hi all

last week i bought a sony ericsson w810i. final goal is to be able to transmit pictures from the phone to my thinkpad t43p via bluetooth.

but for the moment i'm stuck at hcitool scan, because it doesn't return anything. (even hcidump returns nothing)
i tried with my roommates mobile: the phones could see each other, but none of them could see my thinkpad & my thinkpad didn't find them.

i don't get any error, that's why i couldn't find anything on google. so i would really appreciate any hint.

i'm on debian sarge with backport kernel 2.6.16. but i don't think that it really matters, because the latest knoppix (2.6.17) showed exactly the same problem. (maybe some bios settings? - i couldn't figure out something relevant)


some outputs:

root@lethe:/home/dan# /etc/init.d/bluez-utils start
Starting bluez-utils: hcid sdpd rfcomm.

root@lethe:/home/dan# lsmod | grep hci [only relevant stuff copied]
hci_usb 14484 2
bluetooth 44484 7 rfcomm,l2cap,hci_usb
ehci_hcd 28968 0
uhci_hcd 29744 0
usbcore 119364 5 hci_usb,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd,usbhid

root@lethe:/home/dan# hciconfig -a:
hci0: Type: USB
BD Address: 00:0E:9B:DA:AF:3A ACL MTU: 377:10 SCO MTU: 16:0
UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN
RX bytes:459 acl:0 sco:0 events:34 errors:0
TX bytes:381 acl:0 sco:0 commands:25 errors:0
Features: 0xff 0xfe 0x0d 0x38 0x08 0x08 0x00 0x00
Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 HV2 HV3
Link policy: RSWITCH HOLD SNIFF PARK
Link mode: SLAVE ACCEPT
Name: 'lethe-0'
Class: 0x3e0100
Service Classes: Networking, Rendering, Capturing
Device Class: Computer, Uncategorized
HCI Ver: 1.2 (0x2) HCI Rev: 0x9 LMP Ver: 1.2 (0x2) LMP Subver: 0x6963
Manufacturer: Broadcom Corporation (15)

Two things to try that may help you:

1. Put your phone into discoverable mode
2. Edit the /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf file. Change the pin_helper line to be:

pin_helper <full path to>/kbluepin

Save the file and exit the editor.

Also, it would be helpful to run kbluepin from either the command prompt or the KDE menus, and enter a pairing code. Then, go to your cell, and initiate the pairing from there. It should then see your workstation, and prompt you for the code. From there, you should be ready to go from Knoqueror or any OBEX client, to transfer stuff from/to your cell phone.

thanks for your answer.

the phone already is in discoverable mode (as i said, it's being seen by my roommates phone). and even if it wasn't: shouldn't it be able to see the computer when searching for devices?

my pin-helper is "/usr/bin/bluez-pin", not kbluepin. i don't use kde and i don't have any kde-programs or libraries installed. is that a problem in this case?

well...as i said, the devices don't see each other. so i guess it isn't helpful to try a pairing with nothing i mean, the code-thing comes after they see each other & doesn't make a difference at anytime before, does it? i don't even know the address from the phone, so no chance here to try from computer either.

The computer may or may not be in discoverable mode, so the phone probably won't see it. Also, the hcitool scan should pick up anything around that is in discoverable mode, so why it's not picking up your phone is a mystery.

Check to make sure the file /etc/bluetooth/pin exists. It should just have to contain your PIN number. I use kbluepin, and the format for the file is PIN:1234 for the /etc/bluetooth/pin. I think the bluez-pin just needs the number, but I'm not sure. Fairly quick to try it both ways.

After you put the pin number in the file, stop and start bluetooth services on your system, and try to initiate a pairing from your phone.

how do i check whether the computer is in discoverable mode? i don't see such an option in any of the config files or tool manpages...

well that was what i actually declared as my problem; i've been able to find everything else i've run into yet on some howto, except this possibility that none of the devices sees each other, even if they should. that's what i need help on.

the file already existed, but there wasn't a 'PIN:' before the number. however, i tried it with the 'PIN:', restarted /etc/init.d/bluez-utils, but nothing happened: the phone can't see the computer. (as i already said, i don't think that the pin-thing matters in this case, because one obviously only needs the pin *after* the devices discovered each other. i'm far from pairing yet...)

Are you trying to discover the computer, or pair with it? If it's not in discoverable mode, the phone won't see it. However, you might still be able to pair with it, but you have to initiate the pairing from your phone.

KDE has some pretty nice tools when it comes to working with Bluetooth, including OBEX transfer stuff and PIN/pairing managers, but I know you don't have KDE loaded. I haven't encountered any problems with Bluetooth/Linux under either of my laptops or my desktop.

I know you've probably checked it out already, but are you sure that your bluetooth hardware on your system is compatible with Bluez/Linux?

i am trying to discover the computer AND i am trying to discover the phone, they don't see each other, neither way. i won't be able to think of pairing initiated by the computer without knowing the bt-address of the phone AND i won't be able to think of pairing initiated by the phone without the phone seeing the computer.
about discoverability: in my first post, i posted the output of 'hciconfig -a', there you can see the line "UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN" which states clearly that the computer is allowing page- and inquiryscans and therefore is in discoverable mode. i really, really appreciate that you want to help me, but please read what i write...

i don't think so. because, as i already said, i can't see the computer from the phone & there is no other way to initiate a pairing than the option "searching for other devices". (where it doesn't find anything)

well i guess they all are just frontends of the command-line tools i try to cope with now. so as long as it doesn't work, by using the command-line i'm able to avoid problems the frontends maybe have and am able to analyze some output the frontends would maybe hide from me...

it never came to my mind, that bluez maybe won't be able to support my hardware (is there an alternative?). i can't even find a list of supported chipsets on their website. but as thinkwiki suggests these utils without talking about an alternative, i think they should be suitable for my thinkpad...

DAmn i have same problem ! I have bluetooth billonton with chipset bcm2035 witch i think it's supported -i seen module called bcm203x and i loaded it.

I'm using nokia 6230i but from what i heard there wasn't a problem with that phone...

i hav the same problem,my phone cant detect the system,also my system cant detect my phone.
in windows i can get both.
whats the real problem,iam using fedora7