Database Users

Bluetooth - Activesync COM PORT PROBLEM - SOLVED IT!

a couple of weeks ago i posted my concern about the com port problems. just to give you some background; my laptop was reformatted to give way for new software to be used in our office. in the process all my installed apps (like bluetooth, activesync, etc) were erased; thus i had to reinstall everything. when i tried to do actvivesync via bluetooth; i found out that the com ports were not matching anymore. activesync only allowed you to use either 1 or 3; while the bluetooth app searches instantly for the available com port. in this case; the com port showing for my bt app was 16. after much fiddling around with my laptop i finally solved the problem and it goes...but before that please uninstall your bluetooth software...
1) go to "my computer" and click control panel
2) click the icon "System"
3) a new window will open; click device manager
4) a new window will open, giving you a list of everything installed on your pc
5) what you do is you search for the device using com port 3. as an example; look for "Ports (COM & LPT)
6) double click and below you'll see "communications port and printer"
7) right click and go for properties
8) a window will open with 4 headings; click on "port settings"
9) window opens; click on "advanced"
10) new window opens; now you'll see a drop down menu for com ports. in my case my communications port was using 22. if i wanted to change it to 25 or whatever number; i simply use the drop down menu and click on the number i wanted for the com port
11) going back to step 5; you go through steps 6 to 10 with each and every device installed on your laptop until you see which one is using com port 3. for my case; i found out that my built-in modem was using this port. i did steps 6-10 and changed the com port setting of my modem to 23.
12) close all the windows; return to steps 1-4; and follow 6-10. you can use the communications port as an example; but if you use the drop down menu for the com ports you will see that the com port 3 is now free
13) reinstall your bluetooth software; follow the steps as shown in:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contenttypeid=2
14) since com port 3 is now free; the bluetooth software automatically takes the first available com port...in this case it's 3
15) follow the steps in the link for doing activesync via bluetooth; and viola...there you have it!
hope that helps, posting you some pics to best guide you.
cheers mates
robson

Hi Robson!
Thanks for your post about the COM Ports. I got my bluetooth dongle ( on laptop) working with my XDA2.
My problem now is that ActiveSync is showing error messages about conflicts in Microsoft Outlook folders ... I hope I haven't gotten myself into more trouble than when I started tinkering with BT.
jabez

thanks robson
hi robson......ur post was exactly what i needed...worked a treat!...but im still dissapointed that i cannot get connected to my broadband via the widcomm stack, as other peple have done!
btw.......the net connection speed is a little slow?.....despite a broadband connection...any ideas?
thanks again

to : xdaeire
regarding "still dissapointed that i cannot get connected to my broadband via the widcomm stack, as other peple have done!"
btw.......the net connection speed is a little slow?.....despite a broadband connection...any ideas?"
ans: mate, not sure why that happened with you. i use a diffusi bt dongle and it works just a-ok. however, the office supplied me with a lan wireless card so i don't really go for bt. lemme fiddle around with this more and i'll drop you a line if i figure out what's happening...
to; jabez
regarding: "My problem now is that ActiveSync is showing error messages about conflicts in Microsoft Outlook folders ... I hope I haven't gotten myself into more trouble than when I started tinkering with BT"
ans: this happened to a friend of mine when he set up his bt-activesync. what he did was uninstall activesync but made sure to back up all the data. he then reinstalled the app and established a new partnership between his laptop and xda2. from there he placed all the back up files into the new ppc folder (on the desktop); then he went for bt activesync. worked fine for him.
hope that helps.
cheers mates
robson

Problem syncing with active sync

Hi,
Never had problem syncing before but now I´ve got a new computer and just can´t get it to work!
My computer and my magician find each other and all but when I try to sync I get the message:
"Cannot start communications with the desktop computer. The communications port is not available. Another program may be using the port, or it may not be valid. Quit any programs that may be using the port and reconnect. If the problem persists, restart your device using the instructions provided by the manufacturer"
What´s wrong? How do I solve this, what I guess, simple little problem...
Thankful for help!

