How to get Sideband 1.14.0 to talk to RNode 1.8.1

[ThomasFreedman]

Using Liam's web based RNode firmware installer I have installed RNode on my Heltec V3 Esp32 radio, enabled Bluetooth and paired it with my Android version 14 phone, but I don't think Sideband is talking to it.

I have read the guide, set Connectivity--> Connect via RNode to on. Under Hardware--> RNode I set Preferred RNode Device Name == Bluetooth device name. The Connectivity Status says RNode interface is Down. Utilities--> Reticulum Status shows same, with Shared Instance and RNodeInterface. Log viewer is blank. There are no interfaces defined in the [interfaces] section under Advanced RNS Configuration. Objects & Devices screen is blank.

The Heltec is currently powered by a usb cable plugged into a desktop computer. Bluetooth is enabled and connected to my Android. I also tried to power it with the Android I'm trying to connect it to (using Bluetooth not thru usb), same issue.

What have I missed? How can I determine if Sideband is talking to my Heltec?

[markqvist]

Did you enable "Device requires BLE"? Heltec v3's (and all ESP32-S3 and nRF-based devices) use BLE instead of classic Bluetooth.

[ThomasFreedman]

Hey there Mark!
Thanks for the reply. After playing around I believe I got one RNode working with Sideband.

I didn't enable BLE, as I wasn't sure it was necessary since the bluetooth of the phone recognized the Heltec. It least it paired with it so thought that's all that was required.

The only change I made was to enable BLE under Hardware, shutdown Sideband then restarted it. On restart Sideband reported a "Hardware Error": Bluetooth Low Energy transfer MTU could not be configured for the connected device, and communication has failed.

I shutdown & restarted with same results. I noticed it went thru RNode startup and LXMF initialization before the error popped up.

I reconnected the RNode directly to the phone via a USB-C cable. The phone asked if it should start Sideband when the CP2102 serial interface is connected, and I answered yes. However the Hardware--> Connect via Serial Port setting is off.

I got an error about incompatible frequency / power /etc settings, but now the RNodeInterface status shows Up and I get an occasional white LED instead of the amber LED that's usually on.

I then restarted Sideband after turning the Connect via Serial Port on. There were no prompts or errors. The Hardware status showed the RNode to be Up, but I then noticed that Connect via RNode and Connect via Serial Port under Connectivity are mutually exclusive, so I turned Connect via RNode back on & restarted once more.

I see several white LED flashes on the RNode. There are no errors on the phone.

For now I'm good to go. Will review BLE connectivity later and why the MTU config error occurred.

With one RNode instance apparently ready to go, next challenge is to get another instance going on an old samsung phone.

Thanks again!!

[ThomasFreedman]

Unfortunately the display on the other device shows "Firmware corrupt". I have connected it to a desktop machine running Debian 11. Using rnodeconf:

~$ rnodeconf /dev/ttyUSB0 --eeprom-wipe -a
Using device on /dev/ttyUSB0

Probing device...
[13:32:01 Device connected
[13:32:01 Current firmware version: 1.81
[13:32:01 Trying to read EEPROM...
[13:32:02 EEPROM checksum correct
[13:32:02 Device signature validated

This device is already installed and provisioned. No further action will
be taken. If you wish to completely reinstall this device, you must first
wipe the current EEPROM. See the help for more info.

Exiting now.

It took several attempts but managed to get RNode firmware installed without corrupt firmware.
I got the 2 phones talking to each other, one with newest Sideband 1.4.0 the other with an old beta, v0.8.3.
I will get the latest Sideband installed on the old phone if I can and see if it will show announces. It doesn't with the beta, but does communicate if conversation is initiated by new version.