Will bluetooth now work?

[Bergasha]

With the release of 2022.8.0 that includes bluetooth control is there a way we can get this to work with Xgimi?

[manymuch]

The hardest part is not HA side, currently I have not figured out how to simulate/fake a bluetooth signal to turn on XGIMI

[manymuch]

Updates:
The newest XGIMI mobile app now has feature to turn on the projector through bluetooth. There is no pairing required in this procedure, it seems like a BLE advertisement. If so, it is possible to simulate the bluetooth signal to turn on the projector from HA. I tried to analysis btsnoop_hci.log by wireshark but no luck.
If anyone is familar with bluetooth protocol and willing to help please DM me :-)

[ouchkilljoys]

I'd love to see this if you can get it working, unfortunately I don't have any BT experience but commenting to stay subscribed to this issue.

[helgek]

I don't have a solution either but I started a thread as well in the XGIMI Elfin forum (would probably make sense to start in other forums as well with many members): https://www.facebook.com/groups/xgimielfin/posts/864061654795310/?comment_id=864101604791315&reply_comment_id=864118484789627&notif_id=1670170784048565&notif_t=group_comment_mention

[helgek]

and the same topic: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69921353/how-can-i-clone-a-non-paired-ble-signal-from-a-remote-to-trigger-a-device?fbclid=IwAR2eSos_uhunoYTj9VDkZVy0NQ1peo6PaN6w1lU6q-a-NE0ZVxB8ZjQNXNw

[bedtiming]

I also have an XGIMI projector and I would like to be able to turn it on via the Home assistant. Can this video help in any way?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIBmiPtCDdM&list=PLlGYeZI9ysXKGJuA7f9lZ53Fk9tYO-pDP&index=1&t=317s

[helgek]

I solved it for the XGIMI Elfin 🥳🥳🥳 It has worked for several weeks now. Have a look at my answer here for more instructions.

The only time I wasn't able to turn on the projector was after it had been off for a couple of days. On this occasion a non-paired remote control was still able to turn the projector on, so maybe there's one more advertising scenario I may have not yet understood. But I will have to wait for a couple of days again leaving the projector off before I can further explore this. It's also possible that on this special occasion maybe the BLE advertising app just didn't work properly. To be continued...

[manymuch]

I solved it for the XGIMI Elfin 🥳🥳🥳 It has worked for several weeks now. Have a look at my answer here for more instructions.

The only time I wasn't able to turn on the projector was after it had been off for a couple of days. On this occasion a non-paired remote control was still able to turn the projector on, so maybe there's one more advertising scenario I may have not yet understood. But I will have to wait for a couple of days again leaving the projector off before I can further explore this. It's also possible that on this special occasion maybe the BLE advertising app just didn't work properly. To be continued...

Thanks for sharing, that's really a breakthrough. Could you elaborate more on how to get UUID and Manufacturer Specific Data by scanning the remote?

[helgek]

@manymuch You're welcome. For the Xgimi Halo+ there's now also the BLE information available thanks to the contribution of Muxa.

To sniff the information needed I used ubertooth BLE sniffer device with a command like this ubertooth-btle -f -t1C:F3:01:B9:81:99 (the MAC address of the remote control can be easily figured out beforehand). Because the ubertooth was too expensive I didn't keep it, instead I have now ordered a Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 USB-Dongle which I hope will do work in a similar manner.

You might also be able to get all needed information using a BLE app on your phone. There are a couple available in the app stores and I was also able to see a signal from the XGIMI remote including manufacturer data if I recall right, but it wasn't a very straightforward way to run an analysis.

Another potentially sufficient approach without the need of an extra BLE sniffer device could be bluetoothctl which is part of BLUEZ for linux: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36607626/how-to-use-bluetoothctl-like-hcitool-lescan-to-report-repeated-proximity-beacons

With hcitool you might be successful as well but hcitool commands only work up to BLE 4.0 devices. You can find such USB dongles for a few bucks online. I ordered one with CSR 8510 A10 chipset (Qualcomm) but haven't found time yet to experiment more with it.

[helgek]

@manymuch I added additional comments here also regarding BLE sniffer experience with Bluetooth Smart Scanner App . The initial post in this thread also refers to this sniffer app. With such app you might not even need a separate BLE sniffer device.

[manymuch]

Updates: I powered on my Xgimi projector(z6x) succesfully through EFR connect.
Here is the manufacture Specific Data I found by Bluetooth Smart Scanner App:
Company Code: 0x0046
Data: 0x12D7C7899B9F80FFFFFF3043524B544D
Besides, I have also noticed that the first 4 digits are random
Working on next step: using sending BLE with Bluez from raspberrypi, or maybe even from esphome.

[helgek]

Thank you for the update @manymuch and congratulations!

I think I had also been successful with Bluez turning the projector on but right now I'm not able to replicate my previous success. At least I can provide you with some commands that I think work to run advertising signal (just adapt for your data):

bluetoothctl

[bluetooth]# menu advertise
[bluetooth]# uuids 0x1812
[bluetooth]# manufacturer 0x46 0x7e 0x31 0xdb 0x31 0xb2 0x24 0x40 0xff 0xff 0xff 0x30 0x43 0x52 0x4b 0x54 0x4d
[bluetooth]# back
[bluetooth]# advertise on

When you purchase an old BLE 4.0 USB dongle with Cambridge Silicon Radio chipset (it should show Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) when you run lsusb) you can use hcitool commands which maybe work better than bluetoothctl, but maybe your raspberry bluetooth chipset also supports hcitool. I haven't had time yet to further look into options to use my linux device to turn on the projector.

[manymuch]

@helgek Success!!! Using exactly your command(except for manufacturer data), I am now able to power on the projector from my raspberrypi, it seems replicable for now, need more times to verify.

[helgek]

@manymuch So great to hear this!! I think with my Intel NUC integrated bluetooth adapter it's not this reliable or maybe it has something to do with the Bluez version or something else 🤷 I'm looking forward to more updates from you when you have completed more testing! It's so nice to see that this BLE topic gains pace now, will also interesting to see if this might also find its way into Home Assistant's recent Bluetooth implementation efforts

[helgek]

@manymuch btw, I never found this XGIMI app that you mentioned in your initial post. Maybe it could provide additional insights into BLE commands being exchanged/sent between remote and projector.

additional note: I also added your finding to the Stackoverflow thread