Ramblings

Less hassle, less costs

Last time I wanted to set up p3nfs I didn't succeed for unknown reasons, this led me to do some research on the possibilities on using my personal computer as a gateway for the mobile device. After some googling and experimenting the result was succesful.

It turns out it is possible to use TCP/IP over Bluetooth from a Symbian phone via your computer and out to the Internet. To many companies, using this method for bug-testing and development might result in huge cost reductions. For some reason it seems to be a cumbersome task and at least Nokia hasn't exactly encouraged this possibility. I'll merely summarize what I have found on the Internet that let me use a Nokia 6600 phone with Symbian thru a laptop with Ubuntu connected to the Internet.

Jammin' the bluez

We'll start by installing the correct packages on Ubuntu (For MS Windows instructions check out this article).

Your kernel must have PPP(d) and Bluez support (stock Ubuntu has that). If not check this article for more info on which kernel options that must be set.

sudo apt-get install ppp bluez-utils bluez-pin iptables

Edit /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf:

options {
  autoinit yes;
  security user;
  pairing multi;
  pin_helper /usr/bin/bluez-pin; # a program that returns a pin code, in this a pop-up dialog is used.
}

device {
  name "%h-%d"; # %d - device id, %h - host name
  class 0x100;
  iscan enable;
  pscan enable;
  lm accept;
  lp hold,sniff,park;
} 

Activate modules:

sudo modprobe rfcomm bluetooth

Ensure that /dev/rfcomm? exists:

sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/rfcomm0 c 216 0
sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/rfcomm1 c 216 0
sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/rfcomm2 c 216 0

Get up hci0 if not done automatically when inserting bluetooth device:

sudo hciconfig hci0 up

Phone setup

Sat up an access point that uses Bluetooth: Tools > Settings > Connection > Access points

Connection name: Bt (this must be named exactly like this)
Data bearer: Data call
Dial-up number: 123 (this will be removed by gnubox anyway)
User name: None
Prompt password:  No
Password: None
Authentication: Normal
Homepage: None
Data call type: Analogue
Maximum data speed: Automatic

While still being in the same screen go to: Options > Advanced settings

Phone ip address: Automatic
Primary name server: 0.0.0.0
Second. name server: 0.0.0.0
Proxy serv. address: None
Proxy port number: 0
Use callback: No
Callback type: User server no.
Callback number: None
Use PPP Compression: Yes
Use login script: No
Login script: None
Modem initialisation: None

Activate bluetooth on the phone: Connectivity > Bluetooth

Bluetooth: On
My phone's visibility: Shown to all
My phone's name: myPhone

Download Gnubox for your cellphone from this page.

Start Gnubox (might need a reboot of the phone to work properly). Tell it to use Bluetooth: Options > 2Box Direct > Bluetooth

On the computer check that you can see the phone with:

sudo hcitool scan

We have a lift-off

Start the network daemon:

sudo sdptool add --channel=0 SP
sudo dund -n --listen --channel 0 --msdun noauth 192.168.1.1:192.168.1.2 crtscts 115200 ms-dns 192.168.1.10 lock

192.168.1.1 - address of computer
192.168.1.2 - will end up as phone address
192.168.1.10 - address to a DNS server (use a real one to be able to resolve hostnames)

Mind you, you might want to use another address range than the one you are using already. for instance if you are on a network using 10.0.0.x addresses, going with 192.168.1.x like I did seems like an ok solution. (specially for the NAT-ing part)

In another shell bind the device and activate it:

rfcomm bind 0 00:11:22:33:44:55 2
echo x > /dev/rfcomm0

00:11:22:33:44:55 - the phone id that you found with sudo hcitool scan

Starting Opera on the phone using the Access point "Bt" should now let you access the computer from within the phone. You can test this by setting up a web-server on the computer and using the ip 192.168.1.2 (or whatever you et it to be) in the web browser.

Going all the way

I did promise that you would be able to surf and unless you have downloaded the Internet to your computer, or you are running a proxy of some sort, you still can't get any place from the phone. We need to set up some translation. This means basically to tell the computer to be a middle-man when the phone tries to connect to non-local IPs. Outgoing requests are sent to a host on the internet thru the computer, but the answer is sent to the computer but it doesn't necessarily know that it's for the phone. We set up a NAT (Network address translation) rule.

sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j MASQUERADE

And activate the IP4 forwarding:

# echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

If everything went well, you should now be able to surf the internet from your phone, thru your local network instead of wasting money using your local telco.

If you find errors in this article or found it useful, don't hesitate in posting a comment. Also make sure you send your appreciations to the Gnubox author and the ones providing similar instructions. I have listed most beneath.

Running it all in a batch

External links

• Gnubox
• Bluetooth WAP/Sync/Internet - Window and Mac instructions too.
• Playing with Series 60 Phones and Linux
• Connecting your 6600 to the internet via Bluetooth and PPP under Linux
• Connecting Nokia 6600 and Linux over Bluetooth HOWTO