Unable to choose Alsa output for bluetooth device

Upgrading my bluetooth device, I ran into an issue with no sound on my Vero4K+ out of the blue (had been working for months).

Unable to solve, I upgraded to Kodi19 via the buster-devel repository, and Kodi is operating properly.

Reading the new information for bluez-alsa, I believe the correct packages are installed.

osmc@osmc-sam:~$ dpkg -l | grep osmc | grep blue
ii  armv7-bluez-osmc                     5.43-6                              armhf        bluez for OSMC
ii  armv7-bluezalsa-osmc                 3.1.0-2                             armhf        Bluetooth audio streaming for OSMC

Using bluetoothctl, I’ve been able to pair and connect with my device no problem, and I’ve created and .asoundrc file for this device. However, in Kodi, there’s no option to output to my bluetooth device. When I enable debug logs and take a look, I see this:

2021-07-30 17:47:29.260 T:3247     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA - Unable to open device "mybtdevice" for playback
2021-07-30 17:47:29.262 T:3247     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA::EnumerateDevice - device hdmi:CARD=AMLMESONAUDIO,DEV=0 description AML-MESONAUDIO,
                                                   HDMI Audio Output
2021-07-30 17:47:29.262 T:3247    DEBUG <general>: CAESinkALSA - Unable to obtain ELD information for device "hdmi:CARD=AMLMESONAUDIO,DEV=0" (not supported by device, or kernel older than 3.2)
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA - Unable to open device "usbstream:CARD=AMLMESONAUDIO" for playback
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>: Found 1 Lists of Devices
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>: Enumerated ALSA devices:
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:     Device 1
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_deviceName      : default
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_displayName     : Default (AML-MESONAUDIO: HDMI, S/PDIF & analogue)
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_displayNameExtra:
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_deviceType      : AE_DEVTYPE_PCM
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_channels        : FL, FR, UNKNOWN1, LFE, FC, BC, BL, BR, BLOC, BROC
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_sampleRates     : 32000,44100,48000,64000,88200,96000,176400,192000
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_dataFormats     : AE_FMT_S24NE4,AE_FMT_S32NE,AE_FMT_S16NE,AE_FMT_S16LE
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_streamTypes     : No passthrough capabilities
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:     Device 2
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_deviceName      : hdmi:CARD=AMLMESONAUDIO,DEV=0
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_displayName     : AML-MESONAUDIO
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_displayNameExtra: HDMI
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_deviceType      : AE_DEVTYPE_HDMI
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_channels        : FL, FR, BL, BR, FC, LFE, SL, SR
2021-07-30 17:47:29.263 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_sampleRates     : 32000,44100,48000,88200,96000,176400,192000
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_dataFormats     : AE_FMT_S16NE,AE_FMT_S16LE,AE_FMT_RAW
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3247     INFO <general>:         m_streamTypes     : STREAM_TYPE_AC3,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_MA,STREAM_TYPE_DTSHD_CORE,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_1024,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_2048,STREAM_TYPE_DTS_512,STREAM_TYPE_EAC3,STREAM_TYPE_TRUEHD
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3248     INFO <general>: CActiveAESink::OpenSink - initialize sink
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3248    DEBUG <general>: CActiveAESink::OpenSink - trying to open device ALSA:default
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3248     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - Requested layout: FL, FR
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3248     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - set digital_codec 0
2021-07-30 17:47:29.264 T:3248    DEBUG <general>: CAESinkALSA::Initialize -- unmuting HDMI
2021-07-30 17:47:29.265 T:3248     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - Attempting to open device "default"
2021-07-30 17:47:29.271 T:3248     INFO <general>: CAESinkALSA::Initialize - Opened device "default"

The device “mybtdevice” is described in my .asoundrc file:

pcm.mybtdevice {
        type bluealsa
        device "10:D0:7A:B2:57:22"
        profile "a2dp"
        hint { show on description "BT-Headphones"}
}

I don’t understand why Kodi is unable to open the “mybtdevice”. Could I ask for some help?

I assume you rebooted and also you have the headset connected and enabled at the time you search it in Settings - System - Audio

Yes, and yes.

What is the info 10:D0:7A:B2:57:22 output from bluetoothctl ?

F me. I copied the wrong MAC address. Evidently this was something I didn’t re-check while trying to figure this out. PEBKAC. Thank you and sorry to waste your time.

P.S. I love my Vero

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