ArduinoBLE Fix for BLE restart after a BLE end on portenta based devices

On portenta based board, if the user sketch starts and stops BLE several time, after the first time, the BLE stack advertises the wrong BLE mac address ( "AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA" ). This is caused because the BLE.end() function of ArduinoBLE doesn't turn off correctly the BLE mbed-os library.

Here a sketch for reproducing the bug.

#include <ArduinoBLE.h>
REDIRECT_STDOUT_TO(Serial);
BLEService ledService("19B10000-E8F2-537E-4F6C-D104768A1214"); // Bluetooth® Low Energy LED Service

// Bluetooth® Low Energy LED Switch Characteristic - custom 128-bit UUID, read and writable by central
BLEByteCharacteristic switchCharacteristic("19B10001-E8F2-537E-4F6C-D104768A1214", BLERead | BLEWrite);
bool turnedOn = false;
const int ledPin = LED_BUILTIN; // pin to use for the LED
uint32_t lastChange = 0;
void turnBLEon(){
 // begin initialization
  if (!BLE.begin()) {
    Serial.println("starting Bluetooth® Low Energy module failed!");

    while (1);
  }

  // set advertised local name and service UUID:
  BLE.setLocalName("LED");
  BLE.setAdvertisedService(ledService);

  // add the characteristic to the service
  ledService.addCharacteristic(switchCharacteristic);

  // add service
  BLE.addService(ledService);

  // set the initial value for the characeristic:
  switchCharacteristic.writeValue(0);

  // start advertising
  BLE.advertise();

  Serial.println("BLE LED Peripheral");
  turnedOn = true;
}

void turnBLEoff(){
  BLEDevice central = BLE.central();
  if(central && central.connected()){
    BLE.disconnect();
  }
  BLE.end();
  turnedOn=false;
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  while (!Serial);
  //BLE.debug(Serial);
  // set LED pin to output mode
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);

  turnBLEon();
  lastChange = millis();
}

void loop() {

  if(lastChange + 20000 < millis()){
    if(turnedOn){
      Serial.println("change turn off");
      turnBLEoff();

    }else{
      Serial.println("change turn on");
      turnBLEon();
    }
    lastChange = millis();
  }

  if(turnedOn){
    // listen for Bluetooth® Low Energy peripherals to connect:
    BLEDevice central = BLE.central();

    // if a central is connected to peripheral:
    if (central) {
      Serial.print("Connected to central: ");
      // print the central's MAC address:
      Serial.println(central.address());

      // while the central is still connected to peripheral:
      while (central.connected()) {
        // if the remote device wrote to the characteristic,
        // use the value to control the LED:
        if (switchCharacteristic.written()) {
          if (switchCharacteristic.value()) {   // any value other than 0
            Serial.println("LED on");
            digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);         // will turn the LED on
          } else {                              // a 0 value
            Serial.println(F("LED off"));
            digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);          // will turn the LED off
          }
        }
      }

      // when the central disconnects, print it out:
      Serial.print(F("Disconnected from central: "));
      Serial.println(central.address());
    }
  }
}

The fix improves the HCICordioTransportClass::end() calling the ble.shutdown() of mbed-os BLE library and restores the default HCI data received handler to make a valid initialization of the BLE chip at the coming restart.

This PR depends on this PR on the mbed-os repository; do not merge separately.

Oct 29 '24 15:10 fabik111

Memory usage change @ eab56317032f9c878503f61090ad3b043ff17001

Board	flash	%	RAM for global variables	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	:small_red_triangle: 0 - +64	0.0 - +0.01	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0

Click for full report table

Board	`examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising` flash	%	`examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor` flash	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	64	0.01	64	0.01
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0	0.0	0	0.0

Click for full report CSV

Board,examples/Central/LedControl<br>flash,%,examples/Central/LedControl<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>flash,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>flash,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>flash,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>flash,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>RAM for global variables,%
arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0

Oct 29 '24 15:10 github-actions[bot]

Memory usage change @ 1b1db3572c08fe50dd3d500177f4b7150d501471

Board	flash	%	RAM for global variables	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	:small_red_triangle: 0 - +64	0.0 - +0.01	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0

Click for full report table

Board	`examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising` flash	%	`examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor` flash	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	64	0.01	64	0.01
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0	0.0	0	0.0

Click for full report CSV

Board,examples/Central/LedControl<br>flash,%,examples/Central/LedControl<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>flash,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>flash,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>flash,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>flash,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>RAM for global variables,%
arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0

Nov 25 '24 10:11 github-actions[bot]

Memory usage change @ 55c343a0db42fe8079a2053a1e44b17e70bbd8de

Board	flash	%	RAM for global variables	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	:small_red_triangle: 0 - +64	0.0 - +0.01	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0

Click for full report table

Board	`examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising` flash	%	`examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor` flash	%
`arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble`	64	0.01	64	0.01
`arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010`	0	0.0	0	0.0
`arduino:samd:nano_33_iot`	0	0.0	0	0.0

Click for full report CSV

Board,examples/Central/LedControl<br>flash,%,examples/Central/LedControl<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>flash,%,examples/Central/PeripheralExplorer<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>flash,%,examples/Central/Scan<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>flash,%,examples/Central/ScanCallback<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>flash,%,examples/Central/SensorTagButton<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/EnhancedAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/Advertising/RawDataAdvertising<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/BatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/ButtonLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/CallbackLED<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/EncryptedBatteryMonitor<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>flash,%,examples/Peripheral/LED<br>RAM for global variables,%
arduino:mbed_nano:nano33ble,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,64,0.01,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:megaavr:uno2018:mode=on,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:renesas_uno:unor4wifi,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0

Mar 10 '25 14:03 github-actions[bot]

@fabik111 isn't hciTrSerialRxIncoming available only for mbed palatform? if so I think we should wrap all the changes inside the #ifdefs

If i recall correctly https://github.com/arduino/mbed-os/pull/37 is not really needed, can you confirm?

Apr 07 '25 06:04 pennam

If i recall correctly arduino/mbed-os#37 is not really needed, can you confirm?

Yeah I confirm that after more testing with mbed core v 4.2.4 and without that changes all is working . I would like to keep open (or in draft) that PR since I opened after I got strange errors during the begin after an end, so if the problem happens again we already have the fix.

Apr 07 '25 07:04 fabik111

Codecov Report

All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests :white_check_mark:

Project coverage is 9.62%. Comparing base (9712cb1) to head (bbc2baa). Report is 2 commits behind head on master.

Additional details and impacted files

@@          Coverage Diff           @@
##           master    #374   +/-   ##
======================================
  Coverage    9.62%   9.62%           
======================================
  Files          28      28           
  Lines        3656    3656           
======================================
  Hits          352     352           
  Misses       3304    3304

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Apr 09 '25 13:04 codecov[bot]