COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
blueman-r 3423 root 6r CHR 216,0 0t0 59219 /dev/rfcomm0

As far as I can see, that's legit. If I kill that PID, it severs the connection to the BT.

I had similar issue recently and remember doing the below to fix it

sudo chown astroberry /dev/rfcomm0
sudo usermod -a -G dialout astroberry

Replace astroberry with your username.

Just tried that with no luck as well. I took the BTEQ5 and hooked it back up to my windows laptop, everything worked just fine with EQMOD there. I also tried it on my laptop running Linux Mint 18 and it would not stay connected. I could pair, but it would only stay connected a moment. I also could find no way in Mint to assign a com port, so that was no help...was really hoping Mint would help me, but the last thing I need right now is being sidetracked with another linux machine that this won't work on!

I think your problem is that "blueman-r" process as my system doesn't list any processes with "lsof /dev/rfcomm0" when not connected and indi_eqmod_telescope when it is. I don't use the bluetooth manager connect but have "rfcomm bind 0 20:16:xx:xx:xx:xx" in my startup scripts.

It appears Blueman is the graphical interface. I did not install it separately, I wonder if it's safe to just get rid of it?

(EDIT) So, blueman was the culprit. I uninstalled it and bound the BT to /dev/rfcomm0 manually and EKOS connected right away. Slewing controls worked just like EQMOD so all appears well...at least with this initial problem. Thanks for all the help!

I heard that in 18.04, the bluetooth stack is much more reliable. So hopefully it would be less of a pain in a few months. Notwithstanding that, I didn't face any issues here.. maybe I was lucky!

I have the same problem. I'm a real beginner.
Would you mind telling me the commands you used to bind the /dev/rfcomm ?
Thanks

I was having that problem too and had to revert indi-eqmod and libindi1 way back to an older version.

But first try to remove modemmanger and see if it affects the connection.
And then issue this command "sudo rfcomm bind hci0 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" where xx's are the mac address of the btooth module.

You can use this for a reference, it's for RPi but works on other hardware:

www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=125922 or

this one:

www.indilib.org/forum/mounts/1719-eqmod-bluetooth.html

Using ubuntu mate 17.10. Wich one are you using?

Changed to Ubuntu Mate 17.01 and used "sudo rfcomm bind hci0 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" as you suggested and it worked!
Thank you

I think I've tried every conceivable combination, nothing is working.

I still have zero issues using the bluetooth in windows, it's operating correctly. I've completely reinstalled Ubuntu Mate on my RPI3 with the automated install script (which is awesome btw, love that!)

I've removed modemmanager, I've removed blueman, I've set rfcomm to bind in /etc/rc.local.

/dev/rfcomm0 shows in use if I try to connect via terminal, and I'm now getting an error trying to use lsof:

scott@AstroPi:/dev$ sudo lsof /dev/rfcomm0
lsof: WARNING: can't stat() fuse.gvfsd-fuse file system /run/user/1000/gvfs
Output information may be incomplete.

I'm about to give up on this, I can use my windows setup with no issues, I was just hoping to be able to do it remotely.

I was getting the same message when using the Bluetooth panel to "Connect to serial port".
Now I do this:
1. Just pair the device but don't use the "Connect to serial port".
2. Then in a terminal type the command:
sudo rfcomm bind hci0 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx;xx
Where xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx is the address for your device. You can see it in the Bluetooth panel.
You have to do it every time you restart.
I hope it works for you too.

Thanks, no dice.

I just don't know what is different for me than everyone else that gets this to work. Other than removing modemmanager after the install, my Raspberry Pi 3 is running a clean version of the Raspberry Pi 3 setup script found here.

I've tried having the rfcomm bind command in /etc/rc.local, and tried it without that. I've tried removing Blueman (a suggestion made here in this thread I think) and I've tried with Blueman installed.

I've tried manually trying to bind and connect via rfcomm. Nothing works.

I can kill VNC and disconnect from the RPI and immediately connect the mount in windows. I just don't understand it.