Remote Mac conrol with an SE P800 phone via Bluetooth

Jul 18, '03 09:22:00AM

Contributed by: utti

I found a way to remotely control my presentations on my PowerBook (using 10.2.6) via my P800 Smartphone, mostly like Salling Clicker does with the SE T68i and T610. I really missed this possibilty in my new P800, like many other users. So I figured out the basic steps to solve the problem:

How to setup a remote controlled MAC

  1. Install a VNC Server on your Mac.
  2. Install a VNC Client in your P800.
  3. Establish a network connection between your MAC and P800 via Bluetooth.
Read the rest of the hint for instructions on making the P800 work as a remote control device...

Here are the required packages:

  1. You need a Mac OS X-supported Bluetooth dongle
  2. Install latest Apple Bluetooth Software
  3. Install Apples iSync 1.1
  4. Download and install OSXvnc server
  5. Download and Install VNCviewer on your P800.
Now the setup part:
  1. First you have to set up a TCP/IP connection with the mRouter command like in this hint. I use following command (shown on three lines; enter as one line with no added spaces):
    sudo sh -c "nohup /System/Library/SyncServices/SymbianConduit.bundle/
      Contents/Resources/mRouter -a 00:01:d0:15:d0:7e -t 30 -p800 >
      /tmp/mrouter.log 2>&1 &"
    Replace 00:01:d0:15:d0:7e with the MAC address from your phone. Check if your command is successful with following command:
    ifconfig ppp0
    If you have output like this:
    ppp0: flags=8050<POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    or
    ifconfig: interface ppp0 does not exist
    then you don't have a successful connection! If this happens, then switch your SE P800 off and on, and try again. Sometimes it helps if you download a file, e.g. ring tone etc. via Bluetooth File Exchange to your phone, and then try once again the mRouter command. A successful connection should have a output like this:
    ppp0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
            inet 169.254.1.68 --> 169.254.1.5 netmask 0xffff0000
    This output means that you have established an IP connection via the PPP protocol. Your Mac has the IP address 169.254.1.68 and your P800 has 169.254.1.5. You can now test the connection by pinging your P800 from your Mac like this:
    % ping 169.254.1.5
    PING 169.254.1.5 (169.254.1.5): 56 data bytes
    64 bytes from 169.254.1.5: icmp_seq=0 ttl=69 time=70.651 ms
    64 bytes from 169.254.1.5: icmp_seq=1 ttl=69 time=68.303 ms
    64 bytes from 169.254.1.5: icmp_seq=2 ttl=69 time=64.923 ms
    ^C
    --- 169.254.1.5 ping statistics ---
    3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
    round-trip min/avg/max = 64.923/67.959/70.651 ms
  2. Start the OSXvnc server on your mac with the default settings and send it to the background (Hide OSXvnc)

  3. Start your PowerPoint presentation as a slide show

  4. Start VNCviewer1.1 on your P800 and type in the field "Host" the IP Address 169.254.1.68 (your Mac's IP address). Type in the field "Screen" your Screennumber from your OSXvnc server ("0" is default). If you set a password on your MAC OSXvnc server, you have to set the same password in the password field of VNCviewer. Type "Save conf" and then "OK" in your P800 VNCviewer. Congratulations! You are controlling your Mac!

  5. You should now see the upper left corner in your P800 Display of your Mac's PowerPoint Presentation. Just click once on your P800 screen, and you should see the next slide on your Mac. You can now go back and forth between your slides by simply turning the jogdial wheel of your P800 down or up. That's it! Don't close the keyboard flip of your phone, because your phone's VNCviewer will quit. If the Bluetooth connection between the Mac and the P800 gets more reliable (maybe in near future...), it is possible to combine Jonas Salling's Clicker Proximity Sensor with the mRouter command. Then you have a fully automatic PPP link.

  6. After your presentation, quit the OSXvnc Server on your Mac and terminate the mRouter process by typing sudo killall mRouter. After 10 seconds the Bluetooth connection drops.
[robg adds: I haven't tested this one, lacking a P800 (or any sort of cool Bluetooth phone, for that matter).]

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Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20030715042730641