Do you get this error when you try and sync via a cable or Bluetooth?
I sometimes get the error when trying a bluetooth sync, i just re-set the Jam.
If that doesnt work check your com ports on the Jam and the com ports on the pc (activesync on the pc)

Still having problems...
It´s when I try to connect with bluetooth it happens.
I tried to reset several times but nothing.
Checked the ports and as far as I can see I have the same ports installed on the computer and on the magician.
Not sure how you do it though. Do I open activesync, then connection settings and choose COMport?
I think the problem is with the device. If I check the bluetooth settings and com ports there is no port activated and if I clixk "new incoming port", there is no port to choose. And I can´t even choose to create a new outgoing port.
What´s happening here? Need help... pleeeease!!!

ok, synching via bluetooth was a complete pain in the ass for me till i knew what was going on. yes you have to go to the options in activesync on your pc and select the correct com port which you should find from your bt stack. here are 2 really good links which solved 99.9% of my syncing via bt nightmare.
BT activesync guide:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2417
COM ports 1-9 guide:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=8&TopicId=422
also i suggested unpairing your pc and magician before you begin the activesync steps. if the correct comports dont appear in your bt stack(windows or widcom) then read teh 2nd link above ^. also(i'm guilty of this too) but search before you post because theres way too many topics about this.

this is from Jimmy Bish, from another site, however it helped me get it right:
OK, I'm assuming that you're running Windows XP SP2 with the default Win XP Bluetooth control panel.
Now, here we go. I'm expecting this to not work first time for most people, but these are the steps I took after my hard reset last night. If it doesn't work, you may have missed a step or may just need to delete the partnerships and try again... Good luck!!
1)On your PC go to the Control Panel and select "Bluetooth". In the "Options" tab, make sure all the ticks are on. You'll now see a little bluetooth icon on your system tray. Makes it easier to access in the future. Your PC should also be ready to be found as long as you ticked the fist box in the step above.
2)On your Jam, Go to Start, Settings, System (Tab), Bluetooth Settings. On the screen that comes up you ONLY want to hit start. Leave the incoming and outgoing checkboxes OFF!!!
3)You will now be taken to the partnership screen, where you just follow the instructions to add your PC. Follow through until you hit finish. Close everything down until you're back at the today screen.
4)Back to your PC, double click on the Bluetooth icon in your system tray. Go to "Com Ports" (Tab) and click "Add". Choose incoming. A You'll see an incoming port added to the list (probably be the only item there). It should look like "COM X Incoming"
Remember what number is after COM. Close all windows, making sure you hit OK or Apply where you have to.
5)Open Active Sync on your PC. Hit File, Connection Settings. Enable the first tick, and select the COM port you had to remember in the previous step. Hit OK
6)Open Active Sync on your Jam. Choose Tools, Connect Via Bluetooth.
Good luck guys! No doubt you'll run into problems, but hopefully this will work for most people.
Any issues, discuss them below and we'll try to find a fool-proof way of doing it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i tried to do this the phone couldnt recognise the com port allocated by the computer, which was com32.
I followed some other instructions and found that i had about 30 inactive (hidden) com ports so i did this:
1) Open the Command prompt by going to Start, Run and typing "cmd" (without the "") and hit enter. If you're unfamiliar with this, it's just a black window with white writing that can command EVERTHING!. Very handy tool for administration.
2) Type "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1" (again, without "". Bugger it, never type "" from here on, just type what's inside it!)
3) Type "cd \windows\system32\" if your windows installation is in the windows directory. If not, replace "\windows" with whatever that directory is.
4) Type "start devmgmt.msc". This will open your device manager.
5) Go to "View", then "Show hidden devices"
6) Go to "Ports (Com and LPT)" in the main device tree
7) You will now see a heap more com ports listed. Delete every com port that has a grey/transparent icon as these are ports for hardware that's not currently connected or no longer used. Don't worry, if you reconnect the hardware later it will be assigned a new number and you shouldn't notice a problem.
Cool Restart your computer and try the above guide again. If the port number is still above 9 then you'll have to start removing hardware that you may have installed that uses a com port. We'll cross that bridge as we come to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it needed a soft reset once i had got the comports the same and everything worked well after that.

