There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Carl Richard — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 09:11:57 GMT

Good to hear! My pleasure :)

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

RAlexeev — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 06:36:15 GMT

Carl, thank you very much! Yes, your fix works perfectly for my MacBook Pro.

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Carl Richard — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:39:23 GMT

Hello again!

I figured out the issue and have a fix ready for you :) Just add the following line to your prj.conf:

CONFIG_BT_GATT_HIDS_DEFAULT_PERM_RW_ENCRYPT=y

Hope it works for you!

Best regards,
Carl Richard

EDIT: The fix below is a workaround. Try the one above first.

This is for Level2 security without MITM protection.

You need to do some edits. Add the following line of code below dk_set_led_on(CON_STATUS_LED); in the "connected" function.

	err = bt_conn_set_security(conn, BT_SECURITY_L2);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to change security level: (%u)\n", err);
		return;
	}

Then set passkey_display and passkey_confirm to NULL as shown below.

static struct bt_conn_auth_cb conn_auth_callbacks = {
	.passkey_display = NULL, //Here
	.passkey_confirm = NULL, //Here
	.cancel = auth_cancel,
	.pairing_confirm = pairing_confirm,
#if CONFIG_NFC_OOB_PAIRING
	.oob_data_request = auth_oob_data_request,
#endif
	.pairing_complete = pairing_complete,
	.pairing_failed = pairing_failed
};

This enabled my DK to connect and reconnect effortlessly to a MacOS computer.

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Carl Richard — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 14:19:05 GMT

No problem! I'm looking at some way to fix it, but can't manage to finish before weekend. I will look at it again on Monday and get in touch with the NCS team as well.

I'm not entirely sure on how to fix it exactly, but it seems to be an issue with the MAC not sending a passkey to recject/accept.

Have a good weekend,
Carl Richard

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

RAlexeev — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 00:11:41 GMT

Thanks for your answer! It's great that you figured out an error. Should I fix NCS HID keyboard example somehow to provide encryption? And could you point me out how to do it?

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Carl Richard — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:40:41 GMT

Hello, again!

I think we've managed to pinpoint the issue.

In short: It seems to be a problem with the NCS HID keyboard example, as it does not require encryption to work. However, the mac does, but it does not request it. Hence, the nRF52 thinks it is connected while the mac rejects all commands.

We will look further into the issue tomorrow.

Best regards,
Carl Richard

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

RAlexeev — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 11:36:56 GMT

Thanks for your response! Unfortunately, now I haven't got any other Apple devices to test Bluetooth connection with them. But I can send to you my Mac system configuration:

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../macOS_5F00_info.txt

If you need any other info to reproduce errors, let me know.

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Carl Richard — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 10:44:37 GMT

Hi!

I will look into this issue. Apologies for the delay.

Could you state which version of MacOS you use? And if possible, could you test with an iOS device and another Mac?

I will attempt to reproduce and look into the problem here.

Best regards,
Carl Richard

RE: There are connectivity problems with MacBook Pro and nRF52840 DK with running examples

Øyvind — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:49:22 GMT

Hello,

My apologies for the late reply. I have not been able to look into your case but will do so tomorrow (Tuesday). I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Kind regards,
Øyvind