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Raspberry Pi Provisioning Troubleshooting

Fix Wi-Fi and Bluetooth problems that block provisioning when you run a TuyaOpen app on Raspberry Pi (for example, apps/tuya.ai/your_chat_bot). Each section below states the symptom, the cause, and the fix.

Prerequisitesโ€‹

Read the Quick Start and its sub-sections first:

Provisioning fails or the device will not re-pairโ€‹

Problem. On the first run the app cannot enter the provisioning flow, or a previously paired device fails to connect to the network.

Cause. The app stores device data (including pairing state) in a tuyadb folder in its working directory. Stale data can block re-provisioning.

Fix. Clear the device data and run again:

  1. Stop the running program.

  2. Delete the tuyadb folder in the program's working directory:

    rm -rf tuyadb

  3. Run the program again and re-enter the provisioning flow.

No provisioning QR code in the terminalโ€‹

Problem. The app starts but the terminal never prints the provisioning QR code, so you cannot scan it.

Cause. By default the QR code is sent over UART0. On Raspberry Pi, UART0 may go to a hardware serial line instead of your terminal. Redirecting UART to standard output prints the QR code where you can see it.

Fix. Enable UART redirection (the "Dummy UART" stdin/stdout/UDP mode):

  1. Activate the tos.py environment and enter the app directory (using your_chat_bot as an example):

    cd apps/tuya.ai/your_chat_bot

  2. Open the configuration menu:

    tos.py config menu

  3. Go to Choice a board โ†’ LINUX โ†’ TKL Board Configuration and enable:

    • Enable UART
    • UART redirection (stdin/stdout/UDP) instead of hardware ttyAMA*

Example UART redirection configuration in the TKL Board Configuration menu
Example UART redirection configuration in the TKL Board Configuration menu

After you enable UART redirection, the app prints the QR code to the current terminal during provisioning. Scan it with the Tuya Smart app to provision the device.

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is disabled by the OSโ€‹

Problem. Bluetooth scanning or provisioning fails โ€” BLE does not work, or the device is not discoverable โ€” and Wi-Fi may also be unavailable.

Cause. The OS can disable the radios with rfkill, either in software (Soft blocked) or hardware (Hard blocked, for example a physical switch).

Fix.

  1. Check the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth status:

    rfkill list

    Example output:

    0: hci0: Bluetooth
            Soft blocked: no
            Hard blocked: no
    1: phy0: Wireless LAN
            Soft blocked: yes
            Hard blocked: no
    • Soft blocked: yes means the device is disabled in software.
    • Hard blocked: yes means the device is disabled in hardware (for example, a physical switch). Remove the hardware block first.

  2. Unblock in software:

    sudo rfkill unblock all

    To unblock a specific item:

    sudo rfkill unblock wifi
    sudo rfkill unblock bluetooth

Bluetooth provisioning still fails after unblockingโ€‹

Problem. The radios are not blocked, but Bluetooth provisioning still does not work.

Cause. The TuyaOpen Bluetooth service may be disabled in the build configuration, or a configuration change was not rebuilt.

Fix. In tos.py config menu, verify the Bluetooth service is enabled:

configure tuyaopen  --->
  configure tuya cloud service  --->
    [*] ENABLE_BT_SERVICE: enable tuya bt iot function  --->
      [ ] ENABLE_NIMBLE: enable nimble stack instead of ble stack in board

Recommended settings:

  • Enable the Bluetooth service.
  • Keep NIMBLE disabled.

After changing the configuration, rebuild (for example, run tos.py build). Otherwise the change does not take effect.

Permission errors when accessing the radiosโ€‹

Problem. The app fails to open /dev/* nodes or system service interfaces at runtime.

Cause. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and peripheral operations on Raspberry Pi usually require elevated permissions.

Fix. Run the generated executable with sudo:

sudo ./your_chat_bot_*.elf