OK, first batch of results:

• 'obexd' is started by default on Xenial and runs with the same command-line parameters
• the same two OBEX-related packages are installed, but of course their version differ (5.53 for bluez-obexd, 1.7.1 for libopenobex2)
• the files provided by the 'bluez-obexd' package are the same, except for the dbus-org.bluez.obex.service unit file that is missing on Xenial
• the output of busctl list | grep bluez is quite close to what it is on Focal, except that the corresponding 'systemd' unit file is not shown
• the output of busctl list | grep obex shows something in lieu of a unit file ('session-c1.scope' -- what is it?), but still doesn't advertise any name for the service (see below)
• further digging reveals that although 'systemd' is already present on the system, it is not used for user-related processes (i.e. no systemd --user process) -- 'obexd' has been started by upstart --user (based on its PPID)

Maybe the problem on Focal stems from a lack of integration between the OBEX daemon and systemd --user (which could also explain why the service doesn't start although enabled)?

For what it's worth, here is the output of busctl list | grep obex on Xenial:

:1.59                                             4084 obexd           phablet          :1.59         session-c1.scope          c1         -                  

@lduboeuf That's a very good point -- thanks a lot. I'll have a look at those patches, but most of all you reminded me that I still have a working Xiaomi phone running Xenial, so I'll investigate the way the Bluez/OBEX stack is configured there.

This being said, a further test confirms that when 'obexd' is running, it does register with D-Bus, only not with the expected name:

:1.129                                      5035 obexd           phablet          :1.129        user@32011.service              -       -          

(the behaviour is the same on the laptop, BTW -- there at least, none of the D-Bus services that are started by a regular user register a name on the bus, even though a 'BusName' parameter is specified in their unit file; only services started as 'root' seem allowed to do that).

@lduboeuf Many thanks for the suggestion. No, I had not checked the output of busctl list. Here is what it says in the "default" state (i.e. no 'obexd' running, phone not connected to laptop over BT):

org.bluez                                   2170 bluetoothd      root             :1.40         bluetooth.service               -       -          

If I then start 'obexd' manually as explained above, the output remains the same. If I then connect the phone to the laptop over BT, the output is still the same.

For what it's worth, I performed the same test on the laptop (openSUSE Leap 15.6), where 'obexd' is always running and known to be functional, and the busctl list output there also only lists 'bluetoothd', so I'm not sure whether 'obexd' is expected to appear there at all.

Hello

I'm trying to revive the 'ubtd' app (Bluetooth file transfer) initially written by Michael Zanetti and Ian L., but I've hit a roadblock and I could use some guidance.

I'm currently targetting UT 20.04 on a Pixel 3a.

By default, the OBEX daemon doesn't run on the phone. A 'systemd' unit file is supposed to start it (/usr/lib/systemd/user/dbus-org.bluez.obex.service), but it is reported as "loaded / inactive (dead)" by 'systemctl' -- I'm not sure why as I was unable to find relevant log entries.

I can manually start the OBEX daemon using the following command:

$ systemctl --user start obex.service

In this case, the 'obexd' daemon keeps running and uses the same command-line parameters as those specified for the D-Bus related service (obexd -P ftp,irmc,mas,pcsuite -r /home/phablet).

Nonetheless, after pairing the phone with my laptop, when I start my app (the one that is supposed to receive incoming file transfers), I see the following messages in its log:

[03/01/2026 12:25] creating agent on dbus
[03/01/2026 12:25] registering agent
[03/01/2026 12:25] registering agent on obexd-server
[03/01/2026 12:25] Error registering agent for the default adapter: QDBusError("org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown", "The name org.bluez.obex was not provided by any .service files")

For information, the obex.service unit file does expose "org.bluez.obex" as BusName, not as Name -- not sure how relevant that is.

