Related
>>>
Yo!
Saw the other thread where the other guy initially could and then lost the ability to ActiveSync to his PC - exactly the same has happened to me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=42520
Here is what I tried and it worked:
* Connect Pocket PC
* Go to Network Connections and Find the Local Area Network Connection for the Pocket PC
* Properties
* Make sure TCPIP is selected
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Find the Local Area Network Connection for the Pocket PC" - NOPE!! no matter how many icons & tabs etc I tap, i simply CANNOT find this!
What I get on my PC is:
USB Device not recognised: Q: Is there a USB driver I need to install & if so where can I get it from (via the internet).
What I get on my Uni (eventually) is:
Pocket PC Networking
Unable to obtain a server-assinged
IP address. Try again later or
enter an IP address in Network Settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Server-assigned IP address??? You're kidding me right? I think I need some insight into what ActiveSync is actually doing here!
Yep, it's rant time boys & girls....
Now as an aside, is it just me but is something basically amiss with these things - Sync'ing to a PC SHOULD BE A BLOODY DODDLE- EASY - NO DICKING ABOUT, but hell no - infinite levels of crap to wade through encountering insane use of TLAs (yep, there you go, another one). God, why can't they K I S S ???? (and another one). What I mean is that I've been using PCs since day dot. I am an honours degree qualified electronics engineer - I desgin hardware & write real time embedded software systems, so if I am getting pi$$ed off with the damn thing, what chance has your average mug in the street??????? :shock:
Andy (currently rigging up a sturdy hessian rope with a noose in it)
PS
TLA = Three Letter Anacroynims (sp)
K I S S KEEP IT SIMPLE! STUPID.
Good-o, know one knows how to do this (what should be simple, but hell no) task.
Bloody great!
Can't sync to a PC, can't install any programs, utterly useless as a PPC device all down to some sh1te convoluted bollocks piece of software.
I can now measure time wasted in YEARs on similar, badly written software.
Andy
hey dude
take a few deep breaths and lets start at the beginning eh
this should be a simple straight forward process and suspect you have missed the simple bit and launched straight into complex related issues, I suspect that it relates to the using of a USB Hub.
so lets "KISS" ehm, slight cough, blush
1. Dont use a USB hub
2. Delete all partnerships that you have created on both the PC and the PPC
3. Ensure you are running XP SP2 on the PC
4. Ensure you are running ActiveSync 4.1
5. Reboot both the PC and soft reset PPC
6. Go into task manager on the PPC and ensure activesync didnt auto start on soft reset
7. Open outlook on the PC and ensure it is upto date and connected if you are running it with exchange
8. Plug the PPC via the Sync cable directly into the USB port on the PC (not a hub)
9. Wizard should start, at this point, untick the box about exchange server
10. Following the wizard, deselect all options for synchronisation
(we can add some options later, but lets get to the basic partnership setup first)
Now then, those are the simple basic steps. What I would like to know before we get much further is:
1. What do you see? Did you get a wizard pop up to create the partnership?
2. Did you successfully create the partnership
3. Did it synchronise on the activesync screen
4. Did you get an error message on the PC? If so what is the description? If so, go to the PPC open up activesync on the PPC and tell me what the error code is, if any and details of last sync?
If you have successfully created your partnership and it says synchroniZed even though nothing is actually sync'd yet, we have a good start. You can now start installing programs before we sync any data.
I personally choose to extract the cab files that are used during the sync file and copy them to my SD card so I dont need an activesync connection to install.
The CAB files are normally located in \program files\microsoft activesync\ once you have run the setup program on the PC. Alternatively, they can be found in their own personal program directory. I have only ever found one situation that I couldnt find the cab file for. Now all of my source programs are on an SD card and can be reinstalled anytime, anywhere without my PC.
Eitherway, if this is now working, and you have your partnership, first sync something simple like your favourites, or files.
Once this happens, can you now choose just your contacts, then your calendar, then your tasks.
At this point, you can move one step further and decide whether you would like to use your outlook email to sync directly, or through a GPRS/WIFI facility directly to an exchange server.
Okidoki
Thats enough for now. Lets get back to the beginning and work through this simply.
Some other forums that may help....
Morphosin found solutions to his here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=40646&highlight=
and some more
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=42540&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37039&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=24184&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=42088&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=40900&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=39259&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=38453&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35449&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=34598&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=31478&highlight=85010014
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=27636&highlight=85010014
as is obvious, you are not the only one. So some deep breaths, tell me what is going on, try to follow the above, read up on issues faced by others and see if they can assist, then let me know how you go and we can start to trouble shoot. I assure you it will be simple, and even if I cant help, each time we communicate this discussion will bounce to the top again and people far more knowledge that us will but in say, hey morons, click here and its done... and all will go away.
