[OpenHaystack (AirTag)] Module "ble_advert" not found

[ZuriMuri]

Affected hardware version

Bangle 2

Your firmware version

2v24

The bug

When I try to install 'OpenHaystack (AirTag)' with a valid advertisement key via the app loader on my Bangle 2 I get the following error:

"Uncaught Error: Module "ble_advert" not found at line 23 col 21 in .boot0"

I suppose that the "ble_advert" package is not available anymore or at least faulty. My Console prompts this:

Loading modules
loadModule(ble_advert)
ERROR: getURL("https://www.espruino.com/modules/ble_advert.min.js") error : HTTP 404
ERROR: getURL("https://www.espruino.com/modules/ble_advert.js") error : HTTP 404
ERROR: getURL("https://banglejs.com/apps/modules/ble_advert.min.js") error [object ProgressEvent]

I tried to manually add the module via "require("ble_advert")" and require("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espruino/BangleApps/refs/heads/master/modules/ble_advert.js") within the IDE but it failed to RAM and FLASH. When trying to FLASH I needed to factory reset my bangle 2 because it always gets stuck on the Bluetooth loading screen.

Installed apps

No response

[bobrippling]

@gfwilliams we have the ble_advert module, so I guess this is an issue with it being published to espruino.com?

[gfwilliams]

Thanks for the report!

I tried .... but it failed to RAM and FLASH

You need to upload it to Storage with the filename ble_advert and it'd be fine. There's some info about it in https://github.com/espruino/BangleApps/blob/master/modules/README.md

... but you shouldn't have to do that!

Looks like this would have started with bcc5ae9 which is actually one of your commits @bobrippling ? I doubt this has ever worked since that change.

The App Loader parses and handles modules for any file uploaded with a '.js' extension in the url - but there was no URL specified for the file so it just copied it in verbatim. I've just pushed a fix which supplies a URL which even though it's not used and wouldn't work anyway fools the app loader into parsing the file.

Just FYI, I'm not sure where you saw those ERROR: getURL messages, but the App Loader should be checking https://www.espruino.com/modules/ and https://banglejs.com/apps/modules for minified and unminified files. It errors for the first 3 and that's expected, but presumably it does find https://banglejs.com/apps/modules/ble_advert.js and uploads it

[ZuriMuri]

Thank you both for the fast replies and fixes!

You need to upload it to Storage with the filename ble_advert and it'd be fine. There's some info about it in https://github.com/espruino/BangleApps/blob/master/modules/README.md

You are right - I saved the file with a ".js" extension before and that was my mistake. Uploading it manually made the errors go away.

Just FYI, I'm not sure where you saw those ERROR: getURL messages, but the App Loader should be checking https://www.espruino.com/modules/ and https://banglejs.com/apps/modules for minified and unminified files. It errors for the first 3 and that's expected, but presumably it does find https://banglejs.com/apps/modules/ble_advert.js and uploads it

The errors occured but if I recall correctly it then prompted that the minified file was loaded anyways.

Unfortunately I still can't get it to work... The key is not picked up by the apple network. I assume that the MAC address of my Bangle2 does not stay "static" as I see changing MAC addresses when I connect the app loader or IDE. The key I'm using is working with my FlipperZero over an anisette-v3-server and FindMy - I've tested that before.
Maybe someone else can try if it works for them or if I need to make further adjustments to my Bangle settings for it to work?!

[gfwilliams]

as I see changing MAC addresses when I connect the app loader or IDE.

Well, as soon as the code for OpenHaystack is run (right after boot) the Mac should be set to what's needed for the beacon.

So you might see the Mac address come up for a fraction of a second as the old (original) one but I think after that it should stay as the right one?

But I do wonder whether those changes that were made might have broken it somehow. Were you able to test it when you made the changes @bobrippling?

