ESP32-C3 with ble_tracker - I'm sharing how it worked

[adynis]

Introduction:
I have this: Wemos C3 Mini - Lolin ESP32-C3 ( C3 mini — WEMOS documentation )
I wanted to use it as a Bluetooth proxy and to use also the onboard RGB Led so I wanted an arduino platform, not esp_idf.

Problem
I was having a strange behaviour: very loooong time t oconnect to WiFi (1 … 2 or even 3 minutes) or sometimes it was even not connecting (I was restarting it until it was connecting in some minutes).
I tried and tried, various variants and … nothing.

Solution
Until … I found this answer:

Cannot use esp32_ble_tracker on ESP32C3

Thanks chose007

The final code I have:

esphome:
  name: my-c3-mini-bt
  on_boot: #this is to avoid slow startup time because of BT and WiFi "interactions?" , check https://github.com/esphome/issues/issues/2941#issuecomment-1331851692
    priority: 250
    then:
      - delay: 15s
      - lambda: |-
          id(ble_tracker).set_scan_continuous(true); 
          id(ble_tracker).start_scan();

esp32:
  board: esp32-c3-devkitm-1
  framework:
    type: arduino

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: ":) :) :)"

ota:
  password: ":) :) :)"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  output_power: "8.5"  # sometimes results in a bootloop without it

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "My-C3-Mini-Bt Fallback Hotspot"
    password: ":) :) :)"

captive_portal:

esp32_ble_tracker:
  id: ble_tracker
  scan_parameters:
    continuous: false

bluetooth_proxy:
  active: true

light:
  - platform: neopixelbus
    id: myC3MiniBt_led
    type: GRB
    variant: WS2812
    method: ESP32_RMT_1
    num_leds: 1
    pin: GPIO7
    name: "My C3 Mini BT Led"
    effects:
      - addressable_rainbow:
          name: Rainbow Effect With Custom Values
          speed: 10
          width: 50

[erdek]

Thanks for sharing!
Finally got the RGB LED working on a M5stamp-C3U, for that specific board the pin is GPIO2.

[NewfD90]

Thanks for sharing this. Fixed my ESP32-C3’s WiFi connection issues. My garage door remote is now totally reliable (M5Stamp C3 + M5 3A Relay Unit).

Great find!

[starryalley (Mark Kuo)]

Thanks for sharing. My Seeed Xiao now works as my bluetooth proxy that enables my switchbot again (which failed since I installed USB3.0 SSD on HA).

However I have one observation. If i connect to my Seeed Xiao with ESPHome web through USB, it boots just fine. If I don’t do it and just plug in USB power, it doesn’t seem to boot and I can’t reach it wirelessly through esphome. That’s one weird thing. I’ll do more tests in the coming days.

[blalor]

I’m having the same issue. Did you have any luck getting that sorted?

[edit] looks like there’s an issue with logger: ESPHome device does not restart without serial port active (apparently!) - #10 by tom_l

[starryalley (Mark Kuo)]

Yeah I found that out too. However I still can’t get that resolved so I just disconnect the power and let my Seeed xiao collect dust now. I have another esp32 board serving as my bluetooth proxy now but ironically it stopped working suddenly two days ago, without me doing any software updates. Hence why I am back to this forum again.

[napalmz]

I am still trying to turn on the RGB LED using NeoPixel, without success.
At the moment, the only way I have found to turn on the led is to ground pins 3,4 and 5. Which are Red, Green and Blue respectively.
So i’ve made this and it works:

light:
  - platform: rgb
    name: "RGB Led"
    red: output_component1
    green: output_component2
    blue: output_component3

output:
  - platform: ledc
    pin: GPIO3
    inverted: true
    id: output_component1
  - platform: ledc
    pin: GPIO4
    inverted: true
    id: output_component2
  - platform: ledc
    pin: GPIO5
    inverted: true
    id: output_component3

My board is a generic ESP32-C3-MINI-1

[bipsen]

I found this thread, as I am trying to sort out if it actually is possible to get the BLE proxy to run on an ESP32-C3 (I have an ESP32-C3 Super Mini).

