React Native BLE with OBD devices - bluetooth-lowenergy

I am currently trying to create a React Native app that lets me connect to my OBD2 device and read data about my car from it. However, I am struggling to figure out the "reading data" step. I am able to connect to the device and see characteristics and services, but cannot read data from the characteristic. I've seen articles on running a set of commands to initialize the OBD, but I have no clue what I am doing wrong. These articles have said things such as:
Set the command protocol to AUTO by running AT SP 0. By running AT DP, you should get AUTO.
Convert the commands to base64.
Use the "\r" return carriage at the end.
Write to the characteristic and read the resulting value.
Could anyone with experience on this issue explain how I can use an ordinary BLE app to send a command (via write) and receive a command following (via read). I understand how to code the read/write, but not entirely sure how to implement this specifically with OBD2 devices.
Thank you for your time.

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How to customize BlueZ?

I will be asking a very subjective question, but it is important as I am looking to recover from failure to effectively use BlueZ programatically.
Basically I envision an IoT edge device that runs on a miniature computer (Ex: Raspberry pi or Intel Compute Stick). The device would then run AlpineLinux OS and interact with Cloud.
Since it is IoT environment, it is needless to mention the importance of Bluetooth BLE over ISM band. Hence the central importance of being able to customize and work with BlueZ.
I am looking to do several things with BlueZ BLE including but not limited to
Advertising
Pairing
Characteristic
Broadcast
Secure transport of data etc...
Since I will be needing full control over data, for data-processing and interacting with cloud (Edge AI or Data-science on Cloud) I am looking at three ways of using BlueZ:
Make DBus API calls to BlueZ Methods.
Modify BlueZ codebase and make install a custom bin.
(So that callback handlers can be registered and wealth of other bluez
methods can be invoked)
Invoke BlueZ using command line utils like hcitool/bluetoothctl inside a program using system() calls.
No 1 is where I have failed. It is exorbitant amount of effort to construct and export DBus objects and then to invoke BlueZ methods. Plus there is no guarantee that you will be able to take care of all BLE issues.
No 2 looks very promising and I want to fully explore how feasible it is to modify the BlueZ code to my needs.
No 3 is the least desirable option, but I want to have it as a fallback option nevertheless.
Given my problem statement, what is the most viable strategy forward? I am asking this aloud so that I do not make more missteps and cost myself time and efforts.
Your best strategy is to start with the second way (which you already found promising) as this is a viable solution and many developers go about this method in order to create their BlueZ programs. Here is what I would do:-
Write all the functionality of the system in some sort of flowchart or state machine. This helps you visualise your whole system and what needs to be done to reach your end goal.
Try to perform all the above functionality manually using bluetoothctl and btmgmt. This includes advertising, pairing, etc. I recommend steering away from legacy commands such as hcitool and hciconfig as these have been deprecated and have a very different code structure.
When stumbling upon something that is not the default in bluetoothctl/btmgmt or you want to tweak the functionality, update the source to do so.
Finally, once you manually get the system to perform the functionality that you need (it doesn't have to be all, it can just be a subset of the functions), you can move to automating the whole process. This involves modifying the source for bluetoothctl/btmgmt commands so that instead of manual intervention, everything would be event-driven.
This is a bonus, but if you can create automated tests using python or some other scripting language, then this would ensure that your system is robust and that previous functionality doesn't break when adding new ones.
By the end of this process, you'll have a much better understanding of the internals of bluetoothctl/btmgmt and D-BUS APIs that you might be able to completely detach your code from the original bluetoothctl/btmgmt or create the program from scratch.
You probably already know this, but when modifying the tools, this is the starting point for the source code:-
bluetoothctl - client/main.c
btmgmt - tools/btmgmt.c
For more references on using bluetoothctl commands and btmgmt, please see the links below:-
BlueZ D-Bus C or C++ Sample
Bluetoothctl set passkey
https://stackoverflow.com/a/51876272/2215147
Bluez Programming
Linux command line howto accept pairing for bluetooth device without pin
https://stackoverflow.com/a/52982329/2215147
Bluetooth Low Energy in C - using Bluez to create a GATT server
I hope this helps.

Simulating a BLE Pairing Mode on ESP32

I've been working on a device that includes an ESP32. I set up a secure GATT server similar to the Secure Gatt Server Example with a custom service with Man in the Middle (MITM) based encryption. Currently pairing setup is Just Works, and when a client connects to the device they are prompted to pair and thus are bonded with key exchange (although it looks like Justworks disables MITM when I did more investigation for this question).
We do not have any real IO except for one button on the device, but I would like to limit pairing to a certain window of time after the Pairing button is pressed, or to have a "pairing mode" that the device enters (I have worked on another device that may have more of a classic pairing mode that was easier to work with). I know that's not explicitly part of the IDF API, but I'm looking for some guidance on how to approach something like a "pairing mode."
Would setting the IO capability to ESP_IO_CAP_IO work for using a button for the Yes/No? I don't see anything relevant in the documentation about how to configure this. In fact the enum does not appear elsewhere in the IDF sourcecode, nor does the mentioned relevant file stack/btm_api.h help.
Is there a way to disable / enable pairing on command? Would it be some type of change to advertising?

