how to debug

[J0han3s]

How to debug.

My beacon is not showing in Format BLE (I am using my phone HA Companion App). I can see the beacon using a BLE scanner app on a different phone, but it is not been picked by Format BLE-Tracker.

Any tips?

[formatBCE]

Did you add UUID as tracker in HA integration? I believe so.

Then you can see what's going on like this:

1. In ESPHome check logs of your scanner node. It should give heartbeat, and for each packet it is catching there will be log kind of sending for [UUID]. If it's not there, then either you put incorrect UUID in HA, or your phone somehow doesn't transmit packets (unlikely, if you're using HA companion app for Android).
2. After confirming it's sending correctly, you can debug in your MQTT. I use MQTT Explorer. Check format_ble_tracker: it has "alive" topic with all configured trackers, and separate topic for each tracker, which holds messages from ESP nodes, alongside with timestamp and RSSI. If you see messages coming to the topic with your phone UUID name, and timestamp isn't 0, and RSSI is higher than your configured min RSSI in HA - then the problem is in HA integration, and I will need to check it.

Let me know if you're stuck.

[J0han3s]

Thanks

1 - i get heart-beat, but no uid

[00:33:22][D][format_ble:064]: BLE scan heartbeat [00:33:27][D][format_ble:064]: BLE scan heartbeat [00:33:32][D][format_ble:064]: BLE scan heartbeat

In MQTT, it is showing as ALIVE UIDXXX= True

should the uuid be that i get from the companion app, or do i need to prefix it with iBeacon:uuid ?

Thanks

[formatBCE]

This means that UUID is incorrect most probably. Please check it carefully.

[J0han3s]

for UUID, should i include the hypthon , "-"

P9xxxxx-xx-xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

or should i ignore the hyphens ?

[formatBCE]

Just copy it from BLE Transmitter page in your companion app settings, and paste as is when creating entry. No uppercase, no changes.

[J0han3s]

hmm, thanks - will keep trying tomorrow. Thank you so much

[formatBCE]

NP, let me know how it goes. :)

[siljelb]

I have the same, or at least a very similar, issue. I can see the BLE scan heartbeat messages in the ESPhome log, but no "sending for [UUID]" response. I've also copied the UUID directly, and MQTT Explorer is showing ALIVE [UUID] = true.

I'm using the Everything Presence One (https://shop.everythingsmart.io/en-no/products/everything-presence-one-kit) for this, would that make any difference?

[J0han3s]

I also could not resolve this

Sent from Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

---

From: Siljelb @.> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2024 6:02:38 PM To: formatBCE/Format-BLE-Tracker @.> Cc: Johanes2002 @.>; Author @.> Subject: Re: [formatBCE/Format-BLE-Tracker] how to debug (Issue #9)

I have the same, or at least a very similar, issue. I can see the BLE scan heartbeat messages in the ESPhome log, but no "sending for [UUID]" response. I've also copied the UUID directly, and MQTT Explorer is showing ALIVE [UUID] = true.

I'm using the Everything Presence One (https://shop.everythingsmart.io/en-no/products/everything-presence-one-kit) for this, would that make any difference?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/formatBCE/Format-BLE-Tracker/issues/9#issuecomment-2258810240, or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AK3CPFGNOPLOG45PCOYZZO3ZO7BK5AVCNFSM6AAAAABLRIIVOGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDENJYHAYTAMRUGA. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

[formatBCE]

Guys, i need you to connect your ESP32 to serial debugger (you can do it with web.esphome.io), click "reset" and paste any logs you have related to this integration. There should be log of this kind: Adding UUID {your UUID capitalized}

Also, could you try using it with any beacon like Tile, that can be added by MAC address - to be sure that this issue happens for UUIDs exclusively.

So far i cannot reproduce it, using latest repo code and 2 Android phones.

[formatBCE]

P.S. alive topic is created by HA integration, to let ESP devices know, which devices to track. If UUID is there - that means you added device in HA - but doesn't mean ESP node picked it up. That's definitely ESP side trouble, but we can keep tracking here.

[NeoFax75]

I have my Pixel 7A setup properly, and the esp32 sees the Pixel 7A, but it does not update what room I am in. It also randomly updates the Tile on my keychain. logs_esphome-web-0cf070_logs.txt

[formatBCE]

Guys, I'm abandoning this integration. I switched to Bermuda - it's always better to use well-supported solution.

[massond]

I don't know if this will solve the problem for anybody else, but I was seeing the same thing and it turned out that I needed to remove "esp32_ble_tracker:" from my esp yaml. I had already been using this device to track ble and that was a leftover from this. Once I removed that, esp32_ble_presense picked up and started reporting devices.

[loryanstrant]

Guys, I'm abandoning this integration. I switched to Bermuda - it's always better to use well-supported solution.

Thanks for the work you've done on this so far, it's been a fantastic solution and I've enjoyed using it for quite some time. I've switched over to Bermuda as you've suggested - it's quite good.

Might I suggest that you archive the repo and put a note on the README so people know and don't keep raising issues?

[formatBCE]

Yes, will do it asap. Thought of it for a month, always forgetting...