Bluetooth not connecting

[bscdb]

Hi,

1. I tried flashing all ble codes to my nrf kit. It does not seem to connect on Windows machine but connects on Mac. My other nrf kit connects perfectly fine. What is the fix?

2. When my other nrf device is visible on Mac, it displays duplicate names, so its confusing which one to connect to?

[awneil]

bscdb said:

does not seem to connect on Windows machine

What "Windows machine" ?

bscdb said:

but connects on Mac

So have you tried using the debugger in the two cases to see what's different / where it goes wrong ?

bscdb said:

When my other nrf device is visible on Mac, it displays duplicate names

That is expected behaviour!

The Mac only displays the name which the peripheral provides - so the only way around this is to give your peripherals distinct names.

On Android, you can see the MAC address - but iOS does not allow this.

[Bjørn Kvaale]

1) Are you using Windows 8 or Windows 10? Which nRF5 example have you tested with?

2) Are you connecting directly from the Mac or Windows Bluetooth settings to the nRF52 DK? When you change the device name of the nRF52, it may be that you need to clear bluetooth cache (just try turning Bluetooth off for about 10 seconds & then turning Bluetooth on again) on your Mac to see the updated device name.

In general, we do not advise connecting from a computer (Windows or Mac) directly to an nRF52 DK device because the Bluetooth chip on your computer may have issues connecting to the nRF5 device.

Update: Slightly misleading comment above. Thanks for picking it up awneil! You can connect some examples directly to a Windows computer (such as HID mouse), however most examples have not been tested directly with the computer's Bluetooth chip. If they have been tested with nRF Connect for Desktop, an nRF5 device was used as a connectivity chip in most examples.

If possible, we recommend connecting your computer to an nRF52840 dongle for example (or an nRF5 DK) to use as a connectivity device between the computer <-> BLE <-> nRF52 DK. You can then easily test using nRF Connect for Desktop BLE app for example.

Another thing you can test is to connect to the nRF52 DK via your mobile phone nRF Connect for Mobile app just to see that the connection to the DK is succesfull. If this is the case, the issue most likely lies on the Windows/Mac side.

[Bjørn Kvaale]

Which version number does it say on the line below PCA10040 on the white sticker on the two nRF52 DKs (e.g. v1.2.1)?

[Bjørn Kvaale]

@bscdb Which version of Windows 10 are you using? If it is an early version of Windows 10, it may not work all too great as Nguyen Hoan Hoang mentioned. 

Also, have you tried to turn off Bluetooth for about 10 seconds & then turn it back on. That is how you clear Bluetooth cache on smartphones at least. I am assuming it is the same in Windows.

[awneil]

Are both of your boards the Nordic nRF52-DK ?

Are they identical?

Maybe the non-working one has been damaged or mis-configured?

Are you loading the exact same code - including SoftDevice - on both?

Have you tried a full chip erase?

Have you used the debugger to see what's happening in both cases - and see where they differ?

[bscdb]

1. I just bought a new Windows 10 laptop.

2. The nrf52832 board which does not give problems is v.0.9.0. The one not connecting to Windows PC is v.1.2.4 (which I recently bought)

3. I tried erasing the chip using JLink & nrfStudio

4. I dont think debugging the code would help coz the v.1.2.4 board connects to nrfConnect so clearly there is no issue with the firmware or flashing different soft device or different hex file.

5. If I change the bluetooth device name, the board will show up with 2 names - the old one & the new one and connects to one of them and keeps toggling between paired & connected states. After I remove and uninstall both device names & restart both PC & board, same behavior repeats.

6. I understand that I should not directly wire up nrf board to Windows PC but that is bound to happen sometime. There should be a fix for that. I'll have to flash the code through USB.

[Bjørn Kvaale]

Yes, I agree with awneil. I would definitely recommend debugging both examples & seeing where the difference occurs. Just upload both logs using Insert -> Code & we can continue taking a look.

[awneil]

Bjørn Kvaale said:

upload both logs using Insert -> Code

This - but, for logs, leave the language as 'Text':

[bscdb]

The issue just magically disappeared by connecting to another Windows 10 machine!! Now there are no bluetooth connection problems on any machine!