Cheeers
@simon_darley thank you very much that was very helpful (btw, no hubs to speak of).
Story so far.
Let me get this off my chest first...
OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
How friggin COMPLICATED can something get???? 2 days of searching, reading, installing, uninstalling, falling down holes & climbing out again, faffing & frigging about. All of it needlessly!
Bad buggy software - as a result, many hoops to jump through.
See these were my goals & I think I have it (almost) all sussed now:
1) Sync to PC via a physical USB cable - easy? - nope. ONLY reason to do this is for installation of software. (Sod that sync tasks bollocks, I couldn't give a toss). A little snipped from some dude (here) mentioned the fact that this was unnecessary & could be achived via copying CAB files onto SD media & then installing software on the PPC itself - GREAT :lol:
2) WiFi connection (at work) so I could browse the internet - why? Because it was there & I was interested to see if I could do it. 3 hours later I'm in - thankyou very much! :wink: Some arsehole programmer thought it would be a good idea to make the SSID (a 26 character HEX code), CASE SENSITIVE and relay the keystrokes back to the user as a series of sodding '*'s.... :evil: In the process I've had to learn all sorts of stuff about EAP, LEAP, WiFi LAN access point (Beacons), Wireless clients, The 802.11 standard & hence WEP (and dynamic WEP keys), SSID, EAP, LEAP, WPA TKIP & finally the fact that of all those listed, my PDA uses the adapter: "tiacxwln Compatable Wireless Ethernet": to use server-assigned IP addresses (i.e. use DHCP).
3) A nice simple BlueTooth connection to my PC so that I can browse the internet on my PDA while my wife does the same on the PC - This turned out to be a TWO DAY exercise: Let me list some problems.
Bug - Can't use the WinXP SP2 Bluetooth drivers.
Bug - Can't install the WIDCOMM drivers as they are not certified. (There is a workaround guide, but COME ON GUYS!!).
Bug - If you've pissed about with BlueTooth COM ports, WIDCOMM can't 'go back' as it were to use the lower COM ports (COM9 & below), the assigned COM ports keep increasing. This would be fine if it were not for a ...
BUG - PDA BlueTooth can only use COM ports up to COM9 :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
ARRRRRRRRRRRGH
Hence: Had to uninstall WIDCOMM
Hence: Had to reinstall WinXP BlueTooth driver
Hence: could then (in a convoluted manner) 'recover' the com ports from COM9 and below.
Hence: Then had to uninstall the WinXP USB Driver
Hence: Then had to reinstall the WIDCOM drivers (and go through all that certification bollox again).
Hence: The PC Could then be set up to use a Serial Comms 'service' on a COM port assignment on a COM9 port or less!!!!
Hence: Then had to REBOOT
Hence: Then had to remove any partnerships
Hence: Then had to use a password OF MORE THAN 8 CHARACTERS - some guy mentioned It does allow you to enter less than 8 characters but doing so screws thing up. ARRRGH AGIAN :twisted:
Hence: New partnership on PPC
FINALLY A BLUETOOTH LINK to the PPC
More dicking about making my internet connection an available 'service' over Bluetooth'
FINALLY get to connect to the internet :lol: :lol: :lol:
But, hold on, the fat bird isn't singing yet, GPRS is now sticking it's nose in insisting it's the (expensive) path to the internet & keeps popping a nag up, regardless of the fact that I keep telling it to f-off!
Oh, and the damn thing seems to keep disconnecting every 5 mins. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH
Anyway, getting there :wink:
Phew. Anyone who knows how to get rid of that poxy GPRS - 3G thing (yes I know its a medium so I guess I mean that useless boil on the arse of humanity called WAP) & also how to keep the damn thing connected - I think it's an Activesync issue....
Anyway, I'm now off to the top of my local bell tower with a fully loaded high-powered rifle with telescopic sights & 10,000 rounds of ammo, disguised as a postman.
Andy
hey andy
werent you the guy that got a nice cheap phone hacked the parts, put it back together, and now over the moon.... ?? thought it was you i read about, may be not.
Hmmmm gprs..... hmmmm fun aint it.
try this cab file..... it stops the auto detect and thus removes the "G" in the screen, I found it effective.
I think you can still connect it, but have to go through the manual process of going into connections, press and hold, select connect. otherwise it wont auto connect at all, it saved me heaps, and I never really used it at all. Otherwise, you can simply go in and delete the settings yourself when you like.
