PC user, connecting Zwift Play paddles through an android tablet for Zwift Companion.
After Zwift 1.68 (I’m now on 1.69), when starting Zwift the Play paddles no longer connect. The computer recognizes both the R and L paddle, but the “connecting” screen never turns from orange to blue (ie, connected). When I open the Zwift hardware pairing screen it sees both devices, with a check-mark in each paddle’s box - - but if I connect to the game and start riding it’s clear they aren’t connected.
I can still give ride-on bombs, return ride-ons, and use power ups but ALL the other functions are disabled -
When Zwift is not running I can connect to both the R and L paddle vis the Zwift companion app. They are fully charged and have current firmware. Something else is wrong
I would try pairing directly to the PC to see if that works any better. A Bluetooth dongle on a USB extension cable is cheap and works with any PC. Purchasing advice is in this video:
I have zero experience with Companion on Android so I have no tips to share about your current setup.
Shuji at Zwift HQ here. I peeked at your server log history to see how your trainer and Play controllers are paired to Zwift.
Observation 1: I’m seeing an ANT+ dongle plugged in to your PC, and your Saris trainer is using the ANT FE-C signal to pair to Zwift.
Observation 2: your Play controllers are pairing to Zwift over Bluetooth. This is expected.
Question: what happens if you unplug the ANT dongle and force all your things to pair over Bluetooth? Does everything work as expected?
Your heart rate monitor (Garmin something - a fitness watch?) is paired over Bluetooth. As far as I can see - nothing you own broadcasts over ANT-only. If that’s the case - that dongle isn’t needed any more and can only cause complications.
Thank you for helping with this. My Saris H3 is dying (will replace soon), and the bluetooth radio on the trainer is failing - so I connect the H3 controller / resistance / cadence through ANT+ FE-C. The Garmin HRM-Pro also seems to prefer ANT+.
After deleting the knowndevices.xml. and prefs.xml I was able to get the RIGHT paddle to connect. The game recognizes the LEFT paddle, but does not stay connected - I added an external BLE sensor that is within 3 feet of the paddle; I suspect either a firmware or bluetooth radio error since the game (on the PC) detects the sensor, but will not maintain the connection
Best wishes and thanks for any insight!
Stu Schwark
@S_Schwark
Thanks for the additional information. I read through the conversation you’ve been working with my Support Colleagues via email.
This is curious - how did you conclude the Bluetooth radio on the trainer is faulty? You don’t have to get into it if you don’t want to get into it - I understand that you’re giving preference to ANT pairing for a reason.
Backstory: the reason why devices “prefer” ANT+ is because ANT signals are always broadcasting and are picked up by Zwifter sooner than Bluetooth LE (aka BLE) signals. The devices don’t care either way - it’s the way humans perceive the pairing priority.
#1: With that in mind - I’d like to ask you to unplug the ANT dongle and verify what happens when it’s a Bluetooth-only environment.
#2: The first step is to check Bluetooth-only when your Play controllers and trainers are connected “natively” to your PC. If that works - great!
#3: If native BLE pairing to your PC doesn’t keep the left controller connection stable - the next step is to check Bluetooth-only pairing, but “bridged” over the Zwift Companion app. Instructions are here.
Would you try steps #1 though 3 and let us know if / when you have success?
Shuji (and friends) - thanks for the help in this!
Disconnected the ANT+ dongle and finally got the trainer to connected (old trainer and the BT connection to the trainer has become “wonky”). I attempted to directly connect the Zwift Play controller paddles to the PC, and replicated the problem that I’ve been seeing:
The R paddle connects seamlessly, and the “paired devices” screen shows the controller ID along with the battery charge level of the controller
The Zwift game sees the L paddle controller, but will not remain connected. When I check the box for the L controller and close the pairing screen, the screen turns blue roughly 5 seconds later - - with only the RIGHT controller connected and shown.
I tried several times to get the connection to the L controller to “stick” but it wouldn’t. The color of the Z light on the L controller stick turned solid blue, but once I joined the game there was no functionality.
It is not an overall BT connection problem, because I can reliably connect the R controller and other devices - at present it is only the L controller that will not remain connected.
In that partial connected state the utility of even the R controller is degraded. The only 2 functions was continue to work as designed are “ride-on bombs / return ride-ons” and the ability to use power-ups. No other right controller functions work; none of the L controller functions work.
Having replicated the error on the BT-only direct connect to PC environment, I’ll test the bridged connection capability next.
Thank you for your patience working through this with us. I’ve been following along on this thread a took a quick look at some of your logs from the 26th. I see a bunch of timeouts while the Zwift game is trying to read values from your left Play controller and a few timeouts with the right one. To me this suggests that there’s likely something that’s making it hard for the PC and the controller to maintain a stable BLE connection. We’ve seen a fair bit of success in the past with either bridged connection over the Zwift Companion app that @shooj mentioned above or by using a BLE dongle. Please let us know if using Companion bridging gives better results.
Ok - issue seems to be resolved. Tried a different tablet and was able to establish a bridged connection (I already have a USB expender and a BLE dongle that’s about 4 feet from the sensors - that wasn’t it). Was able to connect to the Hammer H3, and then get to the connected devices screen. The bridge connected and maintained the link during a short test ride (15 mins); the paddle controllers had full functionality.
Thanks for the help on this and regrets for any hassle or frustration. I honestly wish that most of these devices would return to ANT+ because it just works. BT and BLE are great until they aren’t - and getting them reconnected is like black magic…