On its side, the OBEX daemon logs the following:

[03/01/2026 12:25] CONNECT(0x0), <unknown>(0xff)
[03/01/2026 12:25] CONNECT(0x0), <unknown>(0x0)
[03/01/2026 12:25] PUT(0x2), <unknown>(0xff)
[03/01/2026 12:25] PUT(0x2), Forbidden(0x43)
[03/01/2026 12:25] DISCONNECT(0x1), <unknown>(0xff)
[03/01/2026 12:25] DISCONNECT(0x1), Success(0x20)
[03/01/2026 12:25] disconnected: Transport got disconnected

So 'obexd' seems to receive the file sent by the laptop (from the point of view of the laptop, the transfer succeeds), but fails to hand it over to my app, which I guess makes sense as it failed to register itself with the daemon.

Can anyone suggest a fix, further ways to troubleshoot or point me to relevant documentation?

Thanks in advance.

@OtaDr I'm not sure my experience is similar. My phone connects to a Bluetooth headset every day (Skoda car kit or Sena headset in my motorbike helmet), and I never noticed any issue with this.

Also, based on the test I made at the time, it's not that the ringing is silent -- the phone doesn't ring at all and the caller is immediately redirected to my voicemail.

Furthermore, I noticed something else during my holidays in France. In this case, my phone was roaming on a foreign provider's network (SFR), and the problem manifested itself again. I had to use the same technique to get the phone to ring again. So I have the feeling there may be an issue in the way the phone negotiates the initial connection with each new provider it uses.

Hello,
This is not a request for help, just sharing my experience with the community.
After applying OTA-9 on the phone (Pixel 3A), I noticed twice that it wouldn't ring at all any more when someone called me. In each case, the caller was immediately redirected to voicemail.
I accessed the call forwarding settings on the phone (System Settings | Phone | Call forwarding). I didn't need to change anything. But retesting after doing this, everything worked fine -- the phone would ring again when called.
HTH
Ph. A.

@kristatos I see this freeze on a Google Pixel 3A as well (UT 20.04 OTA-8 fully up-to-date), at least in uNav -- I haven't tried the other apps yet.

The present post does not contain any question. When I flashed my first phone with UT four years ago, I struggled a bit to gather all relevant information, so I'm offering the below procedure to the community in the hope that it may ease the journey of first-time users.

Disclaimer: this is a description of what worked for me. Use at your own risk. Flashing is performed from a PC installed with openSUSE Leap 15.6 -- some commands may need to be adapted if you use a different distro.

Important: if flashing the phone with either Android Flash Tool or the flash-all.sh script hangs / fails to detect the phone, DO try from a different PC if you can (I have a Lenovo laptop and a custom-built PC both installed with openSUSE Leap 15.6: I was never able to flash from the laptop, while the PC worked like a charm). It may also be worth trying different USB cables / USB ports.

Note: in the steps below, '#' denote commands that are executed as root, '$' denote commands that are executed as a regular user.

Android initial setup

• unbox and fully charge phone (do not turn on yet)

• insert SIM, turn phone on

  • select language (English UK)

  • click Get Started

  • connect to WiFi (provide credentials)
    -> "getting your phone ready..."

  • "Copy apps & data" -> select "Don't copy"

  • Google account sign-in -> login

  • Accept conditions

  • set a PIN

  • Continue setup or get reminder -> get reminder

  • Unselect all optional apps

  • Settings -> System -> Updates
    (Android 12, build SP2A.220505.008)

  • Settings -> About Phone
    tap "Build number" 7 times, enter PIN to confirm
    -> "you are now a developer"

  • Settings -> System -> Developer Options:

    • enable USB debugging
    • allow OEM unlocking, enter PIN to confirm

• turn phone off

Dev. env. installation on linux PC

• unzip 'platform-tools' archive below ~/platform-tools/

• edit ~/.bashrc to add ${HOME}/platform-tools to your PATH

• install (update) 'android-udev-rules' package from build service

  # zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/hardware/15.6/hardware.repo
  # zypper refresh
  # zypper install android-udev-rules-20250314-lp156.51.1.noarch
  

