Bluetooth Sync with laptop

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pOtHead4Ever

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Has anyone been able to sync with a laptop via a Bluetooth connection?

I have an Apple TI G4 running OSX 10.2.1, but I am interested in any flavor of Windows synchronization as well.

I got the unit to establish a trust relationship with the laptop (not the most user intuitive process), but the Tungsten complains of a port already in use. I logged a case with Palm, so I will post the response when I get it.

I have some similar issues with linking to the T68 phone, but that should be another discussion thread.

All in all, the Tungsten appears to be a great unit (no dust). I picked it over the Sony for two reasons. First, synchronization with a Mac is native to the Tungsten. Second, the Sony does not have built in bluetooth capability. I am a business user, so I don't need or want MP3 or video capabilities. Not that those aren't valid needs for others.
 
I may be able to help... I have successfully (finally) synced my Tungsten T, T68, PowerBook Pismo (time to update with the new models that are out) and my Windows XP machine.

I have also sucessfully setup inernet browsing with Bluetooth and the TT on both Apple (using the Mac OS X hint) and with Windows XP (using the mocha ppp solution).

Additionally, I was able to "convert" the bluegear pc connection kit to be used as full bluetooth devices instead of just for networking. The box came with two adaptors meant to use solely for networking, however I now have two adaptors :-)

The point is, pretty much any bluetooth adaptor works for both Apple and Windows XP. The Apple was MUCH easier overall, but I suspect thsi will change when M$ releases native support. In Windows XP, I downloaded the repackaged Widcomm software that gave me all kinds of usefullness in XP. It's the same software that TDK, IOGEAR, and others use.

Try shooting me an email at [email protected], and I will see if I can help step by step. Let's stat with what type of BT adaptor do you have?
 
I have a Belkin USB bluetooth adapter that didn't specifically say it was compatible with the Mac. I plugged it in and it just worked. I can easily synchronize the laptop Entourage records with the T68 Ericsson phone (using the MobileSync software).

Sticking with the Mac, the next step is to synch with the Tungsten. Again, I can do so with the USB cable, so that isn't an issue.

It's a little confusing between the Paired Devices and Serial Ports tabs. First, I deleted everything confuguration wise off both the Tungsten and the Mac (no paired devices or serial ports, including the T68 pairing). Then I went into the edit connections screen and created a new Laptop connection. I selected Connect to PC, Via Bluetooth. I then clicked on Device to search for the laptop. It found the device, I clicked okay and clicked OK to save the configuration. The speed it selected was 57,600 bps with Automatic flow control. So now I had an available connection of Laptop.

I clicked Done. Then I selected Laptop in the HotSync window on the Tungsten. When I clicked on the HotSync icon, I got the 'HotSync Problem' error message "Unable to initiate HotSync operation because the port is in use by another application".

I checked on the laptop and the only thing I can guess is incorrect is the HotSync Manager connection settings has a bluetooth modem that is set to the Apple 56K modem.

Any ideas?
 
I answered in email, but will here as well. Hopefully, by the end we may have a step by step.

I believe the first thing that needs done is to put a virtual port in the bluetooth settings within System Preferences labelled: tty.Bluetooth-PDA-sync. It should be set for incoming traffic.

Let me know if that helps.
 
I tried that but no joy.

I went into the system preferences for Bluetooth and added the virtual serial port. However, it doesn't allow the period after tty, as you described. I added Bluetooth-PDA-Sync instead of tty.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync.

That tells me I am doing something different.

I am planning on jumping on the phone with Palm tomorrow, to have them walk me through it.

Thanks for the email.
 
Sorry, I was in command line "mode". You can leave the tty. off. According to what I have.

Let us all know if they can help you, if not, maybe I can be more descriptive or helpful later.
 
I recently purchased a USB Bluetooth device, Ambicom BT2000-USB at CompUSA and am not able to use it to Hotsync my Tungsten with my Dell notebook running Windows 2000.

The BT2000 installed easily, creating 4 new virtual serial ports, and in the supplied "Bluetooth Neighborhood" software I can see my Palm, and my T68I phone. However, when I set up Hotsync to use any of the new bt serial ports, I get a message saying the port is already in use by another program.

Ambicon tech support was friendly, but clearly not knowledgeble, and the person I talked with said he wasn't sure if their product would work with anything by PocketPCs.

Any suggestions?

- Jef
 
Good luck. I called Palm and they walked through the setup process. I clearly knew more than the person who was 'helping' me. Of course this is a new product, so that is understandable.

After quite a few iterations, I was given a case number and asked to fiddle with it, to see if I could get it to work. I still get the same 'port already in use' error. I did get a response from Palm's email support and they say they do not support Bluetooth synchronization between the Palm and a Mac running OSX. They did not say anything about Windows.

I haven't had time to look into Windows synchronization. Maybe this weekend.

If anyone has been able to make this work, step by step instructions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hmm.. not sure if you guys are still having trouble but I was able to get this to work on WinXP.

Pretty straightforward.

I'm using the AmbiCom bluetooth card.

1 - go the the Palm TT - Prefs, Communication, and click on Connection.
2 - Click Add.
3 - These are the Settings:

Name: BT-Laptop
Connect To: PC
Via: Bluetooth
Device: Tap to Find (this will be the name of your computer)

When you click on "tap to find" it should discover your laptop you want to synch with and set up the connection.

Once you have completed the Connection setup on your Palm TT, go to the Hotsync application and change to Local and change the connection to BT-Laptop.

Now go to your computer and right-click on the Hotsync icon on your computer and select Setup... Go to the Local tab and select the COM port that cooresponds to your Bluetooth Serial port.

I checked the COM port by going to Device manager and opening up "Ports (COM & LPT)". The AmbiCom sets up COM4 for bluetooth Serial by default.

Hope that helps.
 
Hello all.

Many thanks for the advice as I am also able to hotsync with Bluetooth !!!

I am using Win 2000 P4, with an MSI Mother board with the Bluetooth adapter internal card PCI.

IF you are going to try, you will need to choose com 4 in the Hotsync setup under the local tab.

Works great !!!
 
I've got it working too with XP. The thing I had overlooked was setting up the COM port in HotSync Manager. Thanks for the help.

All I need now is a way to charge the Tungsten by Bluetooth !! ;)
 
I think we have beat the WinXP connection to death.

I would be interested if anyone has gotten a Bluetooth connection to work with Mac OSX Jaguar (10.2). If someone had the 'port already in use' problem and successfully solved it, that would be very appreciated.
 
Hi There,

I have followed every steps, unfortunatly in the com/serial I only have com1, and no new com for BT...

I am using a USB device (Bluegear), PDA and laptop are recognizing eachothers, however I still have this port in use problem... I have mailed Bluegear regarding this problem, but no no news yet...

Can anyone help ?
 
Hi

Did anyone try to access the internet via a USB BT connected to a PC (beside HotSync)?
If yes then what configuration is used on the PC (XP, 98)?
What configuration is needed on the Tungsten? (I have the WebPro browser).
Which USB BT is recommended for that task?

Thanks
 
I found a solution to this - on the computer/laptop, in XP go to either My Computer or My Network places, then My Bluetooth places, then pick on the left "find devices in range". Once your PDA shows up, don't close that window, make sure the little hotsync icon is up in the lower righthand system tray, and run the hotsync - it should work.

I can't believe how much time spent on this, and then finding such a simple solution, I wanted to share, even though it's an old forum it shows up when you google the problem.
 
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