Troubleshooting Linux Mint bluetooth audio

This post is not for the benefit of entertainment.  I just solved a small audio problem and I'm leaving a record to assist anyone who stumbles across this page from an internet search.

The problem:  My audio headset wouldn't play sound on my computer.  I'm using Linux Mint 17.

The details: My speaker is actually a headset.  My computer detected it, and paired with it, but wouldn't play sound through it.  I came across many bug reports where users couldn't get the device to show up in their sound settings list of output options.  In my case, it appeared, but I couldn't select it.  If I tried to test sound, it still came through the computer speakers.

The solution: I installed PulseAudio volume control, which provides extra sound settings.  I changed my Bluetooth headset configuration.

Here is the page that helped me get it working:


As instructed, I installed PulseAudio volume control.  You can do so through the software center or by typing into the terminal 

>sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

Once installed, I started PulseAudio by typing in the terminal:

>pavucontrol

I noticed that my bluetooth headset wasn't listed under output options.  I clicked on the tab labeled "Configuration".  My device is called "Popdrop".  Originally, it's profile was set to "off". I changed it to "High Fidelity Playback (A2DP)".  When I went to my sound settings and selected it, it now worked.


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