Talking Free, Wirelessly: Hacking the Registry to Use a Bluetooth Headset

[Pat Logsdon]

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_headset_hack.gif" /><br /><br />Pocket PCs and Bluetooth headsets do not have a symbiotic relationship. Most Pocket PCs are not intended to work with a headset, so most people assume that it can't be done. Fortunately for us, most people are wrong. <br /><br />A company called Widcomm provides the Bluetooth radio stack for the majority of Pocket PCs, and rather than making separate stacks available for each different device on their client list, Widcomm allows functionality to be flipped on and off via registry settings. This means that most Pocket PCs using the Widcomm stack can be made to work with a Bluetooth headset, provided that the headset supports the correct profile. It’s not exactly easy, but it’s not brain surgery either. <br /><br />The first article in this series was a review of a Bluetooth headset, the Tekram-312. In this article, I’ll show you how to get your headset working with your Bluetooth-enabled Pocket PC. This has a variety of applications, not least of which is usage with PocketSkype – the subject of the next article in this series.<br /><br />Read on for the juicy details!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><br /><span><b>Good News and Bad News</b></span><br />Bad News: 41xx and 43xx users, I’m sorry to say that you’re out of luck here – there’s no way to get the Bluetooth stack in these devices to recognize the headset. Pretty much every other unit with a recent Bluetooth stack should work, as long as the headset supports the Audio Gateway profile. <br /><br />Good News: There are two ways to get your device to recognize a BT headset. One is via a manual registry hack, and the other is a commercial application that will do it for you. In the following paragraphs, I'll show you how to hack the registry yourself.<br /><br />Before I begin, a warning. I am in no way responsible for anything that might happen if you mess with your registry. If you somehow manage to send a signal to the Evil Fluffy Space Hamsters, who consequently descend upon your house in their furry glory and start nibbling you to death, do NOT come crying to me. Not only will I not help you, I may also guffaw condescendingly. Or perhaps chortle. You have been warned. <br /><br /><span><b>Hack that Registry!</b></span><br />The first thing you’ll need is a registry editor. I used the one that comes packaged with Resco Explorer 2004, but there are others out there. You should also know that the settings below have only been tested on an iPAQ 2215. I’ve heard tales of people getting the the correct profile working with certain 5xxx machines, but I have no first-hand knowledge of this. To begin, find “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BtConfig\Services\0005” in your registry. Find “Enabled", and change the value from “0” to “1”. This turns on the Audio Gateway Profile.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_skype_headset_enable.gif" /> <br /><i>Figure 1: Turn on the Audio Gateway Profile.</i><br /><br />Now find “HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\WaveDev\”. Find “DLL” and change the value to “BtCeIf.dll”. This routes the audio from the speaker/headphone jack to the Bluetooth stack’s audio driver. <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_skype_headset_wavedev.gif" /> <br /><i>Figure 2: Route the audio through the BT driver.</i><br /><br />Now soft-reset the device and run Bluetooth Manager. Make sure your headset is discoverable, and then let your device find the headset. Partner up, connect, and you should hear a tone/beep from your headset. Answer it, and you’re good to go. All sound will now be routed directly to your BT headset. Don’t expect CD or even FM quality sound – it’s more like decent AM radio clarity, but that’s good enough for audio books and voice applications like Pocket Skype or some of the other Pocket PC VoIP clients.<br /><br /><span><b>The Pre-Packaged Solution</b></span><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_kai.gif" /> <br /><i>Figure 3: Kai's Bluetooth Headset Hack: Friend to the Cautious.</i><br /><br />The second way to enable the Audio Gateway profile is to use Kai’s Hack. As far as I know, this program will ONLY work with 194x, 221x and 5450 devices, and nothing else. I’ve conversed with Kai via e-mail and can report that he’s both knowledgable and quick to respond. His little app is wrapped in a snug cocoon of eVB runtime, which WILL take up some space on your device. On the other hand, <a href="http://www.handango.com/brainstore//PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;jid=957843651728DAXX7XD9827564AAF5CX&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;productId=88989&amp;sectionId=0&amp;catalog=30">it only costs $3,</a> so if you’ve got the space, a supported device, and no desire to screw up your registry, I’d recommend this route. Just follow Kai’s instructions and you’ll be fine. [Affiliate]<br /><br /><span><b>Final Words</b></span><br />I did not encounter any performance issues with the 2215 I used as my test mule, but this hack <i>is</i> somewhat resource-intensive, so if you encounter any slowness or system instability, you may want to close some applications and/or free up some additional Program Memory. If your device has different registry settings and you’ve successfully enabled the Audio Gateway, please post your settings here so that others can benefit. If you’re having trouble getting your device working, post the details here, and maybe someone can help you. <br /><br />Next up: The PocketSkype review!

