Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-04-2004, 02:24 PM

Tiny Tim

Posts: n/a

I have a 3Com Bluetooth laptop card that I bought two years ago. I think the
supplied software to manage Bluetooth comms and devices is very skanky,
especially compared to the software on a friend's new Dell laptop with
builtin Bluetooth.

e.g. my 3Com software has no option to pair devices and it takes me ages
stumbling around to try to create some sort of communication between the
laptop and a PDA or phone via a third party app in order to prompt any
attempt at pairing. In contrast the Dell software has a clear option
specifically to pair devices. It also provides a nice "My Bluetooth Places"
folder integrated with Windows Explorer. The 3Com software has none of this.

This may be a daft question, but is it possible to get indpendent Bluetooth
software that makes it easier to manage devices, connection, pairing etc.
once the hardware itself is installed, or is it more complicated than that?

Also, I may have missed something fundamental about the workings of
Bluetooth but I thought it was supposed to allow comms at up to 768Kbps or
so. Yet all my setup seems to have is stupid serial ports, DUN connections
and FAX serial ports. I don't want to send fricking faxes or dial up
anything. I just want to connect my devices at 768Kbps, not a pathetic
57Kbps or even 115Kbps. Why doesn't Bluetooth behave like a sort of slow
Wi-Fi - just plug (metaphorically) and play, with security options if need
be? How do I benefit from the full speed capabilities of Bluetooth?

Thanks,
Tim.

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Responses to "Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant."

Tiny Tim

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-04-2004, 02:34 PM

Tiny Tim wrote:
<snip>

Replying to myself, I've just found this link -
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wire...xpunwired.html -
suggests builtin Bluetooth support within Win XP. I'm running Win XP Pro,
freshly rebuilt last month, with all MS patches and updates applied. There
is no sign of the Bluetooth features suggested by the article in the link.

What am I missing?

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TDK Systems

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-04-2004, 04:25 PM

Your 3Com hardware isn't supported by Microsoft's Bluetooth drviers.
Look at www.windowscatalog.com and search for "Bluetooth" under products for
a full list of supported devices.

"Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bvqvu7$v988e$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Tiny Tim wrote:
> <snip>
>
> Replying to myself, I've just found this link -
> http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wire...xpunwired.html -
> suggests builtin Bluetooth support within Win XP. I'm running Win XP Pro,
> freshly rebuilt last month, with all MS patches and updates applied. There
> is no sign of the Bluetooth features suggested by the article in the link.
>
> What am I missing?
>
> --
> Email address is munged. Please reply to newsgroup.
>
>

Tiny Tim

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-04-2004, 04:58 PM

TDK Systems wrote:
> Your 3Com hardware isn't supported by Microsoft's Bluetooth drviers.
> Look at www.windowscatalog.com and search for "Bluetooth" under
> products for a full list of supported devices.
>
> "Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:bvqvu7$v988e$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de...
>> Tiny Tim wrote:
>> <snip>
>>
>> Replying to myself, I've just found this link -
>> http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wire...xpunwired.html
>> - suggests builtin Bluetooth support within Win XP. I'm running Win
>> XP Pro, freshly rebuilt last month, with all MS patches and updates
>> applied. There is no sign of the Bluetooth features suggested by the
>> article in the link.
>>
>> What am I missing?
>>

OK, thanks. That explains why I'm not getting the nice integrated support.
But the list on the MS site is hopelessly short. Who in their right minds
would want a USB dongle dangling off their laptop, rather than a nice neat
PCMCIA card that can have the antenna retracted (rhetorical)? The point of a
laptop is easy mobility (or in my case to use it on the coffee table). The
maximum number of wires and sticky out bits I want is one - the power lead.

Anyway, I digress. Given the lack of MS support, s it possible to obtain
some more user friendly and feature rich 3rd party software that will work
with my card? I've checked back regularly on the 3Com site and there is
nothing new there, and for a product of 2+ years in age I don't suppose
there ever will be. I appreciate I'll need the 3Com drivers but does that
mean I'm limited to 3Com Comms Management software?