It might be interesting to connect with the Web IDE and write the old code to openhaystack.boot.js:

{
const key = E.toUint8Array("KEYVALUE"); // public key - copy this out of what was in openhaystack.boot.js before
const mac = [ key[0] | 0b11000000, key[1], key[2], key[3], key[4], key[5] ].map(x => x.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')).join(':'); // mac address
const adv = [ 0x1e, 0xff, 0x4c, 0x00, 0x12, 0x19, 0x00, key[6], key[7], key[8], key[9], key[10], key[11], key[12], key[13], key[14], key[15], key[16], key[17], key[18], key[19], key[20], key[21], key[22], key[23], key[24], key[25], key[26], key[27], key[0] >> 6, 0x00 ]; // advertising packet
NRF.setAddress(mac);
NRF.setAdvertising([adv,{}],{whenConnected: true, interval: 1000}); // advertise AirTag *and* normal device name (to remain connectable)
}

[bobrippling]

Yes I have a horrible feeling something's broken - I'll test with the old code too and see if I get any reports coming through

[ZuriMuri]

It might be interesting to connect with the Web IDE and write the old code to openhaystack.boot.js:

I tried it yesterday and here is what I've found:

• The MAC address stays the same

but

1. The screen freezes while displaying "Reloading" or "Loading" - as soon as I long press the button it unfreezes but then the MAC becomes dynamic again

2. While the screen was frozen the Bangle was still accesible via IDE/App Loader so I let it stay that way for a couple hours to see if BLE adverts are picked up by the "find my" network. Unfortunately the signal was not picked up eventhough I had Apple devices with Bluetooth in sight/reach all the time.

I will look into how the payload for ble advertisement is formed in openhaystack and compare if I identify any differences. Maybe something changed there as well with byte-sequences etc. which might be the cause of the signal not getting picked up.

[gfwilliams]

The screen freezes while displaying "Reloading" or "Loading" -

I think that's probably a sign that there's been an error while executing the code (so maybe there was some typo when you pasted it into the IDE?) - if you reload it with the IDE connected I'd hope it would tell you what the error was if there was one.

[ZuriMuri]

There was indeed an error which I was able to solve. However the MAC does not stay the same with the Bangle but keeps changing after I upload the key.

I analyzed both payloads and the ble advertisement is identically (no error there). So I'd assume that the reason it is not working is that the bangle still changes its MAC eventhough it is not supposed to :(

[gfwilliams]

That's really strange. Can you put your finger on when the Bangle changes MAC address? Like when you change apps, or just seemingly randomly?

And does it change just between two MAC addresses, or multiple different ones?

[ZuriMuri]

So I tried to go with a clean uninstall/install but still can't figure out why the signal is not picked up by the FindMy network. All it ever states is: "BLE connected, queuing BLE restart for
later".

When your changes in the Git Repo are pushed to the official bangle app website I'll gladly give it another try...

In the meantime someone else can maybe test if it is working for them or if they are having similar issues?! 😕

[gfwilliams]

All it ever states is: "BLE connected, queuing BLE restart for later".

That's what you'd expect - it can't change some things while the BLE connection is active as it has to restart the bluetooth stack for them.

It's not possible you're just constantly staying connected to the Bangle so it's not getting a chance to advertise is it?

[ZuriMuri]

Negative, I did disconnect. Tried it once the app was updated, disconnected and then held the button to reload and vice versa. Still the same outcome.

[bobrippling]

To double-check, is this with the code revert to before bcc5ae9?

[ZuriMuri]

I tried both actually, the NRF.setAdvertising and require("ble_advert") and they didn't work for me :/

[bobrippling]

Interesting - have you seen it working in the past, ever? If not, it could be that your watch isn't being picked up by any devices capable of adding it to the FindMy network

[bobrippling]

Similarly - I haven't been able to get my watch on the network for a while (#3566), perhaps something's up

[ZuriMuri]

Interesting - have you seen it working in the past, ever? If not, it could be that your watch isn't being picked up by any devices capable of adding it to the FindMy network

The key(s) - yes. If I add them to my FlipperZero they get picked up in an instance by the FindMy network. With the Bangle however they were never picked up.

Is there a way to troubleshoot the MAC address setting on the bangle? I checked BLE with a BLE scanner and the payload for advertising the key is the same as e.g. with the FlipperZero. It just seems that the MAC still keeps on changing.

