Hi i wonder if someone might be able to offer me some advice please - i'm at a dead end re trying to get my mantis braille display and phone to work normally. Basically the phone tells me both are connected, but all it reads on the mantis is "braille display" and pressing the thumb keys or swiping the phone screen doesn't change anything.
I have tried multiple times deleting (forgetting) on both devices, turning bluetooth off on both devices and leaving them like that overnight in the hope they would right themselves, but they are still behaving in the same way this morning when i attempted to pair them again. Strangely mantis will pair to my other phone (an SE third gen), running the same latest version of IOS, but this is of no help while i'm out doing courses and so on and need my 17E (the one with the active Sim). It really isn't practical to have to take two phones out with me just because my braille display will only pair with one.
Is there anything else i could try in order to fix this? Thanks in advance for any advice.
Comments
"Reconnect Devices" option in terminal on Mantis
Hi Rachel. On your Mantis, if you launch the terminal app, then choose connected devices, and then activate reconnect devices, the user guide indicates that this should solve the issue. I’m not an expert on Bluetooth technology, but the length of time that a device is forgotten should not impact the issue. I hope this resolves the connectivity problem.
Reconnection in terminal not working either
Hi. Thanks but as you will see from the subject line of this message the reconnect option is not working either. I am very familiar with what is contained in the mantis userguide (especially since it is conveniently saved on to the machine) so i did check that before putting a post out here.
Pairing through Bluetooth
You sound knowledgeable so probably doing this: just to double check though, HumanWare devices like the Mantis need to be paired through Settings > Bluetooth. Not under the VoiceOver > Braille. This has messed me up before.
Do you have other devices also paired to the Mantis besides the two phones? I think the limit still may be five, so you may need to try removing one. I can certainly understand not wanting to delete all pairings and having the old iPhone also suddenly stop working.
Bluetooth issues are so annoying because it seems so there is so little for us to do when it decides not to work.
Correct
Yes you are correct in that there is the limit as to how many devices can be connected, and yes indeed i am well aware mantis is to be paired through bluetooth settings. It still isn't pairing despite the fact there are no other devices that might interfere. The problem is the userguide doesn't appear to suggest anything new to try that i don't already know about. I'm becoming more convinced (although i'm not tech savvy enough to know for sure) that all of a sudden and totally out of the blue, there could be something odd going on with my machine. I must add here too that i have also cleared all bluetooth devices from both phone and display.
Braille Tables
Can you check what Braille tables are set in VoiceOver > Braille?
Braille tables
Just english unified contracted. Why would these be an issue though since i've had no such pairing issues that i haven't easily fixed until yesterday.
Braille Table
I mean... they shouldn't be. Unless something got scrambled and VoiceOver decided it couldn't translate. Sounds like it is ok though. Not that that is helpful at the moment.
Does your iPhone 17e connect to other Bluetooth devices ok like headphones, a keyboard, anything you have lying around?
Fine
Yes thankfully airpods and bluetooth speaker are connecting no issues. Seems to be just the mantis.
VoiceOver Reset?
Hi Rachael.
I'm not sure if this will resolve the issue or not, but I had this happen with a client's phone last year. In this client's case, like you described, other Bluetooth devices functioned as expected. I forget which model they have, but it wasn't a 17. Anyway, After resetting VoiceOver settings and then restarting both devices, the connection was successful on the first attempt. It's kind of an inconvenience of course, but may be worth a shot.
Thanks scott
Hi scott and thanks - i'm glad you managed to see this even just to reassure me i haven't missed anything. As inconvenient as it is i think i'll have to resort to voiceover re-set, since simply turning both devices off and on again hasn't helped. Oh how i hate the dreaded voiceover re-set lol. Thanks again.
One more thing you can try
Hi Rachel.
Sorry I don't have any fixes either, you could try resetting network settings before doing the VoiceOver reset if you wanted. I've had this fix connectivity issues in some situations, but it's another shot in the dark. I think you already know that the network settings reset can help since the Bluetooth and WiFi are on the same chip, but if not, now you do. Smiles. Good luck!
Actually i didn't ☺️
Hi scott. I didn't actually know that no. Bit too far beyond any tech that i know (which isn't much lol). Thanks i'll try that first, since that isn't so much of an inconvenience lol, and let's just hope that stops the need for a scarier voiceover re-set.