vaio and bluetooth headsets - solutions?

[wrstlprmpft]

did anybody succeed in using a bleutooth headset with a vaio notebook? (i am using the VGN-S1XP and a Logitech Headset)

As far as I can tell: The BluespaceNE application did not support the headset profile (or any other audio related profile, there was also no OBEX synchronization profile which really annoyed me), and now Windows XP SP2 added its own Micro$oft Bluetooth stack which, alas, does not support the headset profile either.

Does anybody know if it could work with the 2.2 variant of the BlueSpace software?

Did anybody succeed in using a third BlueTooth stack in Windows XP that includes the Headset profile (or is it called Handsfree?), and if so, how? 😉

[Searching the forum only brought up two other similar questions: one with no answer and another one with two links that are not helpful]

By the way does anybody know why the "e-support case" thing on the vaio-link site does not work and when it will be available again?

Cheers,
thanks for any info,
wrstlprmpft

[kee-lo_]

I would uninstall BlueSpace NE, it only causes more problems with SP2.

[wrstlprmpft]

yes I did uninstall it --- did not like it anyway...

but still: no way to use audio over bluetooth with the vaio ???

(the media machine? video-audio-integrated-somethingwitho...)

[kee-lo_]

Not really a bluetooth expert sorry, but I know you have to pair the devices so the VAIO can use it.

Then you have to select the service.

[LutzR]

Hi,
I got some weeks ago some instructions to use Toshiba's Bluetooth to solve the headset problem.
I have not tried it yet, but you might do it. Here we go...
Lutz


THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE,
I CANNOT GUARANTEE CORRECT OPERATION ON ANY OTHER DEVICE ===============================================================
ONLY PROCEED IF YOU ARE CONFIDENT IN CHANGING WINDOWS DEVICE DRIVERS,
YOU ARE DOING SO AT YOUR OWN RISK ===============================================================

I am using the latest Toshiba BT Stack for WinXP SP2, you can find it here :

Toshiba btstack_xpsp2.exe

01) Extract the archive to your harddisk

02) Run the msi

03) Restart when prompted

04) Go back to the original location in which you extracted the files, and navigate to \Windows\Inf

05) Open the tosrfusb.inf with notepad and add your device id to both the [Standard] and [ControlFlags] sections. The device id for mine (S1XP) is USB\VID_044e&PID_3007 (This can be found from the details tab in the properties of your device in Device Manager)

So I added the following 2 lines
[Standard]
%TosrfUsb.DeviceDesc11%=TosrfUsb_Device, USB\VID_044e&PID_3007

[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect = USB\VID_044e&PID_3007

06) Save the file (you may need to remove the Read Only attribute before doing this)

07) Now go into Device Manager and chose Update Driver for your USB Bluetooth Device

08) Choose Install from........(Advanced), then next

09) Choose Don¿t Search....., then next

10) Choose Have Disk

11) Browse to the folder containing the modified tosrfusb.inf file and choose open

12) You should now be shown a list containing a new device option, the name of this device will vary based on what you put in the .inf file, for example, I copied an existing line that started %TosrfUsb.DeviceDesc11%.... the 11 is a reference to a specific device variant that is named "USB Bluetooth Driver (CSR)", therefore this is the name I see in the list (this is quite easy to understand from looking at the inf file itself)

13) Select the new device and choose continue anyway id asked, other supporting drivers will the install automatically ( if they don¿t and you get prompted, just choose Install from....(Recommended).

14) Once its all finished, run "Bluetooth Settings" from the newly created TOSHIBA\Bluetooth program group, this should initialize the device and install the virtual serial ports (again choose Install from...(Recommended) and choose Continue Anyway if prompted.

15) Once complete you should see a small blue "pin like" indicator in the systray, double clicking this will take you to the discovery/settings app.

Good Luck

[wrstlprmpft]

Hey thanks a lot.

This looks exactly like what I was looking for!
In the meantime I managed to do something similar with a bluetooth stack from WIDCOMM (http://www.mobidick.biz/downloads.shtml) and some complicated patching... (which you can find out about at http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/index.php) and it works to some degree:
I can connect to my bluetooth headset --- but instead of sound it transmits crackling noises 😕
So there must be something wrong with the audio drivers used to connect to bluetooth.

I will try your great suggestion when I have some more time on my hands.

Again, thanks a lot

[wrstlprmpft]

short update:

- installed both: newest widcomm bluetooth stack and toshiba stack
- both connect to my headset
- both result in ugly noises coming out of it instead of clear sound...



my last resort will probably be an older widcomm version (desparate ideas) or a bluetooth stack called blue soleil or something like that...

[Fuzzillogic]

Isn't that blue soleil stack the same as Sony's BlueSphere? So what good would it be?

(I can't navigate their site with my modern browser. The datasheet-link on their homepage is broken and the menu butons simply don't respond. And I don't have high regards of the software of a software company that's incapable of creating a functional site!)

More or less off-topic: the S2XP uses different bluetooth hardware, for bluetooth 1.2. Sony only provided drivers for MS bluetooth-stack. Works fine, but sjees, there are only a few profiles included! Headset capability isn't one of them, it seems. Neither is FAX, for example.

Does anyone know how to get more profiles on the S2XP? If there's an sollution using MS-stack, it might work on the S1XP and others as well.

[wrstlprmpft]

if bluespace and bluesoleil are related it can only be a very distant relation.
bluesoleil is (contrary to their website) a very well designed piece of software, includes much more profiles, and seems more stable and responsive than the other stacks I tried by now.
But it did not solve my initial problem anyway.

I still have the same difficulties:
I can pair and connect my headset (using WIDCOMM/Toshiba/Bluesoleil stacks),
BUT: I do not hear any sound.

To get more profiles you have to install a more capable bluetooth stack (see above).

The bluetooth hardware in my sony s1xp is (according to firmware numbers) bluetooth 1.2 too.
By now I am thinking that the hardware or the firmware is missing a crucial lower-level ability for sound transfer:
the SCO type link in the bluetooth protocol (Synchronous Communication O...)

At the moment I am trying to get SonySupport to contact technical staff that could know about something like that

[Fuzzillogic]

Weird. I thought bluetooth 1.2 was one of the improvements of the s2xp over the s1xp..

I did a lookup on the vendor ID of the BT-device, and it translates to Alps. Weird stuff, since Alps also made the touchpad of the S2XP, but this press release of CSR links Alps to CSR, a well known BT-chip-maker.

The VID of my BT device is 0x044e with PID 0x3007. If it indeed is a CSR-chip, I would find it weird if it can't do audio. I've a BT-USB dongle as well, using Widcomm drivers, and I used my desktop as a "headset" for my mobile phone once.

The MS bluetooth stack provides a API to add extra profiles. It would be nice if someone (Microsot, Sony, whoever created the USB chip, Santa Claus) used it to add some often-used profiles. Right now, bluetooth-support on my S2XP is quite limited 😞