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nrfConnect for Desktop (Bluetooth Low Energy App) ALWAYS results in blank/white application window after some time of use

nRFConnect for Desktop v3.3.0 
App: Bluetooth Low Energy v2.3.2 
Windows 10 x64 ( 19.04,  19.09), using Dual Monitor. 
Device: PCA10059 or PCA10056

I can start, connect, and use the nRFConnect / Bluetooth Low Energy App without problems for some time. For a certain time it works fine and simply as expected. 
The device attached to my PC usually is a nRF52840 Dongle ( PCA10059 ), but I also verified the problem with a nRF52840 DK  (PCA10056)

But after some time the window becomes completely blank/white. 

I have seen some complaints about a white window in the forum, but none of them seems to have the problem that it first works and then turns white after some time. 
The typical scenario is: 

- Start nrfConnect for Desktop
- Start the Bluetooth Low Energy App from the list of apps
- Select the BTLE device (usually PCA10059) 
- Select "Start Scan" to discover my BTLE devices
- Connect to some BTLE device and communicate with it. 
From now on it is only a question of time (seconds to several minutes) when the client area of the Bluetoot Low Energy app window turns completely white.
May be important to mention: when the window turns white, I usually do nothing in this window.  So the problem appears without any obvious reason. 

I can close the window through the Windows captions close box, but clicking into the white window at different locations does nothing. So it's not just a simple Windows Refresh problem, minimizing and restoring the window does not help. 
What is possible is to press Ctrl-R, then the windows content will appear again, but all connections are lost. So thats not more helpful than restarting the Bluetooth Low Energy App. 

So I cannot work with this longer than 5 minutes in average until I have to restart everything. 
This problem is around since I use the nrfConnect for Windows (1 year approx) , so it was also present with previous versions and never worked for me. 

I investigated the log file, which looks ok, but the final problem is not logged there in any way. 

Is this a known problem ?
How can I get rid of this annoying problem in nrfConnect for Desktop ?

# nRFConnect System Report - 2019-12-06T20-02-51.791Z

- System:     System manufacturer System Product Name
- BIOS:       American Megatrends Inc. ALASKA - 1072009
- CPU:        1 x Intel® Core™ i7-6700 3.40 GHz 8 cores (4 physical)
- Memory:     20.6 GB free of 31.9 GB total
- Filesystem: C: (NTFS) 475.9 GB 62.8% used

- OS:         Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (10.0.18363) win32 ia32

- Versions
    - kernel: 10.0.18363
    - git: 2.12.0.windows.1
    - node: 12.0.0
    - python: 
    - python3: 

Parents
  • Hi

    I will forward this to the nRFConnect team, as I haven't seen a similar issue before myself. While we're waiting for a reply, can you think of anything in particular that you do every time when using the BLE app that can help to recreate this, as I haven't seen the white screen yet? I opened the Bluetooth Low Energy app 20 minutes ago and have not seen this issue as of yet. Are you able to test this on another computer to check if it might be specific to the computer you're using?

    Best regards,

    Simon

Reply
  • Hi

    I will forward this to the nRFConnect team, as I haven't seen a similar issue before myself. While we're waiting for a reply, can you think of anything in particular that you do every time when using the BLE app that can help to recreate this, as I haven't seen the white screen yet? I opened the Bluetooth Low Energy app 20 minutes ago and have not seen this issue as of yet. Are you able to test this on another computer to check if it might be specific to the computer you're using?

    Best regards,

    Simon

Children
  • Hi, 

    up to now I have no method to reliably reproduce the problem by a certain procedure. As said, the actual event seems to occur randomly, without any interaction by me within the app. However it occurs so frequently that I usually will have the problem after 20 minutes. 

    I have seen this on another Windows 10 computer already, though I did not verify how often it occurs on this one. 
    I would assume that "somehow" there must be something special with my computer/ configuration, because otherwise I would expect many many complaints about this issue. 

    Today I tested the following: 

    - it is sufficient to select a device / adapter which is connected via USB to the PC.  No need to "Discover Devices" or start a Scan, or do anything else. 

    - As already described I tested alternatively with a PCA10056 (DK) and a PCA10059 (Dongle), both show the problem. 

    - My PC does not have a speaker, but by chance I once heard a typical windows beep in my headphones, exactly when the problem occured.  So this might be either a standard beep issued by the nrfConnect BTLE app, or theoretically it could be related to USB events ? However the physical USB connection is solid, nothing detached or shaky. 

    Looking at the number of permutations (2 different PCs, 2 ( 3) different devices attached via USB, which all produce this problem, it seems as if this is a one time problem. 

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