[SOLVED] Unable to use onboard bluetooth on Pi Zero 2 W (due to a defective board)

[jenzd]

Hi Kent, hi Tim,

thanks for all your tips and testing efforts! I am pretty sure now that my board has a defective bluetooth module. Bluetooth is dead even with the latest official Raspberry Pi OS image.

I have just ordered a second Pi Zero 2 and wil post an update once it is here, yet I have already marked the thread as "Solved".

Thanks & best regards
Jens

[jenzd]

I have just ordered a second Pi Zero 2 and wil post an update once it is here, yet I have already marked the thread as "Solved".

The replacement is there and ... works straight out of the box. Bluetooth is responding and sending healthy signals.

So my board was indeed defective. All good now.

Thanks again!
Jens

[Lukesan]

I have just ordered a second Pi Zero 2 and wil post an update once it is here, yet I have already marked the thread as "Solved".

The replacement is there and ... works straight out of the box. Bluetooth is responding and sending healthy signals.

So my board was indeed defective. All good now.

Thanks again!
Jens

With this thread I was hoping the issue I had was fixed in ver 7.6. Just created a new image and still have the same issue here that music interrupts every 0.5 sec.  
It does exactly the same on another, my second, PI zero 2 W as well.  Inserting the sd-card in the old Zero W and it works perfectly.

So with the new one you received playing to a BT speaker works without a problem?

[jenzd]

With this thread I was hoping the issue I had was fixed in ver 7.6. Just created a new image and still have the same issue here that music interrupts every 0.5 sec.  
It does exactly the same on another, my second, PI zero 2 W as well.  Inserting the sd-card in the old Zero W and it works perfectly.

So with the new one you received playing to a BT speaker works without a problem?

I actually haven't transferred any audio via BT yet, just tested that BT is generally working with the new board (in contrast to the dead BT module of the old board). Moreover I was still using the official Raspberry Pi OS Lite for these inital tests.

Next step will definitely be to install Moode and try to connect to a BT speaker (which is one of my planned use cases). I will report back when I had the time to test it.

[jenzd]

With this thread I was hoping the issue I had was fixed in ver 7.6. Just created a new image and still have the same issue here that music interrupts every 0.5 sec.  
It does exactly the same on another, my second, PI zero 2 W as well.  Inserting the sd-card in the old Zero W and it works perfectly.

So with the new one you received playing to a BT speaker works without a problem?

I actually haven't transferred any audio via BT yet, just tested that BT is generally working with the new board (in contrast to the dead BT module of the old board). Moreover I was still using the official Raspberry Pi OS Lite for these inital tests.

Next step will definitely be to install Moode and try to connect to a BT speaker (which is one of my planned use cases). I will report back when I had the time to test it.

Hi Lukesan,

Moode is installed now and I am currently listening to some music. I have connected a bluetooth headphone (JBL Tune 500BT) and tried streaming both from local NAS and Spotify Connect. Both are working without significant issues.

Connection stability could indeed be better: I experience a few minor dropouts now and then, but nothing to really complain about (far from every 0.5 sec as you experienced). Most of the time the stream is constant and clean.

(Note that nothing else is connected to the Raspberry Pi and I have switched off the HDMI port to save some extra power.)

Best regards,
Jens

[Sniglar]

@Lukesan Most of my bluetooth speakers appear to work with Pi Zero 2 W as @jenzd describes. The exception is a pair of Creative Metallix Plus speakers which, when connected to a Pi Zero 2 W either individually or as a stereo pair, behave exactly as you describe with extremely regular music interrupts.

[Lukesan]

@jenzd and @Sniglar thanks for trying!

Some work better than others but the Tribit Stormbox which I use a lot really suffers from this. With the Sony XRB-20 it drops a second like every minute. I should make a youtube when I have time.
I tried using the 'standard PI OS' on the Zero2 and no issues on both speakers. I can walk around in a circle of 10m (30ft) and no interruptions at all.

[jenzd]

@jenzd and @Sniglar thanks for trying!

Some work better than others but the Tribit Stormbox which I use a lot really suffers from this.  With the Sony XRB-20 it drops a second like every minute.  I should make a youtube when I have time.
I tried using the 'standard PI OS' on the Zero2 and no issues on both speakers. I can walk around in a circle of 10m (30ft) and no interruptions at all.

Hi Lukesan,

I can reproduce both of your observations now: One of my bluetooth speakers also suffers from heavy dropouts when connected to the Pi Zero 2 running Moode 7.6.0.

Yet the same bluetooth speaker works fine using the official Raspberry Pi OS (Desktop) distro - tested both with the Debian Bullseye and the older Debian Buster based version (each with latest updates installed).

It seems to be that the Raspi OS Lite on which Moode 7.6.0 is based might still miss an update (kernel/firmware?) which would fix the bluetooth issues of the Pi Zero 2. So there could be hope for the future.

Best regards
Jens