Wifi and Bluetooth not connecting MK3

General Q&A specific to RaceCapture/Pro. For app related questions post in the RaceCapture App forum. also see the <a href="http://www.autosportlabs.net/RaceCapture">RaceCapture Information Page</a>

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ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Wifi and Bluetooth not connecting MK3

Post by ProtoTim35 »

I have a new (a few months old, but just now setting it up) MK3. I got everything on the car pretty well set up with my laptop via USB. This morning, I tried connecting each of my two android Galaxy S5 phones (stock AT&T programming) via both wifi and bluetooth. Neither phone could find a connection either way.

I tried unplugging the USB from the laptop connection and powering the MK3 via car power, and still nothing. I thought maybe having the laptop plugged in was over-riding any wireless connection. I went into wireless connections on the MK3, and everything looks like I would expect.

I've done google searches and looked through the forum and can't find anything that helps.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6274
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Hi,

Let's figure this out.

First, did you update the firmware of the unit at all? If so, can you report exactly what it says in the upper right after connecting? It should say "RaceCapture... "

For android, you will first need to go into Android settings and then confirm you have paired your phone/tablet with RaceCapture. The default password is 1234 (you can change it in setup later, but will require re-pairing).

Once you have it paired, then you should be able to connect using the RaceCapture app. Make sure you go to preferences (via hamburger menu in upper left) and set your connection type to "Bluetooth".

Let us know what you find out. Thanks!
Brent Picasso
CEO and Founder, Autosport Labs
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ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

After posting the message, I realized that I have not tried updating the firmware. I'll give that a try, and let you know what i get.

For pairing, I never could find anything to pair to. I even gave it several minutes, in case it would take a long time to come up. I didn't have anything show up in either available wifi networks or bluetooth. I later tried my Windows 10 laptop, and the same thing.

When i went into preferences on the MK3, it originally showed both bluetooth and Wifi were turned on and Wifi was set to access point. I changed settings a couple of times, (turning each off separately, and back on separately (one on at a time)) followed by writing to MK3, and a couple times, i even re-powered the unit, to make sure the changes took. No change.

I'll try updating the firmware and see if that fixes it, and get back to you. fingers crossed.

Thanks.

brentp
Site Admin
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Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Hi, I didn't mean to suggest you needed to update firmware, just wondering if you did.

Can you report what firmware it is reporting per my previous post?

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

I'll hold off for now with running an update. The version is 2.13.5.

I just tried again, and a big surprise. I am still not able to discover the WiFi, but I was able to connect via bluetooth - on one phone. I figured out why I wasn't able to connect to the bluetooth before, but still don't know why I can only connect with one phone - the first one I connected with. As I suspected, it was something simple. I hope the Wifi turns out to be similar - but I've already checked and it doesn't appear to be the same issue.

For turning on/off the wireless communication devices, they appear to be reverse coded. in other words, When I see a bright blue "ON" and gray "off", that tells me the unit is ON. Somehow, I apparently inadvertently turned the bluetooth to where the "OFF" was highlighted, and I was able to connect - with one phone only. I couldn't figure out how I was able to connect, so I looked at the settings again, and discovered the "OFF" highlighted. Thus, apparently, the bright one means I need to select it to get that function, it is not telling me what is selected. To me, that is backwards to just about anything else I've ever worked with. But, it is what it is, and I now understand that.

Thus, apparently, originally, everything was turned off in the settings, which I thought was "ON", so I thought it was all set up to go, but it was not.

Now, I still am unable to discover the WiFi. And, I don't seem to be able to pair the other phone via bluetooth - whether the first phone is still connected or not. Is it possible that the MK3 won't save multiple devices to pair with, so I need to delete the first phone in settings somehow, so the second one will pair? I've seen that before happen before somewhere.

With the bluetooth operation, should I be able to pair multiple devices with the same MK3 - one at a time or both at the same time? What about Wifi? Thanks.

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

I need to make a clarification. In bluetooth, Both phones are able to discover the MK3, and both appear to connect to the MK3. But, only one is able to open the racecapture app and connect. Neither phone nor my laptop will discover the WiFi.

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

Can someone please, help me with this issue and the other two issues I've posted?? I'm beginning to wonder if I bought the wrong data logger, since support is so important, and I don't seem to be able to get much help. I was told that Autosport Labs was great for support. I've been a bit disappointed so far. I believe this will be a great data logger if I can ever get it set up, but if I can't get it working right, it's nothing more than a high cost paperweight. I hope folks are refraining from helping because you think I'm not trying to do it on my own. Far from the truth. I've probably invested 20 hours or more so far in getting the things set up that I've set up, and in trying to get other things accomplished that I feel should be simple. I am very knowledgeable in computer usage, so I can figure things out given enough time. I didn't go into this though thinking I was going to have to figure everything out on my own. :(. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Linking my phones and computer via wifi or bluetooth should be a non-event, but I've spent at least 5 hours trying to get it working.

MikeD
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Location: Austria
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Post by MikeD »

ProtoTim, there is something going wrong...
The sliders will be BLUE when activated and show ON at this stage. When you see the gray OFF then the corresponding setting indeed should be OFF.

I don't have a good explanation why it may have worked for you with the sliders showing the OFF notification, the settings weren't written correctly to the device and the unit still had Bluetooth active even though you thought it was OFF probably?
Anyway it could also be a bug and I may have observed something similar during one of my configurations with a customers RaceCapture Track unit now that I think about it. Can you please switch the Bluetooth and Wifi sliders once to ON, write the configuration, and read the configuration once back looking at whether or not the settings stay as you had them or if something changed?
The do the same with the settings to OFF, write and read back once more and see if things stayed or something changed in that menu.
You can also do a power cycle of the unit (also unplug the USB cable of course) and read back the settings afterwards once more with one and the other setting activated beforehand and observe any differences within the wireless settings.

