Mind Monitor loses connection to Muse and doesn't reconnect

[zer11]

Hey,
I'm using the Mind Monitor app to stream data via OSC to my own app. This is working fine, however sometimes the connection breaks and when I switch to the Mind Monior app it shows "Please turn on Muse and connect." (translated from German). However, the Muse headset is turned on and even shows the LED "searching animation". When restarting the Muse headset, nothing changes in the Mind Monitor app. Only when I restart the Mind Monitor app the connection is established once again.
This doesn't always happen when I'm using the app, only sometimes.

This is a severe issue for my planned study, as it possibly causes significant interruptions during the study process.

I would be grateful for a bugfix.

I'm using a Huawei P30 smartphone by the way.

[James]

You say "when I switch to the Mind Monior app"... If you have Mind Monitor running in the background on your phone, then your phone will likely shut down the app, as it uses a LOT of system resources. To make sure the phone OS does not close it, always run Mind Monitor in the foreground.

Secondly, many Huawei phones have a faulty Bluetooth chip design that truncates the data received from the Muse. The P8, P10 and P20 are all incompatible with Mind Monitor. Interaxon list all Huawei phones as incompatible with the Muse on their website.
Please email me a 10 minute recording of 256Hz data (Settings > Recording Interval > Constant), where you are sitting calmly and I will tell you if your P30 is functioning correctly.

[zer11]

If you have Mind Monitor running in the background on your phone, then your phone will likely shut down the app, as it uses a LOT of system resources. To make sure the phone OS does not close it, always run Mind Monitor in the foreground.

I removed Mind Monitor from the automatic battery management, hence Android shouldn't shut down Mind Monitor. Also the app isn't actually shut down, but still shows the most recent BCI data before the connection dropped.

Hm I was aware that the previous Huawei models had issues with Mind Monitor, as I had a P10 before and just recently upgraded to a P30. With the P30 I didn't have any issues during some mediation sessions with the muse app, one of which I did for 30 minutes. But I would gladly send you a record of 10 minutes just to be sure nothing is off. Will try to do it tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!

[James]

I removed Mind Monitor from the automatic battery management, hence Android shouldn't shut down Mind Monitor. Also the app isn't actually shut down, but still shows the most recent BCI data before the connection dropped.

Maybe that prevents it fully closing the app, but I'm not sure that will prevent it pausing the app, which would make it lose connection to the Muse.
I would try testing by putting Mind Monitor in the background while streaming and then running a processor intensive game or two.

[zer11]

I just tested it by running some intense benchmarks with 3DMark and Mind Monitor didn't stop working, it was fine. As I said, the issue doesn't occur often, but this test should be enough strain on CPU to know that its probably not due to CPU / GPU usage.

Probably a long shot, but could it be related to the OSC streaming? I don't know about OSC streaming well enough, is it similar to TCP or more like UDP regarding communication between sender and recipient? If it is TCP then perhaps my app doesn't acknowledge some packets and messes up Mind Monitor. I'm probably wrong though .

[James]

The streaming is UDP specifically because it's fire and forget. UDP doesn't need the receiver to acknowledge receipt.
Given that all the other Huawei Px devices have issues, I suspect the issue is the P30 bluetooth chip. I'd recommend using a different brand of phone to continue your tests with.

[MNowCov]

Hello James, I have P30 but I cannot download the app. Is it still not compatible?

[James]

Hello James, I have P30 but I cannot download the app. Is it still not compatible?

Sorry, this will not change. It has a hardware fault that makes it incompatible.