[Spenser]

Anybody knows if it'll work on an iPaq 3970?
Thank you
Spenser

[Silencer]

I´ve posted this little hack at HP ITRC (http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=654437) on Aug3, 2004. Unfortunately it doesn´t work on my 4150 with my B-Speech Headset.

My hope to get this problem solved with an WM2003SE Update was destroyed by HP´s update policy. Maybe they will provide a new Widcomm BT Stack with the truly necessary update for the 41xx series.

[emmfan]

After I got the hack to work, I ended up having problems turning my ipaq 2215 back on without a soft reset every time.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30581&highlight=reset

The sound quality wasn't worth the hassle of soft resetting every time I needed to turn my ipaq on :(.

[Robb Bates]

I agree, I have had HORRIBLE audio quality from the BT headset using my h2215. And it bogs down my PPC to the point the audio is going about 1/2 speed and sounds choppy.

NOT WORTH THE EFFORT!

Robb

[schriss]

Probably that wave device driver: BtCeIf.dll is responsible for voice quality, maybe it can be replaced or pached to use different audio encoding and provide better quality?

[JimPAQ]

After I got the hack to work, I ended up having problems turning my ipaq 2215 back on without a soft reset every time.

I had this same problem. After changing the two registry keys, I was able to get the BT headset to work all be it very poor quality. It was totally unacceptable for listening to MP3s. Then, I found that after a few seconds of the PDA being off, I couldn’t turn it back on without a soft reset.

--Jim

[ctitanic]

Well, as you can see, many h2215 users complain about this hack reason why I disabled it from Tweaks2K2 if you are running it in a h2200.

The 2200 serie does not respond to this hack properly in fact as far as I remember from my betatesters reports the only device where this trick worked a little bit better was the serie 5400 I believe.

IMMO this trick should not be applied in any h2215 if you want to be in the safe side.

[KayMan2k]

my iPaq 5555 has a profile in the 'Bluetooth Manager' for a bluetooth headset. Does this mean that I would not need the hack? I have never tried to use a headset before but I am purchasing one for cell phone/PC and wondering if it would just work with iPaq.

[ctitanic]

The 5555 does not need this trick.

[brianchris]

The Pre-Packaged Solution

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_kai.gif
Figure 3: Kai's Bluetooth Headset Hack: Friend to the Cautious.

The second way to enable the Audio Gateway profile is to use Kai’s Hack. This program will ONLY work with 194x and 221x devices, and nothing else.

Wait. In the review, Pat indicates the pre-packaged solution will only work with the 194x and 221x devices, but in the image it states it will work with the 221x and 545x series....which is correct? :?

[ctitanic]

I don't know about the 1940, I can tell you that it works in the 5400 and that it does not work properly in the 2215.

[brianchris]

I don't know about the 1940, I can tell you that it works in the 5400 and that it does not work properly in the 2215.

I have a 5455, so ultimately that's good news. But I'd love further opinion / confirmation (perhaps even from Pat?).

[Dazbot]

I did this on my 2210 and when I tried to turn in on a few hours later the battery was flat. I don't think I'll be trying it again any time soon.

It only happened when I changed the second registry setting to BtCeIf.dll maybe this dll is causing the problems, or another dll that talks to it?