It sounds like if you have at least one bluetooth device working at this stage, so you can have a look at the settings from the phone too and crosscheck with the settings on your laptop.

In general the computer/laptop can only access the RaceCapture device via USB connection. The bluetooth and Wifi connection only work with android/IOS apps of RaceCapture.
Regards,
Mike

PS: Where did you buy your RaceCapturePro MK3 unit?

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

Hi Mike.

I bought the MK3 direct from the autosport Labs website new. I pretty much did everything you recommended, but I'll try it again when I get to the car shortly.

I didn't realize I couldn't connect to the MK3 via wifi from a computer, so I'll cease trying to test that. With my cell phones, I have yet to get any discovery at all. I'll try again what you recommend, but I don't hold much hope in finding anything new. At this point, I'm thinking about doing a firmware update, and see if that clears up the problem and then re-install all of the settings from backup.

I did do very minor comparisons from the phone I was able to connect with and the laptop, and it seemed to be working, but as I said, it was very minimal look. I was just glad it was actually able to connect, so I figured everything would be right. I have no idea why the other phone won't connect unless once the MK3 pairs with one phone, it can't connect with another, even though the first phone Bluetooth is turned off.

is there a way to unpair the first phone, so I can try the second phone to see if it will work?

Thanks again

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

Hi again Mike. Here is the update.

I did as you suggested with cycling the On/Off switches, writing, and re-powering following that a couple times. No change to anything, and the switches stayed where last set.

However, I turned the bluetooth on phone "1" on (the one that had been communicating with the MK3 via bluetooth). I then un-paired it. and turned the bluetooth off again on phone 1. I was then able to pair phone 2 (which previously was able to say it was connecting (paired), but would not communicate with the MK3). After doing so, I was then able to communicate with the MK3 on phone 2, and it seemed it was able to do everything through bluetooth that my laptop could do via USB - but muuuch slower.

Still no discovery whatsoever - with the switches either on or off for the WiFi. Also, as you said, the switch now appears to be working properly for the bluetooth.

I'm assuming at this point, that as I had suspected might be the case, that even with phone 1 bluetooth turned off, the MK3 wouldn't communicate with phone 2 until phone 1 was unpaired. I wasn't sure how to unpair it, so I winged it and unpaired it from the phone end, which apparently released it from the MK3 end, allowing phone 2 to communicate - even though phone 2 previously showed it was already paired but would not communicate. I have only minimal bluetooth experience, but plenty of WiFi experience.

If I don't hear any better suggestions from you soon, I will likely be updating the firmware later today or tomorrow and see if that helps. From my understanding, that's essentially the same thing as doing a factory re-set while making sure it has the latest version of the firmware. So, unless it's a hardware issue, I figure if anything is going to fix it, that should. If that doesn't fix it, I have to assume it's a hardware issue unless you can suggest something different.

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

Update: I just did a firmware update. Even after waiting several minutes, still no WiFi. I suspect I have a defective MK3. How can I get a replacement?

brentp
Site Admin
Posts: 6274
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:36 am

Post by brentp »

Hi Tim,

The WiFi connection is only for Android and iOS; on desktop only USB is supported. With Bluetooth, only one connection can exist at the same time. With WiFi, you can have two connections at the same time.

Since you flashed firmware, can you report exactly the name of the firmware shown in the upper right corner after you're connected (e.g. USB)? Does it say "RaceCapture/Pro MK3 2.13.5"

For WiFi, the first step is to confirm you have both WiFi and Access Point mode turned on in the WiFi settings. You can leave client mode turned off for now.

Make the settings look like the attached image, then "write", and do a power cycle.

Then, after you re-connect, read the configuration back to verify the WiFi settings are persisted.

Finally, go to Status / WiFi section. (via hamburger menu in upper left).

Check that WiFi Shows "Initialized", per the screen shot attached here.

Thank you for your patience, we'll watch for a reply here.
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ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

Another update: I had thought about checking, and kept forgetting to until a few minutes ago. The MK3 shows green for WiFi, which tells me it thinks it is transmitting. I've checked and re-checked many times anything I can think of that would cause the issue settings wise. Other than what I've previously pointed out, I've found nothing in the settings to be an issue. I've even re-checked multiple times the SSID. I've even plugged in that SSID into both phones, and both phones say "out of range" for that SSID, when I'm standing right next to it. I strongly suspect a hardware issue. If you want me to, and it won't void the warranty, I'll be happy to open the box up and see if I see anything obvious in there - like possibly an antenna not plugged in.

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

I've done all of the above, except check that the WiFi shows "initialized". Not sure how to do that. I don't see it in your screenshots. I do have 2.13.5. and the screens are laid out slightly different from what your screenshots look like, but otherwise, I've covered all of that multiple times except "initialized". I'll see if I can find that.

ProtoTim35
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:14 am

Post by ProtoTim35 »

OK. I just found a different screen. Apparently there are two areas to access WiFi settings. I hadn't found the one under "preferences" before. Now that I have gotten in there, I can tell you it is NOT initialized, and I don't know how to initialize it, and access point is "Disabled". Why are there two areas of the settings for the same thing, and they tell different stories?? How change the settings on this page?? I try clicking anywhere, and nothing happens.

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