[Bug]: Node does not relay traffic to or from bitchat

[gbdabomb]

Category

Other

Hardware

Rak4631

Is this bug report about any UI component firmware like InkHUD or Meshtatic UI (MUI)?

• Meshtastic UI aka MUI colorTFT
• InkHUD ePaper
• OLED slide UI on any display

Firmware Version

2.7.10

Description

Node with firmware-bitchat-plugin shows up as a Bitchat peer but does not relay any traffic to or from the Meshtastic mesh over LoRa as confirmed by other nearby Meshtastic nodes.

Confirmed that the node is participating in the Meshtastic mesh as well via Serial connection using https://client.meshtastic.org.

Relevant log output

[gbdabomb]

I was able to see a node running firmware-bitchat-plugin as a bitchat peer on a python bitchat/meshtastic project https://github.com/GigaProjects/meshtastic-bitchat-bridge. However, neither side seemed to connect properly with an iOS bitchat device and did not relay traffic from the iOS device to Meshtastic.

[evansmj]

@gbdabomb hmm ill check it out. sometimes ive had to clear the old bluetooth pairing and not be connected via the meshtastic app to have messages send. i am also using a rak4631 and ive had no problems with it. There may be an issue with a new bitchat version ill test

[evansmj]

hmm i tested on the pre-release 1.7.1 version of bitchat and my 2 rak 4631's still work

[gbdabomb]

My issue is with bitchat iOS clients. I do not have access to test on Android.

[gbdabomb]

Also no luck on Android Bitchat. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Any advice on how to get this working?

I see the bitchat device on Android bitchat but no Meshtastic LoRa bridging happens to or from Meshtastic.

[evansmj]

Also no luck on Android Bitchat. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Any advice on how to get this working?

I see the bitchat device on Android bitchat but no Meshtastic LoRa bridging happens to or from Meshtastic.

Can you describe exactly how you are testing the lora bridge? You have 1 meshtastic in area A with a bitchat user, and 1 mile away you have another meshtastic with a bitchat user, and the 2 bitchat users are trying to talk to each other?

I have new commits to help esp32 devices, but you are on rak4631.

[gbdabomb]

I have access to a bunch of different models of nodes that I can flash:

T1000-E (NRF52)
XAIO (NRF52)
Wio (NRF52)
Solar Node P1-Pro (NRF52)
RAK WisMesh Tag (NRF52
RAK 19003 Kit (NRF52)
RAK 1W Kit (NRF52)

T-Deck Plus (ESP32)
T-Beam 1W (ESP32)
SenseCAP Indicatir (ESP32)
XAIO (ESP32)
CardPuterAdv (ESP32)
Station G2 (ESP32)

I also now have access to multiple devices to test BitChat on:

iPhone
Android Phone

What I see today testing on RAK 19003 kit:

• iOS BitChat does not see the BitChat enabled node in the BitChat Peers list
• Android BitChat does see the BitChat enabled node in the Peers list
• No BitChat messages bridge to Meshtastic at all
• No Meshtastic messages bridge to Meshtastic at all.

Note: I have had some success Bridging BitChat and Meshtastic using another project running on a Linux machine so I understand what good can look like.

What could help me:

1. Flashable firmware files for the models listed above
2. Instructions on flashing best practices
3. Instructions on usage best practices
4. Instructions on how to pull logs needed to support bug fixes
5. Instructions on how to build latest firmware
6. Callout if firmware may be upgraded at all after flashed with Bridge Firmware

How I can help you:

1. I can test various firmwares if I have the equipment to test on
2. I can test various scenarios like attempting full duplex bridging from one small ButChat mesh over Meshtastic to a far away separate BitChat Mesh.
3. Feature recommendations, etc.