Gadgetbridge: Device Request: Amazfit Bip Lite, Model A1915

[slu74]

Before requesting a new feature, please confirm the following:

• [x] I have read the wiki, and I didn't find a solution to my problem / an answer to my question.
• [x] I have searched the issues, and I didn't find a solution to my problem / an answer to my question.
• [x] If you upload an image or other content, please make sure you have read and understood the github policies and terms of services

Your issue is:

I tried to pair my “Amazfit Bip Lite” model A1915 with my phone.
I read that Amazfit Bip Lite consisit of different hardware (e.g. removed GPS sensor) and firmware and uses an internal authkey to pair with mifit.
So I used freemyband to obtain the key with the intention to pair my Bip like a MiBand4, which uses also an authkey.
I made my Bip visible, killed mifit and made a bluetooth cache reset. Because Bip doesn’t appear in GB search, I entered the MAC address manually in options menu.
Similar to the pairing procedure of MiBand4 I tried pressing long on “Amazfit Bip Lite” in intention to enter the authkey, but no menu opens.
May I assume, that model A1915 is not supported yet?
Thanks for answers!

If applicable, please attach logs

Your wearable device is:

• Amazfit Bip Lite
• model A1915
• FW 1.1.6.02

Your android version is:

• Android 9

Your Gadgetbridge version is:

GB version 0.36.0

New requests about already solved/documented topics could be closed without further comments. Same for too generic or incomplete reports.

[IzzySoft]

Looks like not yet supported, seeing here – but then it seems it is, see #1479 (though that's an A1608).

Confusion is, as far as I remember, that there are two devices sold by the name "Amazfit BIP Lite": one of them is the real "Lite", the other one is in fact an "Amazfit BIP" (without "Lite", see #920). My guess is the A1608 is the latter, and the A1915 is the former. Note that the first mentioned issue again is about the A1915, and the only other occurrence of that name in our issue tracker here.

Note that our wiki seems to confirm this, explicitly stating support for A1608 only e.g. in Firmware update.

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
I will try to blindly support the Bip Lite, thanks for the information.
Are you able to build Gadgetbridge from master?

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
Are you absolutely sure that all, even the initial firmware for bip light require the pairing key to be obtained by xiaomi servers, or is there also a 1.1.5.xx firmware?
Somehow I tend to think that firmware is the same.... At least there are "Bip Lite" specific images in the res for the normal bip

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
Can you build master and try to pair the watch normally? Without using the obtained key...

[slu74]

@ashimokawa
What does it mean to built Gadgetbridge from master?
I'm sorry but I'm not a programmer and additionally my english ist a little bit "rusty".
The FW version of my "Bip Lite" is 1.1.6.02.
Before testing GB I tried Notify&Fitness. I was not able to pair the watch without key.

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
Never mind, if you say you could pair without key, then the fix I just did is probably enough.
You can try as soon as Gadgetbridge 0.36.2 is out. Current version is 0.36.1 (appeared yesterday on F-Droid)

[slu74]

As I described in the first thread, I tried to pair the watch "normally", but it does'n appear in GB search.
So I entered the Bluetooth address manually in the options menu.
When I tapped short on "Amazfit Bip Lite", GB tried to pair but I got no connection.

[slu74]

I will try 0.36.2 and report. Thanks!

[vanous]

@slu74 if the building doesn't work for you and you need help building the apk, ping me, I can make a debug build for you. Of course, much better is if you do it.

[slu74]

@vanous
I see the version 0.36.2 is online and would like to test it, but I need your help in building the apk because I have no experience in programming and the necessary tools...

[IzzySoft]

@slu74 0.36.2 was just tagged a few hours ago. It will take a few days until it reaches the F-Droid index, then you can update directly. Of course it doesn't hurt learning how to build it from source – but nobody will promise you that's an easy task for beginners (though I'd be glad to learn otherwise: I'm not an Android dev either).

[qysp]

@ashimokawa Compiled it and even completely removed the name check, no luck so far. Might only be on my end but according to the logs the app could not find any devices whatsoever.

[ashimokawa]

@qysp

Did you try to remove the pairing from Android Bluetooth settings?

[qysp]

@ashimokawa Oh, I totally forgot to do that. I am now able to find my Amazfit Bip Lite and also bond with it. However, while in my bluetooth settings it says that it is now indeed paired, GB is still stuck at "Pairing with Amazfit Bip Lite: {MAC ADDRESS} (AMAZFITBIP)...".

Edit: Using the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 - is it possible that the Mi Fit app is "blocking" the connection or something like that?

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
I have no idea since I never used mi fit. Yes, it could be possible.

