Samsung Galaxy S I9000 (Android 2.1/Eclair) and Skoda GSMIII Bluetooth Prep

Okay, not really a "how to", but some consolidated thoughts from my recent experience. Someone might find these useful... I suppose I have to make the disclaimer that this is only based on what I saw on my one-year-old Skoda Octavia, so I can't vouch for later GSM modules or indeed anything fitted to Superbs, Yetis, VWs, Audis, Seats, Bentleys, Mercedes(es?), BMWs or anything else using rSAP, but the principle should be sound. YMMV, as the saying goes.

First, it's entirely true that this 'phone supports the rSAP Bluetooth profile - the remote SIM access protocol (also sometimes called SAP or remote SIM mode). I believe it remains unique as an Android handset that supports this: most others in the running are Nokias and some later Blackberry devices. And no, iPhones don't support it either, before you ask.

Second, it's also true that the support isn't 100%, and one of the casualties is that you can't sync your contacts with the car - at least, not all of them. The difference is that while a fully-compatible 'phone (e.g. an old Nokia) would allow you to sync the 'phone contacts, the Samsung only allows you to sync SIM card contacts instead. These are typically limited in complexity (only one number per name) and in number (the memory of your SIM card could be as little as 16kb so fills up fast, especially if it's storing SMS messages or anything else).

Yes, you can copy your contacts from old 'phone to SIM card, but you will lose information. Instead of having one contact with four numbers, as an example:

Fred Bloggs

Office

Mobile

Home

Other

... you'd have to store four separate contacts, one with each number you want to remember:

Fred Bloggs - Office

Fred Bloggs - Mobile

Fred Bloggs - Home

Fred Bloggs - Other

Do that for 50 people and your SIM card is likely to be full pretty quickly. I have several hundred contacts with several numbers each, so even a SIM card change to one with more memory was a dead end for me.

However, you can still use a workaround to get your proper contacts onto the car kit (and hence Maxidot/Columbus), especially if you're migrating from an existing 'phone that is fully supported (I did this with a Nokia E61). Broadly:

1. Set up your old phone so that it syncs with Outlook or similar (PCSync on a Nokia)

2. Sync

3. Set up the Galaxy so that it also syncs with Outlook or similar (Kies on the Samsung)

4. Sync

... you now have the same data on each device with Outlook as the middleman. You can probably use other services, or even maybe export and re-import (e.g. CSV)... but Outlook is common and effective. A quick scout on the Internet suggests that exporting as VCF would work, or check out kigoo or miqlive.com perhaps. That said, a compatible Nokia is probably the safest bet and most people will have one lurking in a drawer/a friend’s drawer even if you only set it up for this purpose.

5. Pair and connect the old phone with the BT module (Maxidot - create new user, search for devices, 16-digit code, etc.)

6. Upload the address book to the car

7. Swap the SIM card into the Galaxy

8. Using the same user, try to connect... it will fail with the new 'phone, so search for devices (make sure that the Galaxy's BT visibility is on and that the new 'phone has a different device name to the old one)

9. When the car sees the 'phone, connect and re-pair

... and that's it. You're now connected to the GSMIII, but the fact that you're using a different device doesn't matter. As far as I can see, the Bluetooth module only really cares about the user name (which is the same) and the SIM card (which is the same) - so the address book you loaded previously simply follows you to the new device since the car just says "oh, it's him again" and then uses the information it loaded before.

The downside is that you obviously can't just sync the address book every time something changes…. if you sync your car with the Galaxy you will lose your contacts, since it will over-write the car’s address book with the ‘phone’s SIM card address book. However, if you keep the old device, it's not too hard to wait until you've had a few changes and then:

1. Sync your Galaxy with Outlook (which you probably do anyway) - assuming you make changes on Outlook or on your 'phone, these now both have the correct "master" details

2. Sync your old 'phone with Outlook - now it has the "master" details as well

3. Pop the SIM into your old 'phone

4. Connect the car - fail - search for new devices - find, connect (no pairing needed, you did that before)

5. Upload the new address book

6. SIM back into new 'phone, connect, fail, search, find, connect (no pairing needed - again, already done)

7. Done

Genuinely only a couple of minutes once you know what you’re doing.