[bobrippling]

Yes, I see the same - I wonder if the advertisement has to be stable/unchanging for a certain duration before it'll be accepted? I've bumped the advertising interval on mine and confirmed there's 5 seconds while a MAC is used. Will see if it gets picked up:

 {
 const key = E.toUint8Array(atob("...")); // public key
 const mac = [ key[0] | 0b11000000, key[1], key[2], key[3], key[4], key[5] ].map(x => x.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')).join(':'); // mac address
 const adv = [ 0x1e, 0xff, 0x4c, 0x00, 0x12, 0x19, 0x00, key[6], key[7], key[8], key[9], key[10], key[11], key[12], key[13], key[14], key[15], key[16], key[17], key[18], key[19], key[20], key[21], key[22], key[23], key[24], key[25], key[26], key[27], key[0] >> 6, 0x00 ]; // advertising packet
 NRF.setAddress(mac);
 //require("ble_advert").push(adv, {whenConnected: true, interval: 1000}); // advertise AirTag *and* normal device name (to remain connectable)
-NRF.setAdvertising([adv,{}],{whenConnected: true, interval: 1000}); // advertise AirTag *and* normal device name (to remain connectable)
+NRF.setAdvertising([adv,{}],{whenConnected: true, interval: 5000}); // advertise AirTag *and* normal device name (to remain connectable)
 }

[bobrippling]

No reports - I suspect the issue isn't the interval. Given there's no difference between this and the code when I saw it working (in 008fce3), I wonder if there's other changes that could be causing it.

Do you see any difference in the BLE reports from your FlipperZero vs the Bangle? I see the advertisements parsed as FindMy reports in NRF Connect, with the public key payload matching my public key

[ZuriMuri]

Here is what the FlipperZero advertises

Device Name: C6-XX-YY-ZZ-85-C1
Device MAC: C6:XX:YY:ZZ:85:C1
First seen: Mon Dec 2 09:37:00 2024
Last seen: Mon Dec 2 09:40:44 2024
Advertising interval: 8939 ms
Advertisement packet(s):
MFD > 09:37:11.146 > 0x004C (Apple, Inc.) > (27 bytes) 0x1219a0RESTOFTHEKEYed0100

and here the Bangle

Device Name: Bangle.js a14b
Device MAC: 74:XX:YY:ZZ:2E:6D
First seen: Mon Dec 2 09:39:47 2024
Last seen: Mon Dec 2 09:43:37 2024
Service(s) advertised:
{6E400001-MYSE-RVIC-EADV-ERTE24DCCA9E}
Advertising interval: 7192 ms
Advertisement packet(s):
MFD > 09:39:52.515 > 0x004C (Apple, Inc.) > (27 bytes) 0x121900RESTOFTHEKEYed0100

The differences I see:

1. Device name and MAC are the same (and always stay the same) with the FlipperZero
2. Bangle advertises 0x121900... whilst FlipperZero advertises 0x1219a0... but if I remember correctly I read somewhere that this is only distinguishing between one being "I am an Apple device" and the other "I am no Apple device"

The broadcast intervall on the Flipper can be manually set anywhere between 1-10 sec. Other than that the keys are identitical.
So it must have to do something with the device name and/or MAC that is being "ignored" by the FindMy network.

[gfwilliams]

Do you think one of you could send me a key from OpenHaystack to test? privately if you want.

I'm pretty sure the interval shouldn't have any effect - once the advertising is set it'll stay as is.

I just tested on a Bangle here for the MAC address - I uploaded NRF.setAddress("ff:ee:dd:cc:bb:aa"); via the Web IDE and disconnected, and I scanned with NRF connect, and I see exactly that - the Bangle always stays advertising with a MAC address of ff:ee:dd:cc:bb:aa and it doesn't change.

But you're saying that yours does change - what kind of addresses does the MAC address change between?

Maybe you could try uploading a file called: debug.0.boot.js with the Web IDE

NRF._setAddress = NRF.setAddress;
NRF.setAddress = function(addr) {
  console.log("Address changed to "+E.toJS(addr));
  NRF._setAddress(addr);
  throw new Error("Address changed to "+E.toJS(addr));
};

Then reload and see what's printed. Maybe also try with the Open Haystack app removed.