[qysp]

@ashimokawa Does not seem to be the reason. Uninstalled the Mi Fit app completely, did a factory reset on the watch as well as a Bluetooth reset on the phone. Still stuck in "pairing loop" you could say.

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
Since I do not have a Bip Lite: Can you provide logs? Please check for sensitive data or send me directly.

[qysp]

@ashimokawa Sure thing! Here is the gadgetbridge.log.

[ashimokawa]

@gysp
Log stops before it gets interesting...

[qysp]

@ashimokawa well, that's the entire log. After having the app try to pair with the watch for quite a while I stopped it.

[slu74]

I also made a attempt with 0.36.2 and it behave similar to what @qysp says.
GB finds the Bip Lite but is not able to couple.
Here is my log and I hope you find useful information.
gadgetbridge.log
BTW: today a new update came for the watch: V1.1.6.30

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
At least you log contained something.
My problem is that I do not have the Bip Lite. I assumed to would be locked down just like the Mi Band 4 (requires to use Mi Fit and dump keys), but then you said you did not need to enter a key in another 3rd party app. Really confusing. I guess I need a Bip Lite to fix it.

[slu74]

@ashimokawa
I think there is a missunderstanding: I have not said, I did not need to enter a key in another 3rd party app. I read that Amazfit Bip Lite uses an internal authkey to pair with mifit.
So I used freemyband to extract the key in view of the fact that the coupling procedure for Bip Lite could be similar to MiBand4, which uses also an authkey.
In recent days I tried "notify & fitness for amazfit" as a test. It takes the key out of the directory which is generated by freemyband - with successfully coupling. So I think the key is essential.
But I don't want to use notify & fitness and hope you can expand GB for Bip Lite.

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
I see, sorry, I misread it. Will see, maybe @qysp can build after I commit something blindly

[vanous]

Wow, so confirmed. Server key paring for the future... sad.

[ashimokawa]

can you try to build and the bip-lite-tet (sic!) branch and then input your auth key like on mi band 4?

I think I will make "Bip Lite" an extra device internally. They might not share firmware. But if they do we are screwed. There IS a 1.1.6 firmware for the original bip and it might implement the server pairing also...

[qysp]

@ashimokawa I compiled and tried it. Nothing changed as far as I can tell though. Here is the gadgetbridge.log.

Btw, a friend of mine has the _normal_ version of the Amazfit Bip and already updated to the newest firmware (v1.1.16). He does not have any problems so far.

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
It does look better but still fails, did you enter the auth key you optained from mi fit?
Remember after factory reset this changes, and you have to pair with mi fit again to get a new auth key.

[qysp]

@ashimokawa I did not enter an auth key. Though when I held down on the discovered device, I could check out the auth key which was filled in. Is this the wrong auth key?

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
Yes you need the one obtained from mi fit please read the wiki about it , it seems to be the same like with mi band 4

[qysp]

@ashimokawa My bad. I installed the freemyband app and entered the auth key, nothing seems to have changed though; waited for like 5 minutes too before stopping the app. Here is the gadgetbridge.log.

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
The log is cut off and incomplete again.
Did you enter the key with 0x prefixed.and without enter at the end?

[vanous]

@qysp please try to follow step by steps this pairing manual. make sure to read carefully and proceed as indicated (unpair BT, long press etc...). Thank you

[qysp]

@ashimokawa @vanous Reset bluetooth, reinstalled MiFit app and followed the exact steps. Logs are a bit long since I tried it multiple times but I don't wanna delete anything out of it: gadgetbridge.log.

[ashimokawa]

@qysp
Assuming you built and tested with the bip-lite-tet branch,
I think now only a bluetooth log helps when pairing with mi fit.

Or someone here can provide us with a Bip for a few hours :)

[qysp]

@ashimokawa Yes, I checked out that specific branch. If there is some "easy" way to log the Bluetooth pairing I could try it at least :)

[slu74]

@qysp Did you built an APK? Is it possible to send it to me so I can give it a try additionally?
Perhaps two logs are better than one...

[ashimokawa]

@slu74
Can you contact me via mail?

[slu74]

@ashimokawa Shure I would like to contact you, but how do I find your email adress?

[heller390]

@ashimokawa Tried pairing with 0.36.2 apk . It gets stuck on authenticating forever. I could see the watch connected though bt icon though. I got 2 keys from extracting the db . Here are the logs though . I could forward more logs if needed.
gadgetbridge.log

[ashimokawa]

@heller390
0.36.2 is not ready for the "already paired usw my mifit keys" method. Also test builds did not work, contact me via mail if you want to have one and see for yourselft. I guess I need the watch and see for myself. Or send me a Bluetooth hci dump when pairing with mi fit via email.

