Tethering blackberry 8830 on Ubuntu Linux with Bluetooth

Figuring out how to get my blackberry to tether with Ubuntu linux was a pain. I had to reference several different websites and take a little information from each to come up with a working solution. Here are the steps I took in order to get it to work for me. Some steps may be 'extras' as I did a lot of different things before coming to a working solution. I have not went through to figure out exactly what got it working. I may come back to clean this up a little later.

Pairing your blackberry with your computer over bluetooth

1. Install Blueman Bluetooth manager (replacing bluez):
   
   • echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
   • gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring /tmp/awn.keyring --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 947C4F7371932C794B153F0F6B15AB91951DC1E2 && gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring /tmp/awn.keyring --export --armor 947C4F7371932C794B153F0F6B15AB91951DC1E2 | sudo apt-key add - && rm /tmp/awn.keyring
   • sudo apt-get update
   • sudo apt-get install blueman bluetooth bluez bluez-alsa bluez-cups bluez-gstreamer bluez-utils libbluetooth3 libbluetooth-dev bluez-compat bluez-pcmcia-support
2. run blueman-manager or reboot if you don't know how
3. Make sure bluetooth is enabled on your blackberry
4. Make sure your blackberry is discoverable
   
5. Right-click on the bluetooth icon in the taskbar, select Setup New Device…
6. Click "Forward" button to proceed with searching for bluetooth devices
   
7. Find your blackberry, select it and then click the "Forward" button
8. Select "Don't connect" and click the "Forward" button
9. Choose a pin to send to blackberry
10. Enter pin on blackberry
    
11. This should pair your blackberry with your computer

The steps above may not be needed. You may be able to utilize bluez-gnome for your pairing needs. I did the above steps (based off of the following blogpost of someone else: http://lnxg.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/tethering-a-blackberry-curve-and-linux/) hoping that blueman would go all the way on automatically configuring the DUN part also (the part I had you skip). However, for me, it was saying that I did not have a GPRS/CDMA capable device. However, I kept blueman because I liked it more then bluez functionality wise.

Figuring out device MAC with blueman:

1. Click on the blueman applet
2. You will see a list of bluetooth devices. Each displays a MAC address. Write down the MAC address for your blackberry

Figure out device MAC with hcitool:

1. On the host (the computer that will connect to the BlackBerry), run:
   
   • hcitool scan
2. The output will return a MAC address and device name. Write down the MAC address for your blackberry.

You can also get the MAC by checking around the blackberry bluetooth menus/options.

Configuring rfcomm.conf

1. We need to get the channel for the DUN service provided by your blackberry:
   

   • sdptool search DUN

   • You should see something similar to the following output:
     

     Service Name: Dialup Networking
     Service RecHandle: 0x10000
     Service Class ID List:
     "Dialup Networking" (0x1103)
     "Generic Networking" (0x1201)
     Protocol Descriptor List:
     "L2CAP" (0x0100)
     "RFCOMM" (0x0003)
     Channel: 1
     Profile Descriptor List:
     "Dialup Networking" (0x1103)
     Version: 0x0100

2. From the example above, we would use Channel 1. Yours may be different.
3. Now let's edit /etc/bluetooth/rfcomm.conf. It should by similar to the following, replacing the channel and MAC with your values:
   

   • //Change to rfcomm1, rfcomm2, etc., if necessary
     rfcomm0 {
     # Automatically bind the device at startup
     bind yes;
     
     # Bluetooth address of the blackberry device
     device 00:11:22:33:44:55;
     
     # RFCOMM channel for the connection
     # This should match the channel number from the sdptool output
     channel 1;
     
     # Description of the connection (whatever you want to call it)
     comment "BlackBerry DUN";
     }

4. Now restart bluetooth:
   
   • /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart
5. Check that /dev/rfcomm0 exists:
   
   • ls -l /dev/rfcomm0
6. If it doesn't, create it manually:
   

   • rfcomm bind 0 your-phone-mac-address your-phone-rfcomm-channel
     

     • You can then release it (delete /dev/rfcomm0) by:
       

       • rfcomm release 0

Configuring PPP

1. First we will create the chatscript that PPP will use. The following steps should work for ATT/Cingular. Different providers will require different contents for the chatscript. You can reference the following link for some ideas for other carriers: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BluetoothDialup#Carrier%20specific%20configuration%20info
   
   1. Start editting a file
      
      • vi /etc/chatscripts/att
   2. Add the following to the file:
      

      • # Activate the device and pause before sending additional AT commands.
        '' AT+CFUN=1
        '' AT
        
        # Verify GPRS Attach prior to attempting PDP Context negotiation.
        '' AT+CGREG=1
        
        # Define the PDP context.  THIS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT CARRIERS.
        OK AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","isp.cingular"
        
        # Set the dialing string and specify which PDP Context definition to use.
        # THIS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT CARRIERS.
        OK ATDT*99***1#
        
        # Attempt to connect.
        '' CONNECT

2. Now we will setup the PPP password file(s) to authenticate with the provider over the tether. Again, this information is specific to ATT/Cingular as a provider:
   
   1. vi /etc/ppp/chap-secrets
   2. Add the following information:
      

      • WAP\@CINGULARGPRS\.COM  *       CINGULAR1

   3. vi /etc/ppp/pap-secrets
   4. Add the following information:
      

      • "WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM" * "CINGULAR1"

3. Now we will setup the PPP script that, again specific to ATT/Cingular:
   
   1. vi /etc/ppp/peers/att
   2. Add the following information:
      

      • lcp-echo-failure 0
        lcp-echo-interval 0
        hide-password
        noauth
        connect "/usr/sbin/chat -v -f /etc/chatscripts/att"
        debug
        /dev/rfcomm0 115200
        defaultroute
        noipdefault
        user "WAP@CINGULARGRPS.COM"
        remotename att.new
        ipparam att.new
        usepeerdns

All configuration items should now be complete. We can now try to initialize a tether with our blackberry.

Initiate Blackberry Tether

1. Check if you have any routes setup
   
   • route -n
     
     • If you have routes in your routing table, disable all of the devices (under column Iface). We need a clear routing table to have this work correctly.
2. Now we will turn on the PPP for att.net
   
   • pon att.new
     
     • You can watch /var/log/messages to see if it works correctly or errors with a code/description
       
3. If everything worked, you should now have a pan0 and ppp0 interface in your network list
   
   • ifconfig -a | grep -P 'ppp|pan'
4. Check your routing table to make sure routes are setup for this new ppp device:
   
   • route -n
5. Take your connection on a test drive!

Disconnecting

1. To disconnect you need to turn off ppp:
   
   • poff att.new
     

References

Listed are the links that I referenced and combined information from to get to this point.

• http://lnxg.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/tethering-a-blackberry-curve-and-linux/
• https://launchpad.net/blueman
  
  • https://bugs.launchpad.net/blueman/+bug/361947
• http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/BlackBerry_over_Bluetooth
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BluetoothDialup#Carrier%20specific%20configuration%20info
  
  • https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BluetoothDialup/Cingular