Thanks again,
Tim.
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Edward

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-04-2004, 10:42 PM

Tiny Tim wrote:
> TDK Systems wrote:
>
>>Your 3Com hardware isn't supported by Microsoft's Bluetooth drviers.
>>Look at www.windowscatalog.com and search for "Bluetooth" under
>>products for a full list of supported devices.
>>
>>"Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>news:bvqvu7$v988e$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de...
>>
>>>Tiny Tim wrote:
>>><snip>
>>>
>>>Replying to myself, I've just found this link -
>>>http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wire...xpunwired.html
>>>- suggests builtin Bluetooth support within Win XP. I'm running Win
>>>XP Pro, freshly rebuilt last month, with all MS patches and updates
>>>applied. There is no sign of the Bluetooth features suggested by the
>>>article in the link.
>>>
>>>What am I missing?
>>>
>
>
> OK, thanks. That explains why I'm not getting the nice integrated support.
> But the list on the MS site is hopelessly short. Who in their right minds
> would want a USB dongle dangling off their laptop, rather than a nice neat
> PCMCIA card that can have the antenna retracted (rhetorical)? The point of a
> laptop is easy mobility (or in my case to use it on the coffee table). The
> maximum number of wires and sticky out bits I want is one - the power lead.
>
> Anyway, I digress. Given the lack of MS support, s it possible to obtain
> some more user friendly and feature rich 3rd party software that will work
> with my card? I've checked back regularly on the 3Com site and there is
> nothing new there, and for a product of 2+ years in age I don't suppose
> there ever will be. I appreciate I'll need the 3Com drivers but does that
> mean I'm limited to 3Com Comms Management software?
>
> Thanks again,
> Tim.

The Bluetooth support in Windows XP will only be released generally with
Service Pack 2. You may have access to it now if you bought a Microsoft
bluetooth keyboard or mouse. Basically it supports Broadcom and CSR
chipsets which are used in the majority of devices around. Hopefully
eventually there will be more laptops with bluetooth built in and with
the support in Windows XP it should just work right out of the box.

BTW the O'Reilly link shows screenshots of the Widcomm software not the
Microsoft bluetooth stack. Widcomm actually is very tightly integrated
in the Windows shell and is very impressive in its configurability and
protocol support. Microsoft is playing catch-up in this regard.

Microsoft bluetooth support looks like this
http://www.wohlman.gioserve.com/XPSP2Bluetooth.html

I bought a 3com card as well, got fed up with the software and swapped
it for a TDK which uses Widcomm. I tried to get the Widcomm software to
work with the 3com card but it seems to use a specialist interface
protocol that is not supported by the other stacks. I prefer the looks
of the 3com card with its x-jack antenna, but the software was so poor
as to make it almost useless.

People seem to have some sucess using the 3com card on Linux with the
BlueZ stack, so it must be possible for 3rd parties to implement the
right drivers and protocols, but it's unlikely that any third party will
bother doing that on Windows.

Tiny Tim

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-05-2004, 12:53 AM

Edward wrote:
<snip>
>
> The Bluetooth support in Windows XP will only be released generally
> with Service Pack 2. You may have access to it now if you bought a
> Microsoft bluetooth keyboard or mouse. Basically it supports Broadcom
> and CSR chipsets which are used in the majority of devices around.
> Hopefully eventually there will be more laptops with bluetooth built
> in and with the support in Windows XP it should just work right out
> of the box.
>
> BTW the O'Reilly link shows screenshots of the Widcomm software not
> the Microsoft bluetooth stack. Widcomm actually is very tightly
> integrated in the Windows shell and is very impressive in its
> configurability and protocol support. Microsoft is playing catch-up
> in this regard.
>
> Microsoft bluetooth support looks like this
> http://www.wohlman.gioserve.com/XPSP2Bluetooth.html
>
> I bought a 3com card as well, got fed up with the software and swapped
> it for a TDK which uses Widcomm. I tried to get the Widcomm software
> to work with the 3com card but it seems to use a specialist interface
> protocol that is not supported by the other stacks. I prefer the looks
> of the 3com card with its x-jack antenna, but the software was so poor
> as to make it almost useless.
>
> People seem to have some sucess using the 3com card on Linux with the
> BlueZ stack, so it must be possible for 3rd parties to implement the
> right drivers and protocols, but it's unlikely that any third party
> will bother doing that on Windows.

