Problem syncing with active sync

[emil73]

Hi,
Never had problem syncing before but now I´ve got a new computer and just can´t get it to work!
My computer and my magician find each other and all but when I try to sync I get the message:

"Cannot start communications with the desktop computer. The communications port is not available. Another program may be using the port, or it may not be valid. Quit any programs that may be using the port and reconnect. If the problem persists, restart your device using the instructions provided by the manufacturer"

What´s wrong? How do I solve this, what I guess, simple little problem...

Thankful for help!

[Kassem_f74]

Do you get this error when you try and sync via a cable or Bluetooth?

I sometimes get the error when trying a bluetooth sync, i just re-set the Jam.

If that doesnt work check your com ports on the Jam and the com ports on the pc (activesync on the pc)

[emil73]

It´s when I try to connect with bluetooth it happens.
I tried to reset several times but nothing.
Checked the ports and as far as I can see I have the same ports installed on the computer and on the magician.
Not sure how you do it though. Do I open activesync, then connection settings and choose COMport?

I think the problem is with the device. If I check the bluetooth settings and com ports there is no port activated and if I clixk "new incoming port", there is no port to choose. And I can´t even choose to create a new outgoing port.

What´s happening here? Need help... pleeeease!!!

[fone_fanatic]

ok, synching via bluetooth was a complete pain in the ass for me till i knew what was going on. yes you have to go to the options in activesync on your pc and select the correct com port which you should find from your bt stack. here are 2 really good links which solved 99.9% of my syncing via bt nightmare.

BT activesync guide:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=2417

COM ports 1-9 guide:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=8&TopicId=422

also i suggested unpairing your pc and magician before you begin the activesync steps. if the correct comports dont appear in your bt stack(windows or widcom) then read teh 2nd link above ^. also(i'm guilty of this too) but search before you post because theres way too many topics about this.
:oops:

[Kassem_f74]

this is from Jimmy Bish, from another site, however it helped me get it right:

OK, I'm assuming that you're running Windows XP SP2 with the default Win XP Bluetooth control panel.

Now, here we go. I'm expecting this to not work first time for most people, but these are the steps I took after my hard reset last night. If it doesn't work, you may have missed a step or may just need to delete the partnerships and try again... Good luck!!

1)On your PC go to the Control Panel and select "Bluetooth". In the "Options" tab, make sure all the ticks are on. You'll now see a little bluetooth icon on your system tray. Makes it easier to access in the future. Your PC should also be ready to be found as long as you ticked the fist box in the step above.

2)On your Jam, Go to Start, Settings, System (Tab), Bluetooth Settings. On the screen that comes up you ONLY want to hit start. Leave the incoming and outgoing checkboxes OFF!!!

3)You will now be taken to the partnership screen, where you just follow the instructions to add your PC. Follow through until you hit finish. Close everything down until you're back at the today screen.

4)Back to your PC, double click on the Bluetooth icon in your system tray. Go to "Com Ports" (Tab) and click "Add". Choose incoming. A You'll see an incoming port added to the list (probably be the only item there). It should look like "COM X Incoming"
Remember what number is after COM. Close all windows, making sure you hit OK or Apply where you have to.

5)Open Active Sync on your PC. Hit File, Connection Settings. Enable the first tick, and select the COM port you had to remember in the previous step. Hit OK

6)Open Active Sync on your Jam. Choose Tools, Connect Via Bluetooth.


Good luck guys! No doubt you'll run into problems, but hopefully this will work for most people.
Any issues, discuss them below and we'll try to find a fool-proof way of doing it!





when i tried to do this the phone couldnt recognise the com port allocated by the computer, which was com32.

I followed some other instructions and found that i had about 30 inactive (hidden) com ports so i did this:




1) Open the Command prompt by going to Start, Run and typing "cmd" (without the "") and hit enter. If you're unfamiliar with this, it's just a black window with white writing that can command EVERTHING!. Very handy tool for administration.

