Bluetooth Audio Issues with ASUS TUF B650 WiFi on CachyOS

Issues & Assistance
1

Hello, I am experiencing severe audio stuttering, dropouts, and poor sound quality when using Bluetooth audio devices on my system. This issue occurs with multiple Bluetooth headsets and speakers, including my Marshall Major IV. The audio stutters frequently, and the sound quality degrades, often sounding tinny or low-bitrate.

System Information:
Distro: CachyOS
Kernel Versions Tested:
CachyOS Kernel
CachyOS-Bore Kernel
Ubuntu 24.10 Kernel (same issue)

Motherboard: ASUS TUF B650 WiFi
BIOS Version: Latest (07.03.2025)
Bluetooth Chipset: Integrated Bluetooth module on the motherboard

Audio Backend: PipeWire (default on CachyOS)

What I Have Tried So Far:

  1. Checked PipeWire and WirePlumber Logs:

Found multiple leaked proxy warnings and bluetooth codec issues in journalctl --user -u pipewire -u wireplumber -u bluetooth -f.

spa.bluez5.native: RFCOMM receive command but modem not available: AT+BTRH?

spa.bluez5.native: RFCOMM receive command but modem not available: AT+CSRSF=0,0,0,1,0,0,0

  1. Adjusted PipeWire Configuration:

Edited ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/custom-buffer.conf:

context.properties = {
default.clock.rate = 48000
default.clock.quantum = 1024
default.clock.min-quantum = 512
default.clock.max-quantum = 2048
}

Also adjusted Bluetooth latency settings in ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/bluetooth-latency.conf, but it did not resolve the issue.

  1. Reset PipeWire & WirePlumber State:

Removed configuration files:

rm -rf ~/.config/pipewire/*
rm -rf ~/.local/state/pipewire/*
rm -rf ~/.local/state/wireplumber/*

Restarted services (systemctl --user restart pipewire wireplumber bluetooth)

Result: No improvement, issue persists after reboot.

  1. Checked Available Bluetooth Codecs:

Using pactl list sinks | grep -iE ‘Name:|Description:|Codec|Bluetooth Protocol’, I confirmed that the SBC codec is used, even though AAC or aptX should be available.

Manually attempted to switch to A2DP with:

pactl set-card-profile bluez_card.XX_XX_XX_XX_XX_XX a2dp-sink

But received Failure: No such entity.

  1. Tested an Alternative Distro (Ubuntu 24.10):

Same issue persists, indicating that the problem might be related to the Bluetooth chipset on the ASUS TUF B650 WiFi motherboard.

  1. Updated Kernel and BIOS:

Installed the latest BIOS update from ASUS (March 2025).

Tested different kernels, including CachyOS and CachyOS-Bore.

Issue persists across all tested kernels.

  1. Checked Bluetooth Device Visibility & Connection Stability:

After various modifications (e.g., removing ~/.config/wireplumber/bluetooth.lua.d/51-bluez-config.lua), Bluetooth devices disappeared entirely and required re-pairing.

My Bluetooth mouse and other peripherals has also some connection problems.

Thanks
Haruzept

2

I couldn’t fix the problem with the Bluetooth chip on my motherboard. It uses an IMC Networks Bluetooth module (USB ID: 13d3:3571), which likely runs on a Realtek RTL8761B or a similar chipset. Despite multiple troubleshooting attempts, including driver updates and PipeWire/PulseAudio configurations, the issue persisted.

I decided to buy this USB Bluetooth adapter: TP-Link UB500.

It works great! However, I had to disable the onboard Bluetooth adapter in the BIOS to avoid conflicts.

If you’re facing similar problems, this might be a good solution! :rocket:

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