PDA Bluetooth self discovery

[tuned99]

I have PDA Module 8.0.1 and an iPAQ hx2790 running Windows Mobile 5.0.  I am just starting out with this PDA Module development and so far it has not been a cakewalk.

I am running the attached code for the handheld and after overcoming some dll related issues, I have managed to execute the code without any error messages.  With a timeout set to 0, the code is supposed to look for the local Bluetooth module on the device and return its address and Bluetooth device name.  On my PC, if I run this code, it returns the correct Bluetooth address of my TDK Go Blue USB dongle and the PC name as the server device name.  On my PDA, if I run this code, it returns an incorrect address of 00:00:00:00:00:00 and a blank name for the device.  On the PC side of things, I can discover my PDA and its proper address just fine.  But the code running locally on the device cannot discover its own address.  The error indicator returns no error status.  With a timeout set to something greater than 0 (like 10000ms), my PC is able to find my PDA just fine.  My PDA, on the other hand, cannot find squat.

Could the problem be:

1) The iPAQ may not be running WIDCOMM drivers?  Looking at the driver list, I believe the device may be using Broadcom drivers.  However, Broadcom bought out Widcomm so I don't know if this counts.

2) PDA Module 8.0.1 apparently requires not only eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 but also some Visual Studio 2005 which I do not have and costs more money.  Could the code not be building properly without this?

3) Something else?

[Greycat]

I am running almost the same PDA (hx2490) and I have done quite a bit of work with the bluetooth functions in Labview ... I have not, however, used the discover function at all.  Probably a good thing as it seems not to work at all (I did a couple of little tests and I'm getting the same results as you).

To answer a couple of you questions:

1)This Pocket PC does run the Widcomm drivers, and it will run bluetooth connections fine, but aparently not the discover function.

2)If you followed the instruction on installing your Labview PDA module everything should work just fine.  eVC is does not cost money as you can download it for free from MS if you follow the link in the installation instruction for the PDA module (if I remember correctly).  As for  Visual Studio 2005 , I don't think it is required, but if it is, you can download the "express" version for free here.

3) This seems like it is your best bet.  Seems that it does not want to work on WM5.0 at least (Bug) ... Anyone using WinCE 2003 tried this function?

I looked through the forums and it seems that this has not been mentioned before as a problem, so we'll see what happens.

Some comment from NI on this would be appreciated. 

Greycat

[tuned99]

Greycat, thank you for your response.  It is good to know I'm not the only one encountering this problem.  I have tried running the Bluetooth RFCOMM Service Discovery and found that it didn't work either.  After this, I was starting to get discouraged but I managed to modify and run their Simple Bluetooth Client example with some mild success.

[sarahk]

Hi, tuned99.

This is going to sound like a strange question, but are you able to obtain the correct address if you execute the Discovery VI more than once?

I don't have any Bluetooth devices to use to test this out, but I'll talk to R&D and see if anybody's heard of this before. I'm sorry your experience with PDA/Bluetooth has been frustrating so far. Rest assured that I'm going to work hard to find a solution.

Have a nice evening!

[tuned99]

Hi sarahk,
In my VI above, I have hit the run button multiple times and the answer will always be the same.  If you mean to run two Discovery VIs one after the other in the same iteration then no I haven't tried that yet.  Thanks for your time!

[Greycat]

I attempted running it in while loop and there was no difference ... no address returned ...

Greycat

[TNeilson]

When you say you set the timeout to 0, do you mean time limit?  On the discover module, you must have a "time" to discover.  In fact, I found that with Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, this time limit had to be much higher than with Windows Mobile 2003.  I had to set this time limit to 30 (30,000 ms) seconds for my devices to discover, but they do discover every time.  For some strange reason, it really only takes about 10 seconds, but the setting is at 30.

[Greycat]

TNeilson:

Under the Bluetooth Discover VI ... if you set the timelimit to 0 ... it should return all locally installed devices ... which this does not.  It returns 00:00:00:00:00:00 - so there is still definately a problem,  But ... you are correct about the timelimit ... if  timelimit is set to 30000 ...  it will return the addresses of the bluetooth devices in the area (although it seems to have a hard time finding my some of my Class 1 Radios but that could easily be a different issues altogether).  Thanks for correcting us ...

tuned99 ... let us know if you get the same results ...

TNeilson - could you try to set the timelimit to 0 and see what it returns?  What PDA are you using?

Greycat

Message Edited by Greycat on 07-06-2006 09:12 AM

[tuned99]

I most certainly do discover nearby devices with a time limit increased to 30000.  Looks like the bug is just isolated to self discovery?

[TNeilson]

I'll give that a shot when I get a PDA in.  We had to send all of ours to a contractor doing some development for us and I have a few HPs coming in, in the next week or so for me to play with.  If I find anything, I'll let you know.

I was unaware of a feature with timelimit set to 0, what do you mean by "locally installed devices"?