Re Activsync, you may find that it auto starts, and thus tries to start the gprs. this can be rectified by going to activesync on the PDA, create a server source, as fictitious entry. find the connection periods and set all to manual. Then delete the settings entirely. This should prevent activesync from autostarting, and more importantly kick starting GPRS.
oh well, think of it on the bright side, you are getting to use all tha education you paid a fortune for....
let me know how you go with activesync and gprs...
werent you the guy that got a nice cheap phone hacked the parts, put it back together, and now over the moon.... ?? thought it was you i read about, may be not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tha's me!
Hmmmm gprs..... hmmmm fun aint it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And WiFi
And BlueTooth
And USB
And ActiveSync
And this qVGA thing (still amazed at that - "hey guys lets put a full 640x480 expensive top of the range VGA display on these things", followed by "hey guys lets NOT use the full display capabilites, let's piss everyone off and only actually design an OS that uses a QUARTER of it's capabilites and use 320x240?!?!?!?!" - my God in Heaven!!!!!!!!! :evil: )
try this cab file..... it stops the auto detect and thus removes the "G" in the screen, I found it effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you (again)
I think you can still connect it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I can safely say that I will NEVER EVER connect to the internet using crappy WAP. Crap & expensive & slow & useless & what's the point?
oh well, think of it on the bright side, you are getting to use all tha education you paid a fortune for....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cheeky little a-rab. :lol: Anyway I'm old enough to have missed tuition fees here in the UK, so my 4 years Honours Degree course was not paid for by yours truley :wink: Hell I even got a grant :wink: :wink:
Anyway I must say this, you have been more than helpful & understanding of my foul temper! You see my fault is that as an engineer (my wife is now rolling her eyes skyward), when I see things badly designed it just does my head in because it does not take much more effort to make things so much more better - it beggers belief sometimes and I have to wonder if they actually try using some of these God awful programs & drivers - like I may have already mentioned, how is your average guy in the street meant to cope????
Andy
underwurlde said:
And this qVGA thing (still amazed at that - "hey guys lets put a full 640x480 expensive top of the range VGA display on these things", followed by "hey guys lets NOT use the full display capabilites, let's piss everyone off and only actually design an OS that uses a QUARTER of it's capabilites and use 320x240?!?!?!?!" - my God in Heaven!!!!!!!!! :evil: )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not strictly true...
it is running at 640x480, always!!!!
its the font sizes and dpi the applications run at that makes it look like qvga.
try the latest pocket breeze, full vga support, looks amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my old mans an engineer (marine/mechanical).
i left home early....
he is a great guy from 15,000km away (he is in Perth, WA and I moved to Brisbane, QLD), same continent, just opposite sides of it. now we get along great
one advantage of the GPRS, quizz shows.... you can win the prize competitions by googling whilst in the show, and it doesnt look as obvious and it isnt WAP, it should be full internet access with googling ability.
if you get 3g on the correct plan its reasonably usable and also gives you TSC/RDP connections into your servers whilst on the road. note, beware the standard 3G is voice capable only at 128kbps, but it should be able to and can be requested to run at 384kbps.
either way, i dont really use it either, its simply to expensive. i just run wifi at home and works a treat.
it is running at 640x480, always!!!!
its the font sizes and dpi the applications run at that makes it look like qvga.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that was what I was trying to say... :roll: Anyway what's that pocket breeze thing then????? Link / file DEFINATELY needed!!!! :lol:
my old mans an engineer (marine/mechanical).
i left home early....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because he spent most of his time shouting at his PC. (Just like what I've spent the entire weekend doing... Saying that I seem to be missing a daughter - and she's only 3 1/2... The other one is packing her suitcase - not bad for a 2 year old).
one advantage of the GPRS, quizz shows.... you can win the prize competitions by googling whilst in the show, and it doesnt look as obvious and it isnt WAP, it should be full internet access with googling ability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wierd. chaps here at work are intregued... Can you expand a little (I'm a bit slow at these things) & provide some site addresses please?
Thanks guys - now the dust is finally settling, things are getting (even) more interesting on this little Xda Exec..
Andy
re quizz shows, what i meant was things like quizz nights and business nights out when there are prizes and games such as "the most poisonous snake" or the longest river or biggest river etc etc
you can google this sort of information and get the right answer inside the show. it doesnt stand out as much when you are using a phone rather than a laptop or computer, but with fast internet access you can get the answer 99% of the time, in the time frame.
just dont get caught...
underwurlde
pocket breeze is a today plugin pim system,
i hardly ever use calendar, tasks, inbox, notes, etc thats to pocket breeze,
http://www.sbsh.net/products/pocketbreeze/
take a look and install the demo, it roxx, just get rid of the mail, calendar, tasks plugins from today and use this as an all in one, it hardly impacts performance with the right settings, eg, turn off expand/collapse, turn off the entry counters etc, with these little tweaks its nice and smooth.
reduce the font sizes down aswell, you get vga res text.
personally i think breeze is the best pim management system there is, i tried pocket informant but for impact it had.
lost again!
