[ARCHIVED] Fix for CSR Dongle 0a12:0001 ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)

archived.md

This gist is currenctly archived.

Please refer to previous revisions if you know what to do.

The patch proposed was merged into kernel in 5.8 release, but no longer working as of linux 5.11

These CSR clones are not one device. They use the same case, but there may be different chips inside. They simply use the API from an existing driver so as not to write their own. But they only test it on Windows. Since different chips are used, their firmware has a variety of bugs, so workarounds for one clone will not help for another.

The CSR's barely work on Windows even. Maybe for very basic stuff. But, if it says that it has Bluetooth LE and advanced features, it definitely does not, or if it does, it's extremely broken.

well the one i have is tp-link ub400, thought they were a reputable brand

These CSR clones are not one device. They use the same case, but there may be different chips inside. They simply use the API from an existing driver so as not to write their own. But they only test it on Windows. Since different chips are used, their firmware has a variety of bugs, so workarounds for one clone will not help for another.

The CSR's barely work on Windows even. Maybe for very basic stuff. But, if it says that it has Bluetooth LE and advanced features, it definitely does not, or if it does, it's extremely broken.

well the one i have is tp-link ub400, thought they were a reputable brand

TP-Link should be a good one. But, the generic no-name ones like one I posted pictures to above is awful even on Windows.

I wonder if it's possible to rewrite and reflash the firmware of the CSR Clones. They could be an interesting thing for a common open-source firmware. The device is awful, but it's extremely common and cheap.

I wonder if it's possible to rewrite and reflash the firmware of the CSR Clones. They could be an interesting thing for a common open-source firmware. The device is awful, but it's extremely common and cheap.

Chinese manufacturers produce identical looking Bluetooth dongles with different chips. They use new chips over time. So you can't have one firmware to fix them all.

I wonder if it's possible to rewrite and reflash the firmware of the CSR Clones. They could be an interesting thing for a common open-source firmware. The device is awful, but it's extremely common and cheap.

Chinese manufacturers produce identical looking Bluetooth dongles with different chips. They use new chips over time. So you can't have one firmware to fix them all.

Ah, that's unfortunate.