Hi all,
I am using a BlueSmirf gold I just bought to talk from my laptop to an AVR STK600 board with an Atmega2560 microcontroller.
The BlueSmirf chip is wired correctly (red light blinks when connected to power) and I am using a demo version of “Advanced Serial Port Manager” to test the connection to the COM port the BlueSmirf is talking to, e.g. COM8. When I do that the green LED on the BlueSmirf lights up, indicating a connection. Serial Port settings are also set according to the new Smirf:
Baud rate: 115200
No parity
one stop bit
no hardware flow control
However when I send the configuration command $$$ to the smirf, there is no response. I tried the whole thing also with a MAC laptop and used Zterm to send serial data and there is no answer to. Moreover I’ve connected the smirf to the UART lines of the Microcontroller board and have a program running that sends data throug the serial port continuously but still I am not receiving anything… :?
Any ideas? Perhaps any other serial port terminals I can use to test? (My windows hyperterminal does not work properly for some reason, com properties are disabled :x )
any kind of help would be greatly appreciated…
Furthermore, by opening the “Bluetooth Devices” and going to the “COM ports” tab it says that:
COM8 Outgoing ‘SPP’
COM9 Incoming
How is that possible? Shouldn’t I be able to send and receive on the same COM port?
Finally by running a Java program using the JSR-82 API for device and service discovery, the service discovery on the sparkfun modem returns no services… 
I am desperate here… any thoughts?
You don’t say what BlueSmirf you’re using, have you tried loop back tests?
I’m thinking it’s a software problem.
What’s your exact hardware setup?
FartingMonkey92:
You don’t say what BlueSmirf you’re using, have you tried loop back tests?
I’m thinking it’s a software problem.
What’s your exact hardware setup?
I am using a BlueSmirf Gold (latest version, default baud rate = 115200)
I just tried a loopback test and it worked (Rx on Tx on the BlueSmirf) just fine… I am doing sth wrong on the software side (as you suggested) on the AVR board, UART settings don’t seem to be correct…
:oops:
Alekos83:
COM8 Outgoing ‘SPP’
COM9 Incoming
How is that possible? Shouldn’t I be able to send and receive on the same COM port?
You use outgoing com port is for when you want the PC to iniate the connection to the BlueSMiRF. This is the BlueSMiRFs default mode(Slave).
Use the incoming com port to have the PC wait for a connection from the BlueSMiRF. Then the BlueSMiRF must explictly initiate the connection to the PC (Master Mode).
You use outgoing com port is for when you want the PC to iniate the connection to the BlueSMiRF. This is the BlueSMiRFs default mode(Slave).
Use the incoming com port to have the PC wait for a connection from the BlueSMiRF. Then the BlueSMiRF must explictly initiate the connection to the PC (Master Mode).
Thank you for clarifying that, it confused me a lot...
Sadly, my loop-back test succeeded only once :shock:
I tried again today, VTG on 5V pin, Rx on Tx, Gnd on GND, green led lights up when making a serial connection with hyperterminal, baud rate at 115200 because it is the newest smirf version, 1 stop bit and no parity… No Answer! I am desperate here…[/quote]
- Quit using HyperTerminal. I have had the same kind of trouble with it on the bluetooth virtual com ports, exactly in the way you are describing.
Try using tera term. You can down load it from here:
http://www.rovingnetworks.com/support.php
Note that the baud rate does not matter when you come in through the Bluetooth connection. The virtual com port has the settings available but it is does not matter.
The baud rate only matters for the hardware you connect to the TX/RX lines on the BlueSMiRF. You have to set that baud rate locally with commands to the BlueSMIRF.
- If the loopback test still does not work with terra term, also jumper the RTS/CTS pins on the BlueSMiRF. Hardware handshaking may be enabled by default.
I have used Hyperterminal for dozens of different devices without any issues. Make sure that in Hyperterminal you have handshaking set to none.
The Hyperterminal on my laptop is kind of problematic for unknown reasons, tried it on a PC and worked. (It also worked with zterm on MAC) However I will also try the other COM monitor you suggested, thanks…
I also tried using a different power source, e.g. instead of using VTG and GND pins from the AVR microcontroller board (STK600), I hooked up the power of the SMirf to a Voltage generator, it does work sometimes, but other times it does not. To my understanding the BlueSmirf has a voltage regulator to provide stable 3.3V power supply to the RN-41 so that shouldn’t be an issue.
I do need to make sure about the handshaking issues also as suggested…
Another question I have is, does anyone know how to connect to the BlueSMirf using the Java Bluetooth API (JSR-82)? The reason I am asking is that I have 2 issues:
-
on device discovery the smirf shows up, but the service discovery on the device returns nothing (should that be the case???)
-
trying to connect directly on COM8 where SPP is provided by using something like:
String url = "btspp://<48-bit-MAC-address>:8";
StreamConnection con = (StreamConnection) Connector.open(url);
simply does not work, it is as if the device is not even there…
I’ll post about my progress next week, until then thank you all for your suggestions…
How long are you waiting before you send the $$$? From the factory, you only have 60 seconds from power up to enter command mode. Once you get into command mode, you can change that to being able to enter command mode at any time using the ST,255 command
Porterhouse07:
How long are you waiting before you send the $$$? From the factory, you only have 60 seconds from power up to enter command mode. Once you get into command mode, you can change that to being able to enter command mode at any time using the ST,255 command
Thanks for pointing that out, I am aware of it and it took me some time in the beginning to figure out... however this is not the problem. The Smirf seems to be unresponsive in some scenarios, although I am connected to its SPP service and thus the green LED is ON. It seems to be some problem with power supply, which I have not been able to figure out.
I have not been playing with it for some days now, when I start messing around with it again I will post back.
Until then any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated…