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Zebra tablet lose BT pairing every device shutdown/restart

BY
Bar Y.
Raval Ltd.

Hello,

I am trying to overcome an issue i have with a Zebra Tablet, Model ET40.

the Tablet has a connection to a bluetooth scanner (also zebra device) that has to be connected manually (but thats another story all together).

the issue is the devices (currently only 1 enrolled as part of test) are being shutdown every week during the weekend and when a new work week starts the devices are being turned on and seemingly lost the pairing to the bluetooth device, and since we are working in Kiosk mode the users have to call on IT to re-connect the device manually.

 

is there a way to disable the unpair on device shutdown, or make the device re-pair on activation?

Appriciate your Help,

Bar Y.

 

android zebra bluetooth
a month ago
SOTI MobiControl
ANSWERS
RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
a month ago (edited a month ago)

At least you could provide the BT options in lockdown using/providing the Settings Manager and only enable BT options there. 
Just as a short workaround to let staff reconnect to the device instead of need to call support.

Have you taken a look into Zebra Oem config if the BT settings there might help you as there are several?

BY
Bar Y.
a month ago

we used to have the app called "scan to connect" in a past MDM, just after making this post i have found that you can add a built in Zebra app for scaning barcode to connect and i have added it to the kiosk lock screen, i am just waiting for further testing by the users to see if it works for them (connecting the scanner by themselves by scanning the barcode).

crossed fingers, but if not i would have to try mess around in the BT options to allow the setting to be used while in kiosk mode, the way you mentioned.

I will update here if and what worked.

Thank you!

RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
a month ago

Scan to connect is also available here ofc as it's an app from playstore.

Completely forgotten about this one but on side of this, maybe a look into oem config maybe worth if the BT settings there can help you even to avoid the need of reconnecting.

BY
Bar Y.
a month ago

 * the scan to connect original app did not work for us in the Zebra device, the app i mentioned is a diffrent app that comes built in the device, so we are hoping this one succeeds in pairing.

RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
a month ago
AS
Alin Sfiriac
29 days ago (edited 29 days ago)

We have a similar setup, but we are using proglove instead. (and using their app).

  1. For scan to connect application from Zebra, might be worthy to have a look over the release notes and test before.

"NOTE: Due to a Google security patch, Google CVE-2020-12856, the Android device must notify users of 
pairing events with a popup message (prevents silent pairing)."

Lockdown might block the pop-up (depends on how you have it implemented). It will require you to whitelist some intent activities on the lockdown

 

2. Since you have ET40, check if you have the Zebra Bluetooth app enabled (it's a paring utilty), and add it on the lockdown. If it's not enabled, you can do it with this script:

enable_system_app com.zebra.bluetooth

 

3. Settings Manager, as @Rafael Schäfer  said can be another option for you

 

If you want to allow pairing only with some trusted devices, you can have a look at Zebra MX (BluetoothMgr CSP). 

 

BY
Bar Y.
29 days ago

Hello Alin,

thank you for your input, having checked the com.zebra.bluetooth app i saw it is enabled and installed.

what i find interesting is what you wrote first, about the CVE that affects the Scan to Connect app, i would have to investigate more because ideally for me, this app should just work, it opens normally and shows a barcode, but scanning the barcode with a Zebra scanner (i do not have the exact model) the scanner will simply not pair, and the only method that seems to work is leaving kiosk mode, and pair it as a normal bluetooth device from the Bluetooth menu.

right now we are waiting for the end users to test if pairing with a new icon we created on the Kiosk Lockdown, an icon that launch "

com.android.settings/.bluetooth.DevicePickerActivity", which is the bluetooth pairing menu for near by devices, if this also fail it means something is blocking the pairing act while in kiosk mode.

I will investigate the silent pairing and the CVE you mentioned further.

 

Thank you!

Bar Y.

RS
Rafael Schäfer Diamond Contributor
28 days ago

In oem config you could enable silent pairing, at least it's an option there but i digged our warehouse configurations and saw we use the scan to connect app from Zebra in lockdown this way (2 entrys without oem config):

  1. com.android.settings/.bluetooth.BluetoothPairingDialog:

Note: We hide the first entry by template setup, so the user won't see it.

BY
Bar Y.
25 days ago

Hey Rafael,

After trying many things and failing, i saw the answer you sent about the bluetooth pairingdialog, this seems to have fixed the issue!

the notification popup for pairing appears and i got confirmation that our warehouse users were able to connect by scanning the barcode.

 

The IT team on our site mentioned they used to have issues while pairing the scanners with the STC app, it would lose connection after a few hours and require to be re-paired again and the method they found of fixing the issue is leaving the kiosk mode and perform a normal bluetooth pairing.

i have seen a similiar issue in another post on this community and it was suggested to add the bluetooth utility to white list so i have tried to do the same.

at the very least its good progress so atleast the users can pair devices from kiosk mode by themselves.

 

one last issue, maybe its known to you, our devices are being shutdown on a weekly bases and the users say that after powering up the device after a weekend the bluetooth pairing is lost and must be re-pair, is there a setting that allows the pair to last after a shutdown/restart ? like remembering the last pair and attempt to re connect?

 

Thank you so much for the help so far!

Bar Y.

 

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