nRF Mesh [bug report]

[Chris_Dev]

Howdy Nordic, hope that you are all well and safe.

Herewith I am reporting a bug I saw in the nrfMesh mobile application.

Information:

nrfMesh V3.1.6

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite (Model number SM-N770F)

Android V11

Kernel V4.9.191-20722114

Steps: (not sure how hard it will be to reproduce but I will explain what I did)

1. Provisioned ~114 nodes

2. Updated one of the nodes via DFU

3. Provisioned the node again (previous node data was not removed from the DB)

Issues observed:

1. Firstly, when I import my network file on different mobile devices:

-> Some devices cannot connect to the provisioned nodes at all (although I can see them)

->On my specific device (as per the information) I can only do one operation on the target node I am connected to i.e. set a publication. After that, all other operations time out. I then have to disconnect, close and open nrfMesh, reconnect to the same device. Then I can do another single operation. Rinse and repeat.

2. Reprovisioned node:

->Cannot do any operations on the configuration server at all

->Same issue as mentioned in 1)

->The old software had 13 models, the new software has a total of 17 models. When I access the the updated node, it shows 17 models. After performing a set publication and going back to the elements on the device, it shows 13.

Things I can think of:

1. Not removing the old node from the database will result in two duplicate UUIDs. I am assuming that you use the UUID as some sort of 'primary key'.

2. Not being able to access the configuration server at all indicates that the wrong device key is probably used to bind the configuration client. I assume the old device key is being used.

Feel free to ask for more information.

Regards

Chris

[tesc]

Hi,

Thank you for the report.

1. What kind of error or other behavior do you see when you cannot connect? May it be range issues? Interference from nodes, devices, or other RF sources in the room? Is this consistently happening for the mentioned Galaxy Note 10 Lite, but not for other devices?

2. Once a node is provisioned into the network it is not allowed to increase the number of elements without first being removed from the network. Therefore, if you do have an upgrade that increases the number of elements, you should make sure that the upgrade tool (or the operator upgrading the nodes) first remove the node from the network, then upgrade, then provisions the node (which will then look like a new node to the network.) Not doing that would at best lead to non-existent nodes in the network, and at worst give issues like the ones you are describing here.

Your explanation about duplicate UUIDs sounds reasonable. I assume that is what you see in the DB dump? I think that the nRF Mesh could easily mix up which entry for the device it should use, yes.

Regards,
Terje