Use hcitool to get Bluetooth device information

Below commands are shown for communication between Linux Laptop and Samsung Mobile to get Mobile bluetooth device information using hcitool. For this, first make sure laptop bluetooth is turned ON and then switch ON the Bluetooth of Mobile and Make it discoverable/visible to all nearby bluetooth devices. Lets try to understand what is hcitool, $ whatis hcitool hcitool (1) – configure Bluetooth connections $ hcitool --help hcitool – HCI Tool ver 5.37 Usage: hcitool [options] [command parameters] Options: –help Display help -i dev HCI device Commands: dev Display local devices inq Inquire remote devices scan Scan for remote devices name Get name from remote device info Get information from remote device spinq Start periodic inquiry epinq Exit periodic inquiry cmd Submit arbitrary HCI commands con Display active connections cc Create connection to remote device dc Disconnect from remote device sr Switch master/slave role cpt Change connection packet type rssi Display connection RSSI lq Display link quality tpl Display transmit power level afh Display AFH channel map lp Set/display link policy settings lst Set/display link supervision timeout auth Request authentication enc Set connection encryption key Change connection link key clkoff Read clock offset clock Read local or remote clock lescan Start LE scan leinfo Get LE remote information lewladd Add device to LE White List lewlrm Remove device from LE White List lewlsz Read size of LE White List lewlclr Clear LE White List lerladd Add device to LE Resolving List lerlrm Remove device from LE Resolving List lerlclr Clear LE Resolving List lerlsz Read size of LE Resolving List lerlon Enable LE Address Resolution lerloff Disable LE Address Resolution lecc Create a LE Connection ledc Disconnect a LE Connection lecup LE Connection Update For more information on the usage of each command use: hcitool –help So, hcitool supports above subcommands to identify information.

Execution & Command Syntax

$ make sure laptop bluetooth is turned ON and then switch ON the Bluetooth of Mobile and Make it discoverable/visible to all nearby bluetooth devices

$ sudo hcitool info 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD password for myuser: Requesting information … BD Address: 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD OUI Company: Samsung Electronics Co

$ sudo hcitool con Connections: < ACL 38:EC:E4:50:2C:F7 handle 11 state 1 lm MASTER AUTH ENCRYPT rssi – Display connection RSSI $ sudo hcitool rssi 38:EC:E4:50:2C:F7 RSSI return value: 0 Displaying Information about the Laptop Bluetooth Device Display local devices $ hcitool dev Devices: hci0 70:1A:04:59:69:04 Submit arbitrary HCI commands $ sudo hcitool cmd 0x03 0x0013 0x41 0x42 0x43 0x44 HCI Event: 0x0e plen 4 01 13 0C 00

Technical Implementation Details

Lets try to scan ( Scan for remote devices ) all the devices nearby our laptop , for that use command, $ hcitool scan Scanning ... 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD MY Mobile (GT-I9300I) Inquire remote devices , for this we need to use below command, $ hcitool inq Inquiring ... 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD clock offset: 0x2bf1 class: 0x5a020c Get name from remote device $ hcitool name "9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD" MY Mobile (GT-I9300I) Get information from remote device $ sudo hcitool info 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD password for myuser: Requesting information … BD Address: 9C:65:B0:A0:1E:BD OUI Company: Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd (9C-65-B0) Device Name: MY Mobile (GT-I9300I) LMP Version: 4.0 (0x6) LMP Subversion: 0x7d3 Manufacturer: Qualcomm (29) Features page 0: 0xff 0xfe 0x8f 0xfe 0xd8 0x3f 0x5b 0x87 <3-slot packets> <5-slot packets> <3-slot EDR ACL> <5-slot EDR ACL> Features page 1: 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 Features page 2: 0x00 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 Now pair the mobile with Laptop to create connection ( pair from GUI) con – Display active connections $ sudo hcitool con Connections: < ACL 38:EC:E4:50:2C:F7 handle 11 state 1 lm MASTER AUTH ENCRYPT rssi – Display connection RSSI $ sudo hcitool rssi 38:EC:E4:50:2C:F7 RSSI return value: 0 Displaying Information about the Laptop Bluetooth Device Display local devices $ hcitool dev Devices: hci0 70:1A:04:59:69:04 Submit arbitrary HCI commands $ sudo hcitool cmd 0x03 0x0013 0x41 0x42 0x43 0x44 HCI Event: 0x0e plen 4 01 13 0C 00

Gotchas and Common Issues

• Permission Verification - confirm execution permissions and path variables before invoking system binaries.

• Version Compatibility - check software version release notes for deprecated flags or syntax changes.

• Log Monitoring - inspect system logs (journalctl or /var/log) to troubleshoot execution failures.

Following these steps ensures clean configuration, proper security boundaries, and reliable execution for use hcitool to get bluetooth device information.