Control Amarok with Bluetooth

Ever since I’ve received my new phone, bluetooth has excited me. To be honest, the notion of being able to control my pc from the phone was the exciting aspect. Ever wondered how to do this? Let me elaborate. (Note: I assume you are strong in the source)

Step 1: Get the hardware
Make sure your telephone has a bluetooth connection and check that your computer has bluetooth support. This howto covers most Java enabled mobile phones. Most laptops have it inbuilt, but if your pc is lacking, grab a cheap dongle from ebay.

Step 2: Install bluetooth and applications
Install the bluetooth libraries and applications for your system. Many linux distributions such as kubuntu come with bluetooth enabled by default. However, you’ll need to remove the KDE bluetooth applications, such as kbluetoothd and kmobiletools. We’ll need to compile from source in order to apply a patch for the bemused server which will be interfacing with the mobile phone.

Download the source code of kdebluetooth. It is important to use beta2, as beta3 seems to be missing the bemused server which we will be needing. Extract the source, then download and apply this patch in the kdebluetooth directory. Compile and install the modified source.

Download JamSE, a mobile Java bemused client. Just leave it somewhere for now.

Step 3: Configure bluetooth
Edit your hcid.conf (mine lives in /etc/bluetooth) and set your configuration as follows:
options {
autoinit yes;
security auto;
pairing multi;
pin_helper /usr/lib/kdebluetooth/kbluepin;
}
Make sure your kbluepin application exists and is working – it is used to negotiate a pin when pairing with a bluetooth device.
Restart bluetooth. (eg: sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart)
Start kbluetoothd.

Step 3: Tie the knots
Start konqueror and navigate to the bluetooth:/ io-slave. Assuming that your bluetooth adapter is recognised and the connection is working, you should see any devices in range pop up shortly. Select your device and you should see a list of services.

Choose the OBEX File Transfer service in order to transfer the Jamse jar file to the phone. In order to use the file transfer a bluetooth pairing will be required. Pay attention to your phone and choose a simple password like 1234. Once committed, the bluetooth pin helper which we set up earlier in hcid.conf will be run and ask for the pin which was entered into the phone. If you enter the same password, then a successful pairing will have been made and the obex file transfer should show a file listing of the contents of your mobile device. Just for the record, Amarok should be already configured for automatic use with kbluetoothd. If not, trawl through the configuration options which can be accessed via the kdebluetooth system tray icon.

Once jamse.{jar,jad} have been transferred to the phone, you should start them, using your mobile. Navigate to the location and start the application. With jamse, search for your computer and connect to it. Connect to the pc and allow application connectivity. If you have had some pretty good amount of luck, then you should see a Amarok popup and a bemused notification. Your mobile phone should now be displaying the currently playing song, and you will be able to change tracks and perform all your other simple/standard music player controls.

Conclusions
There is no better way to finish the day by lying in bed listening to Amarok. But who wants to get up to turn off the music, or switch tracks! Not I! Now you can use your bluetooth enabled mobile phone to reach that extra height of laziness!

I tried a few other bemused (and generic bluetooth remote) clients for my phone, and they didn’t work very reliably.