Hi
I have an O2 XDA II Mini (Magician) and I am using an XMicro Dongle on my laptop (Win XP with SP2....I am using the in built Microsoft BT stack which comes with SP2) and ActiveSync3.8. Initially syncing with BT was a problem but now its not a problem at all.
First you have to make sure that the COM port nos. selected by ActiveSync are less than 10 bcoz there is some bug due to which ActiveSync will not support COM ports above COM9.
To reduce the COM port nos. on your computer try the following website
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315539
Once you can see the hidden devices and ports delete/uninstall all the ports which are not in use.
Its the same method mentioned above by Kassem.
To ActiveSync
1 To sync with BT first delete all your pairing with your computer and phone on both devices.
2 Go to BT Manager on your phone and click both check boxes for Inbound and Outbound COM ports and pair the devices.
3 Once they are paired go to BT manager (on the phone) again and click on the start button (for BT ActiveSync setup) and pair the devices again if you have to.
4 Once that is done make sure that on the computer in BT Settings the the Serial Port Profile (SPP) "Serial Port COM4" is checked.Click on the phone device>property>services.
5 After that on the computer's BT Manager itself ensure that the COM ports folder shows incoming and outgoing ports with the phone's name in front.
6 Open ActiveSync (on the computer) ensure that the COM port no. is the same as the Incoming COM port no. given in step 5 above and it being shown as available. Sometimes if it is unavailable, the computer needs to be rebooted and then it will be shown as available.
7 Click on ActiveSync thru BT on the phone and it should work.
8 Whenever you want to disconnect ActiveSync, press stop on the PocketPC's avtice sync program.
9. Always ensure that the dongle is plugged in BEFORE you boot up the computer othwerwise ActiveSync on the computer will show the COM port as unavailable.
All the best!

Thanks for all helpful replies!!!
Found out what was causing the problem now!
For me, I had to go to "My bluetooth places" on my computer. There I coosed "explore" and then "My unit". In there there is something called "My bluetooth serieport". I had to mark the box with "start autmatically". That´s why I didn´t get it to work...
Not so difficult once you got it... as always
Cheers. Emil

i hate Blue tooth., It is so flakey!!!. now i am having the same issue as you!!. i removed all connections and tried to set up from new, and still get the com port error!..
Emil:, how do u get to my bluethooth places?
i am running XP and cant seem to find this.

Well I kind of figured that... You see I don´t know what the english term for this is but if I translate directly from Swedish it would be something like "My bluetooth places/directories".
Anyway I have my icon on the desktop or in the programlist. The symbol is the bluetooth sign. I just rightclick on the symbol, and go to the subtitel that is called "My units". There I rightclick for example "My bluetooth serieport " and there click the boc that says "start automatically".
See I don´t know but I guess this could be some kind of program that goes with the bluetooth adapter (Trust BT120).
Maybe somone could help me translate the terms above to correct english....
Good luck!

Your bluetooth settings should be under Control Panel on your computer.

sync AS over BT

it´s imposible for me, because don´t find this service on pc, i do all the step, and nothing nothing nothing

Try this...
I've found that you'll have a better chance of getting "activesync over bluetooth" to work, to discover and pair from your PC, not from your phone.
Somewhere i've also read a comment who said you should pair both ways, but i don't think that's possible and needed, just from your pc.
much succes, Sander

thanks i will do

nothing

nothing nothing nothing i don´t discovered activesync service on pc

Activesync use a Bluetooth com port on my PC. try installing one of these after paring the devices.

