Ambicom BT2000D-CF Bluetooth CF Card

Last night I purchased an Ambicom BT2000D-CF Bluetooth CF Card at Fry's. Turns out that the card listed as approved for Windows CE .net in the Hardware Compatibility List is the Ambicom BT2000-CF Bluetooth CF Card, note the significant (apparently) lack of the letter "D" in the supported device. So I'm trying to get it running with my NEC MobilePro 900c, but no luck so far.

there is a thread under Pocket PCs about using this card and it suggests several possible solutions. I have followed this thread for a while and have followed some of its advice but cannot seem to make the Ambicom BT2000D-CF card work in my NEC MobilePro 900c (this is Windows CE .net 4.2, using the stock ROM). I did find the 1.4.1.59 version of the WIDCOMM software and hex-edited the BTW-CE.PPC302.2577.cab file, replacing references to "mfcce300" with references to "mfcce301" and then installed this on the computer. I also tried hex-editing the BTW-CE.PPC420.2577.cab file and installing it. I also made sure I had a 7.5 kb aygshell.dell file and the other appropriate dlls. This procedure does install a utility call "Blue Neighbors" which I can run but it does not seem to communicate with the card and brings up an error when I try to run any card function such as scanning for other bluetooth devices in the area.

I can take the card back to Fry's, but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts about making it work on my hardware. Thanks,

/ted

if the card really uses widcomm, don't worry, it can be made to work. editing mfcce isn't enough though. as you have a 900c you need to edit some ordinals for coredll imports. i can upload the edited widcomm stack for ce.net 4.2.
but what you write sounds like the driver you use is not widcomm. blue neighbors is the original ambicom (C version, not D) software, no wonder it doesn't work.

Edited by cmonex 2007-05-05 1:27 PM

I'm pretty sure it's WidComm that's supplied with this "D" card -- the CE software on the install disk is labeled as version 1.4.1.59 (same as the windcomm versions floating around here) and the setup.ini file with it has the following:

[Startup]
AppName=BTW-CE
ProductGUID=EB56EE62-B023-4AA7-8D38-29D4982D0979
CompanyName=Widcomm, Inc.
CompanyURL=http://www.widcomm.com
ErrorReportURL=http://www.installshield.com/isetup/ProErrorCentral.asp?ErrorCode=%d : 0x%x&ErrorInfo=%s
MediaFormat=0
LogMode=1
Resource=_Setup.dll
SmallProgress=N
SplashTime=5
CheckMD5=Y
CmdLine=
ShowPasswordDialog=N
[Languages]
Default=0x0009
count=1
key0=0x0009

So I'm pretty sure it's widcomm although it looks pike what is supplied is solely for PocketPC.

Cor ad cor loquitur! Comprehendisne linguam latinam?

Thanks,

/ted

well, what you show here is widcomm but what you actually installed is NOT widcomm. due to two things: 1) if you're able to run it without hexediting coredll calls, then it is not widcomm. 2) if it says blue neighbors again it is not widcomm.

please uninstall it,

after you uninstalled it, here is a REAL widcomm 1.4.1.59 for wm2003 http://csakugy2.atw.hu/widcomm420.zip

1) edit mfcce300 to 301
2) then you will get the not valid CE app message when trying to run bttray.exe or maybe even if btwizard or similar exe, edit coredll.dll to coredl2.dll for simplicity's sake and use the coredll from folder 10 in coredlls.zip on my site. i also recommend editing olece300 to 301. that should be enough.

no, i don't know more latin than that

Thanks so much -- unfortunately I cannot open that zip file -- tried it under Mac OS X, Windows 2000, and Windows CE and none of my un-zippers seem to work, Any chance it is a corrupted archive? Thanks again for your help,

/ted

yes it is corrupt on your machines, it is fine on the server, please redownload

Edited by cmonex 2007-05-05 5:21 PM

OK you were quite right -- I had not downloaded the file correctly. I think I'm getting close now. Successfully hex-edited the files, installed it, and I had some problems seeing the screen for the connection manager until I switched to a 7.5 kb aygshell.dll (aygshell 3).

Now the bluetooth tray icon appears, and it correctly recognizes the bluetooth card which is blinking its little green LED happily.

However, both the "Bluetooth Settings" program and the "Connections Manager" program bring up programs that have no usable options, just basically null programs.

So from here how will I set up a connection to a bluetooth phone (for example) so I can use it for a net connection?

Thanks again for all the help,

/ted

the aygshell you are using is crap. use the 16.5k or 22k one. and forget about the bluetooth manager program, use only bluetooth settings. to setup a gprs connection you need to go into the registry. get my widcomm pack for hpc2000 from my site that has a readme on this.

also, to pair the phone you need to use the btwizard program (in \windows, maybe make a shortcut) or initiate pairing from the phone if your device is set to visible in bluetooth settings (by default it is so).

edit: one of the aygshells once produced an usable looking bluetooth manager but i forget which or how. maybe the 9k one. the manager can be used to setup connections without using the registry.

Edited by cmonex 2007-05-05 8:13 PM

OK I'm making some good progress. So far: the software is installed correctly; I have successfully paired the NEC MobilePro 900c with Ambicom Bluetooth card to my Motorola Razr cell phone. Bluetooth led blinks, cell phone blue led blinks, etc. But the connection is not completed, and no reason is given.

I am dialing *99# to connect to T-Mobile in the US. I have successfully connected this phone to another computer (macBook) via Bluetooth, and I did use the number *99#.

