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writeable characteristic for android custom ble service always returns write permission zero when discovered

I'm creating a custom BLE service on Android with a single characteristic that can be read/written. The code looks like this:
public static UUID MY_SERVICE = UUID.fromString("e0ec8d9c-5e4d-470a-b87f-64f433685301");
public static UUID MY_CHARACTERISTIC = UUID.fromString("e0ec8d9c-5e4d-470a-b87f-64f433685302");
/**
* Return a configured {#link BluetoothGattService} instance for the
* Custom Service.
*/
public static BluetoothGattService createCustomBleService() {
BluetoothGattService service = new BluetoothGattService(MY_SERVICE,
BluetoothGattService.SERVICE_TYPE_PRIMARY);
// Current Configuration characteristic
BluetoothGattCharacteristic characteristic = new BluetoothGattCharacteristic(MY_CHARACTERISTIC,
BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PROPERTY_READ | BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PROPERTY_WRITE,
BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PERMISSION_READ |BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PERMISSION_WRITE);
boolean serviceAdded = service.addCharacteristic(characteristic);
Log.i(TAG, "Building BLE service addCharacteristic returned "+serviceAdded);
return service;
}
The call to addCharacteristic(...) returns true. The service itself is created, can be advertised, and the service and its characteristic are discoverable by clients. Somewhere else in client side code, subsequent to a BLE scan that locates said service, the discovery code that runs looks like this:
for (BluetoothGattService service : gatt.getServices()) {
serviceUuid = service.getUuid().toString();
if( MY_SERVICE.toString().equals(serviceUuid) ) {
List<BluetoothGattCharacteristic> gattCharacteristics = service.getCharacteristics();
for( BluetoothGattCharacteristic gattCharacteristic : gattCharacteristics ) {
characteristicUuid = gattCharacteristic.getUuid().toString();
Log.d(TAG, "onServicesDiscovered() - found characteristic uuid="+characteristicUuid);
int cProps = gattCharacteristic.getProperties();
Log.d(TAG, "onServicesDiscovered() - found characteristic properties "+cProps);
if ((( MY_CHARACTERISTIC.toString().equals(characteristicUuid) ))&&((cProps & BluetoothGattCharacteristic.PROPERTY_WRITE)>0)) {
writeCharacteristic(gatt,gattCharacteristic,"configStringLiteral");
}
}
}
}
When this service discovery code runs, as I mentioned, it finds the custom service and the characteristic that were defined. Any values I set for characteristic properties show up properly at the time of discovery on client side. The characteristic shows as writeable.
The problem is that characteristic write fails always even though the properties say its writable.
Has anyone seen this?... or perhaps I'm doing something dumb and have been looking at it too long.
(BTW the device hosting the custom service at runtime is a Samsung Galaxy 7 and the client is a Galaxy 6 ...or vice versa, same behavior)

Permission info is not sent over BLE when the services are discovered. Therfore the permission property should not be used for remote characteristics.
A client should inspect the characteristic property only to decide what can be done. If it receives an error saying for example encryption needed, the Bluetooth stack shall start encryption and then retry the request.
So, characteristic properties are the correct way to declare to a client what can be done with it. Characteristic permissions only tell the local GATT Server implementation how it should react to incoming GATT requests.

Decode BLE GattServices data

I am implementing BLE in Android Studio. I have connected with the peripheral device ok. In my onServicesDiscovered method I want to analyze the services (and characteristics) and I get something like the following when I print out:
android.bluetooth.BluetoothGattService#41b6dd18
There is 4 services in the list and they all look similar except for the numbers at the end. How can I convert this to useful information. I have seen no reference to this format.
Thanks.

Try to read the uuid from the BluetoothGattService object.
You can find uuid of standard services on Bluetooth SIG website. If the uuid is not there (i.e. custom services), you should read the manual of the peripheral or reach out the peripheral maker.

