Need help with bluetooth on 5500 running Sharp 3.13

[n8a]

This is a LOOONG post regarding my attempts to get bluetooth working on my Z.  I have an AmbiCom BT2000-CF card (version C), which is the latest BT2000-CF at Best Buys and Circuit Citys across the land.  

Thus far, I have following some of the instruction that have been able to find on this board and on the Sharp forums (great information), but have not been able to get the card working.  

Let me go in steps to be clear.

1) I plugged in my BT2000-CF © card.

According to the Affix compatibility list, my card (BT2000c) is not supported:

http://www.zaurususergroup.com/modules.php...oothCardSupport

According to the Bluez compatibility list, my card *may* work:

http://www.zaurususergroup.com/modules.php...oothCardSupport
Thus, I went with Bluez.

2) I got the files here:
http://community.zaurus.com/projects/bluez

3) I followed the following instructions by Tumnus to install Bluez correctly:
http://tumnus.zaurii.net

3a) Since Tumnus\' page assumes that the Bluez packages will be correctly installed on the Z, I used the following readme to ensure that the installation order/files are correct:
http://bluez.sourceforge.net/download/zaur...luez.zaurus.txt

Installed:
# ipkg install bluez-kernel_2.1_arm.ipk
# ipkg install bluez-libs_2.0pre10_arm.ipk
# ipkg install bluez-utils_2.0pre11_arm.ipk
# ipkg install bluez-sdp_0.6_arm.ipk
# ipkg install rfcommd_1.1_arm.ipk
# ipkg install rfcomm_0.7_arm.ipk

# cp /etc/modules.conf.add /etc/modules.conf (unless this file is already on the 5500)
# depmod -a (let kernel know about the new kernel modules)

3b) After the cmd line install with no probs/error messages, I went on to /etc/bluetooth and followed all instructions from Tumnus, but got stuck at the following step:

# hciconfig
Can\'t open HCI socket: Address family not supported by protocol
#

I realized that this is b/c I hadn\'t restarted the drivers, however the command in Tumnus\' guide (located at /etc/rc.d/init.d/bluetooth) was not located in the same place on my Z.  I did a:

#find / -name bluetooth

It returned:

/home/etc/pcmcia/bluetooth
/home/etc/bluetooth

So, I took a stab and typed:
# /home/etc/pcmcia/bluetooth restart

It returned:
usage: /sbin/cardctl command [socket #]
    or /sbin/cardctl [-c configpath] [-f scheme] [-s stab] scheme [name]
    commands: status config ident suspend resume reset eject insert

Based on the contents of the README, I took another stab and typed:
# /home/etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart

That seemed to work (no error message back), and that is what the README indicated would cause the card manager to know about the new devices.

I typed the hciconfig command but received the same error message. Also, I typed the following at the command line:

# cardctl status
Socket 0:
  no card
Socket 1:
  no card

I then removed and reinserted the card and:

# cardctl status
Socket 0:
  3.3V 16-bit PC Card [suspended]
Socket 1:
  no card
 
Any suggestions on how to get the card recognized or what I am missing from the process?  THANKS in advance...

[n8a]

A quick note:

Based on the following link, I added the file bt950.conf ot the /etc/pcmcia directory:
http://www.holtmann.org/linux/bluetooth/bt950.html

After adding the file, the results of cardctl were as follows:

# cardctl ident
Socket 0:
  product info: \"AmbiCom BT2000C\", \"Bluetooth PC/CF Card\", \"\", \"\"
  manfid: 0x022d, 0x2000
  function: 2 (serial)
Socket 1:
  no product info available

However, the card continued to not be recognized despite restarting pcmcia and the results of hciconfig were the same.

[tumnus]

I guess the BT2000C card isn\'t supported. Have a look at this thread:

http://www.zaurus.com/dev/board/index.php?...oth,and,ambicom

[n8a]

Thanks, Tumnus.  Yeah, I had seen that thread but there was nothing conclusive about whether or not the card worked.  So out of curiosity, you think based on what I did that it should have worked?  

I would hope so, but that\'s what I\'m not sure about - let me know if there is something else that I can try or if there is something that I may have done wrong if you can.

Also, if that card\'s a no-go, which card would you recommend that can be purchased in the states?  It seems like there\'s a prob with the new Socket card and I haven\'t seen many others/don\'t know much about them.

