Can't get T68i to bond with Axim + Socket BT card

[QYV]

(I posted this in a front-page thread, but realized that my chances of getting help were better if I found a more appropriate forum)

Last night was my very first experience with Bluetooth. I had purchased a Socket Bluetooth CF card for my Axim already, and my T68i finally arrived in the mail. Dell Axim, Socket card, T68i - all well-known devices with good reputations, which is always something I try to do when buying computer-related equipment (I know how testing coverage goes; I work at a software company! ). You'd think I'd have had a great experience, right? All I was trying to do was bond (pair?) the Axim to the T68i using the Socket card in order to use my phone's GPRS connection for getting mail on the Axim. Heck, the Socket software even has a T68i setting built right in! How hard can it be?

I'm a pretty tech-savvy guy - not Janak, maybe, but not a total newb. When I started at 8pm or so last night, I was quite confident that I'd have things up and running in no time. Five hours and much swearing later, I had to admit defeat. I tried using the Socket WM 2003 software as well as the built-in WM 2003 Bluetooth app, and could not get the devices to bond properly no matter what I tried. The Axim with the Socket card never was able to discover the phone, despite putting the T68i into its 3-minute "Discoverability" mode about a million times and then searching for it with the Axim. Using the T68i to discover the Axim did work...sort of. The phone seemed to make the pairing fine, but the Axim refused to acknowledge that the T68i existed when I went to create a new GPRS connection, even though the bonding showed up just fine in the Bluetooth settings.

How frustrated was I? Well, repeatedly hard-resetting the Axim should give you some idea - and I sync with two computers, so a hard-reset invariably results in horrible nastiness when setting up the partnership again with the second PC. But I wanted to make sure it wasn't some tweak I'd done to the Axim that was causing the problem. Nope, even with all factory settings it wouldn't work.

It doesn't help that "Bluetooth Phone" in the Socket settings is apparently stuck on COM5 with my device - the checkbox is grayed out, which means I can't switch it to anything else. I don't even know if that's the problem, but it's one more arcane Bluetooth thing that I can't figure out.

Any ideas? All the stories I've heard about T68i + Socket BT card have made it seem incredibly simple.

[DubWireless]

just to check you are using the latest drivers (http://www.socketcom.com/support/support_bluetooth.asp) from Socket

as well as setting the T68i to "discoverable" mode, then you might also try to go into the Bluetooth menu, select Paired Devices, select Add Device and then (when ready to perform the pairing) select Phone Accepts

while you are in the T68i Bluetooth menu - personalise the name of the Phone (other than T68i) in the Bluetooth Options menu - otherwise it will ask you to personalise it everytime you perform a pairing

using the Socket Bluetooth App on the PDA:

are you using the "Get Conected!" tool from the Socket Menu (from the Bluetooth Icon at the bottom bat) to create the pairing and it's not working out for you...

you can also try it without the wizzard using the Advanced Features and select Bluetooth Devices, then select the Tools Menu and Device Discovery, choose "Data Capable phone" set the T68i into "discoverable" mode and Tap Next

hopefully the T68i will be displayed on the PDA creen after the search, check box it in the list and tap Next, and then Finish, you should see the T68i listed on the screen

now to try and Bond / Pair, highlight the T68i on the PDA screen and from the Device Menu and tap Bond

set the T68i up as "Discoverable" and "Phone Accepts" pairing

tap Next on the PDA (twice), you should be asked to enter a PassKey - choose any number and enter it, the phone should ask you for a PassKey - enter the same one on the Phone you just entered on the PDA

on the Phone you should be asked to if you want to edit the name of the paired device (i.e. the PDA)

you may also want to set the phone as you Favourite, in the Tools Menu, My Favourites

hope that helps

[Stik]

QVV,

Would this help?

