A few months ago I published a how-to article showing how to make a Linux machine a Bluetooth 'LAN Access Point' so Bluetooth clients can get internet access via it. This worked fine with Panther, but it seems that the new Bluetooth preference panels on Tiger are not only much better to a certain level, but buggy and puzzling at the very same time.
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Mac OS is a fine example of Unix at work. I never had any issues with bluetooth on panther, but i would not know about tiger since i have since sold my powerbook and gone back to Linux
As I wrote there, Mac OS X works fine with Bluetooth and file exchange, some mobile phones as modems, or PDA syncing. The problem starts when you want to use Bluetooth through a different service, like an FTP, Printer or LAN client.
...asked about this problem in Apple mailing lists?
There are more bugs than this. My Jabra 250 headset worked perfectly well through 10.4.0 but with the update to 10.4.1 it no longer maintians a connection. There are posts about this on the apple discussions site and it seems to be a problem with 10.4.1.
While I agree this wasn't the most clearly written article, I do have to say that some of the readers of OSNews, such as myself, are avid OS X users with the same problem and appreciate that Eugenia took the time to write a follow-up after her articles a few months back.
Now to find a solution...
This is a problem with an OS, and this is an editorial article. It fits perfectly here, you have a very narrow view of what OSNews is (which is, not just OS or just news). Besides, all you can come up with is nagging? My article asked a very clear question, and after all these hours (I just woke up) no one has a solution. Hence, I say, this is a major problem and the Apple BT team needs to look at this immediately.
I agree with Eugenia! On news sites you often here about the latest virus on Windows, this is an article about the latest problems with Macs. I think if we did this more often, companies would be more mindful of quality control issues. Quality control is very important to Macintosh users. In fact, I wish Windows and Linux would get the same level of critisism since it would improve the quality of those products, or unless you guys are numb to the shoty quality we are seeing in software these days.
"Does this "yet another issue in OS X" really need a post on osnews.com?"
I for one - and clearly not alone - appreciated it. As a Mac owner and Bluetooth user it's highly relevant
..the love of god.
1) What's the version of the OS you're using? And no, 10.4 is not enough.
2) What exactly happened with your "complete crash"? Beach balls? Kernel panic? Just system prefs not responding?
3) Have you checked http://www.apple.com/support/bluetooth/ ? If not why not, if yes, what did it say?
1. 10.4.1 of course, what else?
2. I don't care about the crash. It happens. I care about making OSX connect to my Bluetooth Lan, what's what I am intersted for.
3. Yes, they don't say anything about my question.
Do any developers have access to 10.4.2? Can you tell us (without breaking any NDAs) if this issue is addressed in the most recent build you got? Eugenia, when did you file your bug report? I'm afraid that if you filed it very recently, it's already too late, as from what I've read on AppleInsider, the 10.4.2 is almost ready to go out the door... so unless they independently fixed it, you're out of luck for now.
I don't know... it seems like the world is simply not catching up to Bluetooth, no matter how hard it's pushed (we're up to 2.0 now). Could it be the case that Apple didn't spend enough time on getting all Bluetooth-related stuff right, because they figure it only affects a small % of users? Maybe Bluetooth is dying. Apple did a good job of trying to keep it alive, but as with firewire...
And frankly, I still say Tiger was rushed out the door too soon. It should have come out with what they'll have in 10.4.2 - that would still have been the 1st half of 2005 - up until June 30 (old Apple tradition, to wait until the last possible moment). 10.4 was buggy, but 10.4.1 seems to have broken even more things than it fixed, if you judge by the message boards. Hmmm... we can bitch about Longoverdue, but maybe at least it'll come out with fewer bugs out the starting gate in compenstion to being late (of course, who knows).
you may not CARE about the crash, but it is possible that it is related to your problem.
While I'm not excusing the OS, as I'm also one who thought that it came out too soon, there are many problems with the Bluetooth devices themselves. Many phones have most Bluetooth services turned off by the providers even though the phones themselves are capable of providing those services. Most people aren't aware of this and try to get them to work when they can't.
An example is the Treo 650. Here's something about that. It shows what I mean:
http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/treo650updater/sprint.h...
I know that this isn't exactly your problem, but it's worth mentioning. Apple has actually fixed some services in 10.4 that weren't proper before. some devices were tuned to the old services and have broken since. In those cases there is very little that can be done with them.
>you may not CARE about the crash, but it is
> possible that it is related to your problem.
No, the crash was unrelated, I just mentioned in the article in the beginning. The problem I am describing is not a crash bug, but an inability of the system to "glue" together two serial ports and communicate the LAN access point with the Mac. It's a "logical" bug, not a crasher.
My /etc/ppp/options file only contains the word 'locked'. Can somebody post an example of such a file so I can complete the installation procedure? Thanx!!!
My question was as on-topic as your initial Bluetooth quirks in OSX 10.4(.1). I recently had to install Windows XP for a compatiblity test. Do you want a 100++ things that suck in XP, though we already know them all, blog from me on osnews.com?
Also it is not too democratic to moderate all contra posts down and leave the pro posts of the so "off-topic" comment untouched.
Yes, you *are* really free to submit to us the "100++ things that suck on windows". We will post them!
As for posting this story, it's within my power to post it, so if you don't like it, go elsewhere and read your daily news.
#!/bin/sh
# This is a script which Calroth made to get Bluetooth PPP
# working under Mac OS X 10.4.1. It probably won't work with
# future or past versions. It probably won't work with
# everyone's setup. But it's good to try for some instant
# gratification. Share and Enjoy.
# Below, replace "en1" with your network port,
# "10.0.1.102" with your Mac's IP address, and
# "10.0.1.243" with your remote device's IP address.
sudo /usr/sbin/sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1
sudo /usr/sbin/natd -interface en1 -use_sockets -same_ports -dynamic -clamp_mss
sudo /sbin/ipfw add divert natd ip from any to any via en1
sudo /usr/sbin/pppd /dev/cu.Bluetooth-PDA-Sync 115200 noauth local passive proxy arp asyncmap 0 silent nodetach persist 10.0.1.102:10.0.1.243
What hardware are you using? If it's a D-Link dongle you may have upgrade the firmware. Instructions fore doing this are included in the BT SDK
It didn't work, connection via pand on Linux was refused by the Mac.
Alas. Well, sorry I can't help you further. I think the real trick is in the "pppd" call, but I couldn't tell you what all those options mean, and I doubt anybody who's written a "Bluetooth networking script" could either.