linux get mac address of nearby devices with bluetooth

To ensure that a unique container ID is generated for every device, developers of Bluetooth devices must configure each device with a unique MAC address. Unlike USB devices, the removable device capability is never used to generate container IDs for Bluetooth devices. Therefore, a container ID for Bluetooth devnodes and services is always based on the MAC address value. Starting with Windows 7, the operating system considers Bluetooth services to be functional device interfaces, and groups these services together with the Bluetooth devnodes for a device.Īll Bluetooth devices must include a MAC address. However, these services are effectively functional device instances, because they provide specific functionality and enable communication with the Bluetooth device.

These services are not installed as Windows PnP devices and therefore do not have associated devnodes.

Probe Requests contain the MAC address of the sender, and often contain the network name (SSID) that the client is searching for. This container ID is supplied by the Bluetooth bus driver for each Bluetooth device node ( devnode) that is enumerated for a physical device.īluetooth devices frequently implement Bluetooth-specific services. These scans are typically 'active scans', where the device transmits a Probe Request frame, and hopes to receive Probe Response frames in reply from any nearby Wi-Fi access points (wireless routers).

The Bluetooth bus driver uses the MAC address as a seed value to generate a unique container ID for the device. For a Bluetooth device that is connected to the computer, the device's media access control (MAC) address is used to generate a container ID for the device.

Linux get mac address of nearby devices with bluetooth