[ctitanic]

I'm glad that so many h2215 users are reporting here their war stories because I receive a lot of emails from my users requesting me to enable this trick. 0X

[Pat Logsdon]

I don't know about the 1940, I can tell you that it works in the 5400 and that it does not work properly in the 2215.

I have a 5455, so ultimately that's good news. But I'd love further opinion / confirmation (perhaps even from Pat?).
Good catch! They're both correct - I just forgot to add the 5450 to my list. I included the 1945 because I was able to get the headset working on that device, using Kai's hack. I've updated my post. :)

As far as the 2215 goes - I didn't really have any problems with it. The sound wasn't great, but it was certainly acceptable for voice-only applications, or maybe even Audible books. It's possible that I did NOT have problems because I was working with what was essentially a "clean" device. It had been hard-reset recently, and only had a few apps installed. I suspect that as your available memory decreases, instability would increase.

For those of you encountering errors/crashes/problems, how much program memory did you have available at the time?

[ctitanic]

My case is different, I'm selling an application and I can't include a trick even if 10% of the users will have problems with it. When you release a freeware or your write about a trick any problem that some people may have is aceptable, after all, a freeware means use it at your own risk.

[freitasm]

This hack is too unstable to be used, and it's not available with all Pocket PC. I really don't think it's worth it...

[ctitanic]

Pat :D from the more of 76 registry hacks available on the web you have selected the worse of all for your article :D

Don´t take it wrong ;)

[Pat Logsdon]

Pat :D from the more of 76 registry hacks available on the web you have selected the worse of all for your article :D

Don´t take it wrong ;)
No worries! I AM going somewhere with this whole "using a bluetooth headset with your Pocket PC thing", though... :wink:

[Sven Johannsen]

Just as an aside, the Dell X30 is one that already supports the headset profile out of the box. I easily paired it with my Jabra headset and can use it for listening and recording. The sound quality is as acceptable as listening to my cell phone, which is, after all, what the Jabra was designed for, not rock and roll stereo WMAs. Once fired up it routes all sound to the headset, so things like directions from Mapopolis might be easier to hear in a noisy environment. Listening to MSNBC via Sync-n-Go is fine, and it would probably work fine for VoIP applications. (how's that for schilling for you Pat/ :) )

[Pat Logsdon]

Just as an aside, the Dell X30 is one that already supports the headset profile out of the box.
Good call. I would be surprised if most of the PPCs coming out in the next few months did NOT include the headset profile.

it would probably work fine for VoIP applications. (how's that for schilling for you Pat/ :) )
Perfect! That's exactly where I'm headed with this series. :wink:

[DaleReeck]

The Dell Axim X30, iPaq 5555, iPaq 6315 and Asus 716 support the headset profile, though I believe it is broken on the A716. Also, one of the Loox models supports it too I think as does the Asus A620 even though it doesn't use the Widcomm BT stack. The iPaq 5400 series supports the hack too though, like the 2200 series, with mixed results. In fact, it was the 5400 hack almost 2 years ago that started the whole BT headset thing.

[dgarrett]

Does any one know what the different keys are under "Services"?
Is "0005" for the headset profile. Every time I ask the following question the answer is always no, but since Widcomm seems to ship the same stack with different registry configurations based on the type of iPAQ it is running on here goes just because;

Is there are way to make the PPC look like a headset to a BT phone?

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BtConfig\Services\0005

[Jason Lee]

Well I just tried this hack on my 2215 and so far so good. I haven't had to soft reset it after power off or any performance hit. I am gonna leave the hack for awhile and keep a very close eye on the battery just to be safe. *crosses fingers*

Update:
Nope. After letting the device sit for 20 minutes it would no longer turn on and had gone from 62% battery to 56%.
So 22xx users if you want to use this hack remember to change it back and reboot before turning off your device.

[gmusser]

Does the hack allow music as well as phone calls to be piped through BT? Has anyone tried the hack on the 6315? I'd sure like to use that BlueTake stereo headset....