Thanks in advance--

[tumnus]

People have reported the Ambicom BT2000E card definitely works out of the box with my BlueZ package that I put up on the DevNet Community site. (The packages at the BlueZ SourceForge are out of date, incomplete and I think are only for the 2.x ROMs which have an incompatible kernel)

I don\'t know what cards are available in the US as I am in the UK. I also have the Bluemonkey card which works out of the box, although it locks up the Zaurus if you do not run \'hciconfig hci0 down\' before ejecting. But I thought I had fixed that in the bluetooth pcmcia script.

[n8a]

Thanks again, Tumnus.  I won\'t give up yet...   I am currently running the tkcROM (just switched), and it recognized my card immediately after installing the rom:

# cardctl ident
Socket 0:
  product info: \"AmbiCom BT2000C\", \"Bluetooth PC/CF Card\", \"\", \"\"
  manfid: 0x022d, 0x2000
  function: 2 (serial)
Socket 1:
  no product info available
#

The BT2000-CF card wasn’t blinking, so I did the following to try to get it working:

# cardctl resume <card started blinking>
# depmod -a
# hciconfig
#

Thus, I presume that the tkcROM Bluez drivers are perhaps the old Bluez drivers?  Has anybody installed the Bluez drivers over the existing drivers on the tkcROM?

[n8a]

Tumnus – latest update.  Mind you that I switched to the tkcROM since my first 2 posts…

I installed the ipk from the latest community.zaurus.com page, and it installed correctly.  I noticed that it did a starting bluetooth… done when the ipk was installing.  I then did a restart of bluetooth as you described on your bluez howto page.  After that, I ran hciconfig and again there was no configuration that printed.  I also installed the bluetooth dialup applet and followed the rest of your instructions and everything went smoothly, except of course the fact that I could not connect to my BT phone...

As an experiment, and since I had installed some upgraded versions of the bt software prior to installing the community.zaurus bluez ipk (and thus I thought that there might be some conflict in theory), I started with a fresh install on the tkcROM on my 5500.  I installed the file bluez-zaurus_2[1].3-2.4.18b_arm.ipk and the following happened:

# ipkg install bluez-zaurus_2[1].3-2.4.18b_arm.ipk
Unpacking bluez-zaurus...Done.
Configuring bluez-zaurus...Starting Bluetooth... Can\'t get port settings: Input/output error
Can\'t initialize device: Input/output error
Done.
Done.
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/bluetooth restart
Shutting down Bluetooth... Done.
Starting Bluetooth... Done.
# hciconfig
#

I don\'t why the error occurred... I then realized that the prob *might* (who knows?) be due to the libraries not being installed, so...

# ipkg install libg*
Unpacking libgthread...Done.
Configuring libgthread...Done.
# ipkg install libo*
Unpacking libopenobex...Done.
Configuring libopenobex...Done.
# ipkg install bluez-zaurus_2[1].3-2.4.18b_arm.ipk
Unpacking bluez-zaurus...Done.
Configuring bluez-zaurus...Starting Bluetooth... Done.
Done.
#
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/bluetooth restart
Shutting down Bluetooth... Done.
Starting Bluetooth... Done.
# depmod -a
# hciconfig
#
 
So, once again I\'m not sure why it\'s not working for me out of the box.  I appreciate your time and help Tumnus, as this bluetooth on Z quest is eating me alive (!), but please provide me with any ideas that occur to you.

[tumnus]

Try treating the card as a CSR UART based device. Look on page two of this DevNet thread for how to fo that: http://www.zaurus.com/dev/board/index.php?...?showtopic=5175 (The Socket Rev G card is a CSR UART based card)

[rjmx]

I think even AmbiCom are confused with their bluetooth card versions. Mine is clearly marked \"BT2000-CF\" on the back, but when I plug it in and run cardctl ident, I get:

Socket 0:
  product info: \"AmbiCom, Inc\", \" BT2000E\", \"Bluetooth PC/CF Card\"
  manfid: 0x022d, 0x2000
  function: 2 (serial)
Socket 1:
  no product info available

(running on a 5600,  Sharp v1.32 ROM, forgot where I got the bluez stuff but probably from links off this site).

Interestingly:

] The BT2000-CF card wasn’t blinking, so I did the following
] to try to get it working:

   Mine doesn\'t have any LEDs at all, so it has grave difficulties blinking.

