[ll71]

Hi all,

Has anyone got their BB to work with their Connected Drive for Texts and Emails?

We run activesync and the new Blackberries, the Q10 and Z10, I have a Q10.

When it's connected to the car via BT I get a notice on my BB telling me it's connected to a BMW with Email/Texts etc, but nothing on the message screen.

As we run enterprise mail via Exchange, there are no external ports ie SMTP/POP3 to access. Only Outlook Web via port 443.

Has anyone got this to work? I'm a bit annoyed texts don't work, that should be unrelated, and Email would be great too as it apparently has a voice reader...

Suggestions on a postcard?

Cheers

[d4springer]

Oh dear, if you check this page you seem to have a blackberry that has limited functionality for SMS and Email:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owner...atibility.html

Hopefully though you will be in the same predicament as us iPhone users whereby you can get it to work by checking a few settings, I posted details for iPhone users on the forum but obviously that will not help you specifically, but just in case there is something, here is the link to it:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=895090

I work in IT (including Exchange Admin) so my advice in the first place would be to do a security wipe of the Blackberry and add your Exchange Account again. Sometimes other previously configured accounts may cause some conflicts preventing your phone from displaying the relevant data via Bluetooth.

Once you've done that re-pair with idrive and check to see if Office is listed under Telephone > Bluetooth Menu > (your phone) > Configure Device (it doesn't for an iPhone, but it should for Blackberry).

When you mention SMTP/POP this is only relevant for the Office within BMW Online (you set up your email accounts and BMW ConnectedDrive collect your mail and display through BMW Online) and as you pointed out you cannot really use this for Exchange accounts, however on my last Be'em I did create an Outlook rule which forwarded email to my Office365 or Google Account, (they support pop or imap) I would turn this on before going off in the car. I didn't want to open up the company Exchange server to the ConnectedDrive system directly and felt this was the most secure way. However, it's a bit ropey and means you have to keep opening up BMW Online whilst driving down the road, ultimately it's a lot better to just get it working using your mobile.

Anyway see if the security wipe works, if you get this working you may want to post details of how you did it in the end!

[ll71]

Well, that's just typical isn't it. lol

I've just wasted about an hour of my life looking at alternatives and it appears the Sony Experia Z1 is one of the few that support Email properly and most of the other functions I use.

Might offload the Q10 to someone else at work and try the Z1, emails being read aloud on the road would be pretty useful for me.

[d4springer]

Yes the reading out is very useful, if it's a long email then idrive doesn't let you scroll down, you only see the first section immediately visible on the screen, so you have to have them read out anyway if you need to retrieve all the details.

Getting the email to work has been very useful for me, I like to know what's happening with support calls when I'm on the road so just getting an idea from the first few lines of text is enough most of the time, stops you being tempted to look at your phone when is binging away.

[F30AM]

I have an ancient BB Bold 9700 and get texts and emails displayed. Never had a problem. I've also got a BB Q10 which I have yet to use as I can't be bothered with it! Must sort this out soon. The other phone is an iPhone 5S which I sometimes use when I am abroad.

[ll71]

It's probably because the new phones use ActiveSync and not BES. I wish I'd never moved to these new BB's but there is no choice as they have abandoned BES as we know it. We also have a massive problem with data overseas on the new phones. It just stops after a couple of hours and O2 can't fix it. Hopeless.

[F30AM]

I actually hate my Q10. Just switched it on and it is now updating. Pain in the bum. Nothing is simple. The old BBs are super and tough. Old is gold?

[ll71]

I don't mind the Q10, it's OK, and the keyboard is pretty good. The BB hub is also a nice idea once you get used to it. The only thing that really irks me is that it needs a data bolt on to get Email now, and it's unreliable compared to how it delivered Email on the old ones. The battery also lasts nearly 2 days which is rare in this day and age. However, it is the best modern handset I've used if you live on Email, and have to respond quickly to them. It's not the best smartphone for anything else though. Don't even look at the Z10 if you don't like the Q10!!

[F30AM]

Well, yesterday after my post, I had a nightmare with BB Desktop Software and the BB Link. I could not backup my Bold 9700 as it would not connect. Error message 1723. Then I had a problem with BB link. Error messages left, right and centre. I spent hours sorting the problem. Eventually, I had to uninstall and reinstall BB Link. BB Desktop Software still refused to work. Restarted the PC and BB Desktop Software suddenly worked again. I am now really terrified to switch devices on the BB Link. I give up. Nothing is simple as it seems at times. Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh.

[ll71]

Well, I just nipped out and bought a Sony Experia Z1, which is supposed to be compatible with pretty much everything except the Calendar and a couple of minor items.

Firstly the phone seems brilliant, and it connects to my car, but still no Email or SMS. Everything else just worked including connecting via ActiveSync without doing anything on the server side.

I spoke to the tech guy at BMW Brighton and waiting a call back, it seems that none of the new phones work with Email straight out of the box anymore, they all need to go via ConnectedDrive and be set up to talk to the company Email server.

However, there is no setting for ActiveSync in ConnectedDrive setup that I can see. It must work as every man and his dog is using this now, right? My company doesn't leave it's POP3/SMTP open so..

[F30AM]

Well, I managed to sync everything I need from PC and BB Bold 9700 to BB Q10. Contacts, emails, pictures etc. I still prefer my Bold 9700! It's so simple. Everything is backed up and I can now relax.

