Seeking Paid Assistance for Fanstel BU840XE to be used to scan for BLE Mac addresses.

[Jakka351]

Hi there,

I have purchased a Fanstel BU840XE device (BU840XE, The longest range, Remote USB Dongle for BLE 5, Thread, Zigbee — Fanstel) theres the link. The device has an nRF52 chipset in it, and I have been trying to get the unit to function but i am having absolutely no luck with anything.

I have installed the NRF Connect Desktop application, and this software finds the device plugged in via USB however I cannot do anything with it, can't talk to it via raw serial AT commands, can't flash firmware, can't read firmware cant do jack with it.

I have also tried flashing firmware from the manufacturer using the NRF command line utiliies, nrfprog, which also fails to flash the firmware.

I then tried to flash the same firmware via the DFU Firmware Update android application, which also fails.

I have contacted the manufacturer on multiple occasions to ask for clarification, and they have provided some documentation and software for working with the device however they have largely ignored my emails requesting for assistance, and they simply do not care. This is the Fanstel office in China, I have been unable to get in touch with the one in the United States. Due to the language barrier and the fact that these fuckers do not give a ***, I have ceased bothering to talk to them.

My aim here is to either use the device as a plug and play USB Bluetooth dongle, which I realise would likely need some custom firmware, especially since I want to run the device on a raspberry pi. All I actualy want to achieve is to be able to scan for bluetooth low energy devices and grab their mac addresses. Perhaps even having the device a usb serial port that provides the mac addresses it sees via the serial port would even be feasible.

I am at my wits end with this fucking thing, can anybody provide assistance or push me the right direction, I am looking for someone who knows what they are doing with these devices and I am willing to pay for assistance so that I can get my desired outcome. Please post or message me or email me at [email protected] or call me (Australia) [phone] if you think you can help me.

[Jakka351]

come on people!

[Elfving]

Hi Jack, 

I am sorry to hear about the bad experiences you've had, both getting it to work and trying to get help from Fanstel about it. I see that you've asked about this earlier, and I agree with what my coworker told you then - we do not know this particular product, nor what it consists of exactly. You should optimally get help from Fanstel about this. If they are unable to provide the info you need we might be a bit stuck. 

Another thing you've been told before that is important to note is this:

This suggests that it doesn't have a programmer/debugger. You are probably connecting to the nRF's USB port. This USB port is controlled by the nRF, but it can't be used for programming. Reach out to Fanstel and ask what is already programmed on the device, and how to reprogram it. I can help you interpret the answer you receive if you'd like, but as I said, I am not familiar with the device, and I don't know what's on the PCB, or what it is programmed with.

So the board likely does not have an OB programmer/debugger. You would either need to flash it using DFU, by finding a way to put the board in bootloader mode, or to program it using eg. another board that has an OB debugger (like a nRF52DK). Using any other nrfjprog or nRF Connect for desktop tools wouldn't help. 

After a quick search I found some info on this board here and here. This seems to give the impression that you can flash it using a 10pin jtag cable on the inside of the box. And I am not sure if this step is about your specific board, but have you tried this?:

 

am looking for someone who knows what they are doing with these devices and I am willing to pay for assistance so that I can get my desired outcome.

We unfortunately do not accept payment for the help we provide here. Our services are free.

Jakka351 said:

come on people!

We will try to reply here within the next Norwegian working day.

Regards,

Elfving