Bluetooth GPS and VMWare

[wdeboer]

I first tried to get this question answered via a support request but VMWAre is reluctant to answer the question that way, which in my opinion is really sad. I responded on the same day even posted a tar.gz and heard nothing back yet. Now I will try it again on my birthday. Let's hope the hapiness of this day will come through their on the otherside of the globe.

Anyway I am trying to get a palmOne GPS Bluetooth Device \[1,2] working in a VMWAre virtual machine, the same device works perfectly via MacOSX or Windows XP under Boot Camp. Now I after I have installed Windows XP Pro with SP2 and the mandatory Windows Updates. I am trying to pair the Bluetooth device which works nicely. Meaning the device is listed in the Bluetooth devices control panel, it also created the incomg serial port as available by the device. On my computer this is COM6.

Now when I try to connect to COM6 using HyperTerminal after clicking all the DialUp stuff away. Nothing is coming in, while the same settings works nicely under BootCamp and the data is coming in. The same for MacOSX.

Any plans to support this?

http://www.palm.com/us/support/accessories/gps_navigator.html

http://www.time.com/time/gadget/20040804/

[RDPetruska]

If your host sees the device as a Serial COM port, then just point your VM's serial port configuration to use that port. In your guest, it will very likely be COM1.

[wdeboer]

The host sees it like /dev/tty.palmOneGPS-GPSSerialOut-1 if I for example do:

cat /dev/tty.palmOneGPS-GPSSerialOut-1

I can see the data coming in when Bluetooth is available under MacOSX.

I am not sure what you mean with your comment about COM1 because Widnows itself specifies COM6 as the one associated with the serial port of the Bluetooth device.

[RDPetruska]

I am not sure what you mean with your comment about

COM1 because Widnows itself specifies COM6 as the one

associated with the serial port of the Bluetooth

device.

Well, for starters, how did you create this guest? How did you define the serial port? If you did not define it, then how is the guest seeing the device?

[wdeboer]

I am not sure why you ask this, but okay:

Virtual Machine:

1. Create new Virtual Machine with Windows XP chars.

2. Insert Windows XP cd

3. Install Windows XP

4. Install Bootcamp drivers

5. Install VMWare Tools

Connecting GPS receiver

1. Power On the GPS receiver

2. Connect Bluetooth driver to the virtual machine

3. Discover the GPS receiver bluetooth device

4. Pair with the GPS receiver bluetooth device using code 0000

5. Checking properties of the device and notice outcoming serial port connection

associated with COM6 under Windows.

6. Connect to COM6 in HyperTerminal

[RDPetruska]

Wow. I admit I am completely lost by your responses.

If you are creating a new virtual machine, which by default should be using a virtual hard disk, then why on earth are you trying to install BootCamp drivers inside of the guest? The guest is not running in a BootCamp environment!??!

And, in your second section, how are you doing #2?

Post the vmx file of your guest. SOMEWHERE in its configuration you had to specify a serial port, if you expect the guest to be able to USE a serial port-connected device!

[wdeboer]

Yes, I am installing the Bootcamp drivers because thats needed to get Bluetooth, iSight working in the virtual machine. That's what messages in Fusion say

By pressing on the Apple Bluetooth Device USB device that you can find in the virtual machine toolbar on the right side. If you then connect it to the virtual machine it will belong to the VM meaning no Bluetooth anymore in OSX.

Message was edited by:

wdeboer

[admin]

wdeboer,

Your setup looks fine. As you've noted, the guest is seeing the bluetooth adapter itself and pairing with your device. RDPetruska's suggestion may work too, but they are different solutions to the same problem. In your solution, you are using the guest's bluetooth drivers and performing device pass-through at the USB level, whereas with RDPetruska's solution you are using the host's bluetooth drivers. The latter will allow you to share the bluetooth adapter itself between host and guest, but the former is more likely to correctly support all the features of your individual Bluetooth devices.

It's unusual that you would be able to pair with a bluetooth device in your VM, but then be unable to communicate with that device. If you have any other Bluetooth devices handy (such as a phone or another RFCOMM (serial) device) it would be informative to know whether you're having trouble accessing all Bluetooth serial devices, or whether you're having trouble with only the GPS receiver.

If you're still having trouble, try adding the following line to your .vmx file (while the VM is powered off or suspended) then re-trying the test. You should get a large vmware.log file in your virtual machine's directory. Attach that file (either here or in a SR) and I'll take a closer look. Make sure to remove the line from your vmx file afterwards, or you'll get a big log file on your disk every time you use USB in a VM. The line is:

usb.analyzer.present = "TRUE"

--Micah

[wdeboer]

Hi Micah,

Thanks for your reply!

Earlier I have tried to make a serial port via the .vmx configuration file only somehow its not accessible from VMWare. I am getting an error it can connect to the serial port as mentioned earlier. I will add your line.

I think GPS devices should just work, though. Because mobile phones and Nokia Suite software works fine.

[wdeboer]

I tried it today it seems to work in my newly created Virtual Machine which doesnt use the bootcamp partition. Really strange! I have removed the bootcamp partition because I didn't need to work in XNA (DirectorX 9 required) anymore.