iSync woes

Or: syncing a Sony Ericsson P900 with iSync via Bluetooth. (Google catchphrase)

I've had a Sony Ericsson P900 PDA phone for a week, and it's already proven itself a valuable tool. My main uses are calendar, notebook, remote control and -- yes -- phone, but the camera, the mp3 player, and the pdf reader are all fun. And I guess I will use it as an Internet connection and for e-mail.

But iSync is unreliable with the phone. Sometimes it syncs, most times it does't. All other kinds of BT pairing works just fine (file exchange, the Radio app for remote controlling Keynote, it is only iSync that has problems.

Pairing (setting up Bluetooth connection) with another app before iSyncing does not help.

A few hours of Web searching has revealed this:

The problem is widespread, it is a timeout problem.

Some P900 phones uses a faulty Bluetooth protocol. But if this is the case, why is only iSync affected?

Apple acknowledges that it may be a problem for macs to find the phone if you have initiated pairing from the phone, but that is a different issue altogether.

Suggested workarounds:

1. Turn off Firewall on the mac.

2. Turn off automatic keylock on the phone, and leave the keyflip open.

3. Open address book, click on the Bluetooth symbol, then sync via iSync.

Amazingly, number three did the trick with my phone the last time.

Other suggestions I haven't tried:

syncing one set of info at a time.

initiate pairing from the phone (which is opposite of Apple's suggestion linked above).

Use the Apple Bluetooth firmware updater.

Set the cable setting on the phone to modem connection.

Use the driver for the Bluetooth keyboard.

Many people reset everything. That does not work for me.

I also found a mention (at the bottom of the page) that Ericsson phones need a little break before being ready to work with Bluetooth. Maybe this issue is connected?

Rumours say OS 10.3.3 will fix the issue, which Apple claims is undocumented. The 100 + posts on the problem in Apple's own forum do not count as documentation...

Anyone who can bring light on this issue?

My setup: 1Ghz 17" G4 Powerbook running 10.3.2

P900 running CXC162022 R3C006

Bluetooth CXC12529 R5D

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