  (this also installs adb and fastboot by way of dependencies)

• add your own user account to 'adbusers' group:

  # usermod -aG adbusers <userID>
  

  (logout/login)

  # grep adb /etc/group
  adbusers:x:453:<userID>
  

Unlock bootloader

• turn phone on (regular mode). Unlock it

• plug phone into PC

• ADB connection detected by phone. Check box to always allow connection from PC (allow PC's RSA key fingerprint on device):

  $ adb devices -l
  List of devices attached
  XXXXXXXXXX             device usb:1-6 product:sargo model:Pixel_3a device:sargo transport_id:1
  

• turn phone off

• boot into Fastboot Mode
  (volume down + power -- hold for 5")

  Fastboot menu appears

  $ fastboot devices -l
  XXXXXXXXXX             fastboot usb:1-6
  

• unlock bootloader

  $ fastboot flashing unlock
  OKAY [  0.133s]
  Finished. Total time: 0.133s
  

• phone screen prompts: do not unlock / unlock
  (use volume keys to select, power button to confirm)
  -> bootloader confirmed unlocked

• turn phone off (use volume button to select option, power button to confirm)

Return phone to latest Android 9

(the steps below refer to the Android Flash Tool -- using the flash-all.sh script also works fine but starts with the phone booted into the bootloader)

• check that 'adb' is not running
  (otherwise, stop it with 'adb kill-server')

• turn phone on the usual way

• redo basic setup, as bootloader unlock returned it to factory default (see above)

• reconnect to phone using 'adb devices' to get prompt to authorized PC and allow it

• visit following URL in Chrome (authorise pop-ups in browser):
  https://flash.android.com/

• select device

• select target build (PQ3B.190801.002)

• DO NOT select to relock bootloader

• click Install Build (confirm, accept license)

  • DO NOT interact with device during flashing
  • it reboots to fastboot
  • reselect device in Chrome

• flash successful -- power cycle device

• reboot to Android 9, redo initial setup, enable dev. mode, USB debug, connect and allow PC, turn phone off

Flash phone with UbuntuTouch

• install 'snapd' daemon

  # zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/system:/snappy/openSUSE_Leap_15.6/ Snappy
  # zypper refresh
  
  # zypper in snapd
  
  # systemctl enable snapd.apparmor.service
  # systemctl start snapd.apparmor.service
  # systemctl enable snapd.service
  # systemctl start snapd.service
  

• reboot

• install UBports installer

  # snap install ubports-installer
  
  $ which ubports-installer
  /snap/bin/ubports-installer
  
  $ snap info ubports-installer
  name:      ubports-installer
  summary:   The easy way to install Ubuntu Touch on UBports devices.
  publisher: UBports
  store-url: https://snapcraft.io/ubports-installer
  contact:   https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/new
  license:   GPL-3.0
  description: |
   A friendly cross-platform Installer for Ubuntu Touch. Just connect a
   supported device to your PC, follow the on-screen instructions and watch
   this awesome tool do all the rest.
  commands:
   - ubports-installer
  snap-id:      mq0sTMV7a8744UTRBwQHimStAqsGzbjj
  tracking:     latest/stable
  refresh-date: 2022-09-11
  channels:
   latest/stable:    0.9.7-beta 2022-09-11 (435)  97MB -
   latest/candidate: ?                                 
   latest/beta:      0.9.8-beta 2022-11-02 (445) 102MB -
   latest/edge:      0.10.0     2023-04-23 (462) 103MB -
  installed:          0.9.7-beta            (435)  97MB -
  

• switch ubports-installer to "edge" channel

  $ snap refresh ubports-installer --edge
  ubports-installer (edge) 0.10.0 from UBports refreshed
  
