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BT Pairing not possible with Samsung phone / connection to GCM

I just received my 955 and tried to pair it / connect it to GCM. The phone is a Samsung A52s 5G, never had any issues with my F6. 955 FW is 12.29.

I activate pairing mode on watch, the watch shows that it waits for the connection to phone. In GCM I go to connect device, choose 955. The phone shows that a connection to 955 is possible and that a 6 digit code will be displayed on the watch, I chose "connect". GCM then either crashes or just returns to the devices overview screen. Nothing was displayed on watch display, it still shows that it's in pairing mode. I've never seen a code when I try to connect in GCM. If I pair the device in Android BT settings, watch shows a code and I can confirm it in Android. Android shows the 955 as paired and tells me then that I've to configure it in an app. If I then try to connect in GCM it still does not work, it's still displayed that when I hit connect a code will be displayed and it either crashes or returns to the devices overview.

I rebooted phone and watch, I uninstalled GCM and cleared data and cache. I factory resetted the watch 2 times. I removed watch from my direct bluetooth connection attempts in Android.

Edit: and now I can't re-pair my old F6... great... just great.

0 8251321 over 2 years ago

Update: I tried some older GCM version from apkmirror. No success. Then I installed GCM on an old Xiaomi smartphone that is running Lineage OS. There I can immediately connect to the watch and the code is displayed in GCM. On Samsung phone there was never a code displayed in GCM, only in Android BT connection (Which should not be used).

I don't know who to blame, but it makes no sense for me to used the old phone just for this. And I can't connect the watch with the Samsung phone. Which worked before.

0 e7andy over 2 years ago in reply to 8251321

Have you checked the location setting your Garmin Account? Is it set to your current country?

https://www.garmin.com/account/profile

0 8251321 over 2 years ago in reply to e7andy

yes, and if not then it would not work with my other phone too. So it must be something GCM - Samsung - Android specific. I even installed the GCM version I used when I got my F6 a year ago. This also does not work anymore with this phone. The main problem is that no connection code is displayed on this phone and the app crashed then (any version I tested).

0 e7andy over 2 years ago in reply to 8251321

Update the watch to the latest version and see if that makes any difference. 12.29 is a few months old and there has been at least 2 new versions after that and even a new major version.

0 8251321 over 2 years ago in reply to e7andy

I suspect it's a GCM <-> Samsung/Android problem, as it's perfectly working with other Android phones, including my companies iphone. There was a similar problem last year and this mega thread.

forums.garmin.com/.../repeated-bluetooth-pairing-codes-after-disconnecting-watch

Edit: I updated now to fw 13.23. Only difference is that the watch now shows a QR code that then opens GCM and shows the watch to pair. But still when I confirm "connect" GCM crashes.

As I can connect the watch directly in Android and with other 3rd party apps like "bluetooth connect app" to my Samsung A52s phone, there must be some incompatibility between GCM and the phone. It's not a general issue as the phone sees the watch and it even tries to connect but when the bt code/password should appear it just crashes.

So I'm done, I've spent a whole day to make this work, watch will be returned.

0 8251321 over 2 years ago in reply to 8251321

I was now able to connect/pair the watch using Garmin Explore. I've uninstalled it yesterday while testing and reinstalled it now. While reinstalling it showed the available devices, I chose the 955 and the pairing code was displayed.