CSR8510 Bluetooth Dongle Not Working on Vero 4K+ - "Invalid request code (56)" Error

Help and Support Vero 4K / Vero 4K +
1

Hi OSMC community,

I have a Vero 4K+ with defective built-in WiFi and Bluetooth. I purchased a CSR8510 Bluetooth dongle to replace the functionality, but I’m unable to get it working despite extensive troubleshooting.

Hardware:

  • Device: OSMC Vero 4K+
  • Dongle: CSR8510 Bluetooth USB adapter
  • Vendor:Product ID: 0a12:0001
  • Product name: CSR8510A10

Problem: The dongle is detected by the system but cannot be initialized. Both command-line tools and the OSMC GUI interface fail to enable Bluetooth functionality.

Symptoms:

  1. Command line: sudo hciconfig hci0 up returns “Can’t init device hci0: Invalid request code (56)”
  2. OSMC GUI: Bluetooth discovery starts but completes immediately (within a fraction of a second)
  3. hciconfig -a shows the device as “DOWN” despite detection

System Information:

  • Kernel: 4.9.269-62-osmc
  • Installed packages: armv7-bluez-osmc (5.62-3), armv7-bluezalsa-osmc (3.1.0-9)
  • USB detection: Device appears correctly in lsusb as “Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)”

Troubleshooting Steps Attempted:

  1. Downloaded and installed CSR8510 firmware (BCM20702A0-0a12-0001.hcd) to /lib/firmware/
  2. Created udev rules for device initialization
  3. Reinstalled bluez packages
  4. Tried different USB ports
  5. Attempted to blacklist internal Bluetooth modules
  6. Verified OSMC-specific Bluetooth packages are installed
  7. Tested both command-line tools (bluetoothctl, hciconfig) and OSMC GUI interface

Technical Details:

$ lsusb | grep Bluetooth
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)

$ sudo hciconfig -a
hci0: Type: Primary Bus: USB
BD Address: 00:1A:7D:DA:71:13 ACL MTU: 679:8 SCO MTU: 48:16
DOWN
RX bytes:353 acl:0 sco:0 events:11 errors:0
TX bytes:34 acl:0 sco:0 commands:11 errors:0

$ sudo hciconfig hci0 up
Can’t init device hci0: Invalid request code (56)

Questions:

  1. Is the CSR8510 chipset known to have compatibility issues with OSMC on Vero 4K+?
  2. Could the defective internal Bluetooth be causing conflicts that cannot be resolved through software?
  3. Are there specific Bluetooth dongles that are recommended/tested to work with OSMC on Vero 4K+?
  4. Is there any additional OSMC-specific configuration needed for external Bluetooth dongles?

The persistent “Invalid request code (56)” error suggests this might be a known issue or require specific handling. Any guidance on getting this working or recommendations for alternative Bluetooth dongles would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

2

Hi

I am not familiar with that dongle.

I doubt it, but you could blacklist the WiFi module to prevent it loading at all.

Have you verified the dongle on another device like a PC?