That depends on what you consider "useful" information.
BLE works mostly like dictionary where you look up long numbers (characteristics) and get binary data, so without prior information about the device you're working on, there is not much you can see when you discover services.
That said, in the BLE docs, there is a method displayGattServices() which puts the discovered services info in an ExpandableListView, and here I changed it to print the UUIDs of services and characteristics to logcat instead.
Besides the UUIDs, you can use getProperties() to find out other characteristic properties such as the format of the characteristic data, or getPermissions() to see whether you can read or write the characteristic.
// Demonstrates how to iterate through the supported GATT
// Services/Characteristics.
private void displayGattServices(List<BluetoothGattService> gattServices) {
final String TAG = "BleServiceInfo";
if (gattServices == null) return;
String uuid;
String unknownServiceString = "Unknown service"
String unknownCharaString = "Unknown characteristic"
// Loops through available GATT Services.
for (BluetoothGattService gattService : gattServices) {
Log.d(TAG, "Service: " + gattService.getUuid().toString());
// Loops through available Characteristics.
for (BluetoothGattCharacteristic gattCharacteristic : gattCharacteristics) {
Log.d(TAG, "\tCharacteristic: " + gattCharacteristic.getUuid().toString());
}
}
}
Call this method from onServicesDisccovered() like this:
public void onServicesDiscovered(BluetoothGatt gatt, int status) {
....
displayGattServices(gatt.getServices());
}

Android bluetooth get the heart rate measurement

I want to get the value of the HRM of an "A&D UA-651BLE" device.
this is what's written in the datasheet of this device to get the HRM value:
Set the application to pairing mode to start scanning.
Start pairing of A&D BLE device following each instruction manual.
At pairing mode, the application should set time and date and any other device settings
to A&D BLE device. After successful pairing, A&D BLE device shows “End” on the screen.
Take a measurement and finish the measurement, then A&D BLE device start BLE
connection with advertising. The application starts scanning with suitable interval so that
the application catches the advertising of A&D BLE device as soon as it can.
At initial connection or pairing, the Application set “2” to CCCD (Client Characteristic
Configuration Descriptor) so that A&D BLE device sends a measurement data with
Indication.
After A&D device recognizes to be set “2” to CCCD and to be synchronized time and date
within 5 seconds after connected, send the data with Indication.
If the timeout set CCCD and time and date is expired, A&D BLE device will not send data
and store the data in memory. The stored data in A&D BLE device can send next
successful connection.
this is my service code:
public void setCharacteristicNotification(BluetoothGattCharacteristic characteristic,
boolean enabled) {
if (mBluetoothAdapter == null || mBluetoothGatt == null) {
Log.w(TAG, "BluetoothAdapter not initialized");
return;
}
mBluetoothGatt.setCharacteristicNotification(characteristic, enabled);
// This is specific to Heart Rate Measurement.
if (UUID_HEART_RATE_MEASUREMENT.equals(characteristic.getUuid())) {
BluetoothGattDescriptor descriptor = characteristic.getDescriptor(
UUID.fromString(SampleGattAttributes.CLIENT_CHARACTERISTIC_CONFIG));
descriptor.setValue(BluetoothGattDescriptor.ENABLE_NOTIFICATION_VALUE);
mBluetoothGatt.writeDescriptor(descriptor);
}
}
and this is the method that read data:
final byte[] data = characteristic.getValue();
if (data != null && data.length > 0) {
final StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder(data.length);
for(byte byteChar : data)
stringBuilder.append(String.format("%02X ", byteChar));
Log.e("HRM value",stringBuilder.toString());
dataComposition.put(characteristic.getUuid().toString(),stringBuilder.toString());
intent.putExtra(EXTRA_DATA,dataComposition);
}
the problem is that this code doesn't return any data !!

There's an Android Open Source Project example that does precisely this, easiest option would be to clone the android-BluetoothLeGatt code, build and compare it to your own. If you can't spot the difference / issue simply deploy both app's and step through both sets of code. Having some known working code will also help to rule out the possibility that the HRM is not functioning properly.

