Hi Lenard,
Indeed, I should have read the previous emails:-) I have restarted my iPhone 4S (running 8.1.2), re-started the Bloetooth connection and also I had to add the profiles again, including testing the ports. Then, everythink looks fine. Still, at random, the app quits (especially when I want to test the ports). On the bright side, my 4 x 4 Crawler 2012 test machine works fine (hurrah!!!!) only with the following profiles:
Gameport with one control, Gameport with two controls, Joystick.
The only funny thing is that if you use the Gameport with one control, the dial with the 4 directions is not visible at all. So, driving the machine is fine, but you can not see anyhting on the screen, except the background.
Also, do you have any tips, how can I activate the headlights? I have connected it to one of the ports, but there is no profile that can work with this set that controls lights separately.
Btw.: when will you publish the profile editor? I think that would be really "awesome" to open possibilities even further possibilities and users can be even stronger motivated to buy the bricks!!
Cheers,
Peter
Any ideas are welcome:-)
[blockquote]Peter Subert said:
Hi,
I have downloaded the latest SBrick app from the apple store (US). A few things I expereinced:
1. The app does not connect to the brick at all. Tried to re-start the phone (iPhone 4S with IOS7+), no success.
2. When I want to use the new menu in the settings and want to test the ports, the app quits.
Please le tme know, what should I do.
Thanks a lot,
Peter
[/blockquote]
Sounds strange :(
What is the type of your iOS device?
What is the version of the iOS running on it?
Hi,
I have downloaded the latest SBrick app from the apple store (US). A few things I expereinced:
1. The app does not connect to the brick at all. Tried to re-start the phone (iPhone 4S with IOS7+), no success.
2. When I want to use the new menu in the settings and want to test the ports, the app quits.
Please le tme know, what should I do.
Thanks a lot,
Peter
[blockquote]Enrico Garofalo said:- There is no way, at least in the app, to know the version of current firmware installed on specific SBrick[/blockquote]On iOS I haven't found a way to do this yet, but on Android you can verify the firmware version number using the nRF Master Control Panel app. it is listed under Device Information (UUID 0x180a) - Firmware Revision String (UUID 0x2A26) and current version seem to be 4.1
That's a good point. The actual flashing takes about five seconds after reboot. During this operation, the LED is dark. After the firmware is written into the program memory, the program starts, and deletes the user flash (this is where the firmware is first written). During deletion the led keeps flashing, and will be continuously on afterwards.
[blockquote]Tamás Fábián said:
You're right, we're going to display a warning about this on the OTA screen.
It has a very small chance that the SBrick will be "bricked" by OTA :) The OTA image contains a checksum, and the SBrick boot firmware checks it before flashing. Of course you can fail so hard that the checksum will be OK, but there is little chance for it.
[/blockquote]
I don't think a correct checksum will result in "bricked" SBricks....just a powerfail during flashing ( not uploading ) the firmware is the critical timeslot. So every firmware related update process tells you not to pull the powerplug during update - but as we are running batteries it could be a problem if the voltage is low. ;-)
But I think flashing the device will be done < 1 sec. - so not that big issue.
[blockquote]K. Gerkenz said:
[...]
New issues:
- old "broken" profiles are still shown and have similar names to the new ones
[/blockquote]
To clear profile list, the only way (at the moment) seem to be to delete the app, then install it again.
After installing it fresh, you can download only the new, working, profiles.
I can confirm that all issues I had before are solved:
- connection without problem after 1. disable and enable bluetooth, 2. restart app
- LED identification works ( blinking )
- sets where lost, created new ones
- profiles didn't had sliders anymore, downloaded the same again
New issues:
- old "broken" profiles are still shown and have similar names to the new ones
[blockquote]K. Gerkenz said:
- firmware update bug fixed...but SBrick doesn't work anymore after firmware update! Connection is still fine.[/blockquote]
I have the same problem after firmware update. IPhone 6+ iOS8.1.2
I have the app closed BT disabled and re-enabled. Then the SBricks worked again
Hello,
I just received my SBricks, this morning and already did some quick tests.
I'm using iOS app v.3.2 (just updated few hours ago!) on an iPhone6 running iOS 8.1.2
Here are my notes:
- Firmware upgrade works well: I already upgraded 2 of my 4 bricks.
- To re-gain control of SBricks after update is enough to turn bluetooth off, than back on, from Control Center.
This, IMHO, should be clearly written inside the upgrade screen, to avoid future requests/complaints
- The app always show "Update your brick firmware!" even when connected to an already updated SBrick.
I made the update 2 times on the first brick, thinking first time it didn't work... but the writing is still there.
- There is no way, at least in the app, to know the version of current firmware installed on specific SBrick
It could be very useful to know installed version # and available version # (OTA last version)
- There is no way to know app version from inside the App (only way to know is to open App Store and look at app description)
IMHO app version should be written somewere inside app options or (better) in homescreen, to better help future support requests.
- Some profiles shows 2 times after app-upgrade.
This happens because you have to download new versions from the Market for all the profiles, after upgrading (the old versions doesn't show the graphics correctly and/or doesn't work anymore)... but there is no way to delete old profiles (there isn't a profile-library with managing functions).
I resolved this issue by deleting and reinstalling the App, but doing so in the future would mean to lose all setups!
Just as a side-note: Fernando's 8043 is actually listed two times in market.
- Quite all the profiles (new versions) work well (at least, all of the basic ones).
About hardware issues... I found some of the SBricks have badly shaped C and D connectors (lower ones)...