Also, does anyone know of a hack that will get the Targus Universal Keyboard (the IrDA one) to work with the 6315?

George

[mrkablooey]

Just as an aside, the Dell X30 is one that already supports the headset profile out of the box. I easily paired it with my Jabra headset and can use it for listening and recording. The sound quality is as acceptable as listening to my cell phone, which is, after all, what the Jabra was designed for, not rock and roll stereo WMAs. Once fired up it routes all sound to the headset, so things like directions from Mapopolis might be easier to hear in a noisy environment. Listening to MSNBC via Sync-n-Go is fine, and it would probably work fine for VoIP applications. (how's that for schilling for you Pat/ :)

sweet! now with the skype (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=282864) announcement, this is good news. :D

[Pat Logsdon]

Does the hack allow music as well as phone calls to be piped through BT? Has anyone tried the hack on the 6315? I'd sure like to use that BlueTake stereo headset....
The hack allows all sounds to go through the BT audio driver. Your 6315 supports the Audio Gateway profile without the hack, though, so you won't need to use it. Just go to the Bluetooth Manager and you should see an option for a headset.

Also, does anyone know of a hack that will get the Targus Universal Keyboard (the IrDA one) to work with the 6315?
Nope. In fact, I've found that the driver for the Targus keyboard is so bad as to make the thing practically useless. It's always in memory, locks up frequently, and is generally annoying. Plus, there doesn't seem to be a way to uninstall it, which is the mark of a truly horrible driver/app.

Whew! I feel better now. ;)

[Coyote]

Wow, I'm glad I started reading everyone's posts! I own a 2210 and was about to get a BT headset because I was so excited about the article. Now I see that maybe it's a bit premature. Damn! I was looking forward to using it as a phone. Please let me know if any new developments present themselves. Oh, the joys and agonies of geek-dom...

Coyote

[gmusser]

Does the hack allow music as well as phone calls to be piped through BT? Has anyone tried the hack on the 6315? I'd sure like to use that BlueTake stereo headset....
The hack allows all sounds to go through the BT audio driver. Your 6315 supports the Audio Gateway profile without the hack, though, so you won't need to use it. Just go to the Bluetooth Manager and you should see an option for a headset.


Cool. Will it work with the BT420 stereo headset? Even mono sound would be fine -- I just want the sound in both ears (it's too hard to hear music with a single-ear headset).

George

[joefuture]

Bummer... I was really hoping to be able to hack my 4355 for this. Looks like I should start thinking about an upgrade.

[mikewren]

Ditto... I own a 4155 and am very disappointed. I can't believe noone has offered a third-party driver solution for this. I'd gladly fork out up to $50 for a driver that let me use my HS810 or 820 to listen to audiobooks or prerecorded talk radio programming on my ipaq 4155.... the whole Skype thing looks kinda neat, too. Damn HP and their not upgrade policy... I can't believe i dont' even have the option to PURCHASE a windows mobile 2004 udpate. :roll:

[hopis]

Maybe they will provide a new Widcomm BT Stack with the truly necessary update for the 41xx series.
@Silencer
Any news about an update on the Widcomm driver for the 4150?
I haven't found any solution to that.
I get my BT Headset (HBH600 SonyEricsson) connected but there is only a ground noice nothing else.
Hope that there will be a new btceif.ddl out soon.

Thanks

[hopis]

Probably that wave device driver: BtCeIf.dll is responsible for voice quality, maybe it can be replaced or pached to use different audio encoding and provide better quality?
Yes, looks like the BT driver is not ready yet for that kind of operation.
Does anybody know if there is a solution for a hp 4150 ?

Thanks

[daniel73]

Dear Sir,

Thank you so much for the advice regarding making the bluetooth to be the audio headset.

I have i-mate - jam with Jabra bluetooth, how to make it to be my audio input - output, to hear music and so on, now it is only can be used for phone calls.

Please advice

Regards

Thank you in advance

[Jon Westfall]

Dear Sir,

Thank you so much for the advice regarding making the bluetooth to be the audio headset.

