Help Bluetooth Stack stripped of SPP?

[notSoFast]

Hello,

Has anyone been able to successfully use a SPP Bluetooth device with their Incredible?

I have been trying to connect a QStarz BT-Q890 Bluetooth GPS unit to my HTC Incredible. The BT-Q890 uses the Bluetooth protocol SPP (Serial Port Profile I think) to communicate. There is some indication that SPP support has been removed from the Bluetooth stack by HTC/Sense.

While the BT-Q890 pairs with my phone, I cannot get the "Bluetooth GPS" app from Googoo or the "Bluetooth GPS Service" app from Trackaroo to communicate with the device. Both apps fail to establish a connection to the BT GPS, and sometimes even hang my phone and cause a phone reboot!

I have tested my BT-Q890 with a Motorola Droid and the connection was fine. I also tried it with a second Incredible, and received the same failures.

Help!

 

[notSoFast]

Oh, I also found this thread about the HTC Desire, which suggested that SPP was nuked and the user needed to root his phone in order to get a complete Bluetooth stack.

Updating the buggy Bluetooth stack of the Desire - Android @ MoDaCo

I hope the Incredible is not in the same boat...I bought the phone specifically so that I could connect to a high-resolution GPS unit, and this is destroying my dreams :-(.

 

[notSoFast]

Anyone using SPP? Thanks!

 

[Bob Dobalina]

N00b question, why do you want to pair your phone with your separate GPS?

 

[DonDraper]

I have no idea what this means - but after using an Eris for a month before the Incredible - I can tell a difference in BT performance. Eris never had an issue talking with my Alpine car radio. Incredible is hit or miss. Sometimes it connects as expected, sometimes it takes a call initiated from the phone to wake it up and connect.

 

[notSoFast]

N00b question, why do you want to pair your phone with your separate GPS?

I bought the Incredible to use with the app "Trackmaster." Trackmaster will log your laps as you drive around a racetrack. The phone's built-in GPS refreshes at a 1hz interval, while some bluetooth GPS devices refresh at 5hz. I want the extra data so that I can see with more precision the various ways I took a corner, and then pick out which way is the fastest.

 

[notSoFast]

I have no idea what this means - but after using an Eris for a month before the Incredible - I can tell a difference in BT performance. Eris never had an issue talking with my Alpine car radio. Incredible is hit or miss. Sometimes it connects as expected, sometimes it takes a call initiated from the phone to wake it up and connect.

As I understand it, Bluetooth devices communicate using one of a various number of protocol/profiles. Just like on the internet, where communications might use http, ftp, pop or some other protocol, with Bluetooth A2DP is used for audio (like to your stereo), ftp for file transfer, and so on.

SPP is another type of Bluetooth protocol, which appears to be missing or modified on the Incredible. The lack/modification of SPP means that I cannot use my Bluetooth GPS, and others have reported problems connecting with Bluetooth game controllers. There are undoubtedly other Bluetooth devices that will not work with the Incredible too.