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I'm trying to communicate between my RPi4 and a custom Android app on my phone via bluetooth. I had paired the devices, established a connection, and was even sending data over a serial connection, using the Bluedot server on the RPi, and an 'off-the-shelf' BT terminal app for Android.

However, when I tried to connect using my custom App, the app said the connection failed (I didn't have bluetoothctl open at the time so unsure how the RPi responded). I have stopped using the custom app and now can't even make a bluetooth connection. When I tried to connect, the connection would show up as 'on' in the terminal for a second, then show up as 'off'. I tried unpairing the phone and the Pi, rebooting the pi, uninstalling blueman, and reinstalling blueman when that didn't work. Now the connection won't even show up for a second, and if I try to connect using the RPi's BT UI, I get the message 'Connection failed - no usable services on this device'. (Very similar to this problem, although the accepted answer in that case doesn't help me here, as I know I had it working before...)

My Android mobile bluetooth is working as I have tested it on other devices; I have also tested other devices with the RPi and there is a similar problem, so there is definitely something wrong with the RPi.

How would I fix the bluetooth on the RPi? Would it be best to do a complete rewrite of the OS?

Thanks

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  • How can I restore the ability to make a bluetooth connection? seems to be a question about your phone ... why are you not asking at a site that deals with android phones?
    – jsotola
    Feb 26, 2021 at 19:05
  • Did my custom app break something? ... only you can determine the answer to that, because you are the one who knows what custom app actually is
    – jsotola
    Feb 26, 2021 at 19:09
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    Do you still have the Bluedot server running on the RPi? The Connection failed - no usable services on this device is typically when your client/phone is looking for a Bluetooth service on the RPi and doesn't find it running. You say you have removed the pairing and so I suspect that is why it is likely it now doesn't connect. Having bluetoothctl open in a different terminal is always a good idea when your are debugging. As is looking at service bluetooth status occasionally or have journalctl -f -u bluetooth in another terminal.
    – ukBaz
    Feb 27, 2021 at 8:06
  • @jsotola I should have mentioned this in my question (will update), I know the problem isn't the phone because I can still use my phone to connect to other BT devices as normal, yet when I try to connect any other BT device to the RPi I get the same problem... My question about restoring the ability to connect could have been put more bluntly as 'how do I fix the RPi's bluetooth'. The custom app also seems not to be the problem as it works with other devices (question updated again). Thanks
    – sdunnim
    Feb 27, 2021 at 11:16
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    That Failed to set privacy: Rejected (0x0b) is an error message I have seen before but I can't find the previous answer. From memory I seem to remember it was BlueZ firmware issue on the Raspberry Pi. You can find what version you have with dpkg -l | grep bluez. Doing an apt upgrade might be a good idea. You might also want to take a look at: github.com/martinohanlon/BlueDot/issues/160
    – ukBaz
    Feb 27, 2021 at 12:10

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I had a similar problem connecting to Androids, and wrote this interface to eliminate bluez - but it will only connect the Pi as a client to Android as a server, not the other way round.

https://github.com/petzval/btferret

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