Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

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NewStart
 
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Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

Hi everybody - I need some help please.

I have hooked my Adafruit nRF8001 breakout to an Arduino UNO and have successfully completed the "Getting Started" tutorial up to and including the point where my Serial Monitor correctly displays "Advertising started". At this point though, rather than connecting the device to an Android or iOS, I wish to pair it with my laptop but there are no instructions on how to do so.

I am using a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle on my laptop which happily finds my mobile, but does not find the nRF8001.

How do I do this??

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Your laptop may not support Bluetooth Low Energy.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

Thanks Rick.

I am using this: http://uk.startech.com/Networking-IO/IR ... USBBT1EDR4

Should do the job, right?

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Hmmm... Have you tried pairing the nRF8001 with iOS or Android? Do we know that the module works?

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

I have switched on my mobile's bluetooth (v2.1 + EDR) and searched for the nRF8001 and it does not find it.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of the module, showing your soldering and connections

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

Hi Rick,
See attached. As I mentioned before, when connected via USB the echoDemo runs fine. Also, I have never seen any of the LEDs light up (not sure if they are supposed to). I have tried the board a few times (different jumpers, pre- and post-soldering etc) to no avail.
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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

That all looks good.

I'm confused - you said that echoDemo works, yet your phone doesn't see the module? How can that happen? What kind of phone is this?

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

It's a Huawei G300. I can connect it with my laptop, but neither the phone nor the laptop can see the nRF8001.

What am I doing wrong? Should the nRF8001 be visible so long as power is applied or do I need to run a particular sketch? I am at a loss.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

You need to run a sketch. The nRF8001 should be visible when echoDemo is running.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

So as the nRF8001 isn't visible what is left to try?

When I run echoDemo now (without it being visible) it just hangs during uploading.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

You mean you can't even upload to the Arduino? Maybe there's something wrong with your Arduino? Have you got another one to try?

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

Problem partially-solved. The driver disc with the dongle was old. I have now downloaded the drivers from the manufacturer's site and my Laptop can now see "UART".

What do I do next? I cannot "pair" with the device as the Laptop reports "Connection failed because an incorrect code was entered". And if I run the echoDemo sketch the IDE reports that the Serial Port is "already in use". I have two aerial ports to choose between both report as already in use.

Any ideas?

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by NewStart »

I am getting a horrible feeling that the nRF8001 is not supported by Windows 7. My reasoning (from reading most of the internet...) is that when the Bluetooth device is on I should be able to create an outgoing serial port unless the device is not supported.

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Re: Connecting a BLE nRF8001 to a laptop...

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

I'm not seeing my nRF8001 on my Win7 machine either.
See this post: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums ... ?forum=wdk

I don't have a Bluetooth LE Enumerator. You probably don't either.

I found this, if you want to give it a try:
http://www.driverscape.com/download/mic ... enumerator

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