Preamble
I recently acquired a O2 XDA II mini, a very sexy miniature PDA/phone that runs Windows Mobile 2003SE. You may also know the XDA II mini as an i-mate JAM – it’s the same ‘Magician’ device made by HTC of Taiwan. I was saving to upgrade my desktop, but I figured I could do new neat things with the mini, whereas I could only do old things faster on an upgraded desktop. But I digress.
The Dream
For me, a lot of the neat stuf you can do with a handheld involves mobility and being wireless. Controlling the PC-based DVD or music player from the lounge, getting IMs whilst away from the computer and reading Slashdot on the toilet. It’s the simple pleasures in life that mean the most.
That Evil, Stylised ‘B’
Such things invariably mean having an ActiveSync connection between your Pocket PC and your desktop. Now since the mini doesn’t have integrated WiFi (although you can add it via an SDIO card) you’ll want to go via Bluetooth. This really isn’t so bad, if it wasn’t for the nightmare that is Bluetooth. Bluetooth is one of those magical consumer-orientated technologies dreamt up to ‘just work’. It rarely does. I get a heart flutter when ever it does ‘just work’. And then the suspicion creeps in—are you really working properly?
Recipe
There are many guides out there to getting ActiveSync rocking over Bluetooth. Try them first. The popular ones are BengalBoy’s post in HoFo and GeekZone’s. I could not get either to work for me, so here is how I did it after around 20 hours of fluffing around. I’ve got it working with a Windows XP Professional box using the Microsoft Bluetooth SP2 stack and a Windows 2003 Server Enterprise machine using the WIDCOMM/Broadcom stack.
1. Unpair devices
In your PPC, delete it from the listed devices within the Bluetooth applet. On your desktop, choose the ‘explore Bluetooth’ option, and forcibly remove or unpair your PPC if it’s there already. Unplug your PPC if it’s currently connected via USB.
2. Add a incoming COM port on desktop
In the MS stack, you’ll want a new “incoming COM port”, in WIDCOMM lingo, it’s a new “Bluetooth Serial Port” under Local Services. When you add the port it’ll be assigned an identifier (‘COM3’ or whatever). Make a note of it. Set your desktop to be discoverable by other BT devices.
3. Tell ActiveSync about it
Open up AS on your desktop and select ‘Connection Settings’, tick the box corresponding to allowing serial connections, and select the port you just added. If it’s not listed, kill AS and restart it.
4. Setup Bluetooth on your PPC
Go Settings > System > Bluetooth and tick ‘outgoing COM port’ box under ‘Bluetooth Serial Port Setup’. It should prompt you to pair with a device. Follow along, and select your computer when it appears in the discovery list, and add it. Tap ‘no’ when it asks if you want your computer as a hands-free device. Close the BT applet.
5. Sync away
Start ActiveSync on the PPC and click Tools > Connect Via Bluetooth, and the magic should happen. It should be a matter of seconds for the connection dialog to disappear. If it takes longer, things are probably broken. If you establish a AS connection, your PPC now has access to the Internet via your desktop which is rad. And by ‘rad’ I mean totally l33t. Slashdot on the toilet, here we come!
Notes
- Don’t use Pocket Bluetooth Tools. I had to uninstall it and soft-reset for ActiveSync to work. Other people say using PBT is the only way they get it to work. Go figure.
- My WIDCOMM stack offers an ActiveSync local service. It didn’t work, so I removed it. I think it’s the same as a serial service anyway. Go figure.
- I don’t click the ‘Start’ button for ‘Bluetooth ActiveSync Setup’ on the PPC. Other guides say you should. Go figure.
- Troubleshooting on the desktop:
- Remove all the Bluetooth-associated COM ports and add a single one that you use for ActiveSync
- Turn off the Bluetooth radio and turn it back on again (or rip out the dongle and shove it back)
- In-between attempts, unpair PPC
- Windows loves a reboot
- Troubleshooting on the PPC:
- In-between attempts, unpair desktop
- Try turning outbound Bluetooth port off, soft-resetting and turning back on
- Troubleshooting generally:
- Check the alignment of the moon with your star sign
- Place a pancake on your head as you carry out the instructions
Versions
For reference, here’s what my PPC is running:
ROM: 1.03.00 WWE
Radio: 1.01.00
Protocol version: 1337.00 (I kid you not)
ExtROM version: 1.03.166 WWE
ActiveSync: 3.8
To read more about this kind of thing, XDA-Developers is very good, as is ‘ol HoFo
