Unleashed flashing red, not pairing

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EdPike
Posts: 2
Joined: October 30th, 2021, 3:44 pm

October 30th, 2021, 4:17 pm

Hi Guys,

Looking for some guidance. Nikon D850 [Firmware C1.20, LD2.018], iPhone 12 pro, OS 15.1

Recently installed my unleashed (no cable) and had some patchy pairing issues whilst night shooting. Did the firmware update, still patchy.

So, in calm time have attempted to work out why and the sequence to ensure a good pair and installed the cable.

Have tried the following, with no joy
1. Deleting the pairing in the app to re find (which worked the other night)
2. Removing the cable, which has now arrived.
3. Checking that the device is not paired to my phone Bluetooth (it isn't]
4. Switched camera on and off, and then same again with a battery removal too
5. Rebooted the iPhone, then tried the pairing
6. Tried the same with the cable connected and not connected, tried changing the able around in case it was the wrong way.
7. Unplugging the unleashed and replugged it in.
8. Disabling and re-enabling the D850 Bluetooth (WIFI is off)
9. Switched off the Bluetooth on my laptop and neighbouring devices, in case it is interfering.

What can I tell you:
1. With the cable connected I get no LED lights at all
2. With the cable not connected I get a slow flashing orange centre/red light if I power up the camera, or press the shutter (if it has gone to sleep)
3. The app is not finding the unleashed
4. The iPhone Bluetooth is not finding the unleashed.
5. I did have the app/unleashed working, but kept losing the pairing (could not find) when the phone and/or unleashed timed out. I tried too many things to remember what worked and what did not to re-pair.
6. If I go to the Bluetooth menu on the D850, paired devices are shown as greyed out with an 'This option is not available at current settings ...'

Am out of ideas .. what am I missing or rookie error am I making?
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

October 30th, 2021, 9:39 pm

Hi,

hmm, I can't see anything wrong in what you wrote you're doing.

The slow pulsing yellow (often more red than it's supposed to be) is the normal led sequence when the unleashed is ready for connection.

Did you install the latest 2.0.0 version we released last week? Did you do the firmware update from the same Phone that you're using now (if not, maybe your other device got the newest app, but your current one doesn't yet)

You could try to delete the app and reinstall it from the Appstore.

Cable connected or not should not make a difference. On the D850, the cable should plug into the Unleashed so that cable points toward the side of the camera. If you plug it in the other way round, it's expected that the led turns off.
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
EdPike
Posts: 2
Joined: October 30th, 2021, 3:44 pm

October 31st, 2021, 2:41 pm

Thanks Oliver

The LED is orange in the centre, red towards the outside.

I will try deleting the app and reinstalling.

Bizarrely it did connect for a short period yesterday, but I have no idea what I did, or why it stopped. I will keep trying - I do a lot of night shooting and I am excited for the flexibility and control the unleashed gives me.

Will let you know either way

Ed
michaelg
Posts: 3
Joined: November 6th, 2021, 6:58 pm

November 6th, 2021, 7:07 pm

At this point I've been doing nothing but pulling my hair to figure out how to get Unleashed going with my Nikon Z6. Initially it was connecting fine, but during the timelapse session of auto ramping it would disconnect, just like that (out of blue). Even before that updated the firmware to the latest and supposedly greatest 2.0.0 version, app is also the latest version installed on my Android phone (Poco X3 Pro), but this bloody thing will not get connected to my Z6. It lights up from flashing yellow/orange to solid red and finally flashing green, but ZERO connection.

Tried literally everything including power on/off camera (even battery in and out), power on/off the phone (that desperate I know!), plugging unleashed in and out, different combinations.

Conclusion: this device is highly unreliable, very temperamental at best. I'm thinking the unit I have is just a dud, suffers form weak bluetooth connectivity in general?

EDIT: I've just tested the Unleashed unit I have on Nikon Z7 and Z5. In both cases there was no connection possible, the app keeps searching for the camera, but is not able to find it. This basically confirms the problem lies within the app or Unleashed unit itself, most definitely not the camera(s). Also Unleashed in actually listed among the Bluetooth devices on my phone. If i decide to pair it from the phone's bluetooth settings, Unleashed light turns to flashing green, but still no connection is established!

This device is a no go at this point:/

P.S.: I've sent my short complaint report to support email of Unleashed team, too.
michaelg
Posts: 3
Joined: November 6th, 2021, 6:58 pm

November 9th, 2021, 6:50 pm

Just a brief follow up on my Unleashed unit: I'm convinced it doesn't work as advertised, at least not the autoramp feature for Holy Grail time lapse. While the unit finally at least behaves well enough to find/detect Nikon Z6/Z7 (tested on both cameras), it suffers from irregular disconnections during the 1 hour long session. There doesn't seem to be any particular time frame of how frequent this occurs, in my case it was running fine for cca. first 10 minutes, then went into stop (or pause) mode, then nearly 20 minutes and 3rd time roughly 5 minutes. This is simply unacceptable for any time lapse clip in general, as the final result looks choppy since it's missing frames.

I've written yet another reply to the support team, I must say I'm not very impressed with response times. At this stage I believe i have a faulty unit that is not working properly.

Eagerly awaiting any kind of helpful reply to get this sorted once and for all in form of addressing the issues or replacing the unit for a properly functioning Unleashed...
Oliver
Posts: 1127
Joined: October 9th, 2018, 4:17 pm

November 10th, 2021, 4:20 pm

Hi Michael,
let's continue the conversation we're already having via email.
this thread is actually about a completely different problem.
Founder & CEO of Foolography, Hardware & Firmware developer.
michaelg
Posts: 3
Joined: November 6th, 2021, 6:58 pm

November 10th, 2021, 9:00 pm

Oliver wrote:
November 10th, 2021, 4:20 pm
Hi Michael,
let's continue the conversation we're already having via email.
this thread is actually about a completely different problem.
Agreed. Let's hope we'll be able to come to a conclusion that will benefit both parties.
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