How to make a CSD call from modem

I recently bought a modem that supports CSD (Circuit Switched Data) calls. I put SIM card in it and I am able to make calls via AT commands. But these are always VOICE calls. I have another modem and I need to connect to it via CSD.
I know it is possible because our colleagues are using it this way to access some network.
They are using windows dial-up connection, but I guess that is just something that in the background calls the AT commands.
Nevertheless the dial-up is still giving me "Error 678: Remote computer did not respond". I have tried many settings, but still the same error. I even tried different computer and still got the same error.
So I found out that when I call CSD, then on the receiving side (if AT+CRC=1) it should display +CRING: REL ASYNC. So I setup another modem and called it and it showed +CRING: VOICE.
So how do I convince my modem to call in the REL ASYNC mode?
I already tried:
AT+IPR=115200 or AT+IPR=9600
AT+FCLASS=0 (this is default though)
AT+CSNS=4
AT+CBST=7,0,0 or AT+CBST=71,0,1
AT^SXRAT=0 (this changes the network to GSM)
But still when I do ATDNUMBERIWANTTOCALL; the receiving side shows +CRING: VOICE.
Also my mobile provider ensured me, that the CSD technology is still supported in my country and that I do not need any kind of special SIM card.
You need to remove the semicolon after the phone number in the ATD command: that semicolon is what tells the modem to make a voice call rather than CSD.
Check with your teleoperator does your sim card have separate data number.
Sometimes postpaid (and/or M2M) cards have three different numbers
1. voice
2. fax
3. data
In the end the number could be called normally like it is written in the question, but it only worked in Germany, not abroad...

I want to export data from a BLE112 dongle on BLE GUI to a csv or other similar type file

I have a device connected to my Bluegiga BLE112 dongle that sends temperature measurements every second. I am using BLE GUI to connect to and receive the data. I would like to store all the measurements in a csv file so I can import it into another program and analyze it. I have already enabled indications, so the data shows up and updates in the 'raw' column as shown:
but I cannot figure out how to store or export that data.
Unless BLE GUI has changed significantly (I haven't used it in about 1-2 years), you can't do anything like this.
You'd need to write your own app or laptop/desktop communication and parser/save.
HOWEVER! One option you could use that I used to do is try out my BLE Log parser:
http://www.sureshjoshi.com/development/summer-of-bluegiga-code/
http://www.sureshjoshi.com/development/blegui-log-parsing-and-filtering/
I wrote a little tool a couple years ago which would parse data coming from the log, and place it all in one place, so I could copy and use that elsewhere (I was using it for tracking advertising data on multiple devices).
NOTE: I haven't touched that code since that blog was written - no idea if it'll work.

use mavlink without qgroundcontrol

I'm trying to conect my PX4Flow sensor to a raspberry pi. It seems that nearly everybody is using qgroundcontrol to access and control it. But as I'd like to integrate it into some bigger program, I'd like to control it with some self-written simple python code, if possible.
My aim is to:
access the camera (to measure the speed - later)
get gyrometer values
I don't need the ultra sonic sensor.
I found out that I can use MAVlink for the communication between the px4flow sensor and the raspberry pi. I cloned the git repository and followed the steps on https://github.com/mavlink/mavlink until the generation of header file (python -m mavgenerate). With that, I can generate a new python file. I don't know if this is correct, and I don't know what to do with that python file. No more file (header files) are copied or generated. How do I go on? How do I use the library? How do I even test the connection?
If I understand you correctly, you want to make a module to communicate with PX4Flow.
I have some experience in building a ground control station with ardupilot. I think the procedure is roughly the same:
Generate the proper mavlink library, what you have done by using mavgenerate. Read some guidance of mavlink communication procedure.
Read the source code in PX4Flow communication module https://github.com/PX4/Flow/blob/master/src/modules/flow/communication.c, which shows what kind of messages have been sent to client side (e.g. your communication module)
Start write the module code to communicate with PX4Flow. You may need to start with HEARTBEAT msg first to establish connections between your module and PX4Flow. Note that you can always receive HEARTBEAT messages from PX4Flow. You can start with decoding these ones.
Implement your other functionalities.
You can read sources code of QGourndControl during step 3 and step 4. Make sure to find the right module in its repo.
My communication module is built using JavaScript https://github.com/kvenux/nodegcs, if it helps.

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