  $ snap info ubports-installer
  name:      ubports-installer
  summary:   The easy way to install Ubuntu Touch on UBports devices.
  publisher: UBports
  store-url: https://snapcraft.io/ubports-installer
  contact:   https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/new
  license:   GPL-3.0
  description: |
   A friendly cross-platform Installer for Ubuntu Touch. Just connect a
   supported device to your PC, follow the on-screen instructions and watch
   this awesome tool do all the rest.
  commands:
   - ubports-installer
  snap-id:      mq0sTMV7a8744UTRBwQHimStAqsGzbjj
  tracking:     latest/edge
  refresh-date: today at 13:47 CET
  channels:
   latest/stable:    0.9.7-beta 2022-09-11 (435)  97MB -
   latest/candidate: ?                                 
   latest/beta:      0.9.8-beta 2022-11-02 (445) 102MB -
   latest/edge:      0.10.0     2023-04-23 (462) 103MB -
  installed:          0.10.0                (462) 103MB -
  

• start ubports-installer

  $ ubports-installer 
  Gtk-Message: 19:40:25.179: Failed to load module "window-decorations-gtk-module"
  Gtk-Message: 19:40:25.179: Failed to load module "colorreload-gtk-module"
  info: Welcome to the UBports Installer version 0.10.0!
  

  • connect phone (off) via USB

  • click select device manually
    -> Google Pixel 3a:3a XL

  • click "My device is unlocked"

  • select OS
    -> Ubuntu Touch

  • click Install

  • Installation options:

    • select channel
      -> 20.04/stable
    • check "wipe personal data"
    • check "Flash system partitions using fastboot" (default)
    • click OK

  info: device selected: sargo
  info: Installing Ubuntu Touch on your Google Pixel 3a/3a XL (sargo)
  info: configuring...
  info: settings: {"bootstrap":true,"wipe":true,"channel":"20.04/arm64/android9plus/stable"}
  info: Downloading 3 files
  info: Downloaded file 1 of 3
  info: Downloaded file 2 of 3
  info: Downloaded file 3 of 3
  

  • boot phone to bootloader, click Continue

    (flashing firmware)

  • boot to recovery, click Continue

    (if button fails, try adb reboot recovery)
    => shows 3-circles recovery logo and menu

  info: Downloading 12 files
  info: Downloaded file 1 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 2 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 3 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 4 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 5 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 6 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 7 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 8 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 9 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 10 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 11 of 12
  info: Downloaded file 12 of 12
  info: All done! Your device will now reboot and complete the installation. Enjoy exploring Ubuntu Touch!
  

  (pushing files to phone)

  • phone reboots at the end
    => goes to longish 3-circles recovery logo animation while installing (may last a few minutes -- have patience)

  • phone reboots again
    => this time it boots to UT and asks you to perform the initial setup

Many thanks to all those who responded, first of all.

Based on the initial comment by @wally, I made some further tests yesterday night. Indeed, the car kit has a button/function to import the contacts from the phone, but it fails to import anything. Its message is that maybe I need to authorize the sharing on the phone.

I also tried to export all contacts to vCard on the phone (successfully), then to browse to that file in file manager, then shift-left and click on the sharing icon, but that only listed "Messages" and "Dekko" as potential targets. New import attempts from the car kit ended up with the same error message.

So I guess that this "sharing" icon is where a "BT File Transfer" app would need to register itself. For the record, this is how I used to send contact info to the car kit from my Nokia N900, using a BT transfer app called "Petrovich'.

OK, to start answering my own question, based on information found in other posts in this forum, there appear to be 2 apps that could be used for this:

• "Bluetooth File Transfer", the original app by Ian L., reportedly working but no longer updated since Oct. 2018
• "Bluetooth File Transfer", a clone of the first one made by Ruben Carneiro ported to a different architecture, but non-functional based on the reports I could find -- that one dates back to 2021

Both of them are still listed on the OpenStore when accessed through the web site, but none of them show up in the OpenStore app (perhaps because they're not compatible with my phone / UT version).