The config is like:

esphome:
  name: c3-ble-proxy
  friendly_name: c3-ble-proxy
  platformio_options:
    board_build.mcu: esp32c3
    board_build.variant: esp32c3  
  on_boot: #this is to avoid slow startup time because of BT and WiFi "interactions?" , check https://github.com/esphome/issues/issues/2941#issuecomment-1331851692
    priority: 250
    then:
      - delay: 15s
      - lambda: |-
          id(ble_tracker).set_scan_continuous(true); 
          id(ble_tracker).start_scan();

esp32:
  variant: ESP32C3
  board: esp32-c3-devkitm-1
  framework:
    type: esp-idf
    sdkconfig_options:
      CONFIG_BT_BLE_50_FEATURES_SUPPORTED: y
      CONFIG_BT_BLE_42_FEATURES_SUPPORTED: y
      CONFIG_ESP_TASK_WDT_TIMEOUT_S: "10"    


# Enable logging
logger:
  level: verbose

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: ":-) :-) :-)"

ota:
  password: ":-) .-) :-)"

button:
  - platform: safe_mode
    name: ${friendly_name} (Safe Mode)


wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  output_power: "8.5"  # sometimes results in a bootloop without it

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "C3-Ble-Proxy Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "secret"

captive_portal:

esp32_ble_tracker:
  id: ble_tracker
  scan_parameters:
    continuous: false
    active: True

bluetooth_proxy:
  active: true

But the log after boot gives me:

[18:29:34][D][esp32_ble_tracker:266]: Starting scan...
[18:29:34][V][esp32_ble:314]: (BLE) gap_event_handler - 2
[18:29:34][V][esp32_ble:314]: (BLE) gap_event_handler - 7
[18:29:34][V][esp32_ble:314]: (BLE) gap_event_handler - 3
[18:29:34][V][esp32_ble:314]: (BLE) gap_event_handler - 3

Any hints ?

[maruel (M-A)]

What about using wait_until / wifi_connected as shown at https://github.com/damex/esphome/blob/116e5836fd4fb501bb72aad9fa970cd7fb4ce512/bluetooth-proxies/weactstudio-esp32c3-core-bt-proxy.yaml#L15-L22 ? A hardcoded sleep value is bound to be flaky. Pasting here for posterity:

esphome:
  # Rest of config (...)
  on_boot:
    then:
      - wait_until:
          condition:
            wifi.connected:
      - lambda: >
          id(ble_tracker).set_scan_continuous(true);
          id(ble_tracker).start_scan();

[laca75tn (My Home)]

You code is using the eps-idf framework, the original example is using arduino.

@adynis

esp32:
  board: esp32-c3-devkitm-1
  framework:
    type: arduino

[walk0000000]

• Update: Tried with only 2 binary_sensors enabled and was briefly seeing more stable tracking… but now my watch is “on”, but the phone is “off” again…

Does anyone find the ble tracking feature to be unreliable or very slow (compared to regular sized ESP32-S)? I am sitting right next to the ESP32-C3 and both my phone and watch are showing presence as off (or they flip between on/off frequently despite not moving out of the room). Thinking these little devices may only be useful to me as additional BT Proxies. Code snipped below with an example binary_sensor (I have 6 configured in total):

bluetooth_proxy:
  active: true
  
esp32_ble_tracker:
  id: ble_tracker
#  scan_parameters:       # adding/removing these 2 lines did not help
#    continuous: false

binary_sensor:
  - platform: ble_presence
    irk: xxxx
    name: "Apple Watch 10 Tracker"
    timeout: 30s
  - platform: ble_presence
    irk: xxxx
    name: "Apple iPhone 15 Tracker"
    timeout: 30s