2) Type "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1" (again, without "". Bugger it, never type "" from here on, just type what's inside it!)

3) Type "cd \windows\system32\" if your windows installation is in the windows directory. If not, replace "\windows" with whatever that directory is.

4) Type "start devmgmt.msc". This will open your device manager.

5) Go to "View", then "Show hidden devices"

6) Go to "Ports (Com and LPT)" in the main device tree

7) You will now see a heap more com ports listed. Delete every com port that has a grey/transparent icon as these are ports for hardware that's not currently connected or no longer used. Don't worry, if you reconnect the hardware later it will be assigned a new number and you shouldn't notice a problem.

Cool Restart your computer and try the above guide again. If the port number is still above 9 then you'll have to start removing hardware that you may have installed that uses a com port. We'll cross that bridge as we come to it.

it needed a soft reset once i had got the comports the same and everything worked well after that.

[ujj75]

Hi

I have an O2 XDA II Mini (Magician) and I am using an XMicro Dongle on my laptop (Win XP with SP2....I am using the in built Microsoft BT stack which comes with SP2) and ActiveSync3.8. Initially syncing with BT was a problem but now its not a problem at all.

First you have to make sure that the COM port nos. selected by ActiveSync are less than 10 bcoz there is some bug due to which ActiveSync will not support COM ports above COM9.

To reduce the COM port nos. on your computer try the following website
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315539
Once you can see the hidden devices and ports delete/uninstall all the ports which are not in use.
Its the same method mentioned above by Kassem.

To ActiveSync

1 To sync with BT first delete all your pairing with your computer and phone on both devices.
2 Go to BT Manager on your phone and click both check boxes for Inbound and Outbound COM ports and pair the devices.
3 Once they are paired go to BT manager (on the phone) again and click on the start button (for BT ActiveSync setup) and pair the devices again if you have to.
4 Once that is done make sure that on the computer in BT Settings the the Serial Port Profile (SPP) "Serial Port COM4" is checked.Click on the phone device>property>services.
5 After that on the computer's BT Manager itself ensure that the COM ports folder shows incoming and outgoing ports with the phone's name in front.
6 Open ActiveSync (on the computer) ensure that the COM port no. is the same as the Incoming COM port no. given in step 5 above and it being shown as available. Sometimes if it is unavailable, the computer needs to be rebooted and then it will be shown as available.
7 Click on ActiveSync thru BT on the phone and it should work.
8 Whenever you want to disconnect ActiveSync, press stop on the PocketPC's avtice sync program.
9. Always ensure that the dongle is plugged in BEFORE you boot up the computer othwerwise ActiveSync on the computer will show the COM port as unavailable.

All the best!

[emil73]

Thanks for all helpful replies!!!
Found out what was causing the problem now!
For me, I had to go to "My bluetooth places" on my computer. There I coosed "explore" and then "My unit". In there there is something called "My bluetooth serieport". I had to mark the box with "start autmatically". That´s why I didn´t get it to work...

Not so difficult once you got it... as always :D

Cheers. Emil

[Kassem_f74]

i hate Blue tooth., It is so flakey!!!. now i am having the same issue as you!!. i removed all connections and tried to set up from new, and still get the com port error!..


Emil:, how do u get to my bluethooth places?

i am running XP and cant seem to find this.

[emil73]

Well I kind of figured that... You see I don´t know what the english term for this is but if I translate directly from Swedish it would be something like "My bluetooth places/directories".
Anyway I have my icon on the desktop or in the programlist. The symbol is the bluetooth sign. I just rightclick on the symbol, and go to the subtitel that is called "My units". There I rightclick for example "My bluetooth serieport " and there click the boc that says "start automatically".

See I don´t know but I guess this could be some kind of program that goes with the bluetooth adapter (Trust BT120).

Maybe somone could help me translate the terms above to correct english.... ;)

Good luck!

[ujj75]

Your bluetooth settings should be under Control Panel on your computer.