Pair AirPods with Linux Ubuntu

This blog post was really helpful to get familiar with a complementary Bluetooth stack. Here’s the solution which I have changed and added to it according to my experience:

Install bluez Bluetooth stack (like a full set of Bluetooth drivers which allows the Linux OS direct access to Bluetooth):

sudo apt-get install bluez*

Optional: install Bluetooth manager, Blueman:

sudo apt-get install blueman

Load USB Bluetooth driver (Bluetooth dongle):

modprobe btusb

Restart bluetooth service:

sudo systemctl restart bluetooth

Add controller mode setting to be dual Bluetooth configuration /etc/bluetooth/main.conf change this mode to bredr or le in case you have problem with your AirPods:

ControllerMode = bredr

Now try to pair your AirPods!

The source of the issue is that Ubuntu’s Bluetooth driver doesn’t cover AirPods’ one.