If you want to know the bluetooth device you want to connect to is alive or not, i.e. whether that device’s Bluetooth is ON or not and whether it can respond to our other request like enquiry for information etc. For this l2ping helps us.

Command line execution

Terminalbash
sudo hcitool scan Scanning ... 	 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC 	 Nokia 7 plus Now, lets see if the device is UP or NOT, this command is very similar to network ping. $ sudo l2ping 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC Ping: 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC from 70:1A:04:59:69:04 (data size 44) ... 44 bytes from 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC id 0 time 5.93ms 44 bytes from 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC id 1 time 8.76ms Now, lets see how the command responds when the Bluetooth is OFF $ sudo l2ping 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC Can't connect: Host is down

Implementation details

L2ping sends a L2CAP echo request to the Bluetooth MAC address bd_addr given in dotted hex notation. For the very first time, we need to know the BT_ADDR or BT MAC of the device whose status we want to check. We can know the BT MAC using following command, $ sudo hcitool scan Scanning ... 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC Nokia 7 plus Now, lets see if the device is UP or NOT, this command is very similar to network ping. $ sudo l2ping 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC Ping: 6C:C4:D5:6C:C5:BC from 70:1A:04:59:69:04 (data size 44) ...

Gotchas and common issues

  • Permission checks - verify user access rights and sudo privileges before executing system-level operations.

  • Environment configuration - double-check path variables and dependency versions to prevent runtime failures.

  • Backup safeguards - maintain configuration backups before applying system or database modifications.

Following these steps ensures clean configuration and reliable execution for check if bluetooth device is up or not using l2ping.