Dongl v0.1.0: pairing for your nRF52840 dongle

TLDR: Dongl N-Series firmware v0.1.0 is out. It pairs and bonds with BLE devices, makes every connection attempt end in a clear result, and reads long values in full. It requires SimpleBLE 1.2.

Dongl turns an nRF52840 USB dongle into a Bluetooth Low Energy adapter that SimpleBLE drives directly, so your code gets the same BLE stack on every computer instead of whichever adapter each machine ships with. v0.1.0 is about the devices you connect to: the ones that ask for pairing, the ones with long values, and the test rigs that connect to them over and over.

Pair and bond with BLE devices

Many BLE devices ask for pairing before they share data: medical sensors, input devices, smart locks, anything that encrypts its link. The Dongl now pairs with them using Just Works, passkey entry or numeric comparison, and keeps the bond. Bonds live on the Dongl and survive power cycles, so a paired device reconnects without pairing again, and the bond goes wherever the Dongl goes. SimpleBLE lists the paired devices and can unpair them. If you are building a peripheral that requires pairing, you can test the whole flow from your desktop.

Connections that always finish

An automated test can't wait on a connection that never completes. Each connection attempt now runs to completion on the Dongl: it retries links that fail while being established, gives up after 10 seconds, and reports one clear result. Your code and the Dongl always agree on what is connected, and test runs don't stall on a hung connect.

Long values and full scan data

Values up to 512 bytes, the largest a BLE attribute can hold, now come back in full, so long strings, configuration blobs and log records read in one call. Active scanning reports scan responses, where many devices put their name, along with 16-, 32- and 128-bit service data. The Dongl also reports the negotiated MTU, so you can size writes and estimate throughput.

Get started

Download the latest firmware from the Dongl page, flash it onto any nRF52840-based board, and run a first scan with the Dongl quickstart. Dongl v0.2.0 builds on this release with complete advertisements and LE Secure Connections pairing.

If you are replacing Nordic's pc-ble-driver or a Silicon Labs BLED112, see the pc-ble-driver and BLED112 replacement pages.

The N-Series firmware is free for prototyping, testing, and non-commercial validation. If you are building Bluetooth into a commercial product and need help with the integration, get in touch.