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Palm's Bluetooth SDIO card works with the Palm m500, m505, m515, m125, m130 and i705. With the division of Palm, Inc into two companies (PalmSource for Palm OS and Palm's device group for hardware) you need to get the Bluetooth software from two locations:
  • Download the base Bluetooth software from the Resource Pavilion.
    After logging in, click on "Palm OS Development Seeding Area" then "Bluetooth Resources"
  • Download the SDIO slot driver, Bluetooth transport driver and Emulator tool from the PluggedIn Program.
    To get the software that ships with the SDIO card and the Emulator tool (SDTool.prc) you should log in and click on "Development" then "Palm Bluetooth". The shipping software - but not SDTool.prc - is also on Palm's web site (here). An update to the shipping software has been posted here.
Running Bluetooth on a real Palm handheld
  1. Download the base PRC's from the Resource Pavilion
    After unzipping the bluetoothPRC-beta1.zip file, you should have the following files:
    • BluetoothPnl.prc (Bluetooth preference panel)
    • BtCommVdrvr.prc (Bluetooth virtual serial driver)
    • BtExgLib.prc (Bluetooth exchange library)
    • BtLib.prc (Library containing developer API's)
    • BtStackLib.prc (Bluetooth stack)
    • BtTransportSULib.prc (Transport driver for EZ-based devices - for Emulator use only!)
    • ConnectionPnl.prc (Bluetooth-aware connection panel)
    • BluetoothExt.prc (Extension, installs Bluetooth on reset)
    • BtLibTest.prc (Bluetooth sample application)
    • BtPiconet.prc (Bluetooth sample application)
    • Whiteboard.prc (Bluetooth sample application)
    • TicTacToe.prc (Bluetooth sample application)
  2. Download the SDIO-specific PRC's from the PluggedIn Program as described above. In the event that the same file exists in both downloads, use the file that you obtained from the PluggedIn Program.
    After unzipping the downloaded file, you should have the following files (and a few others):
    • SlotDrvrSDIO_enUS.prc (Enables handheld to recognize SDIO cards)
      The m130 and m515 have the slot driver in ROM, so there's no need to use this file on those handhelds
    • BtTransportSDLib.prc (Bluetooth transport driver for the SDIO card)
    • SDTool.prc (Utility to enable development using the Emulator)
  3. Use HotSync to transfer all the above PRC files onto your handheld.
    SDtool.prc and BtTransportSULib.prc are not needed, but there's no harm in having them on your handheld
  4. Perform a soft reset by pressing the reset button at the back of the handheld with a paper clip. The soft reset should happen automatically after a HotSync
  5. Make sure the Bluetooth SDIO card is inserted into the handheld
  6. Run "BtLibTest". Tap Menu, then Lib -> Open. You should see "Discoverable and Connectable" if the Bluetooth stack is able to communicate with the SDIO card
You may see one of the following error messages on your Palm handheld:
  • "The handheld cannot recognized this card" - SDIO slot driver (SlotDrvrSDIO_enUS.prc) not installed
  • "Could not find BtLib" - SDIO transport driver (BtTransportSDLib.prc) not installed

Running Bluetooth on the Emulator
  1. Download the SDIO-specific PRC's from the PluggedIn Program
    You need the following files:
    • SlotDrvrSDIO_enUS.prc (Bluetooth transport driver for the SDIO card)
      The m130 and m515 have the slot driver in ROM, so there's no need to use this file on those handhelds
    • SDTool.prc (Utility to enable development using the Emulator)
  2. Use HotSync to transfer the two PRC files onto your handheld. If you like, you can HotSync all the PRC files onto your handheld - there's no harm in doing so
  3. Insert the Bluetooth SDIO card into the Palm handheld
  4. Place the Palm handheld into the serial cradle supplied with the Bluetooth SDIO developer kit
  5. Connect the cradle to one of your PC's COM ports (no, you cannot use USB)
  6. Download the base PRC's from the Resource Pavilion
    Unzip the bluetoothPRC-beta1.zip file
  7. Launch the Palm OS Emulator. Use a ROM image file as recommended in the Resource Pavilion
    The supplied Bluetooth transport driver is for a DragonBall EZ based device, like the Palm Vx.
  8. Configure the Emulator to use the COM port you connected the cradle to:
    • Right-click on the Emulator window
    • Choose Settings -> Properties
    • Set the serial port to be the COM port that you attached the cradle to
  9. You should disable the Palm OS Global variable check. Right-click on the Emulator window. Choose Settings -> Debugging and uncheck "System Global Access". I normally disable the "Low memory access" check too
  10. Drag & drop the base Bluetooth PRC files onto the Emulator. Do not load any of the SDIO-specific PRC files onto the Emulator. Specifically, you must use the BtTransportSULib.prc file and not BtTransportSDLib.prc because the Emulator communicates with the SDIO card as if it was a serial device
  11. Do a soft-reset of the Emulator
  12. Launch the SDTool application on the Palm handheld
  13. Run "BtLibTest". Tap Menu, then Lib -> Open. You should see "Discoverable and Connectable" if the Bluetooth stack is able to communicate with the SDIO card
Possible errors:
  • "Could not find BtLib"
    1. Are you using the correct ROM image? You must use a DragonBall EZ ROM (like the Vx)
    2. Did you soft-reset the Emulator after loading the PRC files?
    3. Are you using BtTransportSULib.prc (not BtTransportSDLib.prc)
  • "BtLib Opened" followed by "Radio failed"
    1. Have you configured the Emulator to use the correct COM port?
    2. Is the handheld on the cradle?
    3. Is the SDIO card in the handheld?
    4. Is the SDTool application running on the handheld?

Removing the Bluetooth PRC files from your handheld

Some PRC files are opened when the Bluetooth Extension (BluetoothExt.prc) is run and cannot be deleted the normal way. To delete the Bluetooth files you can do one of the following:

  • Perform a hard-reset (hold down the power key while pressing the reset button)
    Warning: this will erase all the data on your handheld!
  • Perform a no-notify reset (hold down the up key while pressing the reset button)
    You can now delete the Bluetooth PRC files. You must soft-reset your handheld after doing this otherwise services like Ir OBEX won't run

Note:
You should test your application with a retail version of the SDIO card and Bluetooth software before shipping it.

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