Hi,
Location permission is only needed during scanning (so for detecting the products and the instant readout) and not for pairing. And even then should it only be necessary for Android 11 and lower. Under Android 12 and upwards, “Nearby devices” permission is needed.
Kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
Hi,
Then it not really surprising that it not failed in the same way for these devices as the problem with the Victron products is with the pincode pairing / entry.
With kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
Guys, I just spent hours with the same problem and I finally resolved my problem.
What I have:
Victron SmartShunt IP65
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 on Android 14
Samsung Galaxy S9+ on Android 10
Samsung Galaxy S9 on Android 10
Problem: Unable to pair Victron Connect app with SmartShunt IP65
Symptoms: When trying to pair with my Fold 5 or my S9+, the bluetooth PIN code pop-up occasionally appears and goes away before getting a chance to enter. In the odd chance that it stays up, it doesn’t succeed. However, Victron Connect worked flawlessly on my S9. So what gives?
Troubleshooting: I started going though the installed apps list between all three devices. Apps that were on the Fold 5 and S9+ that weren’t on the S9, I uninstalled and retried connecting the app to the SmartShunt. This was a bit tedious but I eventually got both my Fold 5 and S9+ working!
Root Cause: On my Fold 5 & S9+, I had an app called Topdon TopScan which is a bluetooth OBD2 code reader. Somehow the app simply being installed but not in use was causing issues with the bluetooth PIN pop-up and pairing functionality. My guess is there is a vulnerability in the Android bluetooth source code that perhaps other apps (either maliciously or inadvertently) interfering with the pairing functions.
I might also add that the Topdon TopScan app has “Alibaba”-vibes written all over it based on appearance. I didn’t get a good feeling of this app when I installed it especially when it required location-access permissions just to pair with the OBD2 code reader.
Anyway it seems it is an “app” issue and not a “phone” make/model issue.
I hope the software developers at Victron can investigate into this further.
What is the Topdon TopScan app doing to interfere with the Victron Connect app pairing?
If they do find out, to add the details to their troubleshooting documentation.
That’s, it’s working! Delit topdon. Thanks!!!
Hi,
On Android, any app can provide a pincode to Android once pairing has started, even if that app was not the one that caused the phone to connect or pair. So this app probably waits for a internal broadcast from Android that pairing has started and then probably provides some fixed pincode. This causes Android to use that for the pairing.
I will check whether we mention this in our troubleshooting guide and make sure that this app is specifically mentioned.
Kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
Hi
I also found during initial bluetooth pairing with a Cerbo GX on an Android 15 phone that it would fail due to an active bluetooth connection between my phone and my Garmin Venu 3 watch. Solution was to turn off the Venu 3 for a few minutes whilst l completed the initial pairing. Once Cerbo GX paired in Victron Connect all subsequent bluetooth connections work fine with Garmin Venu 3 also connected to the phone. I recommend when performing the initial bluetooth pairing, make sure there are no other active bluetooth connections with the phone.
So I finally got back in town and was able to screen record the behavior, came here to upload and found the additions to the thread. Searched my phone and low and behold I too had the TopDon app (not sure from when or what). Uninstalled the app and was able to connect w/o issue. Thanks so much @azian_advanced for figuring this out.
I’ve gone ahead and uploaded my screen record as a visual for others who might be experiencing this issue.
Hi,
Thank you for confirming that it was indeed this app that was causing these problems.
With kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
I have found that even without other apps (as far as i know) that aggressively “hook” the Bluetooth pairing process, my android device (i.e. the OS itself) seems to get in the way.
If I connect to a Cerbo, and then immediately setup the wifi, all is fine.
If i connect to a Cerbo, and then tab away, and tab back, i can’t reconnect to the Cerbo.
In the 2nd case, going into bluetooth, finding the Cerbo, and telling the OS to “Forget device” enables me to start again and provided i don’t tab away from VictronConnect all is well.
It might be handy to start a list of known and suspected “problematic” apps that aggressively get in the way.
It sounds like so far;
Known to be problematic
TopDon
Suspected
Eebms
“Solar Guardian” (Epever’s latest app, which takes over from Epever Pair)
Please comment and add to the list if you have at least once had a problem, disabled an app, and then succeded.
Hi @RoarPowerNZ
When connecting to a Cerbo, there are other problems with the bluetooth stack on the Cerbo that are causing problems. This should already be much improved in the beta firmware version.
With kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
If I turn on “Beta release” on my raspberry pi units, will i get the firmware you are referring to?
If so, i have about 6 i can do, and test the bluetooth process and report back.
Hi @RoarPowerNZ
When you turn on “Beta release” on the raspberry pi, you will indeed get the firmware that should improve the bluetooth behavior of the GX/Venus firmware.
With kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
I am also having an issue pairing a Pixel 8 with Android 15 to Smart Shunt and Smart Solar. It appears to be the same as others reporting here, including the video robnelson posted on March 26. I do not have TopDon or Eebms “Solar Guardian” on my phone. I turned my old phone, a Pixel 4 with Android 13, back on and it is still able to connect to both Smart Shunt and Smart Solar. I have seen elsewhere that Is there a specific issue with Android 15?