after 3 hours nothing of nothing

miguelromerom said:
after 3 hours nothing of nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3 hours is a long time to spend.
Ok - step by step, 10 minutes MAX!
1) On your computer, go into bluetooth settings. Check bluetooth is ON and set to discoverable. Add an incoming COM port, eg. COM5.
2) On ActiveSync on your computer, go into connection settings. Tick all the boxes. If the COM port is greyed out, untick it, close the settings box, go back in, now tick it and set the COM port to eg. COM5.
3) On the K Jam go into bluetooth settings, and remove the connection to your computer.
4) On your K Jam go into ActiveSync, click 'menu' > 'connect via bluetooth' then you should see a message saying 'cannot find an existing bluetooth partnership with a PC that supports ActiveSync. Would you like to set up a partnership now?'
5) Click YES - you are taken to the Bluetooth settings screen.
6) Now click 'new partnership. As soon as you do this, the K Jam will search, and as long as your computer has bluetooth discoverable turned on, your computer will eventually be displayed. Check the computer name showing on the K Jam is the same as the name you gave the bluetooth profile on your computer.
7) On K Jam, click your computer name then NEXT.
8) Now enter a passcode - any four digit number (remember it) then next
9) When you do this, your computer will pop up with a message saying "a bluetooth device is requesting authorisation". Open this message and type in the code that you gave the K Jam. The next screen on the computer will tell you that it was successful - click FINISH.
10) Back on the K Jam, the screen will now be showing the services available. AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOWED STEP 1 and 2, ActiveSync will be an option, and you need to tick this and press FINISH on the K Jam.
11) Close bluetooth settings, now in ActiveSync screen click MENU > Connect via bluetooth. Your ActiveSync program on the computer should eventually pop up and connect.
NOW - if you failed at any point, say exactly where and what the problem is.
Mat

thanks for all... in point 10, only appear serial port, don´t appear activesync

miguelromerom said:
thanks for all... in point 10, only appear serial port, don´t appear activesync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that means your computer's bluetooth isn't passing the connection through to ActiveSync. This is either because bluetooth serial port isn't set up properly, or ActiveSync isn't accepting serial port connections.
Describe *exactly* what you see in the computer's ActiveSync connection setting screen. And describe exactly what you see in in your bluetooth COM port settings screen.

hazymat said:
miguelromerom said:
thanks for all... in point 10, only appear serial port, don´t appear activesync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that means your computer's bluetooth isn't passing the connection through to ActiveSync. This is either because bluetooth serial port isn't set up properly, or ActiveSync isn't accepting serial port connections.
Describe *exactly* what you see in the computer's ActiveSync connection setting screen. And describe exactly what you see in in your bluetooth COM port settings screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In AS connection setting:
mark: show status
Allow connections ... on com5
disabled usb
In BT i see:
activesync port 5

nothing only serial port

Can you give better descriptions?!
Is your COM5 port in bluetooth settings an incoming or outgoing port?
Are you using the Microsoft Bluetooth stack or the Widcomm?
Have you tried just selecting the serial port when setting up activesync on the k jam?
Reboot your computer, soft reset your k jam, check settings in ActiveSync are correct and do the whole thing over again....

hazymat said:
Can you give better descriptions?!
Is your COM5 port in bluetooth settings an incoming or outgoing port?
Are you using the Microsoft Bluetooth stack or the Widcomm?
Have you tried just selecting the serial port when setting up activesync on the k jam?
Reboot your computer, soft reset your k jam, check settings in ActiveSync are correct and do the whole thing over again....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
com5 is local services....
I´m using widcomm
Have you tried just selecting the serial port when setting up activesync on the k jam? i don´t understand ...
i reset the computer several times

don´t worry ... i attemp on this later...
sorry and thanks for all

Set the incoming port to 8 on your computer, this made it work for me.

incoming port is same of local services port ?¿?
regards

When my pc looks for the incoming port its always at least port 21, sometimes ,up to 33. I've been told this is why it won't work because its far too high.

nothing of nothing ...