In the upper ones my motor connectors fit perfectly, while in lower ones much more force is needed and, in some bricks, the connector doesn't fit correctly (it touches in the front part, causing some gap to remain between the connector and the brick).
FURTHER UPDATE
I updated all (4) SBricks Firmware to latest version; everything worked flawlessly and all bricks are now working good.
While doing so I further tested all the devices... One by one and all toghether...
The app shows many problems in re-connecting to bricks if you turn them on one at a time...
I mean: I run the app, then turn the first SBrick (Named "SBrick1") on... and everything works fine.
As I switch the Sbrick1 Off and turn another on, nothing happens... No new unit is shown in list... only the old one. The only way to have the app discover the new SBrick is to turn bluetooth off, then on.
I think this issue is related to how BLE works, anyway.
About my "hardware" (case) problems, I confirm ALL OF MY SBricks show a faulty case, with defective C and D mechanical connectors (not the electric ones).
Two of them are almost unusable: the motor cable locks in place only with the electric part, while the mechanical (square) pins are either too big or too near the wall to allow the (motor) connector to correctly go in place...
Since the upper part of the case is easy to remove/replace, I think this issue could be resolved by sending new upper cases in replacement.
You can see a picture attached (I already tried to force the connector to stay in place, before taking the picture... but there was no way...)
You're right, we're going to display a warning about this on the OTA screen.
It has a very small chance that the SBrick will be "bricked" by OTA :) The OTA image contains a checksum, and the SBrick boot firmware checks it before flashing. Of course you can fail so hard that the checksum will be OK, but there is little chance for it.
[blockquote]Tamás Fábián said:
Joel & Hubraum:
Yes, you're right. After the firmware update, you must restart the phone (or maybe just the bluetooth) to be able to use it again.
[/blockquote]
Ok, had no time this morning - so I will check it today. Thanks for the reply. But these little things should be displayed after firmware update, because we - the first testers - know how to fix these problems or at least know how to get help but the "normal" endusers will be disapointed using a problematic bluetooth gadged like this. I think they should also get a small note like "check you batteries before firmware update" - so they don't run into a bricked SBrick ( if that can happen - I didn't tried it ).
Happy Development. ;-)
Joel & Hubraum:
Yes, you're right. After the firmware update, you must restart the phone (or maybe just the bluetooth) to be able to use it again.
This is because iOS seems to cache the so-called "handles" of BLE devices. Handles are like addresses, they are assigned to each function inside any BLE device.
iOS stores these handles, so it doesn't have to read them on each connection, and the conection can be set up very quickly.
We might be able to work around this inside the app, until then you must restart your phone after a firmware update.
If you have multiple bricks, you can update them one by one, and you only need to restart the phone after you've finished with them all.
[blockquote]K. Gerkenz said:
- firmware update bug fixed...but SBrick doesn't work anymore after firmware update! Connection is still fine.
[/blockquote]
I had the same problem with the firmware (on my iPad 4 and my iPhone 5C). I solved it by turning my phone off and on.
Then in the application, I deleted my sets and my bricks and everything works again normally.
Hi,
since there's no Bluetooth 4.0 in that device, we can't support it, sorry.
[blockquote]Hubraum 6.8 said:
Hi there
Any chance you will release an iOS App version that can run on the old ipod touch 3g's (ios 4.3.3)?
My kids have this version and it would be great if the could use their ipod's to play with the sbrick Lego models rather than having to use my phone or ipad.
Thanks
[/blockquote]
Hi and thank you for the feedback.
The LED will blink if you turn on ID.
OMG, you've made my heart jump out of my chest! :D I thought there's a faulty firmware on the server. :) But no, We've done a few tests a minute ago, and your SBrick should work.
I'm curiously waiting for your test results with the non-working SBrick.
Just saw the new version of iOS app 3.2 and made a quick test before driving to work. :-)
- LED is on...but how to identify the SBrick if it's allways lit?
- 100% bug fixed
- connecting bug fixed
- firmware update bug fixed...but SBrick doesn't work anymore after firmware update! Connection is still fine.
Will do more tests today - especially I will check the non working SBrick after firmware update. Didn't tried software restart so far.
Hi there
Any chance you will release an iOS App version that can run on the old ipod touch 3g's (ios 4.3.3)?
My kids have this version and it would be great if the could use their ipod's to play with the sbrick Lego models rather than having to use my phone or ipad.
Thanks
Joystick works on my iPhone 6 using iOS 8.1.2 very good. Did you assign the functions of the profile to the channels of the SBrick? Go to the set, then settings, add a profile (joystick for example), add your SBrick (bottom of the page) and tap on it. There you can assign Functions (acceleration/steering) to one ore more channels of the SBrick.
I found another problem with the iOS App:
when I use the joystick profile the display turns off after some time. Then the SBrick keeps in the last state and motors keep running until I reactivate the smartphone.
The App should avoid turning off.
I now have port testing working on iPhone 6 ios 8.1.2
I think when you delete the SBrick app from the phone some data remains and is used when you re-install the SBrick app. Is this true?
I can drive my skid steer technic toy around with the port testing sliders and it is much fun.
Cant seem to get the joystick to work on the iPhone 6 but it works well on the iPhone 4s.
Bob
I would like to report sucess!
I did a freash restore of IOS 8.1.2 on an iPhone 4s.
i put two motors on C and D pads
I opened SBick app:
selected MOC,
accepted name
accepted image
selected joystick
opened the brick and set all channels to acceleration
tested ports
backed out and re-opened app
turned on joystick
tilting phone actates the two motors.
YIPEEEE
Bob Beck