Ganglion firmware update and BrainBay, incompatible?
I think updating my firmware has made my ganglion unable to connect to brainbay as things were fine before and now the device cannot be found by brainbay. I get a "Opening COM6: Access denied" error message now.
Can i roll it back to the previous version?
Comments
I may have messed up big time. My ganglion turned off mid-update. That may be the reason why it can't connect to either brainbay or openbci gui. However, it can connect to the nrf app so that's a bit weird. Is there any way to fix this?
Edit: it can now connect to openbci gui but only on version 5.2.2
Edit: it seems there is a connection problem between Hub and my BT dongle that is the problem.
However I am curious why there is a "danger" message on the firmware update page because my update did in fact stop midway and i had to restart (which successfully updated my firmware). It doesn't seem to have damaged the board but it is weird that the board can't connect to brainbay anymore.
Hi, Grower,
5.2.2 is the latest non-beta version. It links with the Brainflow library, which understands both the old and new Ganglion firmware versions.
My understanding is that BrainBay contains several different Ganglion 'driver' choices. The original driver did indeed use the long ago deprecated 'Hub' component of the GUI. This has not been active since the GUI began using Brainflow library.
If you look at your other driver choices in the menus, you should see the Brainflow 'flavor' driver. Using that driver it should be able to talk to either Ganglion firmware. There is a chance that the Brainflow linked with BrainBay is not the latest library. But that seems unlikely since the Github log says it was linked in July 2024, after the Brainflow updates for new Ganglion firmware.
https://github.com/ChrisVeigl/BrainBay/releases
If for some reason that is not the case (he was using old Brainflow library), then you should be able to fix by simply recompiling / building / relinking with latest Brainflow library.
Post an update if you resolve this, or not.
Regards, William
Posted this request for Chris:
https://github.com/ChrisVeigl/BrainBay/issues/49
@wjcroft I'm not using brainflow currently. It's too complicated for me because I have to code. Also on the thread that user jarek created, you told me not to downgrade, may I ask why?
I thought I explained this already in the above comments.
BrainBay IS USING Brainflow library. There are TWO choices for Ganglion device in the BrainBay 'element' menus. One choice uses the old Hub system. Stop using that element.
The other choice uses the Brainflow library calls. Let me know if you cannot see that in the menus. Switch your design to use the new Brainflow Ganglion element.
Regards,
Where can I find the MAC address? Is it the same as BT address? I've looked in the nrf mobile app and Bluetooth LE Explorer but there's nothing that looks like a MAC address. Also, I have the latest brainbay already.
I don't have a BrainBay screen handy at the moment. Don't you have TWO choices in the BrainBay / Brainflow element menu? One is considered 'native' and uses the Bluetooth of the host PC. The other choice should use the dongle, which has a usb port, COM port. You can find the COM port number from the Windows Device Manager. You should not need the MAC address for the serial port / dongle version.
Oh yes, I tried that, but it didn't work. My COM port is correct because I checked in device manager.
How do I recompile with the latest brainflow library?
Yeah, even the latest version of brainbay does not seem to work.
According to the Brainflow page on the BLED112 dongle version of Ganglion, the MAC address is 'optional', and if omitted will be auto-discovered.
https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/SupportedBoards.html#ganglion
If dongle version does not work, you can try the native.
https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/SupportedBoards.html#ganglion-native
Same thing with the auto-discovery.
I read through user jarek's thread and I currently have version 3.0.1, and it seems 3.0.2 has this issue fixed. I shall try to upgrade to 3.0.2 and see if it works.
I apologize for not reading through the thread first and causing more confusion.
No problem. Did you try the BrainBay element connection, leaving the MAC blank?
Yes, I tried both native and bled112 but to no avail for either. I am about to upgrade my firmware again and will report back.
Unfortunately, it did not work.
Sent a direct email to Chris Veigl and cc-ed you. I'm not sure if he has a Forum account name. Hopefully he'll have some suggestions.
Richard @retiutut, question for you as GUI dev, regarding your accessing of a BLED112 Ganglion from the Brainflow. The user in this thread is having trouble opening the Ganglion dongle from BrainBay.
https://brainflow.readthedocs.io/en/stable/SupportedBoards.html#ganglion [Brainflow Ganglion board id]
Can you let the
mac_address'params' parameter on theBoardShim(BoardIds.GANGLION_BOARD, params), undefined as the default -- or does it need to be specified? Page link above says it will auto detect if defaulted. Is that true?@growernotshowerbrain, have you tried using the Windows app listed on the Brainflow link above, to determine the
mac_addresshttps://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n0ztkf1qd98?hl=en-US&gl=US [WIndows Store, Bluetooth Explorer]
Is the 'BLE Devices' name shown in the GUI Ganglion Getting Started images, the same as this
mac_address? So only the last 4 hex digits are the string passed toBoardShim()?https://docs.openbci.com/GettingStarted/Boards/GanglionGS/#connect-the-gui-to-your-ganglion-board
We are attempting to reach Chris Veigl, BrainBay author, but he may still be on vacation. Have already sent direct email.
Regards, William
Thank you for all your effort William. I got into contact with customer support and they said it was okay to downgrade my board, so I did and it fixed the issue. I understand this can be a general issue that can be fixed with a patch on the developers' side, so if you need any additional information I can try to be of some use.
I believe that when and if Richard @retiutut replies, that the value to enter in the
mac_addressfield of the BrainBay element setup box, would have solved your issue. Did you ever run the Windows app I linked to?Yeah, i ran it and nrf mobile app as well. I'm not sure what the mac address was, as there was no specified value for it, but I assume (from a google search) 'BT address' is the same thing and used that, which didn't work unfortunately.
This page:
https://docs.openbci.com/GettingStarted/Boards/GanglionGS/#connect-the-gui-to-your-ganglion-board
States:
Did you see it in the GUI? That is likely the same address you would use in the BrainBay element setup box. And the same address shown in the Windows Bluetooth Explorer app.
I found the mac address in the GUI, and I tried putting the exact value in the brainflow ganglion element, and I don't know why but it still refused to work. Maybe because I manually installed brainflow via a python command before?
You used the entire string, right? Not just the 4 hex digits, but the
Ganglion-xxxx13 byte string?I tried "Ganglion-xxxx" and "xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx"