I was very excited to test out the new Windows Mobile Device Center 6 (WMDC) when Inspect my gadget upgraded to Vista. WMDC for Vista replaces ActiveSync and offers everything that ActiveSync offered, as well as some extra features. For a full rundown on WMDC, please check out my article:“Windows Mobile Device Center 6: The complete guide”.

As with ActiveSync, connecting via Bluetooth can often be quite difficult and many people are unsuccessful the first time. This article will contain many troubleshooting tips I have picked up from my own experiences. I had quite a few problems connecting my device but was able to get it all up and running eventually after around 7 hours of trial and error. I hope that this article will assist you to connecting your device in a fraction of the time.

This article will show you how to connect your Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) to WMDC using Bluetooth.

What you need:

• Windows Mobile 5 Bluetooth device.

I will be using an HP Ipaq rw6828, as companies make changes to WM5, some of the menus may look different.

• PC/Laptop running Windows Vista
• Bluetooth built-in to your laptop or a Bluetooth USB Adaptor.

These are available in most IT shops and range in price greatly. I use a Belkin Bluetooth USB Adaptor - Model F8T013 I bought at Harvey Norman. No name brand adaptors can be found at local computer shops for around $20.

• Windows Mobile Device Center 6 and later

available for free from Microsoft

I am assuming Bluetooth drivers have been installed on the computer for the Bluetooth ready PC or Laptop.

You should also already have created a partnership with your mobile device. This is necessary to make a successful connection via Bluetooth.

Setting up WMDC.

The default settings of WMDC are pretty good and you should be able to connect your device to WMDC via Bluetooth without changing them.

If you want to use an infra red connection, pull down the box saying Bluetooth and select it. If you want to connect via Bluetooth, ensure that it is ticked and selected.

Pairing the Smartphone with your Computer.

In order to use WMDC via Bluetooth we need to pair your device with your computer. This enables the Bluetooth communication between the two devices.

On your WM5 Device, tap on the following buttons

tap Start

tap Settings

tap Connections

tap Bluetooth

tap Mode,
both boxes should be ticked, this turns Bluetooth on

tap Devices

tap New Partnership

Your Windows Mobile device will now scan the area for Bluetooth devices and list them.

tap “Your computer’s name” and press Next

Your Windows Mobile device will now ask you to enter a passkey. This is a code that you put in to allow for a secure connection between your Smartphone and your computer. You make this key up in most cases and if you do forget it in the future, you can re-pair the devices. They are usually 4 characters long and numeric. I usually use 1234 or 9876. Another option is to use the last 4 digits of a phone number associated with the mobile phone. I don’t see there being huge security issues here but if you have sensitive data on your device you may want to look into Bluetooth security.

Enter your passkey, e.g. 1234 or 2435

tap Next

Your PC will request the Passkey. Click on the bubble popup from the task tray.

Enter your Passkey and Press OK

You should see that your connection is successful. The icon will change to an aqua colour.

You may be prompted to allow the connection access to this service, click the tick box and press “OK”

Back on your Device: select “ActiveSync”

If you do not see ActiveSync as an option, refer to troubleshooting later in this article.

tap Finish

If you have Pocket Bluetooth tools installed, Tick ActiveSync. If you don’t have Pocket Bluetooth Tools installed, skip this step.

The Sync: 

Open up Activesync on your device. This is in your Programs folder.

Tap “Menu”

Tap “Connect via BT with Computername”

Your computer will now start synchronising with your Windows Mobile device.

To synchronise in future, open ActiveSync and repeat the last step.

I hope you will now be able to synchronise your Windows Mobile Device with WMDC. If you are like many and you are not having any luck, continue on to the troubleshooting section below where the real fun begins.

Troubleshooting:

Unfortunately it is very hard to pinpoint the problem you may be having as they can and will change from one device to another. I have come across a fair few errors in my time and will report them here. I would like to update this troubleshooting section whenever I come across a new problem or somebody puts a working solution in the comments. Check back for updates.

It is important to have a look through this whole section and find a solution that is right for you rather than working through them one after the other. You may waste time using fixes that are not appropriate to you or destroy something that is working well, putting you back at stage one.

Ensure you have created a partnership via USB before attempting Bluetooth.

Problem: No ActiveSync option when announcing services:

I had this problem and my device only offered me “Serial Port”. This is not enough to get things running. You need to have an Activesync option to get it up and running. Each device uses a different port which makes this tricky. Mine is COM5 and other devices are COM7. I have not seen a device which syncs on a higher COM port than this.

WMDC 6.1 saves you a few hassles here. In Connection Settings in WMDC, click the pull down box and select the correct COM port for your device. You may need to work through them one by one. Each time refreshing the services on your device to see if ActiveSync is listed. If you are not seeing enough COM ports, you may need to create more in your Bluetooth driver settings.

Right click on your Bluetooth icon in the Task Tray and select “Bluetooth configuration” or “Advanced Configuration” depending on your drivers. This is also accessible through the control panel.

Under local services, Activesync should be listed. On my computer, it was set to COM3 and I required COM5.

Click on “Add Serial Service” to open more ports. Do it until you get to the right amount. You can then click on them and delete them as the port remains, even when you remove the Service name. You can completely remove these COM ports later through your device manager. If you do not know which port you require, you will have to work through them one by one or look on the web and find out the details of your device. I think COM5 is fairly common though.

Once they have been deleted, you can click on the properties of the ActiveSync service and change the COM port to what you require.

(Update 18/09/07) I have had success select Bluetooth in WMDC rather than a COM port. Try out a few and see what works for you.

Only continue on if you are using WMDC 6.0, if you are using WMDC 6.1, you do not need to do this step.

Open Regedit by typing “regedit” in your Vista search bar. Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows CE Services

Find the Serialport key. It may say Bluetooth currently. Change this to the necessary COM port, in my case COM5.

Back on your phone, edit the current partnership settings and refresh the available services. You will know you have this right when you see “Activesync” instead of “Serial Port”.

This registry hack will change back to the default if you save any changes in your Bluetooth configuration, so check back at this key if you have connection problems in the future.

Problem: Misc Error: (Updated 18/09/07)

Don’t hesitate to restart your computer if you are having problems. You may well find that your computer has got a little confused with the changes. It is quite common for me to restart when playing with Bluetooth. After a restart, try again and you may find it works as you would expect it to.

Problem: I am not having any luck with my drivers:

My Bluetooth dongle does have Vista drivers supplied but they don’t seem to work all that great. I had the same problem in XP. I have always resorted back to using the Widcomm drivers. Broadcom make a generic set of drivers which will allow many, if not all USB bluetooth dongles to work. Available for free from Broadcom. 

Problem: Misc Error:

I have fixed some devices by changing the ActiveSync mode. There are different ways of accessing this from different devices but on my device, I click on Settings > Connections > ActiveSync Mode. Change this from “USB Serial Sync Mode”  to “RNDIS Sync Mode”.

I find that RNDIS works best for me.

Problem: Misc Error:

Within ActiveSync on your mobile device, click menu and go into connections. Ensure that you are using the “`Activesync on Computername” option instead of the “`USB” and “`USB Default“ options.

More to come: Please add any solution or problem of your own in the comments.

I hope you have enjoyed this article and found it useful. Please stick around and check out some other articles at inspectmygadget.com.