I have i-mate - jam with Jabra bluetooth, how to make it to be my audio input - output, to hear music and so on, now it is only can be used for phone calls.

Please advice

Regards

Thank you in advance

You're probably not going to find an easy solution for your JAM. I believe the JAM uses the Microsoft Bluetooth Stack, and this article only helps thouse who have a PPC that uses the Widcomm stack. Solutions may exist out there, but I've yet to hear of them.

Welcome to the forums!

Jon.

[Sven Johannsen]

Ditto... I own a 4155 and am very disappointed. I can't believe noone has offered a third-party driver solution for this. I'd gladly fork out up to $50 for a driver that let me use my HS810 or 820 to listen to audiobooks or prerecorded talk radio programming on my ipaq 4155.... the whole Skype thing looks kinda neat, too. Damn HP and their not upgrade policy... I can't believe i dont' even have the option to PURCHASE a windows mobile 2004 udpate. :roll:

For those with 4150s that are really just looking for audio out (not mic in as well), the HP stereo headphones do come with drivers for nearly every HP PPC, including the 4100 series. You'd be much happier with the audio quality in any case, over a BT headset. You can download the BT driver addition, but it adds an A2DP profile (stereo), not a headset/handsfree one, so don't bother trying that with your Jabra, et. al.

[babykaye]

Has anyone tried this on rx3715 ? I would like to use my motorola hs850 on my rx3715 but no answers from searching online. can anyone help ?

[U461859]

Let me explain what I'm trying to achieve.....

Pocket PC - iPAQ 5450 sound output to generic Car Hands-free kit......

(Hoping to get TomTom directions amplified through handsfree speaker).

Have made the registry changes suggested, and whilst my iPAQ pairs with my Hands-free device, I think it is looking for it to act as a headset and not as a hands-free and I get an error saying service not supported.

Is this a simple reg key setting? Or am I opening a can of worms?!

Many Thanks, Steve

[TheGMan]

For those with 4150s that are really just looking for audio out (not mic in as well), the HP stereo headphones do come with drivers for nearly every HP PPC, including the 4100 series. You'd be much happier with the audio quality in any case, over a BT headset. You can download the BT driver addition, but it adds an A2DP profile (stereo), not a headset/handsfree one, so don't bother trying that with your Jabra, et. al.
I'm very interested in getting the A2DP profile for my 4150. Where can this be downloaded?

[Darius Wey]

I'm very interested in getting the A2DP profile for my 4150. Where can this be downloaded?

Unfortunately, it's up to HP to upgrade the Bluetooth stack and release the A2DP profile for the h4150.

You can, however, try this (http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/HandheldiPAQ/us/download/22475.html) and see if it works. It's designed for the h5500 series, but it still might work on your h4150. No guarantees though.

[TheGMan]

I figured they must have a way to update the stack because they claim their Bluetooth Stereo Headphones work with the h4100 series. I have heard that this patch you suggested is suppose to be for all ipaq versions, and thus is worth a shot.

I would like to hear from someone who actually has the A2DP profile on their h4100 series and how they got it and whether or not it works :D

[Darius Wey]

I figured they must have a way to update the stack because they claim their Bluetooth Stereo Headphones work with the h4100 series. I have heard that this patch you suggested is suppose to be for all ipaq versions, and thus is worth a shot.

I'm sure it works on a lot of the iPAQs. Heck, it even works on my Dell Axim X50v. ;)

[vietttran]

Hello!
I'm very newbie. I've a Ipaq 1945 and a Motorola H500 headset. I tried hack the registry as you said but it didn't work. All I heard is only beep...I want to try other using kai's soft but when go overthere they said it's not available. Do you have that soft or any way to make it work. All I want just good for audio books. Please help . Thank you





http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_headset_hack.gif

Pocket PCs and Bluetooth headsets do not have a symbiotic relationship. Most Pocket PCs are not intended to work with a headset, so most people assume that it can't be done. Fortunately for us, most people are wrong.