[heller390]

@ashimokawa Do I need to unpair the watch from mifit and collect bt logs while pairing it again?

[ashimokawa]

@heller390
Exactly.

[heller390]

@heller390
0.36.2 is not ready for the "already paired usw my mifit keys" method. Also test builds did not work, contact me via mail if you want to have one and see for yourselft. I guess I need the watch and see for myself. Or send me a Bluetooth hci dump when pairing with mi fit via email.

Ur mail address is not available on github public profile! How should i send the logs to mail then?

[ashimokawa]

@heller390

Check out the repo and type git log ;)

[heller390]

@heller390
Check out the repo and type git log ;)

My bad . Sent the mail with logs attached . Do ping if something more is needed.

[ashimokawa]

There is a new branch called bip-lite-test, it might work.

@qysp
Can you build and try?

[qysp]

@ashimokawa I'm sorry, had to send the watch back :(

[vanous]

Actually, perhaps walking into a store and trying to pair would be possible... I will try to look around and keep the test branch apk ready...

[ashimokawa]

The new pairing scheme is 100% confirmed by now. Mi Fit and registration is necessary as with mi band 4

[vanous]

Uh, OK, this is sadly good to know. Any news if same applies to latest Bip update?

[ashimokawa]

Reports suggest that it still works after update by no one confirmed that it is still the case after factory reset

[heller390]

Actually, perhaps walking into a store and trying to pair would be possible... I will try to look around and keep the test branch apk ready...

No need of all that hassle. Latest test build by @ashimokawa pairs and is working .

[ashimokawa]

I deleted the test branch, master now works with bip lite thanks @heller390 for testing!

[TurangaMorris]

@ashimokawa This is not true. I tested 2 programs, Amazfit Masters and Notify & Fitnes, and they work without keys

[vanous]

@MyTimeKill the Bip Lite server based pairing has been verified as per comments above, please read it. It is now supported in Gadgetbridge master (as you said, the one you compiled). I would suggest to perform the pairing procedure as advised if you want Gadgetbridge to be paired with your watch.

[ashimokawa]

@MyTimeKill
Then please apply the patch manually that posted in the other issue and retry.

I do not have the watch and need to rely on external information that is contradicting and full of rumors

[TurangaMorris]

@ashimokawa Yes, I already built apk with these changes, I will test it soon

[ashimokawa]

@MyTimeKill
Keeping my code clean and my phone from propitiatory software I never look at these other tools. If you say they work completely without ever having paired with a modified mi fit, have no root access and do not ask you for mi fit login credentials, then I have no idea yet what they do differently, and without a bip lite in my hands I cannot even experiment with it.

[vanous]

Feedback would be nice to have, i have modified the wiki today, to mention that Bip Lite does require the secret key...

[TurangaMorris]

Sorry for delay.
I have already said that the watch does not belong to me, so I could not test it myself. I gave this build to a friend and he says that the clock will not be detected by the program. He tried on different phones.

[slu74]

Hello,
I can confirm that coupling of Gadgetbridge 0.37.0 works in combination with authkey!
The Amazfit Bip Lite has the latest firmware 1.1.6.32

[heller390]

@ashimokawa Whenever i try to record activity with bip connected to gadgetbridge , it stuck in getting gps. Tried with gmaps , osmand , here maps etc but all in vain. Fyi bip lite doesnt have inbuilt gps.

[ashimokawa]

@heller390
Yep, we do not support that yet.
The Bip has integrated GPS, the Bip lite which we never had in our hands not.
We could use the Mi Band 4 which has a similar feature to implement it. But we do not have any ETA

[ashimokawa]

0.37.1 is out on fdroid. Flash your watchfaces

[heller390]

@heller390
Yep, we do not support that yet.
The Bip has integrated GPS, the Bip lite which we never had in our hands not.
We could use the Mi Band 4 which has a similar feature to implement it. But we do not have any ETA

Don't hesitate to ask for logs if needed!

[heller390]

0.37.1 is out on fdroid. Flash your watchfaces

Where is the option to flash firmware and watchfaces ?

[vanous]

Gadgetbridge supports watchfaces via it’s FW installer - watchaface files are uploaded the same way as is a software update.
Watchface files can be found for example on https://amazfitwatchfaces.com/. Download prefered .bin file to your mobile device, then via file manager open it with FW installer. One custom watchface can be used. It cannot be deleted from the watch/band with Gadgetbridge.

https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Watchfaces

[slu74]

Now that GB is able to pair with Amazfit Bip Lite in combination with the authkey, I think, the issue could be closed. Many thanks to all!