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I recently got a Bluetrek Bluetooth headset and realized that my P4000 PDA-phone from Telus had major compatibility problems when dealing with Bluetooth devices. I spent a lot of lunch breaks on the phone with Telus and HTC-Canada, on users' forums, etc. and finally got my device working so I decided to capture the process so that you could do it too if you happen to run into the same problems.

Now, a little background. The device I'm talking about is the HTC P4000 from Telus, which is the exact same machine as the Mogul from Sprint and the 6800 from Alltel and Bell. (The manufacturer's name for the device is the HTC Titan.) It's a great device but the Windows Mobile 6 implementation is a bit disapointing, especially regarding Bluetooth compatibility. There has been multiple reports of that problem (low incoming and/or outgoing Bluetooth volume) since June 2007 and HTC America acknowledged the problem, although they haven't yet addressed it. Sprint users of this phone got a firmware update late last year (2007), but according to them, it didn't completely fixed the problem. I spent some time on the phone with Telus and HTC Canada and, to summarize, they agreed there is a compatibility issue but seemed more inclined toward having me buy an HTC-approved Bluetooth headset than fixing the problem.

I searched the web over and over. My main problem was that this device has many names, as I mentionned before. Sometime you would hear talking about the Mogul, the 6800, the Titan. It was confusing. The discussion was going on and on and people tend to agree that the root cause was a bad Bluetooth stack from Microsoft. I searched the web for an alternate Bluetooth stacks for the Titan, but didn't find any that I could simply install on my device.

Then I started looking at custom firmwares that were running different Bluetooth stacks. For those of you who don't know, a firmware is a piece of software embedded on a chip. Sometime, the firmware is read-only but on many newer devices, the firmware can be updated. Custom firmwares are piece of code put together by hackers to get the most out of their device. The XDA forum is a really active forum and a particular user, DCD, seems to be the master of HTC Titan's firmwares. When I wrote this entry, he had released version 2.3.2 of his custom firmware. That new firmware, along with a new radio driver, does not only fix many Bluetooth issues, but also enable the GPS chip that HTC built into the device but that carriers like Telus disabled.

Installing a new firmware on the Titan is a simple, but anxious process. There are a few pitfalls and, if things go bad, you could end-up with a 600$ paper-weight. Not only does the process voids the waranty, it could make you device useless if you would (as an example) unplug the USB cable at the wrong time.

The first step is to unlock the phone. Most phones have a security layer in place that will prevent you from installing firmware that have not been approuved by the carrier. Unlocking the phone break that lock. It's relatively straight-forward. You plug the device in, run an application on your destop and wait. The device reboots eventually and things should be as usual.

The second step consists of installing the custom firmware. It won't work if you don't unlock the phone first. Most people refer to this step as 'flashing' the device. This is a destructive operation; When completed, your phone will be blank, as when you got it from the company. All you documents and setings will be gone (except what is on your SD card.) Flashing the device takes a few minute. Follow the on-screen instruction and it should work ok.

After a reboot, you will find that the device won't boot. This is normal, but a bit stressful. The device's firmware and radio driver do not match, so the device fails to start. Installing a new radio driver is similar to what you did twice so far. Make sure you don't unplug the USB cable as you flash the device for a third time. When this is over, the device will reboot and, now that the radio and firmware versions match, it should start. The device is blank and no longer associated with you. You will need to reprogram it, just like you (or the sale-person) did when you bought the phone on the first day. Its actually quite easy. On Telus, I only had to dial the following keys (*22803), hit send, and follow the instruction I was given over the phone. After that, I was able to make and recieve calls on my device. It was time to re-install all my applications and sync the device again with Outlook.

So far, DCD's firmware for the HTC Titan has been working flawlessly. My Bluetooth device now works properly with my phone and the newly-enabled GPS chip is amazing. I was about to buy a Bluetooth GPS, unaware that my phone actually had a GPS chip built-in. It really feels like I have a new phone, but in fact I only updated the software running on it!

If you own a P4000, a Mogul or a 6800, you migh want to upgrade to that new firmware I'm talking about. It looks appealing, doesn't it? Be aware, though, that the process will void your waranty and may break your device in an unrecoverable way. Also, those custom firmwares contain portions of code owned by Microsoft and other companies, modified and distributed against the license agreement. (What I'm trying to say is: it's illegal.) So I will let it up to you to decide weither or not you want to go ahead and install one of those custom firmware. Do you feel confident-enough to do it, and will you sleep at night knowing you are using software you have no right to? Just don't come knocking on my door if the police goes after you or if you end-up with a 600$ paper-weight.

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