It will throw an exception so it may break what's running, but it will give you a stack trace of where setAddress was called from

Interesting about the A0/00 - that's a trivial change to make and might help I guess?

[ZuriMuri]

debug.0.boot.js gives me the following when openhaystack is installed:

Uncaught` Error: Address changed to "c6:a4:fc:6f:85:c1"
 at line 13 col 53 in .boot0
  throw new Error("Address changed to "+E.toJS(addr));
                                                    ^
in function "setAddress" called from line 30 col 19 in .boot0
NRF.setAddress(mac);

but I don't know what that means... However there is no error when openhaystack is not installed.
I'll pass a new key via direct E-Mail to you!

[gfwilliams]

It's hard to be 100% sure, but the line NRF.setAddress(mac); exactly matches what's in OpenHaystack, which makes sense. Please can you try changing the boot code to:

NRF._setAddress = NRF.setAddress;
NRF.setAddress = function(addr) {
  console.log("Address changed to "+E.toJS(addr));
  NRF._setAddress(addr);
  if (addr!="c6:a4:fc:6f:85:c1") throw new Error("Address changed to "+E.toJS(addr));
};

So it'll run openhaystack without issues - then leave the bangle for a bit and play around, and see if it gets called any other time with anything else?

I'll pass a new key via direct E-Mail to you!

Thanks!

[ZuriMuri]

So it'll run openhaystack without issues - then leave the bangle for a bit and play around, and see if it gets called any other time with anything else?

It did not throw an error or get called any other time with anything else.

I've noticed that when I am connected via browser with the espruino ide - I see the following (when trying to connect in a different tab to the app store e.g.):

When the Bangle is disconnected and I try to re-connect I get:

Does that mean that the "service" is advertised differently and because of the NRF.setAddress it doesn't show any MAC for the connection? Or am I just mixing things up?

[bobrippling]

I see exactly the same - different devices show up, sometimes unidentified rather than Bangle.js <id>, which led me to think the mac was cycling

@gfwilliams let me know if you want another public key to test with and I'll whizz mine over

Interesting about the A0/00 - that's a trivial change to make and might help I guess?

This could be a point

[ZuriMuri]

Bangle advertises 0x121900... whilst FlipperZero advertises 0x1219a0... but if I remember correctly I read somewhere that this is only distinguishing between one being "I am an Apple device" and the other "I am no Apple device"

I've found the website but the byte A0/00 is part of the "Status byte" and not the "company identifier" if I interpret it correctly. So this change might really be worth a try.

[gfwilliams]

I've noticed that when I am connected via browser with the espruino ide - I see the following (when trying to connect in a different tab to the app store e.g.):

But is it just two addresses? Or more than two?

Because that's exactly what you would expect - the Bangle's own address from before the MAC address is set (which may happen for a fraction of a second at boot or before you long-press to reload apps after installing OpenHaystack) and then the new address you set.

• One should have the last 4 digits ab:cd matching Bangle abcd
• One should match whatever that code I posted up said in the console (which mostly matches the first 6 bytes of the advertising key - see below)

It's really not helping to debug this when you appear to be changing keys between posting up and also blanking out your full key and MAC address. But I used the key you gave and what I see here is...

I pasted in the Advertising key, and:

• The MAC address the Bangle has after restarting matches what NRF.setAddress said, which is the first 6 bytes of the key (with the first one ORed slightly) as is done on https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack/blob/main/Firmware/Microbit_v1/offline-finding/main.c and https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack/blob/main/Firmware/ESP32/main/openhaystack_main.c#L107
• According to NRF Connect it's not changing MAC address from what it was asked to use
• According to NRF connect the Public key being advertised exactly matches what I pasted in
  (you can use print(E.toUint8Array(atob("base64_key")).slice().map(x=>x.toString(16).padStart(2,0)).join("")) to change your key from b64 to hex, and chars 2..11 should match the MAC address too)

So it appears to all be doing the correct thing as far as I can tell. And both the example bits of code I mentioned for OpenHaystack report 0x121900 too.

So honestly I'm not really sure what the difference would be, unless Apple have now started filtering devices that also advertise other information (like their name) as well as the AirTag packet.