Are you using the latest version of Active Sync? -> 4.1?

Need help setting wider range of outgoing com ports for GPS

Hey,
I need help setting up the com port for my Bluetooth GPS.
In Bluetooth - Settings - COM Ports I can only set outgoing com port as com 6 or 7. Unfortunately, Destinator PN in GPS settings does not allow me to select either of this com port. I can select com 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 or 9.
I am very distressed, I don't know what to do. Is there anyway I can hack or do something so I can select outgoing com port that Destinator will accept?
Thank you for reading!

this quite a common problem for gps software. I have had this with memory map and various other problems. its an issue with the software, not your gps setup but can also be caused by another gps app hogging the ports 6/7 (tomtom can do this, even wheb its not running). in the case with memory map an update solved fixed it and with other software I had the option to force the use of the port required. your best bet is to check the software maker home page for an update or contact their support.

I don't use Infrared and I don't foresee any use for it. I have already unchecked the beam option in Settings. Is there a way I can completely disable it and free the COM port it uses and use this port as outgoing for GPS? or Is there a way I can manually switch COM ports for example if a device is currently using COM port 8, I can set it to use port 6 and use COM port as outgoing port?
Thanks!

yes there is a work around this.....u have to change the com port on the file Destinator.ini to do this u need to copy this file from your ppc (My Device/DestinatorApps/Destinator) to your desktop computer and then open this file using a hex editor which u can download for free.......and scroll down and look for the C.O.M. etc....and just simply change the com to 6 or 7 depending which com you have setup your gps receiver to in the bluetooth connection......then just save it and place it back to your ppc (overwrite the original file)......this should connect your receiver with the destinator program......i did have the same problems before and did a search on this forum.....so yeah it is here somewhere......

Missing "new outgoing port" in bluetooth..

Hi
The "New outgoing port" from blue tooth menu is missing from my device. I actually need to use SimpleSms or smartGSM in order to synchronize the SMS from my PPC to Nokia 6120c.
Both devices can communicate via BT, but the outgoing port is needed for above mentioned tools.
I am very much confused about it..
I have read some threads, but didn't get any idea about this, so posting my own question here.
Kindly provide some help, that how can I add some outgoing port in the blue tooth options.
I'm using (Jas Jam) SPV M3100 (Orange)
Thanks a lot

Wireless RS232 communication between PC and Bluetooth Enabled Phone
Setting Up your PC
Go to Bluetooth settings on your desktop and tap to Devices. Select your device and click properties.
Tab to services and make sure that Direct Dial-Up Network is not selected.
Tab to COM Ports and click the Add button.
Select the radio button for Incoming. Click OK
There should now be a COM Port listed.
Click OK again.
Open HyperTerminal configured for the COM port that you just added.
Open the COM Port. If the COM port is not open your Bluetooth phone will not see it.
Setting Up your Bluetooth enable phone
Make sure that the COM Port you configured on your PC is still open.
Go to Bluetooth settings on your phone.
Tab to devices. Select the device that corresponds to your PC’s Bluetooth adapter.
You should now be in Partnership settings. Click Refresh.
The Serial Port service should be available.
Check the check box for the Serial Port service and click save.
Tab to COM Ports.
Tap New Outgoing Port and select the device corresponding to your PC’s Bluetooth adapter and click next.
Select a com port from the combo box and click finish.
Note: If you select one that is not available you will get a message to select a different COM port, you get this message because the COM port that you selected is already being used.
You are now done setting up your PC and Bluetooth enabled phone for serial communication.
You still need to match up the serial port settings on your Phone with the setting on your PC.
Baud Rate
Stop Bits
Parity
Handshaking

how can I add a new outgoing port on my Toshiba TG01 running WM 6.5?
the instruction above work for a partnership with PC, but I need it for connection with my car Bluetooth