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Bluetooth support on Android Emulator

I have been playing around with Android lately, and one thing that annoyed me is the emulator does not support Bluetooth (as opposed to J2ME emulator, which does).
So if you do not have an actual Android device (like me), and you want to do Bluetooth/WiFi programming, you run in to a problem.

Fortunately, there is a way out - Install the Android image on a VM and use your own Bluetooth device. This is what I did:
  1. Download Androidx86 from http://www.android-x86.org/. This is an .iso file, so you'd need something like VMWare or VirtualBox to run it. Me, I use VirtualBox.
  2. When creating the virtual machine, you need to set the type of guest OS as Linux instead of Other.
  3. After creating the virtual machine, set the network adapter to 'Bridged'.
  4. Start the VM and select 'Live CD VESA' at boot.
  5. Now you need to find out the ip of this VM. Go to terminal in VM (use Alt+F1 & Alt+F7 to toggle) and use the netcfg command to find this.
  6. Now you need open a command prompt and go to your android install folder (on host). This is usually C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>.
  7. Type adb connect IP_ADDRESS
  8. There done! Now you need to add Bluetooth. Plug in your USB Bluetooth dongle.
  9. In VirtualBox screen, go to Devices>USB devices. Select your dongle.
  10. Done! now your Android VM has Bluetooth. Try powering on Bluetooth and discovering/paring with other devices.
  11. Now all that remains is to go to Eclipse, and run your program. The Android AVD manager should show the VM as a device on the list.


I found these links helpful. Perhaps you would too:
http://androiddevnotes.com/2011/03/08/1299521520000.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/wireless/bluetooth.html#EnablingDiscoverability


:)
Happy coding!
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Comments

  1. dashing.amitjhaJune 30, 2011 at 9:52 PM

    i followed the steps and evrything proceeded as mentioned but when i tried to lanch my program from eclipse, the mounted emulator in virtual box wasn't showing in the list of virtual devices, can you explain y??

    ReplyDelete
  2. ηiRσJuly 1, 2011 at 11:37 AM

    hmm did you try typing 'adb devices' in the command prompt to see if the android x86 shows up in the list?

    ReplyDelete
  3. dashing.amitjhaJuly 1, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    when i use "adb devices" in cmnd prmpt it's displaying nadroid x86's ip in d list of devices attatchd but i cn't see it when i try from avd mannager in eclipse. so i m unable to test my apps through the mounted emulator :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. dashing.amitjhaJuly 6, 2011 at 7:54 PM

    it's working now, thnx for ur post :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. VenkatJuly 18, 2011 at 9:30 PM

    Thanks a lot ! It really helped me.
    I had some issues with the dongle and had to remove/insert it alteast once before it worked as suggested at:
    http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34867

    ReplyDelete
  6. ηiRσJuly 29, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    @dashing & venkat:
    Glad it was useful guys :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The lord of WindsAugust 6, 2011 at 6:26 PM

    @ dashing.amitjha: Please tell me how you make your device working.
    I'm in the same problem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. PDASeptember 20, 2011 at 7:04 PM

    I installed Android x86 on VirtualBox. There is Bluetooth in my laptop and it works fine, but I cannot turn on Bluetooth in my VM. Is there some specific things to do for laptops?

    ReplyDelete
  9. SENTHILNovember 30, 2011 at 12:54 AM

    i tried adb devices.but the device is not shown in the list.plz help me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ηiRσDecember 2, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    @Senthil, are you using the virtual device? or an actual device?

    @PDA
    I havent tried it on my laptop - but I understand that sometimes this method may not work on all systems. What's your OS?

    ReplyDelete
  11. SENTHILDecember 2, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    i tried both virtual box and vmware player.now i am getting connected to ip address as
    connected to 127.0.0.1:5555
    and when i use adb devices it's coming as
    List of devices attached.
    emulator-5554 device
    127.0.0.1:5555 device.
    But i can't see that device in avd manager.I am using pc with bluetooth external dongle.plz hep me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ηiRσDecember 2, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    oh dear...thats strange. its the same problem dashing.amitjha seems to have had. Perhaps contact him and ask?

    ReplyDelete
  13. SENTHILDecember 2, 2011 at 7:02 PM

    I don't know any details of her.Can you send me plz.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ηiRσDecember 2, 2011 at 7:05 PM

    @senthil
    I dont either, but you can go to his blogger profile, see his real name and try to find his contact details.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ηiRσDecember 2, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    or if his real name is not there, google his blogger name?

    ReplyDelete
  16. SENTHILDecember 2, 2011 at 7:07 PM

    Hmm thanks a lot dear.

    ReplyDelete
  17. SENTHILDecember 2, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    I found him and sent a friend request to him.Thanks for your suggestion.If you got any solution for this means please help me.

    ReplyDelete
  18. [ro]CostiDecember 7, 2011 at 7:30 PM

    For SENTHIL:

    "adb connect IP_ADDRESS"

    IP_ADDRESS != 127.0.0.1
    127.0.0.1 = localhost

    IP_ADDRESS should be something like your "local ip" :
    -ex1 192.168.1.2
    -ex2 10.31.5.63

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2012 at 5:40 AM

    internet is not enabled in the virtual box inspite of setting network adapters. wat cud b d pbm?

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2012 at 10:44 PM

    Hi friends for me both bluetooth and internet are working.

    ReplyDelete
  21. White MemoryMarch 22, 2012 at 4:52 PM

    I can't see the virtual machine in AVD manager. Could you help me?