@simon_darley,
LOL...I get you now, sneaky git! :wink: Like it, my kind of scam.
Just another question...
The rar file you sent me, erm , now I've installed it now what? Is it a program (if so where is it hiding) or is it a reg hack?
Steep learning curve going on here!
Thanks again,
Andy
Andy
Re
FINALLY get to connect to the internet
But, hold on, the fat bird isn't singing yet, GPRS is now sticking it's nose in insisting it's the (expensive) path to the internet & keeps popping a nag up, regardless of the fact that I keep telling it to f-off!
Then
Just another question...
The rar file you sent me, erm , now I've installed it now what? Is it a program (if so where is it hiding) or is it a reg hack?
The rar file, is actually a cab file, and can simply be downloaded to your device, and click to run, it will auto install and from that point, not be removable. It was an "O2" release not an Imate release, but works on both.
I dont know what it is, I dont know how it works, but I do know that it stopped my JJ from auto connecting to the internet whenever i clicked or touched something that needed an internet address. It basically stops the device from detecting that the option is available, and thus if the system detects a need, it cant find the connection directly.
It basically set the system to have no internet connection, unless you manually open a connection, eg via WIFI, Bluetooth AS, or manually making the GPRS connection by going start > connections > connections and locating the connection, then press and hold to make the connection. It was so long and convoluted, that it never happened and i never connected using GPRS/3G unless i was desperate (like quizz shows ...
There are other reasons why it connects in the first place and somethings that you need to look at was why was it trying in the first place.
1. Activsync automatically starting as mentioned
2. Pressing the "Web" key on the keyboard, which auto starts PIE, which if you havent changed to \windows\default.thm rather than the default www.clubimate.com or other similar, then it would auto start the GPRS as it "detected" that GPRS was available.
3. MSN Messenger not closing properly and trying to reconnect
4. Closing a WIFI connect when the device hasnt shut down an Internet connection
So, what it is supposed to do is shut the direct availability detection method the system uses. I dont really know how successful it was, but you should now see the removal of the "G" and "U" icon, which should now have a symbol similar in nature to the active connection, but with a cross through it.
In summary, i dont know... it was something that was given to me in this forum months ago as i also got "upset" by the auto connect feature. After adjusting the AS settings, and changing the Internet shortcut button, i didnt need it anymore, and still dont run it on my device as it doesnt auto connect as much anymore at all.
Now, it only auto connects when i click on a link in my email and i dont have wifi open, which was my fault not the device fault for clicking the link in the first place.
Does anyone know of a freeware program that can remotely shutdown the home PC from a Wifi network? I found a free Wake-On-LAN program and I can turn on my computer from anywhere in my home with it, but I don't have the means to turn it off. Thanks.
Using a VNC client on your phone and the server on your pc you could remote in and shut it down as if you were in front of it.
Hmmm, call me ignorant but I just wonder what putpose does it serve? If it is a home network and your house is not as large as CENTRAL PARK New York you should be able to actually walk to your computer and shut it down instead of sitting room next door and do it from there!
How much more lazy the human race can get?
Junner2003 said:
Hmmm, call me ignorant but I just wonder what putpose does it serve? If it is a home network and your house is not as large as CENTRAL PARK New York you should be able to actually walk to your computer and shut it down instead of sitting room next door and do it from there!
How much more lazy the human race can get?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
note that he mentioned swhithing a pc on using wake on lan - thats why he mentioned his house - lan limitation. the real purpose of what he looks for would be turning your pc off while being away.