Hmmmm. I tried installing Widcomm and it could not identify my card at all
so a quick System Rstore soon got me back to square one. Note - I have got
my 3Com card working OK with an HP Deskjet 995c Bluetooth printer, a Sony
Ericsson T68i phone and two Palm Tungsten T3 PDAs. Once it's set up it works
OK but it is just such a fag to get it working first go. After two years of
this malarky and a laptop rebuild typically every 3-4 months I've got fairly
used to what needs doing but it is still far from intuitive and I am yet to
see any comms between my BT devices that even begins to approach the
theoretical maximum speed.

I went for 3Com specifically because of the Xjack antenna and I actually
find that it works very well even when the antenna remains pushed in. So
that's a big plus. Other than that, though, the 3Com experience is a pretty
miserable one. I can't believe they haven't released decent software for
their card yet. It's not like they keep releasing a new card every six
months and can't be bothered to upgrade software for older devices. There
just isn't anything new being released by them.
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Edward S

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-10-2004, 10:46 PM

"Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<bvs45s$v4kla$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de>...
> ....>
> Hmmmm. I tried installing Widcomm and it could not identify my card at all
> so a quick System Rstore soon got me back to square one. ..

You do know that using a Widcomm driver from a different brand
requires modifying the .inf file(at the very least), and hacking the
..DLL for more recent versions, right?

Tiny Tim

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-11-2004, 08:14 AM

Edward S wrote:
> "Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:<bvs45s$v4kla$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de>...
>> ....>
>> Hmmmm. I tried installing Widcomm and it could not identify my card
>> at all so a quick System Rstore soon got me back to square one. ..
>
> You do know that using a Widcomm driver from a different brand
> requires modifying the .inf file(at the very least), and hacking the
> .DLL for more recent versions, right?

Well I thought I was being rather optimistic. But I figured that is the 3Com
drivers were doing their job then theoretically the Bluetooth stuff is just
a set of serial ports so pretty much any software ought to be able to talk
to them.

e.g. I have a PC interface for my Polar heart rate monitor. I install the
software and it communicates with COM1/2/3/4 as necessary to talk to the
hardware interface for the watch. I have a Palm serial cradle. I install the
Palm Desktop and Hotsync software and it talks to the serial port(s).

If the Bluetooth ports are just serial ports then is it unreasonable to
think that 3rd party software can talk to them and "manage" them? Is
"pairing", for example, a function of the drivers or of Bluetooth Management
application software? I believe it should be the latter. Is displaying "My
Bluetooth Places" a function of the drivers or the management software?
Again I believe it is the latter.

The 3Com install comes in two parts - install hardware, which installs the
drivers and sets up the serial ports; install management software, which
lets me set up security options, display attached/paired devices etc.. I
just want different/better management software.

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PDA Man

Posts: n/a

Re: Standalone Bluetooth software? - and bit of a rant.

Posted: 02-11-2004, 09:13 AM

Unfortunately your SOL. 3COM gets NOTHING but disparaged in this group and
every other BT forum I have frequented. And mostly for the same reason, the
management sw is proprietary and stinks.

"Edward S" <not_valid71@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7ee51341.0402101446.4c3daba6@posting.google.c om...
> "Tiny Tim" <_tim_dodd@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<bvs45s$v4kla$1@ID-198854.news.uni-berlin.de>...
> > ....>
> > Hmmmm. I tried installing Widcomm and it could not identify my card at
all
> > so a quick System Rstore soon got me back to square one. ..
>
> You do know that using a Widcomm driver from a different brand
> requires modifying the .inf file(at the very least), and hacking the
> .DLL for more recent versions, right?

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