Hello again,
I was able to pair my newly installed Pixel 3a with the car kit of my Skoda Octavia, and I'm glad to report that everything seems to be working:

• I'm able to use the car sound system to listen to music played by the phone (selecting Bluetooth as source on the car Media Centre)
• the car displays the phone's battery charge and GSM network strength
• when an incoming call is received, the ringtone comes through the car sound system
• I'm able to take the call from the dashboard and the voice goes through the car sound system as expected

Now for the question: is there a tool that would allow me to push my contacts to the car kit over Bluetooth?

Thanks in advance.

Ph. A.

I just installed the phone with UBP-installer v0.10.0 -- everything went like a charm this time round.

Many thanks to both of you for your support.

@stanwood Thanks a lot for the advice.

For the benefit of the community: due to my failed flashing attempt, the phone was left in a state where only the bootloader could be reached. It displayed a message saying: "no valid slot to boot".

As suggested by @MrT10001, I was able to get it back to a functioning state by re-flashing it with Android 9 (PQ3B.190801.002) using the 'flash-all.sh' script.

I'll try again the UT installation using the UBP-installer v0.10.0 this time and report back on the outcome.

@MrT10001 Thanks -- I'll try that.

Hello,
I got a refurbished Pixel 3a delivered with Android 12 and was able to unlock its bootloader and downgrade it to Android 9 (PQ3B.190801.002) using the web-based Android Flash Tool.
I then attempted the UT installation using 'ubports-installer' version 0.9.7-beta (upon startup, it suggested that "snap refresh --stable", but snap told me that no update was available).
I selected channel "20.04/arm64/android9plus/stable" and the UT installation process started (it said "flashing firmware"), then asked me to reboot the phone in recovery, which I tried to do -- the phone seemed stuck on the white "Google" splash screen. 'ubports-installer' was never able to re-establish the communication with the device.
I tried power-cycling the phone, booting it to bootloader and switching to recovery mode again, but this no longer works -- it returns by itself to the bootloader with a message at the bottom saying "failed to boot boot.img" (or some such).
Any idea as to how I should proceed? (try to re-flash Android 9? retry immediately with UBP-installer?)
Also, is version 0.9.7-beta of UBP-installer the recommended one?
TIA
Ph. A.

@Moem Thanks a lot for your suggestion -- I'll have a look at it.

@mschmids That's good to know -- thanks a lot for your feedback.

Hello everyone,
I currently use (as secondary device) a Xiaomi Mi A2 that I installed with UT 16.04 (currently at OTA-25). I can't complain about the base OS -- that has been very stable and enjoyable to use (including the dual SIM support, one of the reasons I selected that phone to begin with). But its interactions with some of the hardware components are far from satisfying:

• the camera app is really hit-and-miss: from time to time, it's able to take a picture and save it, but most of the time it just freezes while doing so
• similar story with the GPS: uNav and OSM Scout start up fine. In most cases, uNav eventually gets a fix on the satellites and shows me my position, but when I move, the app soon stops updating my position
• I also tried to use Steps (step counter), but there as well, it may capture the first few steps, then either stops refreshing the count, freezes, or even gets the phone completely frozen

All in all, I get the feeling the apps themselves are excellent, but the lower-level drivers that implement the interface with the hardware are far from reliable (at least on the 'jasmine_sprout' platform).

Hence my question(s) to the community:

• is this experience rather typical, or just the sign that I selected a poorly supported phone model?
• if not typical, can you suggest a phone model where all these applications are known to work reliably enough to base your daily activities on? I would like to continue experimenting with UT, but preferably with better results than on the Xiaomi
• also important to me is dual SIM support -- I've looked at the phone models recommended for Focal, but none of them seemed to offer it. Any suggestions?

Side question: I remember reading in these forums that the upgrade to Focal was a pre-requisite for the UT phone app to be able to take calls through a Bluetooth headset (such as a car-kit or motorcycle helmet headset). Has there been progress on this?

Thanks in advance for any insight or advice on any of this.