Do you have and example , i try this with equal device and i cant obtain the information y try with
public String response() {
if (mConnected) {
mBluetoothLeService.readCharacteristic(characteristica);
byte response[] = characteristica.getValue();
String respuesta = ReadBytes(response);
mBluetoothLeService.disconnect();
return respuesta;
} else {
return null;
}
}

HM-10 Bluetooth Module - BLE 4.0 Keep Losing Connection

has anyone tried using HM-10 Bluetooth module?
I'm able to pair with it using an Android device and passing the pre-defined PIN. Based on the UART return, the pairing is successful (module returns OK+CONN - means a connection was established)
However, after a few seconds (2-3), the UART receives OK+LOST; means the connection was lost. Also, the LED starts blinking (normally, when a connection is active, it stays lit)
Is this normal behaviour for bluetooth in general or the HM-10 module.
This is the product's website: http://www.jnhuamao.cn/bluetooth.asp?ID=1

I'm not sure, but HM -10 don't support rfcom. It's mean that you must use GATT functionality for communication. Entity of BLE is usage of minimum data package as it possible, so BLE don't hold the connection all times and use something like statuses [attributes].
So, few code lines for example, how work with BLE:
1.
BluetoothAdapter mBluetoothAdapter = mBluetoothManager.getAdapter();
BluetoothDevice device = mBluetoothAdapter.getRemoteDevice(DEVICE_ADDR);
That's device initiation, the same like with simple bluetooth, where DEVICE_ADDR is the MAC of your BLE(how to find this address you can find in google or stack overflow, its trivial)
2.
BluetoothGattService mBluetoothGattService;
BluetoothGatt mBluetoothGatt = device.connectGatt(this, false, mGattCallback);
BluetoothGattCallback mGattCallback = new BluetoothGattCallback() {
#Override
public void onConnectionStateChange(BluetoothGatt gatt, int status, int newState) {
if (newState == BluetoothProfile.STATE_CONNECTED) {
mBluetoothGatt.discoverServices();
}
}
#Override
public void onServicesDiscovered(BluetoothGatt gatt, int status) {
if (status == BluetoothGatt.GATT_SUCCESS) {
List<BluetoothGattService> gattServices = mBluetoothGatt.getServices();
for(BluetoothGattService gattService : gattServices) {
if("0000ffe0-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb".equals(gattService.getUuid().toString()))
{
mBluetoothGattService = gattService;
}
}
} else {
Log.d(TAG, "onServicesDiscovered received: " + status);
}
}
};
So, what this code mean: if u can see from this part of code, i describe how GATT service find. This service needed for "attribute" communication. gattService.getUuid() has few uuids for communication(4 in my module), some of them used for RX, some for TX etc. "0000ffe0-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb" that is one of uuid that use for communication thats why i check it.
The final part of code is message sending:
BluetoothGattCharacteristic gattCharacteristic = mBluetoothGattService.getCharacteristic(UUID.fromString("0000ffe1-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb"));
String msg = "HELLO BLE =)";
byte b = 0x00;
byte[] temp = msg.getBytes();
byte[] tx = new byte[temp.length + 1];
tx[0] = b;
for(int i = 0; i < temp.length; i++)
tx[i+1] = temp[i];
gattCharacteristic.setValue(tx);
mBluetoothGatt.writeCharacteristic(gattCharacteristic);
After sending message contain hold on and you can send another message or can close connection.
More info, you can find on https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/bluetooth-le.html.
PS: MAC address of your module can find with ble scanner code or with AT cmd:
on my firmware AT+ADDR or AT+LADDR
About UUIDs usage: not sure, but in my case, i find it with next AT+UUID [Get/Set system SERVER_UUID] -> Response +UUID=0xFFE0, AT+CHAR [Get/Set system CHAR_UUID] - Response +CHAR=0xFFE1. Thats why i make conclusion that UUID which i must use fe "0000[ffe0/is 0xFFE0 from AT response]-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb"

Connecting with embedded device over bluetooth? [duplicate]

