For unknown reasons the gnome-obex-send GUI doesn't work in Ubuntu Edgy. When trying to send a file the “Send to” selector is just blank.

It is possible to send files from the commandline like this:

# hcitool scan

Scanning ...
        00:12:62:5D:65:E2       Nokia 9300

# gnome-obex-send --dest=00:12:62:5D:65:E2 file.txt

Browsing 00:12:62:5D:65:E2 ...
Service Name: OBEX Object Push
Service RecHandle: 0x10000
Protocol Descriptor List:
  "L2CAP" (0x0100)
  "RFCOMM" (0x0003)
    Channel: 9
  "OBEX" (0x0008)
Service Class ID List:
  "OBEX Object Push" (0x1105)
** Message: device 00:12:62:5D:65:E2 (OBEX Object Push) port 9

…bingo and the file.txt is delivered to my phone.

But that isn't good enough the GUI must work so here is a trick. Add the following in /etc/rc.local:

hciconfig hci0 inqmode 0

This runs the command on startup and thus fix the problem, so you can use the “Send to” function in Nautilus and see devices in sight.

You can also choose to run the command from a shell if switching runlevel (rebooting) isn't an option:

# sudo hciconfig hci0 inqmode 0

Update: In Feisty you only need to install the gnome-obex-send package (plus dependencies) to get this working. Just remember to launch “Bluetooth File Sharing” when you need to receive a file.