[General Questions and Answers] nir36:
A Definitive Guide to Bluetooth Services + Bluetooth Stacks

This is an old guide i wrote about 10 months ago. might help you out.

After a lot of strugle with using Wireless Headsets, Serial Ports, Activesync over BT and Sideshow... i managed to have them all work.. on VISTA and XP.

So i decided to write a fully detailed tutorial for whoever needs it.

Bluetooth Services Guide (including repairing commom bluetooth sync problem)

1. Know your Stack.

if your stack is the toshiba one, when you right click on the bt trayicon you should see OPTIONS..

if your stack is the microsoft one, ... well.. you will not see OPTIONS :)

2. before starting to deal with services i suggest you download one of the stacks below, according to your demand, and install them. also install Windows Mobile Device Center (from now on WMDC).

This is WMDC6.1 x86...

http://rapidshare.com/files/120340376/MobileDeviceCenter6.1-x86.exe.html

These are both the LATEST versions of both stacks: (up until the day of posting this message of course )

TOSHIBA STACK:

http://rapidshare.com/files/120186967/TOSHIBA_BTSTACK.zip

MS STACK:

http://rapidshare.com/files/120187911/MS_BTSTACK.exe

i strongly suggest you keep both files on your comp as a cover for any services one might provide while the other doesn't.

to save you the trouble. (after a correction from Jadel):

MS Stack works with both Activesync AND sideshow.

TOSHIBA Stack is problematic although more userfriendly AND provides some different options which might come handy. i had to go thru a ****load of trouble to sync it with Vista... and syncing it with XP isn't a teaparty either.

3. after finding out which one you have we can begin.

AS - ActiveSync.

this will probably be the most problematic service to have working since a lot of times it DOESNT APPEAR AS A SERVICE. when you try to sync with the comp it tells you you have to pair it.. even tho the device is already paired with the comp.

XP might be more flexible with this but the solution is for both XP and VISTA.

To Async using TOSHIBA Stack do the following:

a. open Control Panel and open the BT Ports editor..

b. add a port and choose it as a Server.. (usually it rounds up to ports 6 or 7 but you may have to try others..)

c. go to WMDC/Connection Settings and mark "Allow connections to one of the following.." and choose the port you created.

d. on your device go to Bluetooth Settings and add a new device... put the desired passkey... and you should see a list of the services the computer provides the PDA.

e. now this is a bit tricky to deal with. sometimes ActiveSync might not appear there. if it doesn't, go to COM Ports (in bluetooth settings on your device) and add the COM port you added on your comp..

go back to Devices and choose your comp and click Refresh. if ActiveSync appears there, mark it. if it doesn't, you should delete your comp from your device and this time add the port BEFORE finding your comp. it that doesn't work, you should follow the links i will provide soon.

f. on your device, open ActiveSync and under Menu choose Connect Via Bluetooth.

To Async using MICROSOFT Stack do the following:

a. open Control Panel and open Bluetooth Devices

b. click Add and add your device. go to Options and mark "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer" and "Allow Bluetooth Devices to connec to this computer". you can also mark other options as desired.

c. go to COM ports and add an INCOMING port. it will choose a port for you automatically.

d. go to WMDC/Connection Settings and mark "Allow connections to one of the following.." and choose the port you created.

e. go back to Devices and choose your PDA. choose Properties and go to Services. there you should see all services your PDA provides. one of them should be Active Sync Bluetooth Service. mark it and click OK. your comp and PDA should connect and disconnect a few secs later.

f. on your device, open ActiveSync and under Menu choose Connect Via Bluetooth.

(if these methods don't work you should follow the reference links in the below post).

SP - Serial Port.

some services demand a serial port. for instance, if you're using the Desktop iGO8 and would like to connect a BT GPS receiver to your comp the serial port service must be enabled. i found TOSHIBA's stack to be much more flexible concerning port usage. in Control panel you have a BT Ports icon somewhere.. if you double click on it.. it will let you play with the ports and change them to help you adjust various devices as well as use the ports as Clients or as Servers. this is important for ActiveSync as well (depending on the device).

An example:

Ipaq's Desktop iGO8 supports a Bluetooth GPS receiver. to use it, you have to define a COM port (just as we did for activesync, depending on your stack)...

you will have to define a port for the receiver and make sure the Serial Port service is marked or the program will not identify the PDA. some programs might NOT need this service at all.

(of course, this is only for people who want to use their PDA's GPS receiver. people who have a seperate GPS receiver might get the port number automatically when pairing it with the computer or have to find the correct port themselves (in older receivers).

also, to use the Networking feature you have to use the Serial port service. (i will post links for this as well).

WH - I would prefer leaving this for later as i play with it a little further.

SS - Sideshow. (Vista Users)

i tried using sideshow on 3 different devices. Wizard, Polaris and Titan.

all 3 came out with nothing when i used the TOSHIBA stack. the devices didn't discover the SideShow service even tho it was installed on my comp and my device was paired with the comp.

now if you're using the MICROSOFT stack.. it's a whole different area.

Alright. so a little batch of detailed insturctions about using this:

(during the process make sure your device is DISCOVERABLE)

IMPORTANT! you should make sure the Sideshow software is active on your device while doing this. i tried syncing the service once with it on and once off and it sorta confused me. so we'll just agree on having it ON.

To use sideshow using TOSHIBA Stack do the following:

a. on your device, go to Bluetooth Settings

b. add your device.

c. look for the Sideshow service in the list. if it's there, Mark it, (on your comp) go to control panel, go to sideshow, and you should be able to mark V on the gadgets you'd like to use.

d. if it's not there, you should add a port on both your device and your computer. the ports should match.

e. go back to devices and refresh the Services list.

f. to my knowledge, if it doesn't work up to this point, give it up :)

To use sideshow using MICROSOFT Stack do the following:

a. open Control Panel and open Bluetooth Devices

b. click Add and add your device. go to Options and mark "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer" and "Allow Bluetooth Devices to connect to this computer". you can also mark other options as desired.

c. go to COM ports and add an INCOMING port. it will choose a port for you automatically.

d. go to Devices and choose your PDA. choose Properties and go to Services. there you should see all services your PDA provides. one of them should be Windows Sideshow. mark it and click OK. your comp and PDA should connect and disconnect a few secs later.

e. go to control panel, go to sideshow, and you should be able to mark V on the gadgets you'd like to use.

after syncing the service and choosing the gadgets you'd like to use from Control Panel/Windows Sideshow you can go back to your device and go back to the sideshow software and click Connect....... ................. ........

TP - Technical Port (this concerns only people who use ASUS's GXP Factory PDA so if you're not, just ignore this).

for the GXP to control Wireless devices such as ELTO's waterpipe controller and Applied Materials' connectors you HAVE to have a Technical port enabled as a service. other than Serial port this is the only service the GXP provides, so you won't have much trouble enabling it as it's part of the software.. it will always appear. MAKE SURE you DO NOT create another bluetooth port as it will use it instead of the default one and you will not be able to control ANY of the wireless devices around you.

If you found this guide helpful please Donate.. (all donations go to TZABACH Wounded Animal Service)