Howto setup Bluetooth with Belkin F8T001 ver 2, Siemens S55 and Linux / bluez

On this page you will a find a short guide on how to set up this bluetooth adaptor under Linux and how to connect your Siemens S55 mobile phone.
You might think 'Oh, yet another bluetooth howto'. Well, when I searched the web I found only questions concerning these devices, but no answers whatsoever.

All comments, suggestions etc. are welcome. Please contact me at wf-hp@gmx.net.

In respects where information on this page is outdated (eg everything regarding the pairing process between phone and computer) please refer to the page on the Nokia 6125.

Some months ago I bought a Siemens S55 mobile phone. I wanted to be able to connect it to my laptop in case I was somewhere on the road and had to get internet-access.

Setting up the Bluetooth USB Dongle

I assume you have the USB-subsystem up and running.
If you are using hotplug, it will work out of the box, with usbmgr some customization will be necessary.

Step 1: Kernel-Config

It should work with a vanilla-kernel at least since kernel 2.4.21, I am using 2.4.22 and 2.4.24.

Compile (recommended: as a module) bluez.o, l2cap.o, rfcomm.o, hci_usb.o.

The necessary Parameters in the kernel-.config-file are
CONFIG_BLUEZ=m
CONFIG_BLUEZ_L2CAP=m
CONFIG_BLUEZ_SCO=m
CONFIG_BLUEZ_RFCOMM=m
CONFIG_BLUEZ_RFCOMM_TTY=y
CONFIG_BLUEZ_HCIUSB=m

Step 2: Install Necessary Software

Install the following software packages:

for debian users:
add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list:
for testing:
deb http://bluez.sourceforge.net/download/debian/ ./
for woody:
deb http://bluez.sourceforge.net/download/debian/woody/ ./
run: apt-get update

install the necessary packages:
apt-get install libbluetooth1 bluez-utils bluez-pin
for testing purposes:
apt-get install bluez-hcidump

for non-debian users:
Go to www.bluez.org
Download and compile/install bluez-libs, bluez-utils, bluez-pin, for testing purposes also bluez-hcidump.

Step 3: Configure USB-Subsystem

Good news if you are using hotplug: Everything will work out of the box.

If you are using usbmgr: add these lines to /etc/usbmgr/usbmgr.conf:

# Bluetooth Dongle Belkin F8T001 ver 2
vendor 0x50d product 0x81 module bluez, l2cap, hci_usb, rfcomm


Restart usbmgr.
Now the kernel-modules will be loaded automatically when connecting the bluetooth dongle.

Step 4: Bluetooth Setup

Plug in the Bluetooth-USB Adaptor.

check if the interface hci0 is up and running:

$ hciconfig
hci0:   Type: USB
        BD Address: 00:0A:3A:51:F0:55 ACL MTU: 192:8 SCO MTU: 64:8
        UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN
        RX bytes:69 acl:0 sco:0 events:8 errors:0
        TX bytes:27 acl:0 sco:0 commands:7 errors:0


Step 5: Connect S55

Start Bluetooth on your S55
Menu: 9-6-4

In the same submenu set 'visible to others' to 'always visible'.
Don't forget to switch back to 'Not visible' after finishing the setup.

Scan for the phone to get the hardware address. You could also get it from the bluetooth-submenu on the phone, but this is also a first test of the connection between computer and mobile.
On the right you see 'My BT Name' which you can configure on the phone.

$ hcitool scan
Scanning ...
        00:01:E3:6F:7E:47       You got me
$

You can ping the phone to test the connection:

$ l2ping 00:01:E3:6F:7E:47

Add the following lines to your /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf:

rfcomm0 {
 bind yes;
 # Bluetooth address of the device
 device 00:01:E3:6F:7E:47;
 # RFCOMM channel for the connection
 channel 0;
 # Description of the connection
 # IMPORTANT: comment must be the same as BT name of the phone
 comment "You got me";
}


In order to use the phone as a regular modem you need to bind /dev/rfcomm0 to the hardware-address of the phone.

$ rfcomm connect rfcomm0 00:01:E3:6F:7E:47

When connecting the two devices for the first time you might be asked to enter a PIN-Code on the phone. Enter some numbers and press 'Okay'
rfcomm will ask you to enter the PIN-Code for the mobile phone. Enter the same numbers and press <Enter>/Click Okay.
Both devices will now connect to each other.

Connected /dev/rfcomm0 to 00:01:E3:6F:7E:47 on channel 1
Press CTRL-C for hangup

Success!!
Now you can use /dev/rfcomm0 just like a serial device to connect to the BT-device.

Important:

When and if asking for the PIN-Code rfcomm will open a X-window. This means that the User you run rfcomm as needs to be able to access your X-Display (via ssh and X-forwarding or the $DISPLAY-Variable and MIT-COOKIES).

Important 2:

When using one BT-Dongle on several computers don't forget to delete the known-device-name of one computer when connecting to another, else the mobile phone won't connect.

Now you can use the mobile phone like a regular modem via /dev/rfcomm0. Fire up any terminal program like minicom to test and play.

Before closing the connection by switching off bluetooth on the mobile phone it might be advisable to run rfcomm release all (though I don't know what would happen if you did not).

Have fun!

Some interesting links:

Bluetooth Hardware Survey and links to other Howtos

Bluetooth at tuxmobil.org

AT-Commands for MC45

Written 2004-05-12 - last update 2005-06-21