Gotchas

Yes, there are a couple. In addition to the somewhat clunky way of updating the address book, I've noticed that a power-cycle of the 'phone means that the car can't immediately connect. Easy to fix: Bluetooth visibility on, search for devices, find it, connect and off it goes. But a minor nuisance nevertheless.

It may also be the case that this happens if Bluetooth is switched off for any reason (as power cycling the 'phone would clearly do). I haven't tested this, though. However, if it is the case - and Bluetooth may be shut down as a power-saving measure, for example, as well as it closing down for some USB connections, e.g. to sync with Kies - then you simply have to reconnect as above.

Another point… Kies does not work properly if you’re running One Click Lag Fix… it reports that it’s syncing to the ‘phone, but then tells you that the ‘phone isn’t connected if you try to check your contacts are there. And they’re not, anyway, so there's no real point in looking! Options here are to remove OCLF (temporarily, at least) before syncing, or use one of the other approaches above.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

As always when I touch anything with a CPU, I had a disaster en route. I don't know what caused it, but my suspicion is some combination of rooting the 'phone, installing a lag fix and/or various other kernel mods (different disc scheduling etc.) that I applied. Whatever caused it, the result was some or all of:

1. An abject failure to see the 'phone at all no matter how many times I searched for it, un-paired, tried to re-pair, etc.

2. A connection, but no signal - blank bars on Maxidot, "no network" on the Columbus - but calls still could be made

3. A connection with no signal as above, but with "network error" if I tried to make a call - so genuinely no signal, I guess!

4. If it did connect, a subsequent failure to decouple from the 'phone - so no combination of ignition off, walk away for half an hour, 'phone Bluetooth off, 'phone "end SIM access mode" or anything else would give the SIM identity back to the handset.

In these cases, a reboot was necessary to get the 'phone functioning again... until that point, I'd just get an "insert SIM card" error at best, presumably because the 'phone hadn't re-asserted its identity on the network and so my SIM was logically still in the carkit, not in the handset.

Anyway, I uninstalled everything bit by bit... I wiped data... I did a full factory recovery... several times... and none of this worked. Indeed, all it did was screw my 'phone to the point where I had to snout around the internet until I could re-flash the firmware (the answer was "Odin" and "XXJM1" - you'll understand if you have to ask the question...). After that, the 'phone is back to normal - interestingly, with some of the suspicious changes re-applied (root, lag fix) so I've decided I really don't need the other mods just yet... mind you, a firmware upgrade to Froyo or the Voodoo kernel/filesystem is still tempting so long as my wife doesn't spot me breaking what I only just managed to fix...

Update: while I was writing this, my problems came back, so I’ve had to rebuild the ‘phone again – this time without rooting it and thus without OCLF as well. I’m overly-confident that this will be the end of the issue here – and, whatever the cause, it’s nothing to do with the twin-phone method I’ve described here, so don’t let that put you off!

And that's it. A bit of a stream-of-consciousness, but I hope that helps someone out there enjoy the world of Android, GSMIII and rSAP, at least until rSAP becomes more widely adopted or dies in favour of a resurrected HFP as the dominant profile.

Cheers...

Ian

Edited 2 November, 201015 yr by Prof Yaffle

Hi

I am from Singapore and the same thing is happening to me. I have rebot my phone many times, updated with the latest software and still when connect to the car system, it keep showing no network.

If ever you have a solution to this, do let me know.Thanks

Hi, ORS - are you running any root mods, lagfixes, non-standard kernels or similar? Or is it a basic build?

My 'phone has been far better behaved since I stopped trying to break it... actually, all I've done is pause until I find some more creative ways in which to break it, but that's a different story...

But certainly introducing the One Click Lag Fix (loopback ext partition) coincided with the problem appearing... and removing it means I've spent several hours on the 'phone this week with no trouble at all...

3. A connection with no signal as above, but with "network error" if I tried to make a call - so genuinely no signal, I guess!

4. If it did connect, a subsequent failure to decouple from the 'phone - so no combination of ignition off, walk away for half an hour, 'phone Bluetooth off, 'phone "end SIM access mode" or anything else would give the SIM identity back to the handset.

Cheers...

