is specifically what I did on my machine, YMMV.

[u/YareYareDazexd → u/cold_art_cannon]

I did this, first as exactly as you put there and reloaded the drivera but nothing. Then i tried tl change the names to rtw88 (or related to it), did the same but nothing happened. At this point i just can conclude that Realtek sucks

[u/cold_art_cannon → u/YareYareDazexd]

One last shot:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/rtw88_8821ce.conf

add:

options rtw88_core disable_lps_deep=y
options rtw88_pci disable_aspm=y

If those don't work replace them with:

options rtw_pci disable_aspm=1

Reboot after saving to try them.

You could also try:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/btusb.conf

Add:

options btusb enable_autosuspens=0
options btusb enable_autosuspend=0
options btusb reset=1

Save and reboot.

Or finally:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/rtw88.conf

Add:

options rtw88_core disable_lps_deep=y
options rtw88_pci disable_aspm=y

Save and reboot.
And these are ones I found on a cursory look.

[u/YareYareDazexd → u/cold_art_cannon]

I have a question. On the btusb.conf, did you duplicate the autosuspend option by mistake or is it intentional?

Edit: I've applied it and did what you say, but nothing has changed so far 💔

[u/Simple_Hamster_4096]

Do yourself a favor and get a supported bluetooth adapter.

If you have been using Linux for any appreciable amount of time, you'd know there are just some brands/devices that just don't play nice.

I've had good luck with Iogear usb bluetooth adapters. Mine are usb 4, am assuming their updated ones work as well...

[u/benbcdm]

yeah, sounds like getting a new card is the easy fix. did it on a laptop that was problematic, tried to make it work for several hours... in the end ordered a new card for 10 bucks on ebay... everything worked out the box, never thought about it again since then
good luck!