A company called Widcomm provides the Bluetooth radio stack for the majority of Pocket PCs, and rather than making separate stacks available for each different device on their client list, Widcomm allows functionality to be flipped on and off via registry settings. This means that most Pocket PCs using the Widcomm stack can be made to work with a Bluetooth headset, provided that the headset supports the correct profile. It’s not exactly easy, but it’s not brain surgery either.

The first article in this series was a review of a Bluetooth headset, the Tekram-312. In this article, I’ll show you how to get your headset working with your Bluetooth-enabled Pocket PC. This has a variety of applications, not least of which is usage with PocketSkype – the subject of the next article in this series.

Read on for the juicy details!<!>
<PAGEBREAK>

Good News and Bad News
Bad News: 41xx and 43xx users, I’m sorry to say that you’re out of luck here – there’s no way to get the Bluetooth stack in these devices to recognize the headset. Pretty much every other unit with a recent Bluetooth stack should work, as long as the headset supports the Audio Gateway profile.

Good News: There are two ways to get your device to recognize a BT headset. One is via a manual registry hack, and the other is a commercial application that will do it for you. In the following paragraphs, I'll show you how to hack the registry yourself.

Before I begin, a warning. I am in no way responsible for anything that might happen if you mess with your registry. If you somehow manage to send a signal to the Evil Fluffy Space Hamsters, who consequently descend upon your house in their furry glory and start nibbling you to death, do NOT come crying to me. Not only will I not help you, I may also guffaw condescendingly. Or perhaps chortle. You have been warned.

Hack that Registry!
The first thing you’ll need is a registry editor. I used the one that comes packaged with Resco Explorer 2004, but there are others out there. You should also know that the settings below have only been tested on an iPAQ 2215. I’ve heard tales of people getting the the correct profile working with certain 5xxx machines, but I have no first-hand knowledge of this. To begin, find “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BtConfig\Services\0005” in your registry. Find “Enabled", and change the value from “0” to “1”. This turns on the Audio Gateway Profile.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_skype_headset_enable.gif
Figure 1: Turn on the Audio Gateway Profile.

Now find “HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\WaveDev\”. Find “DLL” and change the value to “BtCeIf.dll”. This routes the audio from the speaker/headphone jack to the Bluetooth stack’s audio driver.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_skype_headset_wavedev.gif
Figure 2: Route the audio through the BT driver.

Now soft-reset the device and run Bluetooth Manager. Make sure your headset is discoverable, and then let your device find the headset. Partner up, connect, and you should hear a tone/beep from your headset. Answer it, and you’re good to go. All sound will now be routed directly to your BT headset. Don’t expect CD or even FM quality sound – it’s more like decent AM radio clarity, but that’s good enough for audio books and voice applications like Pocket Skype or some of the other Pocket PC VoIP clients.

The Pre-Packaged Solution

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/logsdon_kai.gif
Figure 3: Kai's Bluetooth Headset Hack: Friend to the Cautious.

The second way to enable the Audio Gateway profile is to use Kai’s Hack. As far as I know, this program will ONLY work with 194x, 221x and 5450 devices, and nothing else. I’ve conversed with Kai via e-mail and can report that he’s both knowledgable and quick to respond. His little app is wrapped in a snug cocoon of eVB runtime, which WILL take up some space on your device. On the other hand, it only costs $3, (http://www.handango.com/brainstore//PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;jid=957843651728DAXX7XD9827564AAF5CX&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;productId=88989&amp;sectionId=0&amp;catalog=30) so if you’ve got the space, a supported device, and no desire to screw up your registry, I’d recommend this route. Just follow Kai’s instructions and you’ll be fine. [Affiliate]

Final Words
I did not encounter any performance issues with the 2215 I used as my test mule, but this hack is somewhat resource-intensive, so if you encounter any slowness or system instability, you may want to close some applications and/or free up some additional Program Memory. If your device has different registry settings and you’ve successfully enabled the Audio Gateway, please post your settings here so that others can benefit. If you’re having trouble getting your device working, post the details here, and maybe someone can help you.

Next up: The PocketSkype review!