Since a recent update (apt upgrade && apt update) my bluetooth transmitter (ASUS BT-500) and headset (Sony WH-1000XM3) seem to have some problems.
Since my upgrade to 24.10 I could barely connect the headset to my computer, I had to retry many times. But a couple of weeks ago after an update (please don't ask me which one, I didn't keep track of which one) the headset connects fine and automatically but the sound is choppy, sometimes even so much that it's unusable.
After some checking with btmon I discovered this gem:
TX Latency: 4-452 msec (~14 msec)
While the average latency is fine, there are spikes which I can not explain. Almost half a second will certainly be noticeable.
I have checked with the system monitor, and there are no corresponding spikes in network, CPU, memory or disk usage.
If I could select one problem over the other, I would rather have the connection problem than the sound problem.
Also this is for all sounds, which application playing the sound doesn't matter.
Was there a recent update where BT components were updated? And how?
As a side-note, uname -a reports:
Linux somehost 6.11.0-13-generic #14-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sat Nov 30 23:51:51 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I'll give more details if needed, just ask.
The tips from this old question (and its answers) initially seemed to have helped a little bit, but the problems still persist.
Somehow I forgot to check until now, but when I change the sound settings to use "Handsfree" instead of "Headset", then there's no stuttering. Sure, the sound quality is awful, but at least it doesn't stutter.
I have tested USB-booting with plain Ubuntu 24.10, and it works very well.
So I have come to the conclusion that there are some old stuff lingering in the background, disrupting things.
So the question now kind of becomes: What do I need to remove? What do I need to reinstall?