Curious D: i didn't hear of any app written especially for this, but for example emule can do it. if you use emule on your home pc - try checkin out it's mobile client - mobiemule - a java applet that lets you manage your downloads as well as turning your pc off. if it's not suiteble for you, i would suggest setting up apache server with a special php code on it, execing an app to close windows and then using your phone browser to access this php code. a bit of a workaround but in my opinion the easiest. (i used to controll winamp this way
This might be a solution! I did not digg in to it because of such tasks are not interesting to me but I am sure you can do what you need to do with it:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bridgman_02june10.mspx
it's another option, yes it is possible but not very handy. i know setting up apache or any other web server is not very handy task neither. i would just code a simple app for desktop pc that would listen on telnet port and after receiving specified command would shut windows down. maybe even code a simple version of "web server" so it would be accessed using web browser? huh, i'll try in my spare time ;]
:update:
i could wrap up an application that would sit launched at your pc and listen for a connection. you would have to open a web browser (not only at your phone, it could be anything computer like and browse for an adress like:
http://your.ip.address:some_port/specific_command
to force my application to perform any action. it could be shutting down your windows or anything else.
note - it requires you to have a public ip address, and you would have to forward some_ports for it in your lan - just like any other serverlike application. would you be interested? it is quite easy so i can do it for you. cheers
Thanks for all the replies.
Raceit: I thought about VNC, but my VNC program incorporates an RC4 encryption which isn't supported for the WM5 platform at this time (at least I couldn't find any. This would be the ideal situation since then I can control my computer from my phone to do some simple operations. (I can do this already with my laptop, but it takes a long time to start up whereas the phone is fairly immediate)
Banannq: No no...Junner2003 is right. I AM lazy. I'm actually looking for it because there have been some nights that I remembered I forgot to shut down the computer and when you are in bed, you don't really want to go across the house to shut something off. I'm a light sleeper and when I wake up, I think about stuff. The idea that you had is over my head. Thanks for the offer for setup, but it seems I would have to open my firewall which I would rather not do. Again, thanks.
Junner2003: Thanks. I'll look into that link from Microsoft.
Curious D: too late mate, i already did the base of program ;]
now i can only finish it ;] it receives a message from a www browser and all i need to do now is to make it respond with an action, which is quite easy job - i'll add a procedure of shutting windows down and i'll upload it somewhere this evening. if you want it, you can get it, if you prefer not - no problem. for me it was a good oportunity to code something new ;]
forget evening. it's done. remember it is very simple...
so you need to launch included exe file on your windows machine. i tested it on xp, it should also work on older OS's, but i cannot be sure.
as i said - if you have lan at your home (and probably you have if you use your phone to connect to wifi) you need to access your router menu to allow connections to the pc my app is running on. depending on manufacturer it is done a bit different but still quite simple. you need to find a function called "port forwarding" and set up a new rule. You allow traffic to "your pc ip number" on "99" port (thats my app specification). you basicly need to allow traffic via tcp, but can be also tcp+udp
when it's done thats it.
providing that the programm is running, you can first try opening you pc's browser and type a specified url in your browser:
http://localhost:99/hello_world
you should see "/hello_world" message in return.
you can then try
http://ip_address:99/some_message
your ip can be checked by typing "ipconfig" in command line (windows_start>run>cmd) on your pc.
then you can do the same on your phone : http://your.pc.ip.address:99/message
if it works it means that everything is ready to go. then go:
http://your.pc.ip.address:99/shutdown
and that should do the magic.
i hope it's quite clear for you, if not - please ask. i'll try to help you if you think my program would be worth it ;]
i hope you like it
Wow. That's really cool. Thanks. I'll look into it more on my next day off. (Schedule's a little wacky, but it brings food to the table) Thanks again. Out of curiosity (not asking for more because you have already been very generous with your time and effort), can something be set up without port forwarding? If it is within a home network, can something be setup like VNC (without the remote desktop) simply to shutdown a computer within my own Wifi network?
Yes, should be possible either if you use STATIC IP ADDRESSES (which is always a problem if you have a linksys router) or just via computer name in the network: " \\MyComputerName " (you will have to turn file sharing in for that!)
Cool. I'll try it soon. Thanks again.
Curious D said:
Does anyone know of a freeware program that can remotely shutdown the home PC from a Wifi network? I found a free Wake-On-LAN program and I can turn on my computer from anywhere in my home with it, but I don't have the means to turn it off. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please post the free Wake-On-LAN app that you have??
sorry guys, i didn't have time to post anything sooner - had a terrible day with my wizard - 4 hard resets and finally rom upgrade :/ huh, looks good now...
anyway - i didn't code anything that would communicate through windows network neighbourhood - it sounds like an interesting idea, but i dont think i could be able to accomplish any success here very soon ;] sorry.
freeyayo50 said:
Can you please post the free Wake-On-LAN app that you have??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go...
http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=240773&mode=threaded
Hi
I am using my Kaiser for business use and want to get rid of the dreaded paperwork and use my device for everything.
I visit various clients to carry out inspections. I am wondering if there is someway of having a program made to insert various information instead of loading the Inspection everytime in Word and saving it each time as this can be really slow and a real pain.
