Navigation through Bluetooth, it does work

[RickJ]

Yesterday while doing some work (with phone in pocket) my phone dialed some number as it tends to do once in a while. I heard it dial (the boop boop boop noise) but no ring so didnt bother to take it out to hang up. I could hear a little static once in a which I later understood to be the BT connection open. A little while later I left the job and used the navigation to head back home. To my surprise (darn near made me crap myself) navigation directions came through the BT (plantronics discovery 975)

Initially I thought maybe there was an automatic update, but after receiving another call the navigation was back to speaker.

This morning I decided to try to replicate the situation.
I went through my call logs and found my phone dialed ?9797**. Thats right, a question mark. I cannot figure out a combination that will allow a question mark on the dialer.

I saved that call in my contacts (as Btooth) so I can dial it. Sure enough it works every time. I dial it, it goes boop boop boop, then immediately goes back to the dialer screen (no ringing, no ongoing call screen). The BT connection is open (can occasionally hear some static / pop noise)and can start nav and hear the directions through BT. Dial the number again and It shows "Call ended" and the BT disconnects

Well for what its worth, If anyone can figure out how to dial a ?, its not too much trouble to speed dial off the home screen before starting nav in order to have this feature IMO. Of course it would be better if it was designed into it.

 

[RickJ]

ANNNDDD, this also works for voicemail, very convenient!

Just have to remember to disconnect otherwise will have likely have bt and phone battery drain issues

 

[RickJ]

WAIT, WAIT FOR IT... It will also play music through the BT as well!

 

[pdrhan]

How do you key in the questionmark from within the dialerscreen??
Sounds like a hoax if this shall work....

 

[RickJ]

Sorry this should have been under the Sprint HTC Hero Subforum.

I dont know what combination allowed a question mark, however after some further reading, an entry of ** (which changes to a p ) on the sprint Hero does the same thing. Dialing this opens the BT connection indefinatley. Dialing it again closes the connection

The workaround on the sprint version, is to create a contact with P as the number. When you create a contact, you are allowed numbers 1-0, parenthesis, +,- period comma dash asterisk pound and the letters P and W, (pause and wait?) Save this contact to the home screen for quick access to open and close the connection.

Note that the dailer screen does not have these other options, they are only available on the create contact screen. On our phones you can dial ** for the same effect, however saving ** as a contact does not work.

I dont know if this will work, or if you have the same options for your phones in your location

 

[shiner-bock-beer]

So on a Sprint Hero, what is the character string to enter and save to turn on BT?

 

[dan330]

I have a plantronics voyager stereo Bluetooth... only use one side... this works automatic

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

[peterc10]

A couple of months ago I had the same thing happened to my GSM Hero. I made an accidental phone call to an odd number and suddenly the sat nav instructions and music started using the Handsfree/Headset Bluetooth profile rather than the A2DP one, and so started coming through my Parrot car kit (which did not have A2DP). And just like you it went away again when I made another call. I could never figure out what had happened, but I must have done the same as you. Mind you the music sounded pretty terrible because it was poor quality mono.

Since then I have got a newer car, which has a Bury CC9060 BT car kit and, when I installed the latest sotware on it, it has a setting that enables it to pick up the A2DP output and still put it through the car speakers, so I get my sat nav instructions anyway.

 

[RickJ]

I'll try to explain it again, sorry it will be so long and is pretty much a repeat.

First off try and enter ** (asterisk, asterisk) on the dialing screen, and then call. On the sprint hero this will immediately change to a P as you enter the second asterisk. If it doesnt change on your versions then you will likely get a message akin to invalid code and probably are out of luck.

The phone will say call ended right away,and go back to the dailer screen. The bt connection will now be open on the Sprint version - nav voicmail and music (yes, horrible sounding) will come through the BT. Dialing the same will close the connection. On my bluetooth earpiece, Plantronics discovery, I will hear the boop boop boop indicating a call started, however it will not actually dial a number, or ring.

If that works go to your create contact screen, create a contact with whatever name, and check to see if you have the option to enter a P only. Again, on the Sprint version you can enter not only numbers but several characters and the letters P and W. Saving ** does not work as it will actually try to make a call and give you a recording of invalid feature code.

Assuming that works, shortcut the contact to home screen (mine says call BToo) and you can now open and close the BT connection at will. If you receive a call while the connection is open, the connection will close after the call is ended and you will need to dial P again to re-open.

As far as the strange number my pocket entered, starting with a ?, I can not figure out what string or combination created the question mark. As it turns out it seems that the ? only prevented the phone from dialing a number and what turned on the BT was the double asterisk.

My wifes car has an Avic D3 w/ BT A2DP module. Music plays nicely but not sure if NAV (not needed anyway) or VM play through it. My worktruck has no such system so NAV through the BT earpiece is very valuable. I have gotten so used to using my BT earpiece that I actually hate to hold the phone to my ear now, so having VM through the earpiece is absolutely indispensible. It was one of the major dissapointments I had after getting the Hero.

