Ive just upgraded to Mac OS 12.1 and VictronConnect is still not paring with devices it seems. Has victron registered the issue with Apple? As a developer its likely to have more clout than us as users. It would be really useful to get this sorted. Im using the Beta Test version of the connect app.
UPDATE 2022-02-28: on the latest macOS beta, Bluetooth pairing works again. This is 12.3 beta 4. We couldn't find any official information about when it is due for release, but in some blogs people mention March. Also our support ticket with Apple had an update: a potential fix is identified and will be added into a future OS update.
Original:
Hi @Frangar , and any one else. Indeed, unfortunately Bluetooth pairing with a new Victron device does not work on a Apple device running macOS v12, also known as Monterey.
We're working to fix that, and in touch with Apple about that. Progress on this is slow, there is no solution on the horizon at the moment; its a real difficult one to fix or work around without Apple themselves fixing something.
Note that there was another issue with Monterey, which was that VictronConnect crashed during connecting - which is solved in the latest VictronConnect version, 5.52, released a week ago.
VictronConnect 5.54 has made the situation worse - now can’t see Bluetooth devices at all. The longer the issue is allowed to exist, the greater damage will be done to Victron’s and Apple’s good reputation.
Hi Kevin, I'm sorry to see you seem rather agitated. The only replies I removed were about mixing up iOS with macOS. Right now no-one has the lead: it would be great if Apple would fix it soon, but even though we're sort of a large company, its also for us hard to get real traction at Apple. So we are seeing if we can somehow work around the change made by Apple.
I'm well aware about damage - indeed it needs fixing.
For v5.54 crashing on macOS, that was different issue, fixed in the morning of feb 1st, in v5.55.
Thanks for caring - believe me, nobody on our side is unconcerned about VictronConnect not properly working on the latest macOS version.
Thanks for the reply Matthijs. I will be tearing my hair out if Apple takes a year to fix this issue as suggested by enodev. Can I ask what Apple changed in Monterey that caused the issue? Apart from this issue, I have been very happy with Monterey, and I really like VictronConnect - it is simple and easy to use.
In the meantime, I have reverted to using Victron_Grafana with Docker and it still works OK.
We are not the only ones with Bluetooth issues created by Monterey. Apple obviously changed something that "upset the Apple cart".
@mvader (Victron Energy) Do you have an https://openradar.appspot.com/page/1 bug number or https://developer.apple.com/forums/ post about the underlying issue? I am a long term iOS and macOS developer myself and have some developer contacts that may or may not be of help...
Hi @enodev , yes that would be great if you could do that.
We have a post on their forum here:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/694377
And submitted a Feedback Support, via the Feedback application that’s in Apple beta software. And we raised a ticket at Apple DTS, ticket number 785847079. They then confirmed this was indeed an issue, would work on it, and closed the ticket.
We haven’t used Open Radar yet.
Let me know what you can do, also happy to continue this on email.
all the best, Matthijs
Would it be possible to reopen the ticket and ask that they keep it open until Apple deploys the fix?
It usually does not work like that. The group of people called Apple DTS (Developer Technical Support) is designed to help you - for money - when you have issues with some of the Apple technology - they are not owners of the respective area, just experienced engineers who know the Apple tech better then you. When it turns out that your problem is not your misunderstanding of the Apple technology, but rather Apple bug, they forward the problem to the appropriate team, then refund money and say "Apple will get it fixed, but we can not tell when". I have used DTS many times in the past for many issues in many Apple subsystems and never actually came to a quick solution. It was always a bug someplace else that eventually got fixed but it took super long time.
The Apple engineers I know typically say that when a bug is reported against Beta 1 (For macOS 12 Monterey that was around July 1st 2021) there is a high chance it will get fixed before official release. Anything reported later and not a super important bug will simply get addressed in .1 or .2 or .3 or even new major release next fall.
If you look at developer threads from Victron here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/694377 and from other guy here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/694146 you will see that they were discovered/reported around Dec 2021 which is "after" the official release.
So bringing the fix in now is probably rather risky and will therefore take a lot of time. Not happy about it, but when the software gets big and complex.....
The only other way I can think of to drive this is by the number of complaints Apple is receiving on the problem.
Maybe I'll give apple support a call and raise the issue there and see what they say. The cost is low and who knows what I might be able to find out. Maybe if enough of us call in with this problem it might get some love.
I'm not sure if this will bear any fruit but given things seem to be stuck maybe this will help. I will report back ASAP with her next response.
I will do all I can through this point of contact to drive this to a satisfactory outcome.
Just upgraded to Mac OS 12.2.1 and VictronConnect V5.56.....and still no joy with pairing on bluetooth Im afraid. Have you had any further response from Apple
I heard back from Apple yesterday on the ticket I escalated 8 days ago. See my posting above. Apple Engineering wants to gather more detailed logging data from me and I have an appointment with them to do that on Thursday (02/17 - I'm out of town until then). They are sending me a profile to enable that specialized Bluetooth-specific logging. Once I repeat the test and that new Bluetooth-specific profile and the new log is uploaded, they will hopefully know more, and perhaps they can either (1) address the issue directly and deploy a Monterey point release to address this problem, (2) I can get them to buy a Bluetooth device that requires a passcode so they can reproduce this in house and then fix this bug and deploy a Monterey point release to address this problem, (3) they continue sending me logging profiles to run until then get what they need from my logs (this is much less productive and will take a lot longer). In any case, I'm sure we will need to wait for a future Monterey release to get this addressed.
Hi @jonmarinello@gmail.com , that is great - thank you for all that effort.
We also had a nice discovery this morning: on the latest macOS beta, Bluetooth pairing works again.
This is 12.3 beta 4. We couldn't find any official information about when it is due for release, but in some blogs people mention March.
Also our ticket had an update: a potential fix is identified and will be added into a future OS update.
All the best for now, Matthijs
Ps. I'll also update the status on my first answer.
Hi, I had no problem with 15.1 .. Now updating to 15.2 .. let see
Rob
Thats a result....lets keep everything crossed that it stays working in the official system release. Thanks to all for working on the issue especially @mvader (Victron Energy) & @jonmarinello@gmail.com
Good news everyone MacOS Monteray 12.3.1 on my M1 MacBook Pro has fixed the Bluetooth VictronConnect issue, I just tested on all my devices and they now successfully connect. It has taken Apple quite a while to get around to fixing this software bug.
Cheers
