maemo.org - Talk - Vanishing Bluetooth on N800

Bluetooth on my N800 has stopped working for the 4th time. No amount of power cycling, battery removal, USB reflashing, or booting from alternate OS installatons on SD/MMC seems to help. Nokia tech support also had me try "Restore original settings..." and "Clear device..." under "Control panel / Tools" to no avail. The symptoms are as follows:

The Bluetooth icon disappears from the task bar. Attempting to do any function within the menu structure that uses Bluetooth either does nothing, or returns an error that Bluetooth is not enabled.

When selecting Bluetooth under the Control Panel, the "Bluetooth on:" and "Visible:" boxes are un-checked and "My Device's Name:" is blank.

Attempts to re-enable Bluetooth from the Control Panel by checking the box[es] and supplying a device name fail to have any effect. No Bluetooth icon appears. Going back into Control Panel again shows the above situation - un-checked boxes and blank device name.

I have searched extensively in this forum and via google. I have found numerous mentions of transient Bluetooth problems. The closest I have found to a posted solution is to "reboot until it starts working again". This did cause it to work for a while after the 3rd disappearance a couple of weeks ago, but has failed to help on other instances of the problem.

The unit has already been returned to Nokia twice for this problem and all the service center has reported they have done is to reload software (presumably cold-flash with a serial FBUS cable connection, although they have not explicitly described what was done, despite repeated requests for more information). I can see evidence that the internal serial contacts have been used, as there are small scratches on the pads that were not present when I initially inspected the guts after the first failure.

BTW, anyone know what the differences in serial ports may be in IT models? My N800 has set of 4 gold pads toward the upper left of the back of the device, under the battery cover, and another set of 7 gold pads just to the left of the battery near the bottom center of the device. The serial port connections in posted pictures I have found shows a set of 10 gold pads next to the battery. http://http://m770cias.garage.maemo....erial_port.png

The first return for service due to Bluetooth failure was just after the release of the OS2007 SD corruption bug-fix release (RX-34_2007SE_4.2007.38-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0) but the repair center reflashed with the bug-containing version (RX-34_2007SE_4.2007.26-8_PR_COMBINED_MR0). I re-flashed with 38-2 using the Linux flasher version 3.0 and everything worked for a couple of weeks.

The last time in for "repair" was after the OS2008 offical relsease and (despite my explicit request for OS2008 and the stated Nokia policy that the latest software version would be used) the repair center re-flashed with the ancient version RX-34_2007SE_3.2007.10-7_PR_MR0, which failed to even recognize my SDHC cards as returned. :mad:

I re-flashed with the official OS2008 release and everything worked again for a while longer.

Nokia tech support also denied that flash utilities are available to end-users and refused to supply information about serial cables that could presumably avoid the repeated returns:

Quote:

We regret that your inquiries or concerns were not addressed by our previous communication; we are able to provide the following information pertaining the software and updating options for your Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.

Philip, we apologize for any inconvenience or frustration caused by your Nokia N800 Internet Tablet being returned by the repair center with OS 2007; you are able to update to OS 2008 using the Nokia Software Update Wizard found at http://www.nokiausa.com/A4410958.

Any flash adapters, internal cables, or "flashing" utilities are not available for sale to consumers.

Flashing utilities may not be "for sale", but there are certainly links to them for both Windows and Linux on the official Nokia pages. The refusal by Nokia to supply information on cables my be understandable for locked-down phones sold through cellular carriers, but seems rather short-sighted for a Linux device, and IMHO demonstrates a failure to understand open source philosophy, the market for these devices, and their customers/users.

I have read multiple thread mentioning construction of serial cables
(e.g. How to (really) brick a tablet - How to recover? http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=15712 )
and may attempt to construct one in an attempt to avoid further repeated returns, but this brings me (FINALLY!!! :rolleyes:) to my questions:

1. Have others had similar experiences with repeated severe failures of Bluetooth?

2. Is there a software-only fix for this that an end-user can apply without additional hardware hacks (e.g. FBUS cable)?

3. Can anyone confirm that it is the [presumed] cold-flash by the repair center that fixes the problem, or is the repair center performing some other undisclosed magic? (Guess the latter is a rhetorical question.) :)

4. Is this N800 truely defective such that I should demand a replacement? [A replacement would apparently be with a reconditioned unit, not a new one, according to Nokia tech support pages.]