I'm currently working on an Android application that connects to an instrument via Bluetooth and need to write string commands and receive string responses back. Currently I have the connect/read/write working for TCP/IP over Wi-Fi and now trying to implement Bluetooth. But I am running into some roadblocks. I have been searching the web trying to find examples of something similar and haven't had any luck. I have been using the Android developer resource example: Bluetooth Chat as my main reference point.
My current code seems to work.. Then it throws a Service Discovery Failed exception at the point of the connection. I am using the DeviceListActivity class to do the discovery and selecting of the device I want to connect to. It returns anActivityResult and then my Bluetooth class waits for it to handle that and then does the connect to it. The code beneath is almost identical to the Bluetooth Chat App.
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if(!m_BluetoothAdapter.isEnabled())
{
m_BluetoothAdapter.enable();
}
switch (requestCode) {
case REQUEST_CONNECT_DEVICE:
// When DeviceListActivity returns with a device to connect
if (resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {
// Get the device MAC address
String address = data.getExtras()
.getString(DeviceListActivity.EXTRA_DEVICE_ADDRESS);
// Get the BLuetoothDevice object
BluetoothDevice device = m_BluetoothAdapter.getRemoteDevice(address);
// Attempt to connect to the device
connect(device);
}
break;
case REQUEST_ENABLE_BT:
// When the request to enable Bluetooth returns
if (resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {
// Bluetooth is now enabled, so set up a chat session
}
else {
// User did not enable Bluetooth or an error occured
Toast.makeText(this, "Bluetooth not enabled", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
finish();
}
}
}
This is my connect function:
private static final UUID MY_UUID = UUID.fromString("00001101-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB");
private void connect(BluetoothDevice device) {
m_Device = device;
BluetoothSocket tmp = null;
// Get a BluetoothSocket for a connection with the
// given BluetoothDevice
try {
tmp = device.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(MY_UUID);
}
catch (IOException e) {
}
m_Socket = tmp;
m_BluetoothAdapter.cancelDiscovery();
try {
// This is a blocking call and will only return on a
// successful connection or an exception
m_Socket.connect();
}
catch (IOException e) {
try {
m_Socket.close();
}
catch (IOException e2) {
}
return;
}
}
Hopefully, whatever I am doing wrong is simple, but I'm afraid it's never that easy. This is my first time doing any Bluetooth development, and maybe I'm doing something blatantly wrong... But I'm not sure why I get the service discovery failed exception.
You can pair/find the device at all times manually on the phone... It does require a passcode, but I don't think that is the problem that I am having.

After three days I got it figured out thanks to some very helpful posts.
I had to replace:
tmp = device.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(MY_UUID);
with:
Method m = device.getClass().getMethod("createRfcommSocket", new Class[] {int.class});
tmp = (BluetoothSocket) m.invoke(device, 1);
and voilà it works!

As of API 15 you can use the following method:
Try replacing your UUID with the return value of getUuids() method of BluetoothDevice class.
What worked for me was something like this:
UUID uuid = bluetoothDevice.getUuids()[0].getUuid();
BluetoothSocket socket = bluetoothDevice.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(uuid);
The reason this works is that different devices support different UUIDs and by getting the UUIDs of the device using getUuids you are supporting all features and devices.
Another interesting new method (supported since API 14) is this: BluetoothHealth.getConnectionState. Haven't tried it but looks promising...

This was a suggested edit from an anonymous user attempting to reply to the accepted answer.
One big difference between your before and after code is the UUID you are passing. I found my answer here: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/bluetooth/BluetoothDevice.html#createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(java.util.UUID)
I had to replace:
tmp = device.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(MY_UUID);
with:
private static final UUID SPP_UUID = UUID.fromString("00001101-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB");
tmp = device.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(SPP_UUID);
and voila it works!
The original code is for a peer to peer android app. It makes no sense to use the app UUID when connecting to a simple serial bluetooth device. Thats why discovery fails.

So as it mentioned above, the point is that you need to use the UUID that the server is waiting for.
If you are connecting to a bluetooth device, such as a headset or mouse, you need to check which UUIDs the device is listening for. You can see the UUIDs like this.
UUID[] uuids = bluetoothDevice.getUuids();
And if you want to know what these UUIDs mean, see this.

This is a realy old one question but i found that using the createInsecureRfcommSocketToServiceRecord() instead of createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord() along with the getUuids() previously mentioned do the trick for me
UUID uuid = bluetoothDevice.getUuids()[0].getUuid();
BluetoothSocket socket = bluetoothDevice.createInsecureRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(uuid);