Setting the name property on an adafruit_ble.BLERadio instance doesn't work on ESP32-S3

[ashirvadz]

CircuitPython version

Adafruit CircuitPython 9.1.0-beta.3 on 2024-05-22; FeatherS3 with ESP32S3

Code/REPL

import time
from adafruit_ble import BLERadio
from adafruit_ble.advertising.standard import ProvideServicesAdvertisement
from adafruit_ble.services.nordic import UARTService
from adafruit_ble.uuid import StandardUUID
from adafruit_ble.services import Service
from adafruit_ble.characteristics import Characteristic
from adafruit_ble.characteristics.string import StringCharacteristic

# Define a custom service and characteristic
class CustomService(Service):
    uuid = StandardUUID(0x181C)  # Custom service UUID
    custom_characteristic = StringCharacteristic(
        uuid=StandardUUID(0x2A58),  # Custom characteristic UUID
        properties=(Characteristic.READ | Characteristic.WRITE),
        initial_value=b"Hello BLE!",
    )

# Initialize the BLE radio
ble = BLERadio()
ble.name = "MyBLEDevice"

# Create the custom service instance
custom_service = CustomService()

# Create the advertisement
advertisement = ProvideServicesAdvertisement(custom_service)
advertisement.complete_name = "MyBLEDeviceAdv"

# Start advertising
ble.start_advertising(advertisement)
print("Advertising Custom Service...")

while not ble.connected:
    time.sleep(0.1)

print("Device Connected")

while ble.connected:
    # Perform tasks while connected
    pass

print("Device Disconnected")

# Stop advertising when disconnected
ble.stop_advertising()

Behavior

The device name shows as "CIRCUITPY", and the name property show as "Local Name" on a BLE scanner app such as Bluefruit Connect:

Description

No response

Additional information

No response

[dhalbert]

This is often because the host reporting the name has cached a previous name, and doesn't bother to change the name. I've seen this a lot on iOS. You can try turning Bluetooth off and back on, on the host, and "forgetting" the device. Does that make a difference?

[ashirvadz]

It doesn't seem to be a cache issue. I've followed the steps you suggested, and they did not make a difference.

[dhalbert]

Are you testing this on iOS? I want to replicate your testing conditions. Thanks.

[ashirvadz]

Yes, I am testing it on iOS.

[dhalbert]

I tried your test program with the tip of main, as of this comment. I saw the device name as MyBLEDevice in iOS nRFConnect and in Adafruit Bluetooth Connect. I then edited the name to be MyBLEDevice2. If I simply restart the program without a hard reset, or if I do a hard reset, both monitoring programs showed the new name. I changed it back, and then to MyBLEDevice3, and the new name showed up. Could you try again with the absolute newest build from https://adafruit-circuit-python.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=bin ? Thanks.

[ashirvadz]

I have flashed the latest build, and the name change works on nRFConnect. However on Adafruit Bluetooth Connect it still shows the device name as CIRCUITPY(id), with the Local Name property set as the new name. I tried restarting the board and the phone, without luck. Anything else I should try?

[dhalbert]

Since nRFConnect is showing the right name, but Bluefruit Connect is not, this is not a problem with what the board is transmitting. It is some kind of caching problem. So I'm moving this to be a support issue.

Is the app updated to the latest version?
Which iOS device model and which iOS version are you using?

[ashirvadz]

You are right, it seems to be a caching problem. I installed Adafruit Bluefruit Connection on another device, and it showed the correct name. Thank you!