What programs are needed to make a working program to work on Windows Mobile? Does this sound like a do - able task or am I better of doing what I do now?
I do have a copy of the inspection sheet i use which is too large to upload here.
Hope someone can help.
Thanks In Advance.
Ray
Do you mean you have a word file or similar, and you want a program to populate it, to eliminate tedious scrolling and whatnot? It can be done. As far as doing it yourself, there are several routes/languages/IDE's to choose from, but the learning curve on programming is a little slow to justify just one program. If you've programmed before, I can help set you in the right direction. If you want to learn programming, I'd start on the computer, then move to the PPC once you've learned to program with libraries and DLL's.
However, if you want to email me the form, I'll see what I can do fo you. I won't charge, but any donation would be appreciated upon delivery.
Drop me a line with your email address and I will forward you a copy of the file I use for the inspection.
Mine is [email protected]
Hi all.
Does anyone know of an application for creating storyboards on my HD2? Basically, i'm looking for something that will allow me to take a photograph of a location and add simple icon based instructions for camera moves, actor postioning and so on in a sort of slideshow format. I'd also want to be able to record audio notes or dialogue onto it and set timings for stuff so I can see how the pacing is. Then I'd like to be able to export it to my laptop for printing.
There's plenty around for Windows proper, but having it on the laptop doesn't have the portability that I'd like. Googling hasn't really helped (it's possible that I just need more practice!) - there doesn't seem to be anything around.
Any suggestions?
(edit - sorry - I meant to put this in the 'themes and apps' forum. I also meant to spell 'application' right in the title! Any kind mod that wants to address my inadequacies is welcome! )
Storyboarding appliction
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm mostly bumping my own thread, but I did just come across this iPhone app which does the job: http://www.cinemek.com/storyboard/index.php
Hi all,
A few weeks ago I started taking apart the LiveView software and manager. I'm really unhappy with the current plugin system, the menu structure and more. So, I started to reverse-engineer the Bluetooth protocol. I'm at the very beginning but it's looking promising.
Here's the repo: https://github.com/BurntBrunch/LivelierView
The protocol is not very difficult - just request-acknowledge-response serial communication over RFCOMM. Also, the kind people from SE didn't run the manager through Proguard (wink, wink, nudge, nudge ).
I also have what I *think* is a dump of the firmware but it seems either compressed or encrypted. Binwalk didn't find anything in it. If someone would be kind enough to take apart the software updater, we might figure out what's running on the actual device as well.
Overall, I'm just starting but so far it's looking good (got time syncing working! it's at least a watch, if nothing else! ).
Any help would be greatly appreciated (pull requests are more than welcome! )
thinking of doing something similar with one of my gadgets.
What did you use to reverse-engineer the Bluetooth protocol, just wireshark and a bluetooth dongle
Neither Did it from disassembly of the manager - much easier than sniffing and guessing.
If you don't have that option and said gadget connects to an Android phone, put on a decent ROM with the full BlueZ stack (e.g., Cyanogen) and use hcidump. It's really, really useful!
Come to think of it, Wireshark might be good enough - the only thing I found useful about hcidump was the SCO audio dump.
Nice effort. I've already forked your work on github, might have a look at it soon, I got some geeky ideas for myself as well, and I think integrating this functionality natively on CyanogenMod or even a custom app to replace the SE's one would be great to have as well.
Nice,
i'm was disapointed by the liveview manager myself, i hope something good emerges from your work
I've also decompiled the APK, and it seems that everything that displays on screen comes from the application, which means everything could be costumized. Seems like SE is using a PNG lib LodePNG to convert images and pushing them to the phone. Also, when it comes to strings, I've found some useful references in JerryProtocol that might indicate how the correct text encoding (not that we can push it right now, but just for the record):
Code:
private static final String mEncoding = "iso-8859-1";
private static final char cCarriageReturn = '\r';
private static final char cLineFeed = '\n';
Controlling the led seems quite simple to, it seems message's data is divided in 3 parts:
[RGB] [DELAY = Integer Number] [ON STATE = 0|1]
[old]although I've not figured out the ID of the LED control yet[/old].
