Adding custom service with sd_ble_gatts_service_add not working

[Ameen S]

Hello,

We're using version 7.0.1 of the S140 soft device. We are making a bluetooth application where the device behaves both as a central and peripheral. In peripheral mode I can successfully advertise and be connected to. However, I can't get my custom service to be added properly. Below is my code to initialize the service which I took from the beginner's tutorial. It's nothing fancy, and I can compile it and run with with no problems or error codes from the function calls.

#define BLE_UUID_OUR_BASE_UUID              {{0x23, 0xD1, 0x13, 0xEF, 0x5F, 0x78, 0x23, 0x15, 0xDE, 0xEF, 0x12, 0x12, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}} // 128-bit base UUID
#define BLE_UUID_OUR_SERVICE                0xABCD // Just a random, but recognizable value
uint16_t    service_handle;

uint32_t ble_peripheral_service_init(void){
    uint32_t   err_code; // Variable to hold return codes from library and softdevice functions
    
    // OUR_JOB: Declare 16-bit service and 128-bit base UUIDs and add them to the BLE stack
    ble_uuid_t        service_uuid;
    ble_uuid128_t     base_uuid = BLE_UUID_OUR_BASE_UUID;
    service_uuid.uuid = BLE_UUID_OUR_SERVICE;
    err_code = sd_ble_uuid_vs_add(&base_uuid, &service_uuid.type);
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);    
    
    // OUR_JOB: Add our service
    err_code = sd_ble_gatts_service_add(BLE_GATTS_SRVC_TYPE_PRIMARY,
                                        &service_uuid,
                                        &service_handle);
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);
    vlog_info("BLE Peripheral Service Initialized\r\n");
    return err_code;
}

Everything runs as expected. However, my central cannot find my service during discovery. When I use NRF Connect (on both iphone and my mac), after I connect, I only see the generic services and not my service. I don't see anything that could go wrong. Am I missing something in my SDK config? Here's the relevant values. Given the lack off error codes and everything seems to run properly I don't think it's that.

#define NRF_BLE_GATT_ENABLED 1
#define NRF_SDH_BLE_PERIPHERAL_LINK_COUNT 2
#define NRF_SDH_BLE_VS_UUID_COUNT 10
#define NRF_SDH_BLE_GATTS_ATTR_TAB_SIZE 992
#define NRF_SDH_BLE_SERVICE_CHANGED 0

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Hung Bui]

Hi Ameen, 
I think it may have something to do with the ATT table being cached and not re-discovery. You may want to test by turn off and on Bluetooth. 

Have you tried to test with an example for example ble_app_blinky or ble_app_uart ? We use proprietary service in these examples. You can use them as the base for your application. 

Please try turning on the service changed characteristic if you plan to change the attribute table. Set NRF_SDH_BLE_SERVICE_CHANGED=1 in sdk_config.h

Please be noted that the nRF5 SDK is depreciated as we moved to the nRF Connect SDK since 2018. For new development we suggest to start with nRF Connect SDK. We have the academy course to guide you through: academy.nordicsemi.com/