Ian

Hello Ian (PROF YAFFLE)

I have become victim of buying the Skoda Superb Estate with Columbus assuming the iphone would work, obviously it did not and unfortunately I did not see your post, I only saw a few others where the Galaxy S has worked, so like a bull in a china shop I went out and spent some hard earned on a Samsung Galaxy S I9000.

Anyway, I am at breaking point, I have managed to get the phone to pair up, the columbus and the maxi dot show the phone name but as your 2 & 3 no joy! Now the really frustrating bit, It has connected three times now! But as you mention it will not repeat.

I have given myself a crash course in rooting the phone, lag fixing etc but to no avail, Factory resets on both handset and columbus also. The phone is now reinstated. My suspicions lye with the phone not "letting go" but I am far from an expert!

I posted in the desperate hope that you might have now found a solution?

Added:

Firmware 2.1 update1

Baseband I9000ADJM1

Kernal 2.6.29 root@se-s608 #2

Build Eclair.ADJM1

Edited 13 November, 201015 yr by istruggle2gate11

Sorry, Rog - I only just noticed the post.

I mostly had success, but still had the odd weird moment... like you, I came to the conclusion that it was the 'phone not "letting go" in some way... I even started sniffing around the Bluez bluetooth stack and the architecture of Bluetooth profiles, but my head melted at that point so I surrendered.

In the end, after stripping all modifications off the 'phone and reflashing to stock firmware, I flashed to 2.2/Froyo (JPO from memory, the 'phone's not to hand at the moment). It's been pretty much perfect ever since... behaves exactly as expected, and has done every time bar one when the Maxidot reported a connection was made, then no signal, then "no BT connection to phone"... a simple "Connect Device" and I was back to normal, though.

So, I'd suggest trying that if you haven't already done so in the meantime... I can give you the benefit of my limited experience here if you need it (PM me, I'm more likely to see an email notification come in). Since then, I've rooted and lagfixed the 'phone again using Voodoo (pre6) and it's been perfectly happy.

Ian

Hi there,

I joined the forum today since I have a strange problem and Google-ing around gave me no clue what might be wrong. I have a Skoda Superb II equipped with GSMIII and Columbus/RNS510. I have also a Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 originally running the 2.1 Eclair operating system. So far so good, the phone was pairing with the Columbus every time without a single issue (I used to switch off the bluetooth radio in the phone only overnight so that every time I jump into the car the connection can be established instantly); also the phone-book was synchronized every time I added a contact to the phone-book in phone's memory (I have no contacts in the SIM card). Few days ago I had the long expected opportunity to upgrade to Froyo; now my phone is running firmware version 2.2.1, baseband version I9000XXJPY, kernel version 2.6.32.9 root@DELL92 #1, build number FROYO.XFJS3. From that moment the behavior of the pairing of the phone to Columbus is unpredictable. Sometimes it connects instantly, sometimes I get the message that there is no phone to connect to, sometimes the message is that Columbus cannot connect to the phone... I figured out that I have the best chance to get connected if I turn off the bluetooth in the phone when the car is stopped and turn it on just before starting the engine. Still, the connection is not successful every time; sometimes I have to search for the phone and type in the 16 digit password. Moreover, I am unable to synchronize the phone-book; Columbus tries every time the connection is successful, but then reports an error message.

Is there anyone having similar problems and most importantly is there anything I can do to restore the old reliable functionality without flashing the phone back to Eclair? Any suggestion is welcome. Thanks in advance.

I can't offer any solutions, I'm afraid. My 'phone works perfectly for days at a time... and then I'll get in and it just won't connect. "Connection not possible", "no Bluetooth connection to 'phone", and similar. I've always got it to connect, though, by simply trying again a couple of times.

I've never worked out if there's any pattern: whether the 'phone is in my pocket and which pocket, whether it's charging or not, whether the wind is blowing from the east or the west. It appears random. It does seem to depend on how long it's been since I last connected - if I leave the car for a day or two, I'm more likely to get problems than if I leave it for an hour or two. But other than that...?

I don't turn BT off at all, by the way, except when I'm on a 'plane (a couple of times a month).

The Galaxy is not perfect... my old Nokias connected first time, every time, perfectly, and this doesn't. But, it remains the best package for me - it's a great smartphone, it *does* work with rSAP, and it's not fruit-based in any way!