LED request ID is 40 and LED response ID is 41. Hope this is enough for you to get started on that one too
I've not yet tested the app, but I've read your code and gave a shot at decompiling trying to see what I could dig up, will try it later (not very used to running python scripts though, will have to see how to install pyserial first and all that)
pedrodh said:
it seems that everything that displays on screen comes from the application
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Yup, the main stuff is on the phone - the state machine is clearly isolated (on a side note, the manager is rather well-written, thankfully). On the other hand, I'm somewhat confused by all the constants - it almost feels as if the device has native navigation or icon cache or something.
pedrodh said:
Controlling the led seems quite simple to, it seems message's data is divided in 3 parts:
[RGB] [DELAY = Integer Number] [ON STATE = 0|1]
LED request ID is 40 and LED response ID is 41. Hope this is enough for you to get started on that one too
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Thanks for the interest and the tip, I'll look into it soon - I need to figure out a good way to send commands from stdin. It seems that I'll need to figure out non-blocking reading in Python anyway (good news for you - I might drop pyserial! )
In any case, I'll add it to protocol.txt, unless you beat me to it!
Lastly, the only reason it's in Python is 'cause I'm productive in it *and* it has good, fast bindings (I try to stay away from gobject in C!). Whatever comes out of this effort would be running on the phone, surely
Edit: You *did* beat me to it!
Edit: Implemented LED, vibration, and a pretty good scheme for sending commands from the CLI
Nice work, saw quite a few commits in a small amount of time.
I've not yet been able to run it sucefully, I (think) have installed pyserial correctly, but maybe the problem is that the bluez that comes with my ubuntu is somewhat newer than the one you used, anyway here's as far as I got http://pastebin.com/uVRdr5T3 if you by chance know just by looking at it what it is would be great .
I've started an Android applicatoin Project in hopes of porting this to an Android application as well, but I'm somewhat new to Bluetooth handling on Android, still working it out. I'm already able to connect and pair with device (noob stuff), but it fails to READ from it. I've used java's DataOutputStream and DataInputStream since they deal with data in a big-endian notation, but I haven't understood yet how the initialization process goes. I've looked to your code, I get some parts but not the whole thing yet. Do you have to wait for the LiveView to tell something back, or you can just start to send commands at random? Also, does the script act as a bluetooth server or client (it seems that they are distinct when coding in Android, I've choosen to Connect as a Client, and yes I used the same UUID that you got from decompiling so at least that part I guess to be correct) ?
Anyway is just a bunch of very ugly code at the moment, after I get it to do something usefull I'll clean up the project and host it on github as well.
Hmm, that error is rather suspicious. Looking at the docs, Connect() is not even supposed to throw org.bluez.Failed, let alone with that message. And service discovery supposedly finished successfully..
Was the device in pairing mode (with the arrows/circle turning)? Was the computer the last thing it paired with (once you pair with the computer, the phone shouldn't be able to connect to it, since the device only remembers the last authorization)?
Install d-feet, the DBus browser, go under System bus, org.bluez, find the device, verify that it has the org.bluez.Serial interface and try calling Connect() with the proper UUID from there. Other than that, I've really no idea what it's on about.. Do you have more than one LiveView device by any chance (weird things might happen then)?
I don't actually think it's the difference in bluez versions (the Serial interface hasn't changed in the past 2 and something years) but it might be a (driver) bug you're hitting. I *think* I'm doing everything right as far as communication with BlueZ is concerned. Try running `hciconfig hci0 reset`.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful..
Regarding your Java effort, if I recall my Bluetooth terminology correctly, you are a client, since the server is the thing advertising the service. You should *not* be reading immediately from the device. The phone/computer sends the first message - in my case, my first message is always STANDBY. Then and only then can you start reading back.
Lastly, I hope Android abstracts the whole RFCOMM pipe thing, 'cause it's a pain to use (and the reason I still need pyserial) - select() would sporadically tell me it has data to read and when I try to read it, I get ERRIO :/ I suspect RTS triggers select()..
Make sure you're only reading as many bytes as you know are in the next packet (take a look at consume() - it returns the number of bytes it expects next) and not more than that - it would either block or throw an exception. I've not done any Bluetooth work on Android, so that's as much as I can help, I'm afraid.
Lastly, as big as the temptation is, do not under any circumstances reuse code from the official manager. "Sony" is in the name of the company after all. I'm half-expecting a Cease & Desist any moment now
Edit: Implemented Display Properties Request and Clear Display Request (doesn't do anything). I think I'm out of low-hanging fruit
Really interesting work, guys. The Liveview is a fantastic idea and is almost brilliant - if only it worked properly! If you could get the basics working properly so we don't have to use the Sony software that would be fantastic, it's got so much potential.
Cheers,
Tim
So, I had a brilliant idea today. You know how the LiveView Manager app is full of debug messages. Turns out, they are disabled by means of a constant in ElaineUtils. My idea was to change that constant, put the apk back on my phone and rejoice from all the extra info I'd have.
