A2DP Sink on Ubuntu Linux with bluez (streaming bluetooth stereo audio from smartphone to pc)

a2dp_sink_ubuntu_linux.md

Howto Enable and Use A2DP Sink on Ubuntu Linux with Bluez

1. Add Enable=Source to /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf right after [General].

2. Find address in form XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX of phone with hcitool scan.

3. Pair and trust smartphone with sudo bluez-simple-agent hci0 XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX and sudo bluez-test-device trusted XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX yes.

4. Create loopback in pulseaudio connection bluetooth a2dp source with alsa sink:

pactl load-module module-loopback \
source=bluez_source.XX_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX \
sink=alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo

You can find your own values for source and sink with pacmd list-sources and pacmd list-sinks.

What does " pacmd list-sources | grep name: " produce?

Does your bluez source have .a2dp_source on the end of the name? I think there's a typo in the original post although things may have changed since then. My machine gives:

test@test:~$ pacmd list-sources | grep name:
        name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_05.0.analog-stereo.monitor>
        name: <alsa_input.pci-0000_00_05.0.analog-stereo>
        name: <bluez_source.94_7B_E7_XX_XX_XX.a2dp_source>

So I need

pactl load-module module-loopback source=bluez_source.94_7B_E7_XX_XX_XX.a2dp_source sink=alsa_output.pci-0000_00_05.0.analog-stereo

I'm not getting output but at least the loopback loads without error.

Edit: This worked for me:
https://gist.github.com/oleq/24e09112b07464acbda1#gistcomment-2175574