wemos D1 R32 ble fails/hard to connect

[rexxdad]

I am using a wemos D1 R32 board, thru arduino IDE,

using the BLE_Server_Multiconnect.ino example

it compiles and flashes onto the board.
I can ble scan from my android or iphone to locate the device

but I cannot connect. well, maybe, sometimes.. 50 tries connect once.
the services and characteristics work, once connected.. but nearly impossible to connect.
a couple apps have built in timeout.. no external retry
one app lets me try to manually connect.... just keep trying..

no notices from the board

I've added Serial.println() debugging... loop is active
the connect/disconnect callbacks don't get called..(until they do!)

i 'think' this is a timing problem between the ESP32 and the BT MCU , but don't know how to debug that.
the fact that it works sometimes says that the plumbing is all correct..

help!.. esp32 lib 2.0.7, arduino ide 2.0.7 (macos)

[corz.org]

Where are you checking it is connected? On the devices? Or the Serial terminal?

I have this exact same board and just uploaded that example sketch onto it (my first Bluetooth sketch - I rarely use Bluetooth for anything but peripherals.) and connected fine to all my Bluetooth devices.

BUT there was no sign of this from the ESP32 serial console. When I plugged in a quick Serial.print statement to confirm the connexions, the terminal went nuts with data.

Phones/tablet/laptop/etc., all show as being connected.

I setup a fresh UUID before I started.