Need help installing the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack for A2DP
 

I've been trying for awhile to get A2DP to work on my Apache. I have had some success, but the reliability and quality have been issues.


I'm almost sure at this point that the fault lies with the MS utilities and drivers for this device. The whole system for pairing can only be described as cheap.


I've installed the Widcomm Bluetooth stack which I got from here:
<<Removed because of your anti spam filter.>>

If there's a way to post the link here without tripping that, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather not waste 4 days before people can help me.


Apparently, this should "work" on my device. But has complained about memory issues (which sound like simple errors as I have lots of memory)... and it doesn't seem to be aware of when the bluetooth radio is on or off... ie it could say it's on or off and be wrong.



But after working with the menus a bit and reading the link I just posted it looks like it's configurable to a much greater extent then the MS stack... which means if I do get it working I can play with the settings until I stop experiencing drop outs and other associated headaches.

Oh, if it's relevant... I have a Sony DR-BT21G headset... I first tried the motorola S9 but I hated the design so I went with this... It feels great, the sound is very good and has twice the battery life of the S9.

The thing I hated the most about the S9 was that it put the battery in the back of the headband. This effectively turned the headset into a lever on my ears and hurt after about an hour of use.[/img]

Ok, I've got it so it can use the bluetooth radio and pair with devices. However, I don't see where the A2DP setting are in this thing?


Maybe this is a dead end... I would post a link to another thread on your board that said this thing works but the anti spam filter doesn't like that.


What is the best way to get A2DP on an apache? I'll go for pretty much anything.

The new kitchen's A2DP works flawless....Trust me I use it every day... I have an A2DP profile on my Alpine stereo inside my car... so I use it every single time I'm inside my car. Make a rom from the new kitchen.

never mind this post... :(

perhaps this is useful.


The only reliable means I've found to get the thing to play without skipping is to delete the pairing profile and remake it. When it asks for a passkey I have the "option" to not enter one but if I don't it skips. So I enter 0000 and then I have a couple minutes to start listening to something.


If the time elapses then I have to start this procedure again. If I turn the machine off or the connection is broken, then I have to do it again. If I reboot... etc.


obviously this is very annoying. I think the issue might have to do with which device initiates the communication. For whatever reason if the headset opens the communication... for example if I press the "play" button my headset without first going through the above process... it skips. But by loading the headset up in "pairing" mode it doesn't look for an old pairing partner and just waits for contact. I don't know how to tell my PPC to connect to the headphones without the headphones automatically trying to connect to the PPC. The only time the headphones are both able to be reached and not also trying to connect to the last pairing partner is in pairing mode.


It's very frustrating.

Once again, make a rom by the kitchen, its a 100mb file that you need to download, its VERY VERY easy to do. You just do a createos and select only the programs you want, not every program... just the ones you want... then save it, then do createrom and encode it, yes yes... then put your phone into bootloader and connect it to make it say USB on the screen.... then burn the rom onto the phone... boom done... A brand new rom and flawless a2dp. Make sure you backup your contacts.

Nothing else has worked, and I've tried it all... since I have to have A2DP working flawless. I show my car! So I can't have Music skipping when I'm showing off my Bluetooth Alpine!

alright, before I take the plunge...

Quick questions:

1. What do I need to do to reconnect to sprint and acquire my own phone number again?

2. Is this risky? Could I break my device?

3. I've browsed the Kitchen walkthrough, is it worth it to add OEM cab files to the list? I have more then a few that I'll want to install after boot.

4. Again, my primary worry with a new rom installation is that I'll brick my device... or almost as bad will lose my phone number or sprint will otherwise not communicate with my phone.



If this is relatively safe... ie if you screw up your first attempt you can try again... and sprint isn't going to black list me, then I'll go for it.


Would it be possible to just extract the BT stack from kitchen and implant it on my phone as is?

It doesn't change anything about your phone or your epst settings...
I was scared the first time too... But I flash every day or more then that...

Its very easy man... Just make sure you follow the directions and there will be no problems!

Backup your contacts... then hard reset the phone... then put it into bootloader and plug it into the usb... it should say usb on the screen... make your os, then create the rom via the directions... let it do all the good stuff it wants to do... then when it says its done, unplug the phone, hard reset... and boom your done... when it tries to customize... I'd reset the phone if I were you... unless you've deleted your ext rom already..

I assume my contacts are safe if I have them stored in outlook?
I tried to delete the ext rom already and it seems it regenerated. I used Total commander to get in there awhile ago... I think it did what I told it to, but everything was back after a hardreset... Did hard resetting it regenerate the Ext rom?


I hate 90 percent of the stuff in there... Some of it is good of course as I think it helps the phone sync up with sprint. But the promotional stuff is the flat out evil.

Ok, I've used upgraded the rom as described in that link. I didn't bother adding any new cab files to it... I just picked what I wanted and then hit go.


I believe the process worked as it was supposed to, however it has not really fixed my problem.


The issue is this... the FIRST sync with my headset is always perfect. It does exactly what it's supposed to.

BUT if I turn my headset off, lose connection for some reason, or turn off/reset my PPC the connection will not automatically resume.


The only means I know of conveniently reactivating the connection is to press the "play" button my headset. That does initiate a connection and begins streaming stereo sound into my headset. However, it's very choppy and drops out for long periods... it's a horrible horrible connection.