Setting up a Bluetooth connection with the T68i

After you have installed the Bluetooth software on your device and ran through the Bluetooth setup, make sure that you have soft reset the device before plugging in the card. Otherwise, soft reset the device now.
Power cycle (turn off and on your phone) your phone one time before proceeding.
Next, select your phone to be discoverable. You have
three minutes to complete the discovery and bond process that follows.
Go through the Get connected! wizard in the Socket software, selecting the T68 phone. After you discover it, proceed to the next step. When asked to enter
a Bluetooth Passkey, enter in a simple numeric key and reply. When your T68 comes up with the prompt for bonding, select add to paired devices NOT accept. This should complete the process.
Then make sure you have set up the dial up connection this way. The new connection manager is leading to many problems for people trying to set up dial up connections.


http://is.nohold.net/noHoldCust26/Prod_1/Articles49440/BT_T68i.htm

[QYV]

Thanks for the advice - I appreciate everyone's help here. Unfortunately I still seem to be having the same problems.

just to check you are using the latest drivers from Socket

Yup.

as well as setting the T68i to "discoverable" mode, then you might also try to go into the Bluetooth menu, select Paired Devices, select Add Device and then (when ready to perform the pairing) select Phone Accepts

I actually found this on the Sony-Ericsson support site after I posted the original question, and had high hopes, but no good. :|

while you are in the T68i Bluetooth menu - personalise the name of the Phone (other than T68i) in the Bluetooth Options menu - otherwise it will ask you to personalise it everytime you perform a pairing

Yeah, did this right off the bat.

using the Socket Bluetooth App on the PDA:

are you using the "Get Conected!" tool from the Socket Menu (from the Bluetooth Icon at the bottom bat) to create the pairing and it's not working out for you...

I've tried that, and also tried the built-in BT software in WM2003 (which, FYI, Socket told me is completely incompatible with their card).

you can also try it without the wizzard using the Advanced Features and select Bluetooth Devices, then select the Tools Menu and Device Discovery, choose "Data Capable phone" set the T68i into "discoverable" mode and Tap Next

Didn't try that, although I can't imagine it'll do it when the Connection wizard wouldn't work. Then again, I guess I don't have much to lose at this point...

hopefully the T68i will be displayed on the PDA creen after the search, check box it in the list and tap Next, and then Finish, you should see the T68i listed on the screen

No! This is exactly the step at which it breaks down. The T68i is never found. I've had it search literally dozens of times after all kinds of troubleshooting measures, and those friggin' eyes looking around are starting to really irritate me.

now to try and Bond / Pair, highlight the T68i on the PDA screen and from the Device Menu and tap Bond

See above. Question, though: is there a difference between bonding and pairing?

set the T68i up as "Discoverable" and "Phone Accepts" pairing

Yep, I always do this now.

tap Next on the PDA (twice), you should be asked to enter a PassKey - choose any number and enter it, the phone should ask you for a PassKey - enter the same one on the Phone you just entered on the PDA

I've had this work when I start with the T68i and put the Axim into Discoverable mode, so I know what you're talking about - I just never get here when connecting the other way around (and the pairing definitely doesn't work properly when I start with the T68i).

on the Phone you should be asked to if you want to edit the name of the paired device (i.e. the PDA)

you may also want to set the phone as you Favourite, in the Tools Menu, My Favourites

hope that helps

Well, it didn't resolve the problem, but you've definitely helped eliminate a lot of "dumb mistakes" I might have been making. At this point, I'm thinking some kind of hardware issue with the phone or card, rather than me doing something wrong. Does anyone know anything about new firmware upgrades for the T68i that might be necessary for Bluetooth to work correctly? I bought the phone used and don't know its history - it might be quite old and not be fully updated.

QVV,

Would this help?

Setting up a Bluetooth connection with the T68i
--snip--


These are Socket's directions from customer support, right? I got those after I posted this (Socket finally got back to me). They're stumped too at this point, so I'm really thinking hardware failure. Thanks for the effort, though!