Guidance for getting things up and running with BlueTooth on Moates.Net products

Bluetooth connectivity is a great advantage in terms of wireless application, but initial configuration can be a bit of a headache sometimes. To preface, there are basically three types of drivers you can use on the PC side: Built-in Windows XP SP2 (preferred!), WidComm drivers (Ok), and BlueSoleil (also OK). Depending on what driver you're going to be using on the PC side, you'll need to do things a bit differently. Also, keep in mind that you'll probably need to reduce the packet size within the COM settings of your application (EFI Live, TunerCat, etc) to get things to work effectively at first. Later, you can try and increase packet size to achieve higher throughput rates.

In any of these cases, the target device MUST be powered up to initiate and maintain communications. You should always power up the target device (PCM, etc attached to the Bluetooth dongle/cable/radio) prior to establishing connection, and you really ought to maintain the power up until the client application (EFI Live etc) is closed out or at least until the COMM connection is closed via the application.

OK, so let's look at an example. For instance, I have a laptop (HP) which has built-in Bluetooth and it uses the WidComm drivers. I know that because when I enable the internal BT, I can open up the BT control panel via icon and look at the properties. So here is the sequence of how to get it up and running:

1) Boot up the PC and power up the PCM.

2) Enable the BT (plug it in, or if internal, activate it), and open the BT control panel (little BT icon in the lower right corner of main PC window).

3) Search for devices in range (this varies according to driver used), and look for one called 'BlueRadios'. This is the correct one.

4) Right-click on the BlueRadios icon that appears, and select the option to 'Pair Device'.

5) The first time you do this, you will need to enter a passkey. It is the word 'default' all in lowercase. If for some reason the pairing fails, try the 'Unpair Device' option, and close the BT control panel, disconnect/disable the PC-side BT, and reconnect and try again. Reboot if you have to.

6) Once entered, you may need to double-click or right-click/select on the BlueRadios icon again. It should go through a 'Discovering services' step and then get to where it assigns a COM port number to the BlueRadios BT COM PORT service. Take note of this number, you might need to right-click and display properties to get the info.

7) If the COM port that it sets itself up to is reasonable (less than 8 or so), then you should be able to establish connection. Right-click on the icon, and select 'Connect'. On some of the drivers, you'll see the little left/right green arrows, showing that the port is 'ready to go'! You'll want to establish this state prior to attempting to make a connection from the client program (EFI Live, etc).

8) Assuming that the port is connected from step 7, you're primed and ready. Go to the client program, and establish connection there as well. From this point on, you should be 'hot' so to speak and everything will work fine. If for some reason you disconnect, you may need to close the connection in the client program and come back to the BT control panel to re-establish connection. Don't be afraid to go through steps above again if needed.

Note: There will be a particular pattern that works best for your PC/OS/Driver combo. Basic rule of thumb is that the built-in Windows driver is best, so if you don't need to put in a driver disk, then don't. You'll find that the steps above aren't always necessary, and usually, you just connect and everything's fine. However, I personally have to go through steps 7-8 every time (Widcomm driver). Every now and then, if I lose connection or double up on stuff, I end up having to unpair and disconnect. Rarely do I need to reboot.

We realize that some of the headache in the configuration is painful, but once you get it to work and are able to do so repeatably and get the hang of what works, you'll be very happy with the power of wireless communications for EFI tuning!

If you have any questions, please email me. [email protected]