    ReplyDelete
  22. White MemoryMarch 22, 2012 at 4:53 PM

    I can't see the VM in AVD manager. Could you help me?

    ReplyDelete
  23. White MemoryMarch 22, 2012 at 9:20 PM

    You can tell me clearly more about step 8. I don't understand

    ReplyDelete
  24. White MemoryMarch 22, 2012 at 9:30 PM

    You can tell me clearly more about step 8. I don't understand

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ηiRσMarch 25, 2012 at 10:20 PM

      If you dont have built in Bluetooth, you need to add a bluetooth dongle to your PC. Usually, if you're using a Laptop, you dont need to do this step. But for most PCs, you would need to add an external Bluetooth dongle.
      Hope you got it now :)

      Delete
    2. White MemoryApril 2, 2012 at 5:22 PM

      Thank you very much.
      When I use my Laptop, I only create one Virtual Machine which has Bluetooth. Is there a way I could test application between two VMs?

      Delete
  25. ANdroidKITMay 19, 2012 at 2:27 PM

    Hi Roshini, I am too working on Bluetooth support on Android emulator. I wanted to discuss this with you. Can you write to me at
    shiningankit@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. ANdroidKITMay 19, 2012 at 2:28 PM

    I am too working on Bluetooth support on Android Emulator. I wanted to discuss this with you. Can you write to me at shiningankit@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. sinahavaMay 21, 2012 at 2:36 AM

    we attach usb bluetooth dongle to VM.
    so we do not deal with bluetooth protocl
    only deal with usb.

    ReplyDelete
  28. sinahavaMay 21, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    can paired each divices.But not connected.
    authentication is ok,But i can not send files
    please help me

    ReplyDelete
  29. SENTHILMay 22, 2012 at 12:57 AM

    i can't understand.you want to send file to emulator?

    ReplyDelete
  30. AnonymousJuly 27, 2012 at 6:20 PM

    Why netcfg show only this line : lo UP 127.0.0.1 255.0.0.0

    ReplyDelete
  31. babyboymdSeptember 22, 2012 at 1:51 AM

    hello there! with bluetooth enabled in the android emulator, do you think it would it be possible to enable a laptop to send/receive messages and make calls by pairing to devices such as Gmate and SocBlue? thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  32. BharatFebruary 7, 2013 at 10:34 PM

    Hi,
    how can I disable ssp mode in Android emulator. Any clue?
    I tried hciconfig command to disable but as it's only a bluez lib inside so I cant change the config. Any other clue?

    Thanks
    Bharat

    ReplyDelete
  33. BharatFebruary 7, 2013 at 10:36 PM

    Hi All,

    Could anyone help me , how can I disable sspmode in Android emulator.
    I tried with hciconfig command, but it failed as it has the bluez built lib only. So cant change the config.
    Is there any other way to disable ssp.

    Thanks
    Bharat

    ReplyDelete
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  35. lorenzo von matterhornJune 16, 2013 at 6:29 AM

    heyy can you tell which android x86 .iso file did you use.
    i mean i want my emulator to run atleast ICS.

    ReplyDelete
  36. AnonymousOctober 25, 2013 at 9:03 PM

    i everebody,
    i have a problem.i use a usb dongle cc2540(bluetooth low energy) and have then to connect to my PC over VM.but it is not work.i can not see another device, e.g my keyfob (keyfob cc2540 texa instruments).i have do all step by step (Bluetooth support on Android Emulator ).please help me

    ReplyDelete
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මේ ගෙවෙන්නේ ගිම්හානයේ අග කොටස.  පසු ගිය සතියේ ඉතාම තද රස්නයක් තිබුණු සතියක්... නිවෙස් වල වායු සමීකරණය නැතිව ඉන්න බැරි තරම්.  ජනවාරි 25 සවස අපි පවුලම - දෙන්නෙක් වැඩ ඉවර වෙලා, එක්කෙනෙක් එයාගේ පෙර පාසල ඉවර වෙලා - ගෙදර එද්දී හයහමාර පහු වෙලා. සවස් උනත් ඉර එළිය හොඳට ... මේ දවස් වල රැ නවයට ත් එළියයි නේ.  ජනවාරි 26 බදාදා  ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු දිනය  අපේ නිවාඩු දිනයක්. ඉතින් අපි 25 සවස ගෙදර ඇවිත් රෑ කෑම හදන අතරේ කතා කරේ පස්සෙන්දා මොකද කරන්නේ - කොහෙද යන්නේ කියලා. මේ දවස් වල ඔමික්රෝන් උවදුර  නිසා පරිස්සමෙන් යන්නත් ඕනේ.  ඒ අතරේ ඇමතුමක් ආව යාලුවෙක් ගෙන් - යෝජනාවක් ආවා වෙරළ ට යන්න - පස්සෙන්ද නෙමෙයි - එදා ම - එවෙලේම! යුද්ධයක් කරලා පොඩි මෑන් ට ත් පොඩ්ඩක් කවාගෙන, පිහිනුම් ඇඳුම් ඔක්කොමත් අරන් ගියා! එදා අපි ගියේ Seaford. මුහුදට බහින කොටත් රෑ 9 ට කිට්ටු යි ! දවසෙම රත් වෙලා ඉඳලා මුහුද ට බැස්සම හරිම සනීපයක් දැනුනේ ... ගිම්හාන කාලේ නිසා රෑ උනත් වතුර උණුසුම්. පැයක පමණ වතුරේ ඉඳලා තමයි අපි එදා ගෙදර ආවේ. ඒ...
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