 

[Drazil]

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I tried it just now and the 'p' appears but when I hit call it says "connection problem or invalid mmi code". This is on villain 5.5 which is based on the sprint rom. So either it doesn't work or it's my earpiece (jawbone 2).

Two asterisks is a 'p'
Three asterisks is a 'w'

 

[RickJ]

Sorry to hear that. I see more than a few reports of that error when people try to log into phone systems that requires pauses and waits. Not sure how a custom rom would affect this or if it is specific programming from/for your provider. I would maybe try adding a couple random digits afterwards to see if that makes a difference.

I would highly doubt that the earpiece itself would make a difference

 

[shiner-bock-beer]

Thanks for clarifying. I was thrown by the original string and didn't understand it was the the P. It works on mine but doesn't allow music. Oh well, nav and voicemail is what I wanted anyway.

 

[peterc10]

I have a GSM Hero with stock ROM and am based in the UK. ** comes up as "p" for me, but when I try calling I get the same error message as Drazil. And it does not appear to work. But, as in my first post, something must work on mine.

 

[Drazil]

I think it's the provider that is making it work or not work for some people. The error message is the same as when I try that *61 command to change the # of rings before VM picks up. I read that Rogers in Canada has implemented some weird non-standard system so it doesn't accept most of the standard gsm commands.

Incidentally, I tried "p", "w", "**", "5p", "p5" and none of them worked.

Edit: peterc10, I wonder if what happened to you before wasn't so much a strange phone call, but just a regular call that was still active thus keeping BT link active? although if that was the case then that would chew up a ton of minutes....

 

[peterc10]

Thanks for your thoughts and help on this. I can't see how the provider of the cell service can have anyway of deciding how my stock phone's bluetooth works, because it has nothing to do with the cell network. I assume that the "**" method somehow changed a BT setting on the phone.

Pretty sure it was not an active phone call, and I know other active phone calls did not allow this to happen. So I am now totally confused! But as I said in my last post I can now get sat nav and music through my new car kit anyway, so I have got over the problem another way.

 

[Rapo]

When you have your dial screen open, try holding down the "Menu" key, and your keyboard will pop up and you can type in a ?
No big deal :b

 

[peterc10]

When you have your dial screen open, try holding down the "Menu" key, and your keyboard will pop up and you can type in a ?
:b

It does not do that on my UK GSM Hero. I can hold it down for 30 seconds and nothing happens. When I release it I get a menu of options, but none will allow me to show a keyboard with a ? on it.

 

[RickJ]

I think its no so much the provider determining how your bluetooth works as it is a matter of if the phone actually makes a call, and you end it or not. If the network gives you pre-recorded message of invalid mmi, or other, you actually need to end the call. Keep in mind that when this is working and a call comes in, then ended, the BT connection is closed.


I'm glad its working for at least someone else, trust me your not losing anything by it not working with the music player, it is pretty horrible sounding.

 

[danny2001k]

I dont get why dial a secret code to enable/disable the BT, when you can just add the HTC BT widget on the homescreen and just click that once?

 

[shiner-bock-beer]

I dont get why dial a secret code to enable/disable the BT, when you can just add the HTC BT widget on the homescreen and just click that once?

Where did you find this BT widget?

 

[peterc10]

I dont get why dial a secret code to enable/disable the BT, when you can just add the HTC BT widget on the homescreen and just click that once?

You have misunderstood the problem. It is not about enabling BT, but in changing the BT profile that is being used. The BT widget merely turns the Bluetooth on or off.

This problem relates to the way that the Hero uses BT with certain programmes. Usually for sounds such as music and Sat Nav directions it will use the A2DP BT profile to send the sounds to a receiving unit. The problem with that is that many car kits, being designed for use for mobile phone converstaions, use the handfree/headset BT profiles, but can't use the A2DP profile.

This "fix" gets round this by apparently forcing the Hero to use the handsfree/headset profile to send music and sat nav directions, which enables the car kits to pick them up.

 

[Drazil]

I think this trick is provider dependant after all. ** is a prefix for an MMI code and if your provider has implemented MMI according to standards, then your phone will "call out" to activate/de-activate the MMI feature you inputted. From the provider point of view, this is not a real phone call so no minutes are logged or used, but from your phone point of view it is opening a connection to transmit the code you punched in. In the process of doing this, the BT is activated and just stays on until something else interrupts it, i.e. an incoming call.

Thanks for your thoughts and help on this. I can't see how the provider of the cell service can have anyway of deciding how my stock phone's bluetooth works, because it has nothing to do with the cell network. I assume that the "**" method somehow changed a BT setting on the phone.

Pretty sure it was not an active phone call, and I know other active phone calls did not allow this to happen. So I am now totally confused! But as I said in my last post I can now get sat nav and music through my new car kit anyway, so I have got over the problem another way.