Bug 512677 - Bluetooth "disabled" but devices can still connect
Summary: Bluetooth "disabled" but devices can still connect
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Bluetooth in general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.5.3
Platform: Arch Linux Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
: 515982 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-11-27 12:47 UTC by Iyán M. V.
Modified: 2026-08-04 22:20 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Video showing weird state of bluetooth widget (832.93 KB, video/webm)
2026-01-02 00:02 UTC, Iyán M. V.
Details

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Description Iyán M. V. 2025-11-27 12:47:35 UTC
SUMMARY
Today I noticed the following weird issue. I disabled Bluetooth in the morning using the widget in the system tray. However, when I turned on my headset, they automatically connected to the laptop. They appear in the audio widget, but bluetooth is still shown as "disabled" even though the icon changed to the same icon as when a device is connected.

Clicking on the enable button correctly fixed the wrong state. I still could not find a way to reproduce the issue, but I will update the report if I figure it out. At the moment there must be a way to keep the bluetooth enabled while showing as disabled in the system tray.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.20.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.17.9-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 22 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 155H
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.9 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® Arc
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 21KDS00600
System Version: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2025-12-11 17:51:04 UTC
Weird. When it's in the wrong state, can you paste the output of `bluetoothctl show | grep -i power`?
Comment 2 Bug Janitor Service 2025-12-26 03:46:37 UTC
🐛🧹 ⚠️ This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information, then set the bug status to REPORTED. If there is no change for at least 30 days, it will be automatically closed as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures, please read https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 3 Iyán M. V. 2026-01-02 00:00:18 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> Weird. When it's in the wrong state, can you paste the output of
> `bluetoothctl show | grep -i power`?

$ bluetoothctl show | grep -i power
        Powered: yes
        PowerState: on
        SupportedIncludes: tx-power
        SupportedCapabilities.MinTxPower: 0xffffffd8 (-40)
        SupportedCapabilities.MaxTxPower: 0x0008 (8)
        SupportedFeatures: CanSetTxPower

It happened again today. Also, since in between I enabled the option to show the number of connected devices. Now it correctly shows that one device is connected but opening the widget shows like it's disabled. I will attach a video.
Comment 4 Iyán M. V. 2026-01-02 00:02:55 UTC
Created attachment 188145 [details]
Video showing weird state of bluetooth widget

To reach this state, I open the Bluetooth widget and turn it off there. Then I noticed that the headset connected to the laptop. The bluetooth widget is not shown directly in the main panel there because of the option "Only show when relevant", so when it's "off" it's only visible opening the status and notifications.
Comment 5 TraceyC 2026-03-02 15:27:12 UTC
*** Bug 515982 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 6 TraceyC 2026-03-02 15:33:51 UTC
I'm not able to reproduce this on Plasma built from git-master, or 6.6.1 using the steps from the duplicate report

1. Set Bluetooth to remember the enabled / disabled state
2. Connect Bluetooth headphones
3. Disable Bluetooth
4. Reboot & check the Bluetooth widget

Can you let us know if this still happens with Plasma 6.6.1? Thanks!
Comment 7 cyoffwha 2026-03-02 16:31:54 UTC
(In reply to TraceyC from comment #6)
> I'm not able to reproduce this on Plasma built from git-master, or 6.6.1
> using the steps from the duplicate report
> 
> 1. Set Bluetooth to remember the enabled / disabled state
> 2. Connect Bluetooth headphones
> 3. Disable Bluetooth
> 4. Reboot & check the Bluetooth widget
> 
> Can you let us know if this still happens with Plasma 6.6.1? Thanks!

Hi. I just tested it and it still happens with Plasma 6.6.1. Also, I can add details for my case:
1. Asus Vivobook S5402Z laptop (with i7 12700H)
2. AX201 bluetooth adapter
3. Tested kernels cachyos 6.16-7.0rc1

Steps used to reproduce:
1. Enable bluetooth
2. Connect bluetooth headphones
3. Disable bluetooth
4. Reboot

Result:
Headphones autoconnect to the laptop and I can play media, meaning the bluetooth is actually fully working, and tray icon knows that. However the bluetooth popup itself still adheres to my choice of disabling bluetooth and ignores the working bluetooth.

Since you are not able to reproduce it on your machine, anything else I can do to help you?

Screenshot below showing the kde plasma version 6.6.1, tray icon displaying bluetooth as connected, while popup says disabled. 
https://ibb.co.com/dsHpm1ZK
Comment 8 TraceyC 2026-03-03 23:49:51 UTC
Well darn. Thanks for letting us know. Someone more familiar with the Bluetooth functionality will have to take a closer look.
Comment 9 Iyán M. V. 2026-03-04 14:58:28 UTC
Yeah, same, I can still reproduce this (although not ALL the times). So probably a hard bug to debug that only affects some hardware.
Comment 10 Andrew Li 2026-08-01 03:14:10 UTC
Experiencing same issue, but bluetooth also shows as disabled in settings. Both doing systemctl status bluetooth.service and using bluetoothctl indicate that bluetooth is fully working, including pairing and using a wireless controller from the CLI.

SOFTWARE/HARDWARE
Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 11e Gen 6
OS: Fedora KDE
KDE Plasma Version: 6.7.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.28.0
Qt Version: 6.11.1
Kernel Version: 7.1.5-201.fc44.x86_64
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 4x Intel Core m3-8100Y
Memory: 8 GiB of RAM (7.6 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel UHD Graphics 615
Manufacturer: LENOVO
The specific wifi/bluetooth card on the laptop is the Realtek RTL8852AE
Comment 11 TraceyC 2026-08-04 22:20:05 UTC
Setting to confirmed since multiple people are experiencing this bug