How can I capture ASCII via Bluetooth?

Question

How can I capture ASCII via Bluetooth?

I want to be able to connect an old Bluetooth device that does not support files or file browsing, just plain upload or download streams (mostly ASCII text). On the PC there is a data capture program which receives the ASCII on a COM port via Bluetooth, but I seem to be stumbling to get this to work in VMWare because it shares the Bluetooth with my iMac, VMWare and Mac OS X both say that it is connected but the device doesn't agree (I have confirmed it does work on a real PC in the same edition of Windows), I am looking for a Mac OS X program to do the ASCII capture instead and any help in troubleshooting the connection.

The program should be fairly simple - just capture a stream of ASCII data to a text window or file. All that I can find on Mac OS X is file upload or download, but that is not supported by this device.

One thought - could it be that it is the iMac Bluetooth that is not supporting the device? It works fine with a Belkin USB Bluetooth dongle on a PC, but I don't know if that provides the same services as the iMac Bluetooth.

Thanks muchly.

EDIT: Plugging in the Belkin USB Bluetooth dongle to the iMac just chucks everything off Bluetooth, so that's keyboard and mouse / trackpad, which makes the iMac unusable. Unplugging the dongle makes them reconnect. Can't say that I'm particularly impressed by this - why can't Mac OS handle two separate Bluetooth hosts?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7), iMac 27 inch i5

Posted on Jul 1, 2012 5:46 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 2, 2012 10:10 AM in response to Jonathan Mortimer

OK, after looking more closely at the Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter when plugged into a PC and with the provided software loaded, it lists several services such as headset, video, etc. At the bottom was Serial, and I expect this is what my Bluetooth device requires (SPP - Serial Port Profile).

So, does anyone know if the Apple Bluetooth stack supports SPP?

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 16, 2012 11:18 AM in response to Jonathan Mortimer

Apparently nobody here knows (or cares?) about Bluetooth SPP.

I have worked around the problem by using the devices serial port instead, I built an RS232 serial cable and acquired a serial - USB dongle, downloaded the drivers (which are current and available for all platforms, thankfully) so now I am able to communicate with my device successfully in Windows running in VMWare Fusions.

I don't expect to find any native Mac OS software that will capture from a COM port, even though that method of communication is technically still supported in the OS (I think, otherwise why would the serial - USB driver exist for Mac OS X?) Would like to have been able to do this without relying on Windows, that's all.

This has solved my problem for this device.

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 16, 2012 12:11 PM in response to Jonathan Mortimer

Actually, I just found something, it was just a matter of knowing what search terms to use. A home-brew serial port monitor, exactly what I was looking for. In case anyone else was looking for this kind of thing, it's here:

Serial Tools by Kon Chen. Thank you Mr Chen!

Reply