Troubleshooting (Bluetooth)

Only the latest generation (G2v2) tachographs are capable of downloading the driver card data and tachograph data via Bluetooth. They are easy to identify because a Bluetooth symbol is visible on their front panel. Currently only VDO and Stoneridge manufacture this type of device.

Unfortunately, this alone is not sufficient: early software versions are practically unsuitable for Bluetooth communication. Some of them do not even allow pairing; with others, the Bluetooth communication freezes after downloading one card — in the latter case, disconnecting the vehicle's power supply is often the only remedy.

VDO DTCO 4.1 — Minimum software version required for stable operation: v4141 (4.1b 04.01.41)

Stoneridge SE5000-8.1 — Minimum software version required for stable operation: v1619 (version v2525 is also available)

We strongly recommend not attempting Bluetooth communication if your tachograph's software version does not meet the minimum requirement. You will save yourself a great deal of frustration. Take the tachograph in for a software update.

Quick checklist

If a download fails, go through these first, in this order:

Try again. The first connection does not always succeed — this alone is not a fault.
Move closer to the tachograph and stay there for the entire download.
Switch the ignition off and back on, then try again.
Did you pair the phone with the card that is in the tachograph now? Pairing is tied to the card you created it with. For a different card, pair again. If a company card is also in the tachograph, you have to pair with that one.
On VDO, did you pair under the driver menu branch belonging to the card's slot? (Details below.) If not, delete the pairing on the phone and pair again.
If nothing else helps: delete the pairing on both sides and pair again. For deleting on the tachograph, read the notes below.

The phone cannot find a Bluetooth-enabled tachograph

Check that the tachograph is Bluetooth capable: you should see the Bluetooth symbol on its front panel.
Check that Bluetooth is enabled on the tachograph: you should be able to see the tachograph in your phone's Bluetooth settings (do not pair it here!).
The ignition must be in the ON position.
A VDO tachograph is not visible in the search without a card, so insert a card first.
After inserting the driver card or company card, wait until the tachograph menu becomes accessible.
On phones running Android 10–11, the system Location function must be turned on for Bluetooth scanning — without it, the scan ends with an empty result list and no error message.

It may happen that after a previous download attempt the tachograph gets into a state where it can no longer be connected to. On Stoneridge, a typical sign of this is the download animation remaining stuck on the tachograph display. In this case, switch off the vehicle's main switch so that the tachograph's external power supply is temporarily interrupted.

Pairing fails

VDO: the display flashes the text waiting for a connection (e.g. “Please Connect”), but no code appears, and the app gives up after about 45 seconds. One cause is that the tachograph's pairing storage is full: in that case the tachograph does not pair and shows no error message. The solution is to delete a previously paired phone (see below).

During pairing, a six-digit number appears on both the phone and the tachograph. If the two match, confirm on both sides.
If there are several tachographs nearby (e.g. at a depot), check the name: the app may also start the pairing with the tachograph it found first at the beginning of the search.
A card must be in the tachograph for pairing. Stoneridge opens the pairing menu even without a card, but rejects the pairing at the end.
Pairing must be initiated in the app, not in the operating system's own Bluetooth settings. (With Stoneridge tachographs, pairing initiated in the operating system's own Bluetooth menu may also result in a state capable of communication.)
After inserting or changing a card, wait until the tachograph menu becomes accessible — while the display shows a "please wait" type message, both pairing and downloading will fail.

Deleting a paired phone from the tachograph

Tachographs store several phones, but their space is limited. The Stoneridge manual mentions a maximum of 16 devices; the VDO manual gives no number. Our experience with VDO:

You can delete a phone only with a card tied to it. Insert the card, and look for device management under the Bluetooth item of the driver menu belonging to the card's slot.
The company card only sees the phones paired with it, not those paired with driver cards. These phones do not appear in the vehicle menu either.
Deleting removes the phone from all cards tied to it. If the phone was also tied to the company card, you have to pair again with that card afterwards too.
With Hungarian as the menu language, be careful: the text „… beiktatása? Igen” shown when deleting is misleading, because „Igen” (Yes) here actually deletes the pairing.

For companies: a departing driver should delete their phone from the tachograph with their own card, because later there will be no way to do this, and old phones can fill up the storage. If the card is no longer available, we have no tried and tested solution: in that case it is worth asking the tachograph's service workshop. Filling up the storage can also be prevented by having a company phone for the vehicle, because in our experience the tachograph takes up space per phone, not per card.

Pairing is in place, but the download fails right at the start

Typical symptoms: the download breaks off immediately, before any data transfer begins; you repeatedly get error code 0x22; or the card download works but the tachograph download does not (or the other way round). In our experience, the most common cause is that the pairing was not created with the right card or under the right menu branch:

VDO ties the pairing to the card you created it with, and on the tachograph it must be started under the driver menu belonging to the card's slot: in the 1st driver menu for slot 1, in the 2nd driver menu for slot 2. This also applies to the company card, even if you are downloading the vehicle's data. Do not pair in the vehicle menu. The driver menus have a Bluetooth menu item too, even if this is not obvious at first.

If both a driver card and a company card are in the tachograph, pair with the company card, in the driver menu of its own slot. On VDO, both the tachograph and the inserted driver card can then be downloaded. With a pairing made with the driver card, the connection breaks off in this situation.

The solution, in this order:

Insert the card you want to use for the download (the company card for a tachograph download), and wait until the tachograph menu becomes accessible.
Delete the pairing in the phone's Bluetooth settings.
Start the pairing from the tachograph menu as described above, then from the app.
Start the download.

If the pairing does not start this way, or the fault remains, first delete the phone from the tachograph as well (see above), and repeat the steps.

If the phone has meanwhile been deleted from the tachograph, the phone does not know about it: it sees the tachograph as paired, but connecting ends with an error. Some phones then offer to forget the device themselves, or delete the pairing on their own. If the tachograph is still listed as paired, delete it in the phone's Bluetooth settings and pair again.

Other possible causes of a failure at the start of the download:

the driver has not consented to the release of personal data (ITS data). This can be enabled per card, in the tachograph menu, among the driver's settings (see here). On VDO, the remote control (“R”) setting has nothing to do with this, and with a company card the consent is not required;
the ignition is not switched on;
the tachograph is busy with another operation (e.g. processing a freshly inserted card).

The download breaks off partway through

If the download starts but breaks off at different phases across multiple attempts, the Bluetooth signal is not strong enough or something is interfering:

stay close to the tachograph for the entire download. Downloading a driver card on VDO takes about 4–5 minutes, and downloading a tachograph takes from half a minute to several minutes, depending on the selected data;
try to eliminate the source of interference (e.g. other active Bluetooth devices in the cab).

In other cases, the error code shown in the error message and the listed possible causes will indicate the nature of the problem.

If the problem persists, contact us and send us the app's log file. You can find this function in the main screen menu.