I can fix the situation by deleting the profile in the PPC and then making a new one being very careful on a few points in the process. For example, I must enter 0000 at the FIRST password prompt. This prompt "CAN" be skipped but this sometimes causes a connection that is just as horrible as the one started by pressing the play button... or sometimes it doesn't create a profile at all.


In any event, I need a way to establish the connection more easily then deleting and remaking the profile every time. The play button would be nice... but as I said, the resulting connection is horrendous.

Headset issue?
 

Perhaps since so many people are having good luck with the new A2DP stack in the kitchen this could be an issue with your headset? If not then I'd look in the bug posts and the comments posts for the kitchen. Several users have posted settings changes in the registry that they claim fixed skipping problems.

Good luck!

Unfortunately even though A2DP is vastly improved in this ROM, it's still not 100%. I have four A2DP devices--three of them work fine with these ROMs but one does not.

It does, however, work 100% with WM6, so MS is obviously still working on their A2DP implementation.

Aside from playing with the registry settings under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Bluetooth\A2DP\Settings I'm not sure there's much else you can do.

The Widcomm stack has many problems on the Apache, which is why there hasn't been much talk about it. It does have pretty flawless A2DP though.

very well, what tweaks do you recommend for the registry with the MS stack?


Again, the problem that I'm having is that when I try to "re connect" the device it skips CONSTANTLY. The initial connection after creating the pairing profile is PERFECT. But if that connection is severed it's very hard... almost impossible from what little I've done with it to get a stable sound transmittion out of it. I don't know why there's a problem.


I do know that sometimes if I go into the blue tooth settings and tell the PPC that the head phones are to be used for stereo output it will "sometimes" create a stable connection. But that's rare. There are other variables that you have to watch out for. For example, all music has to be STOPPED or nothing changes.


It's very odd. I'm almost certain it has something to do with the headphones establishing the connection instead of the other way around.



Could it be that there are some variables that the headphones impose upon the connection by default if it initiates the connection... but that the PPC over rides if it initiates the connection? Because typically when it's the PPC that contacts the headphones first and not the other way around I get a better result.


Pressing the play button to get the headphones to sync up with the PPC almost always causes the problem. I'm talking 99 percent of the time.



I don't mind the PPC initiating contact so long there's an easy way to do it.... ie easier then deleting and remaking the profile.


Is there any way to have the PPC "look" for and connect to the headphones... and not the other way around?

If you do a google search (or search here at the forums) for words like:

bitpool
maxbitpool
usejointstereo

you should pull up several (many) links with info on what settings you can try to tweak. It takes a lot of trial and error, and still may not solve your problem. Like I said, some Headphones chipsets are just plain incompatible with the WM5 implementation of A2DP (I have three that work great, one that doesn't work at all no matter what I do).

You can install that widcomm stack, but you'd have to deal with all the other anomalies it causes.

what is the right way to install the widcomm stack?


I want to try everything. I've downloaded it and even installed it. But can't seem to get it to do A2DP... it doesn't even look like it's capable of it from what little I've seen.


Help me please.

I honestly don't know. I've never messed with it because I need the other functions of BT more than I need A2DP. Hopefully someone with some experience with it can come to your rescue.

Yeah, I dont know from there... My DC800 StereoMoto BT Device has no issues with the Stack on the new roms. It plays flawless, and if I recieve a call it pauses the music and rings through the bt stereo device... then when I answer it on my BT headset it transfers over with no problems. Then once the call has ended the music replays. If I restart my device, or turn off and then on my device, it still works... But, if I restart the device, ofcource WMP isn't running so I'll have to restart that. But if I just turn it off and then back on, the music continues with no problems.

You know what I would sugjest... if you can't seem to figure it out... I'm sorry to say but go out and buy a cheap a2dp device like a DC800 StereoMoto from Radio shack just to see if it works on that. I paid 25 bucks for my StereoMoto and I'm about to go find more and buy a few more for the other area's I want like all the rooms in the house n shyt!

What functions does it not have that you need?
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Well it might be that it has a problem when it's set as both phone and music?


You seem to have split them. The phone portion of the system is ALWAYS flawless. Even when the music is skipping horribly, if you start to make a phone call it immediately clears up and sounds perfect... in both ears.

Further if the music was fine before the call it comes back fine.


I'll try disabling hands free talking and see if that makes a difference. That would really be annoying but it's nice to narrow down what the issue is... then I just have to find the people that code this stuff and they can patch it...


Let me dream :)

I have a motorola S9 in addition to the sony headset. I'm going to return the motorola headset today as the Sony one is sooo much nicer. I haven't honestly played around with it though since the rom update...


Does anyone know if the S9 is supposed to behave? I ask because it's quiet a bit older then this sony model.

it's confirmed... anytime the headset opens the connection it's crap. I've found a few different ways to get the apache to do it and whenever it does the connection is great.


All of these means require opening the bluetooth configuration panel unfortunately.


Does anyone know of a "single click" option that would cause the APACHE to connect to the headset for music? The only fast means to connect them is by pressing the play button on the headset, but as I've said before that connection is crap.


I had some sound issues but I solved them by lowering my preamp settings. For whatever reason the PPC amplifes the bluetooth sound a little bit before it kicks it out to the head set... so by dropping the preamp a bit it cancels out...

Short of reflashing my entire rom and going through all that trouble is there a way I could just install a2dp directly to my ppc 6700?

Go to the downloads and type in "a2dp"... there are files in there you can install which will give you all the capabilities of the roms. People say that if you install the rom it's more stable, but my experience has been that they're the same.