Connection issues... Possible workaround/hack

[tvl83]

I have worked with the Sprk+ for a while for my job and I found out a weird hack. I have to issue a disconnect command FIRST then connect and it seems to work fine. I also, when disconnecting via the script have to kill the process and restart the script to let me connect to it again.

Here is a snippet of my code:

// I am using socket.io so this is a socket message from a web page that tells it to connectSphero

socket.on("connectSphero", function (data) {

// if the sphero object is not null, i disconnect and proceed.
        if (sphero !== null) {
            console.log("sphero not null... disconnecting ");
            sphero.disconnect(function () {
                console.log("disconnecting first... for some reason it works");
            });
        }
// we have multiple spheros so in the socket message payload i am telling it which to connect to
        if (data.sphero === 'a') {
            console.log('Chose Sphero A');
            currentSpheroMAC = "C7:CB:11:51:A8:DB";
            sphero = Sphero(currentSpheroMAC, {emitPacketErrors: true, timeout: 2000});
            spheroName = 'a';
        } else if (data.sphero === 'b') {
            console.log('Chose Sphero B');
            currentSpheroMAC = "D8:C1:9C:58:77:71";
            sphero = Sphero(currentSpheroMAC, {emitPacketErrors: true});
            spheroName = 'b';
        }

        // Setting voltage low point to 7.25v and critical to 6.75v
        sphero.setVoltageTripPoints(725,675, function(err, data){
            console.log(err || "data: " + data);
        });

// i issue the disconnect command again
    sphero.disconnect(function () {
        console.log("disconnecting first... for some reason it works");
    });
// i connect to the sphero here
    sphero.connect(function () {
        sphero.setInactivityTimeout(36000, function (err, data) {
            console.log(err || "data: ");
            console.log("setting inactivity timeout to 3600 seconds (1hr)");
        });
    });
});

it's a bit hacky to issue the disconnect first then connect to it but that is the only way I have found it to work. I hope this is helpful to someone.

Here is how I kill the script on disconnect.

// again with socket.io message i send disconnectSphero and it does this
socket.on("disconnectSphero", function () {
        if (sphero !== null) {
// tell it to sleep after 60 seconds
            sphero.setInactivityTimeout(60, function (err, data) {
                console.log(err || "data: ");
                console.log("setting inactivity timeout to 60 seconds");
issue disconnect command                
                sphero.disconnect(function () {
                    console.log("Now disconnected from Sphero");
                    sphero = null;
                    console.log("sphero == null");
                    io.emit("spheroDisconnected", {
                        spheroName: spheroName
                    });
// this actually kills the process of the script
                    process.exit(1);
                })
            });
        }
    });

I then use a process manager called pm2 which can watch the process and automatically restart it when it gets killed or crashes or what ever so then my script automatically restarts and i am able to connect to the sphero again.

it's extremely weird that this is required, i admit but again it's the only way it has worked for me.

[xocialize]

I'm not entirely certain why you'd need to call a disconnect before you can connect but I can tell you that when you call disconnect it never makes it far enough back down the stack to actually do a call to noble to handle the actual disconnection.

In ble.js from the sphero.js npm in adaptors, here's the original code at the end of the function when you try a disconnect:

Adaptor.prototype.close = function close(callback) { callback(); };

I modified it a bit to actually call into noble and complete the disconnect.

Adaptor.prototype.close = function close(callback) {

var p = this._connectedPeripheral();

var self = this;

p.disconnect(function() {
	console.log("///////// Here in the disconnect call");
	console.log(self.uuid);
	console.log(self.connectedPeripherals);

	delete self.connectedPeripherals[self.uuid];

	self.noblePeripheral = null;
	self.isConnected = false;
	
	callback();
});

};
`
in the same file it fails when calling the connect again. Everything I've tried to restart the part to enable the scanning has ended in frustration. Maybe someone a bit more familiar with noble could help explain.

[tvl83]

Yea like I said it is extremely weird but it works. I also have to kill the original process too and have it restarted to be able to reconnect again. Extremely bizarre stuff but it's my workaround to make things work consistently.