   Certainly, this one works very well. The bt950 is the correct driver for it, although I discovered that the driver from the bluez website gives a painfully slow transfer rate (5k bytes/sec on PAN), due to the fact that it sets up the UART to talk to the Ericsson chip at 56k bits/sec. I\'ve hacked the driver source so that it runs at 448k, giving a handy transfer rate of around 40k bytes/sec.

 .....Ron

[n8a]

You\'re a lucky man, Ron!  The BT2000E is the older BT2000 card with the Erickson chipset, whereas mine is the newer version (BT2000C) with the CRT chipset and the blinking led.  I\'m actually sending mine back for the older card that you have!!  Hopefully it\'ll work out of the box as well as your does!  

btw, can you expand on the hacking that you did to get your transfer rates up?  That\'s beyond my technical capabilities (at least from the sound of it!), and that would be crucial for me.  

Thanks-
Nate

[tumnus]

Another person on these boards has kindly offered to loan me the new Ambicom BT2000C card, so I can take a look at getting it working on my zaurus.

[n8a]

Another person on these boards has kindly offered to loan me the new Ambicom BT2000C card, so I can take a look at getting it working on my zaurus.

Great news - I actually would have sent mine to the UK as well!  I\'ll be looking forward to the results, as I\'m fresh out of ideas.  For now, on to the plethora of other issues...

[rjmx]

] You\'re a lucky man, Ron!  The BT2000E is the older BT2000 card
] with the Erickson chipset, whereas mine is the newer version
] (BT2000C) with the CRT chipset and the blinking led.

   I think I must be lucky. I wandered into my nearest CompUSA store a couple of weeks ago and came out with the right card, it seems. Think it was the only one they had: perhaps they don\'t turn them over very quickly. Or at all.

]  I\'m actually sending mine back for the older card that you have!!  
] Hopefully it\'ll work out of the box as well as your does!  

   Hope so. Let me know how it goes.

] btw, can you expand on the hacking that you did to get your
] transfer rates up?  That\'s beyond my technical capabilities
] (at least from the sound of it!), and that would be crucial for me.  

   I had to work a few things out for myself. I posted some questions to the bluez developers\' mailing list, but got no reply. So, at the risk of making a long post, let\'s start with a little theory:

   It seems that a lot of the Bluetooth cards (both pcmcia and CF) out there use bluetooth chips that you talk to (from the computer side) via a serial link. Probably left over from evaluation kits where you hooked up to them with a real serial cable from a PC. Most of these cards, then, have a UART (tech speak for \"serial port chip\") as well as the bluetooth chip.

   Since the link from the computer to Bluetooth is now a serial link, it must have a baud rate (at least that\'s what we used to call it), and both ends must be set the same. The Ericsson chip appears to default to 56k bits/sec, and the bt950 driver just starts up the card\'s UART at that speed, and makes no attempt to change it. Since the transfer rate over a link is determined by the lowest-speed portion of the link, that means you\'re not going to get more than 56k bits/sec out of the link. This translates to around 5.5k bytes/sec (async transfer speed is around 10 bits/character).

   The Ericsson chip, however, can be run at speeds of up to 448k bits/sec: you just need to switch it, and change the UART speed to match. So, acting on a suggestion from an old post on the bluez-devel mailing list, I lifted the code out of another bluez driver (bluecard_cs, I think) that did switch the speeds, and applied it to the bt950 driver. I had to do some tricks to get the Zaurus to load the new driver module (like manually changing the kernel version: I\'d like to know how to do it properly), and that was it. Transfer rate now around 40k bytes/sec, still not the theoretical maximum over bluetooth, but I\'m prepared to settle for it.

   It\'s been running fine for over a week now. I don\'t (yet) know how to build it for other kernels (I have the Sharp 1.32 ROM on my 5600): if someone knows how to do this, they can have the source.

 .....Ron

[n8a]

That which you describe is beyond my skill level, Ron!  However, through a crazy stroke of luck, I may actually be able to get a Socket bt card for ~ $40.  In this case, I\'d more than happily return the AmbiCom BT2000C to Circuit City and be done with it!!!!  We shall see.

I will no doubt be back here to pester you if I don\'t get the Socket card and indeed trade in my current AmbiCom BT2000C for the BT2000E.  I\'ll be back and thanks again for the description...

Nate