I wonder if the built-in Windows CE Dial-Up Networking is transmitting the correct Wireless access point (which should be wap.voicestream.com in my case). I observe that when the "Domain" is saved, it is truncated to "wap.voicestream" and when I try to expand this in the registry editor, it comes up blank in the Dial-Up Networking screen, although I fill it in manually.

Is there an alternative Bluetooth dialer available for Windows CE .net 4.2 (hpc)?

/ted

tcamp: which hack did you try, registry one or playing with aygshells and connmanager? i use the registry hack as it is more straighforward and foolproof.

where does the connection stop? does it ever start dialing the *99# number? if it does not then the hack was not done correctly.

if it does, but then stucks on authentication or device connected then you might need to give an extra init string with the APN in it, yes. do NOT use "AT" at the start, start with the "+".

oh btw what kind of domain did you save? the APN must not go there.

without knowing at which phase it stops dialing, troubleshooting is hard.

Well overnight I've suffered a setback -- had to hard-reset the system and then re-install the bluetooth and other software. After this, the BT tray icon shows up and when I plug in the card the icon turns partly blue (indicating initialization) but then returns an error in a pop-up window "Bluetooth could not be correctly initialized."

I'm wondering if in my re-install I may have used an incorrect DLL. These are the ones I have installed:

doclist.dll 1//9/2005 6.5 kb
mfcce301.dll 3/22/3005 404 kb
olece301.dll 4/26/2005 254 kb
coredl2.dll 6/30/2006 534 kb
cellcore.dll 11/23/2005 7 kb

I've used all kinds of different aygshells -- the one I have now is the 16.5 kb supplied with Cmonex's widcomm drivers.

Does that look right? Would all this be solved by installing Cmonex's custom ROM?

/ted




Edited by tcamp 2007-05-07 9:13 AM

I now have the Ambicomm BT2000D-CF Bluetooth CF Card working in my NEC MobilePro 900c (Windows CE .net 4.2). Here's a recap of what was necessary to get it working:

1) This only works with Cmonex's new ROM. All attempts to make it work with the stock ROM failed. So here's another good reason to switch to the new ROM.

2) The version of the Widcomm software to be edited and then installed is in a CAB file named BTW-CE.PPC420_2577.cab

3) Prior to installation, this has to be edited with a hex editor so that all references on the right-hand column are replaced with corresponding references in the left-hand column as follows:

MFCCE300.DLL -> MFCCE301.DLL
OLECE300.DLL -> OLECE301.DLL
COREDLL.DLL -> COREDL2.DLL

4) In order for this to work, you have to install these DLL files in \Windows. The coredl2.dll file is the coredll.dll from folder 10 in Cmonex's array of coredll files, renamed as COREDL2.DLL. I would note that after installing the new ROM, I ended up with corrupt or invalid copies of MFCCE301.DLL and OLECE301.DLL in \Windows. Don't know how this happened but I had to replace them with more recent versions of these DLL files.

5) Install the hex-edited CAB file (see step 3 above) to the \Windows directory.

6) Once installed, perform a soft reset to re-start the MobilePro.

7) This should bring up a bluetooth tray icon that is grey.

8) Insert the bluetooth card. The tray icon should turn half blue (initializing) and then fully blue (and the red "x" disappears) indicating proper initialization. If you get an error message that says "Bluetooth failed to initialize properly," try inserting the bluetooth card again, or try another soft reset and then inserting it again. I find that it does not work to have the bluetooth card inserted during soft reset.

9) Run the BTWizardCE program (in \Windows) (NOT the BTConnManager program) and although it's difficult to see this program on the NEC screen, it will allow you to pair with your cellular telephone, in my case a Motorola RAZR phone connected to T-Mobile.

10) The Wizard program will also let you set this device as the default gateway to the internet. I recommend that you do this. If not, you'll need to edit the registry to write your cell phone's identification into the autoconnect area of the Widcomm software in the registry, as described by Cmonex in another thread.

11) This sets up a Dial-Up Networking entry for your bluetooth phone. Edit this connection (select it and then select File-Properties) and add the correct telephone number for your cell phone's bluetooth modem -- in my case the number is *99#. Also, you may have to add an init string to specify your wireless access point. Select the "Configure" button in the properties window, then the "Call Options" tab in this configuration window. At the bottom you can specify an init string, in my case it is +cgdcont=1,"IP","wap.voicestream.com". (You cannot give this in the telephone number screen or in the dialing properties screen so it has to be entered here).

12) Then I was able to connect. Hope this (or something like it) works for you.

/ted

Sorry but in the instructions above I think I had "right-hand" and "left-hand" columns mixed -- you replace the stuff in the left-hand column wit the stuff in the right-hand column.

/ted

hey, cool description

this is quite complex to get it working, i should really make a package - i did make the hpc2000 one available, but keep forgetting to make the 4.2 one

it is interesting that it wouldn't work on stock rom. works fine here, maybe you forgot to put in doclist.dll. the custom rom has doclist so maybe ..

my next edition will have this widcomm working out of the box except for the mfc hexedits because my default mfc in the custom roms is the hpc one. but no coredll edit will be needed.

about the integrated mfcce and olece 301 in rom - execheck says they are invalid because they are in rom.
also, there is no "more recent" version of mfcce/olece. there is only one version for ppc and one for hpc. that's it.

and here is a question, how do you make the wizard to show your phone? i could never get it to do that so i need the registry edits.

Edited by cmonex 2007-05-09 10:55 PM

Has anyone tried this with a cdma phone? I am trying to remote network with a verizon i730. There is no BDAddress for it in the registry. I can pair it and have show up as a serial port but when I try to connect it gets stuck at "Opening Port" I am curious if the reg entries are different for a cdma phone than a GSM.