bt-dualboot 1.0.1

Description:

btdualboot 1.0.1

Sync Bluetooth for dualboot Linux and Windows
User-friendly tool making your bluetooth devices working both in Windows and Linux without re-pairing chore.
more about dualboot Bluetooth issue
bt-dualboot

doesn't require to reboot 3 times
ask you as much fewer details as possible
... see all advantages and alternatives

How to install
For developers: checkout the Developer insights for useful development and testings tips.
Usage: shortest way
Assuming you have paired devices in Windows already, boot to Linux and paired them too.
Syncing would be simple as following 2 steps:
1. Mount Windows partition
Application will probe and use mounted Windows partition automatically. Otherwise use --win /mnt/win/path/.
Partition should be mounted with write access.
2. Sync all devices available for sync
$ sudo bt-dualboot --sync-all

Syncing...
==========
[C2:9E:1D:E2:3D:A5] Keyboard K380
...done

NOTES:
(i) sudo tip: this tool needs read-only access to bluetooth devices configuration files which is inaccessible for regular user.
(ii) --backup vs --no-backup: you will be asked about your Windows Registry backup strategy
(iii) use --dry-run to preview any command effects
Usage: choose device manually

List devices info

$ sudo bt-dualboot -l

Works both in Linux and Windows
===============================
[A4:BF:C6:D0:E5:FF] WH-1000XM4

Needs sync
==========

Following devices available for sync with `--sync-all` or `--sync MAC` options.

[C2:9E:1D:E2:3D:A5] Keyboard K380

Have to be paired in Windows
============================

Following devices unavailable for sync unless you boot Windows and pair them

[E9:1D:FE:2A:C3:C8] JBL GO


Sync devices using MAC

$ sudo bt-dualboot --sync C2:9E:1D:E2:3D:A5

Syncing...
==========
[C2:9E:1D:E2:3D:A5] Keyboard K380
...done

See bt-dualboot -h and chapters below for details.
Prerequisites


Python 3.6+ installed.


chntpw package installed:


Ubuntu $ sudo apt install chntpw
...

see https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
Install
$ sudo pip install bt-dualboot

NOTES: sudo - application requires read-only access to bluetooth devices configuration files which is inaccessible for regular user. Native OS packages will be added in next releases.
Supported OS
Tested with Linux Mint 19.3, 20.3 (Ubutntu 18.04 bionic, 20.04 focal), Windows 10
Supported:

Potentially any Linux-based systems keeping bluetooth configuration in similar format as Ubuntu
Windows 10+

With next releases more OSes will be tested, Mac OS support will be added. If you get success or fail results for any OS not listed as supported, please share your experience at https://github.com/x2es/bt-dualboot/issues/1.
Advanced usage
--backup vs --no-backup
Windows Registry update performed in the safe way using chntpw/reged without changing Hive-file's size (reged -N -E). Nevertheless chntpw is non-official tool hence backup is not bad idea. Application would perform it as you prefer.
You have to choose your backup strategy explicitly.
$ sudo bt-dualboot --sync-all
usage: ....
bt-dualboot: error: Neither backup option given!

Windows Registry Hive file will be updated!
chntpw/reged tool is non-official and hackish Hive file editing tool.
It is recommended to do backup prior writing into Hive file.

Use:
-b [path], --backup [path] [default: /var/backup/bt-dualboot]
-n, --no-backup process without backup

WARNING:
Windows Registry Hive file may contain sensitive data. You shouldn't keep this file
on a storage which may be accessed by others. Consider to remove backup files as soon
as possible after ensure Windows boots and works correctly.

--win /mnt/win/path/
By default application will recognize and use mounted Windows partition. In case when it didn't found or more than single Windows partition exist you have to provide mount point with --win paramter.
Use --list-win-mounts to list recognized Windows partitions.
$ bt-dualboot --lsit-win-mounts

Windows locations:
==================
/media/user/win_foo
/media/user/win_bar

$ sudo bt-dualboot --win /media/user/win_foo -l

Troubleshooting: Windows partition write access
In case when Windows partition mounted in read-only mode, you have to remount it for read-write:
$ sudo mount -o remount,rw /mnt/win/path

Machine processing
--bot flag enables better parsable output for usage in scripts.
Dualboot Bluetooth issue
Every time when a Bluetooth device paired in one dualboot OS it stop working in another one. It happens because both OS uses the same Bluetooth adapter with the same MAC. Each pairing process generates new pairing keys for adapter's MAC. This way previous pairing key which saved in another OS becomes obsolete.
The solution is to sync saved pairing keys for both OS. This answer describes ways to handle this manually: https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/255510/411221
This application implements the way suggested by the comment which copies pairng keys directly from Linux to Windows avoiding multiple reboots.
Advantages and alternatives
bt-dualboot:

doesn't require to reboot multiple times
simple install
provides single simple cli, doesn't require invoke additional scripts
discower mounted Windows partition automatically
safe update of Windows Registry without changing file size (rewrite only)
backup Windows Registry prior update
doesn't require import/export files, handle encoding issues
allows --dry-run prior actual changes

alternatives
checkout "bluetooth dualboot" on github
solved by invoke single tool under Linux: sync keys from Linux into Windows registry:
(similar approach to bt-dualboot)

(anounced) https://github.com/nbrideau/bluetooth-key-sync

solved by invoke multiple tools under Windows and Linux: sync keys from Windows registry into Linux configs:
(requires more steps and reboots, involves using windows tools, manage import/export files)
Most soulutions is kind of import tool of Windows *.reg file into Linux bluetooth configuration.

[UI] https://github.com/nagi1999a/BluetoothDualBootHelper
[simple cli] https://github.com/ademlabs/synckeys
https://github.com/Krakenus/bluetooth-dualboot-fixer
https://github.com/LondonAppDev/dual-boot-bluetooth-pair
https://github.com/heyzec/dual-boot-mouse
https://github.com/arunpandian7/DuoPair-Bluetooth
https://github.com/luismaf/bluetooth-dual-boot
[repeative arguments] https://github.com/aryklein/dualBootMouse

Mac OS:

https://github.com/HenrySeed/macosDualBootingBluetoothKeys
https://github.com/sarneeh/mac-win-dualboot-bt

Cli reference
$ bt-dualboot -h
usage: bt-dualboot [-h] [-l] [--list-win-mounts] [--bot] [--dry-run] [--win MOUNT] [--sync MAC [MAC ...]] [--sync-all] [-n] [-b [path]]

Sync bluetooth keys from Linux to Windows.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit

List resources:
-l, --list [root required] list bluetooth devices
--list-win-mounts list mounted Windows locations
--bot parsable output for robots (supported: -l)

Sync keys:
--dry-run print actions to do without invocation
--win MOUNT Windows mount point (advanced usage)
--sync MAC [MAC ...] [root required] sync specified device
--sync-all [root required] sync all paired devices

Backup Windows Registry:
-n, --no-backup process without backup
-b [path], --backup [path]
path to backup directory, default: /var/backup/bt-dualboot

Next releases
First priority is to extend list of tested and supported OS.
General roadmap assumes creating GUI and background service versions, adding sync Linux to Linux ability. It will be implemented on demand - give a voice at https://github.com/x2es/bt-dualboot/issues/2