Turns out, that's not how it works. I changed the constant (bumped it to 0x100 - literally a single bit change) and re-signed the apk. I got some output out of it but not all, and none of the useful ELEMENT_ID_* messages
Any help on that front would massively speed up the reverse-engineering effort.
EDIT: Scratch that, I'm stupid. I forgot that the .field annotations are not executable code - I was changing the wrong bit so to speak. Changed the value in <cinit> and voila, proper logcat!
EDIT: Here's some food for thought - http://pastebin.ca/2099804 - it's the log from startup + a bit of moving around and opening/closing the mediaplayer control.
Very cool project.
I believe, for the damn thing to be usable, focusing on improving Bluetooth performance would be quite good. By "performance" I mean "power consumption." Having to give up on the watch after two hours of light use is really unacceptable.
I would love it if you got this thing working efficiently like SmartWatchm/OpenWatch did for my MBW-150. I ordered my LiveView from the UK when it first released there instead of waiting for the US release. The darn thing disappointed the hell out of me and has been sitting in my garage for almost a year now.
Hopefully you get something going on with this.
archivator said:
So, I had a brilliant idea today. You know how the LiveView Manager app is full of debug messages. Turns out, they are disabled by means of a constant in ElaineUtils. My idea was to change that constant, put the apk back on my phone and rejoice from all the extra info I'd have.
Turns out, that's not how it works. I changed the constant (bumped it to 0x100 - literally a single bit change) and re-signed the apk. I got some output out of it but not all, and none of the useful ELEMENT_ID_* messages
Any help on that front would massively speed up the reverse-engineering effort.
EDIT: Scratch that, I'm stupid. I forgot that the .field annotations are not executable code - I was changing the wrong bit so to speak. Changed the value in <cinit> and voila, proper logcat!
EDIT: Here's some food for thought - http://pastebin.ca/2099804 - it's the log from startup + a bit of moving around and opening/closing the mediaplayer control.
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Wow, that's very useful thank you. I've been very occupied and did not work more with the Android Side application since my last post, I intend to return to it soon enough though, that output is very welcome when it comes to understanding then the icons are sent and the whole mechanism itself.
I've been doing a bit of reverse engineering work on the liveview as well, and I think I have a complete (although i fear possibly slightly corrupt) firmware dump!
I have been able to extract was some PNG images from the firmware (Thanks to their rather distinctive %PNG Header and ending with IEND).
It would appear that the menus and stuff are in fact definitively transferred over bluetooth!
I've attached the images I've extracted if anyone's interested in seeing them!
I'm currently trying to work through it in IDA to disassemble it, which is a pain in the arse!
Is anyone else also interested in completely rewriting the firmware?
@aj256, nice work! I thought I had a dump as well but mine looked compressed :\ Mind uploading yours somewhere for all to see? (edit: sorry, saw it in the archive)
aj256 said:
It would appear that the menus and stuff are in fact definitively transferred over bluetooth!
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That's correct - I almost have that part of the protocol figured out but I'm low on spare time.
aj256 said:
Is anyone else also interested in completely rewriting the firmware?
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Click to collapse
Well.. I'd be interested in modifying it and isolating the Bluetooth stack but don't really have the time OR the chops to write the whole firmware from datasheets and disassembly.
As for where I'm standing, I know what I need to decompile next (renderShowUi) but it's a couple of thousand lines of smali. There are so many branches, it's easy to get lost. I need to write better tools for decompiling smali first
Just bought a Live View! I know it may not be the best but I got it cheap and mainly want the Caller ID portion of it. I hope this reverse engineering pays off. Once I get mine I may start poking around and see if I can help out! Thanks for the post OP!
Hi,
do you guys have some irc channel or anything else? Just got my LiveView and want to help you with this...
I've quickly put together a project website at openliveview (dot) com (apparently I don't have enough posts for an external link!) with some forums as well to help to document peoples progress!
I've done a quick writeup on my progress so far (which isn't very much!)
@archivator, glad you found the firmware in the zip, I was just about to reply that it was there!
aj256 said:
I've quickly put together a project website at openliveview (dot) com (apparently I don't have enough posts for an external link!) with some forums as well to help to document peoples progress!
I've done a quick writeup on my progress so far (which isn't very much!)
@archivator, glad you found the firmware in the zip, I was just about to reply that it was there!
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Nice. I've been on your website and the documentation is getting in good shape. When I got some free time I'll try and read it more carefully and complement the Android project.
Talking about that, I've uploaded my progress so far to github: https://github.com/pedronveloso/OpenLiveView
bare in mind that apart from pairing with the Device not much is actually working by now, contributions are welcome of course