I've now spent 14 hours with BB software problems. I also called EE/Orange who were clueless. In fact, they did not know anything of BB Link software or the 10 OS operating system!

I am glad your Sony works. But this business of no emails would nark me totally. I'm also quite fed up with Connected Drive.

I have now decided to have a Scotch!

[ll71]

Can understand that, I had awful problems with the old desktop software vs the new. This Android Sony seems to be plug and play so far..

Email I think is a BMW issue. Had another look at ConnectedDrive and there is definitely no support for ActiveSync..

Before I go completely apesh1t at BMW, I might go for a scotch myself!! lol

Support for "Email" probably means for Gmail or something utterly useless like that. I mean why would we need to see work email in a car people buy to use for their jobs.

[ll71]

God, I am so p1ssed off.

No, Connected Drive is not compatible with ActiveSync.

How on earth can that be? Virtually every enterprise smartphone on the planet is either using it, or is about to be.

I was also told neither is the Sony phone. Yet it clearly states on their website that it is fully compatible.

"(*"*(£*&(&

[ll71]

OK, I know what the problem is, at least on the Android Phones (Sony Experia Z1 + others) and also I guess on the BB Q10.

Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Protocol) is not supported. This applies to more recent versions of Android. For example the Z1 comes with 4.2.2, and MAP is broken.

I can understand why BMW says it's compatible, that's because Sony itself state that it supports MAP, but it doesn't due to the Android OS issue.

Sony is going to be releasing an upgrade to their Z1 first to 4.3 (Jelly Bean) then 4.4. (KitKat) versions of the OS. 4.3 will come first. 4.4. in Q1 2014 apparently.

4.3 is supposed to fix the MAP issue.

All I can say is be very careful buying your phone and ensure it's either already on 4.3 or 4.4 or that it will be upgraded soon when the new OS revisions come out.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there. The BB issue of course is different, but I suspect it is the same. I applied an update last week that has reintroduced rSAP finally, but few people use this (shame as it's brilliant). Obviously BB10 OS doesn't support BT MAP either.

HTH

[Cilonen]

I have a BB Z30 and haven't had any problems with emails/texts showing up in iDrive.

I personally can't see how ActiveSync would make a difference as the phone itself tells the car a new email has arrived, in the same way it tells you (i.e. - tone or vibrate) - via a piece of code activating that function.

It may be that Connected Drive can't utilise ActiveSync, but that's only an issue if it is trying to connect to the email account directly.
If using the phone, ensure you select "use phone data" or whatever it says ( I can't recall and the car is off getting its winter boots fitted) and you should have no problems.

[F30AM]

And then to cap it all, I had DLL problems when I unloaded the BB Desktop Software and the BB Link Software, both of which had DLL problems. Error messages galore. Affected the Bluetooth on my PC. Reloading them solved the problems. All fine now.

I've backed both phones on my PC but I cannot find a Backup Extractor for BB which is free to use. Can you help?

I hate tech .........

[Cilonen]

Strangely I've not had any issues with Link, apart from it not completely restoring some contacts.
Activating Blackberry Protect on the new handset promptly sorted that, as it recovered the last backup from the old phone from the ether.

Also, try this link as it relates directly to your problem.

[ll71]

ConnectedDrive Office requires an Email account to work. The way to access that Email account is either via SMTP/POP3 or IMAP. It does not support connection via ActiveSync as a device in it's own right. Bear in mind the car has it's own SIM and now 3G access. This is how it operates in this mode, through it's own Internet connection, not via the phone.

OK, so why is that important? It's important in case the phone you are using doesn't support Bluetooth MAP. iDrive supports Bluetooth MAP as a way to communicate natively to the phone to access message off the phone.

As I posted above, Android 4.2.2. doesn't support Bluetooth MAP, it's broken. This is the problem with the Experia I'm using and a number of other phones with recent versions of Android. Some of the older releases do work with iDrive/MAP.

So today, I tried a Nexus 7 with KitKat 4.4 on it. Expecting it to work OK natively via MAP. Guess what, it didn't work either. So, I'm not convinced my phone will work via MAP when the upgrade is released.

Finally, I did get Email in the car working. I got it working via my first paragraph. It's not ideal, but it does work.

Basically I opened up a Gmail account and had my Email administrator forward my emails to my Gmail account. On the ConnectedDrive website, I added my GMail account under Settings. It then adds this to the car. When you then go into ConnectedDrive/Office/Email/Gmail in the Car it will then allow you access to your Email via the 3G connection in the car (not your phone).

It works well, it shows you the first part of the email, you can reply to it, you can get the car to read it out to you. All good. It's a bit clunky to access, but it works.

I'll live with this for now until/if Sony implements MAP on the device.

[F30AM]

Thanks @Cilonen for the link.

My AVG One Click Maintainence deletes Blackberry Software Link files which in turn affects me trying to sync the Bold 9700 on the BB Desktop Software. So, I can't have both BB Desktop Software and BB Link Software on the same PC if I run AVG One Click. So what I've done to to transfer everything to my Q10 via BB Link before I run AVG One Click and uninstalled BB Link for the time being. I'm still using my clunky Bold 9700 but wiil move over to the BB Q10 next month. The camera on the BB Q10 drives me nuts. But the Q10 keybad is brill.

[F30AM]

Quick question:

If I use the BB Q10, will I have the functionality with emails and text messages that I have with my Bold 9700?

With my Bold 9700, emails and texts are read out, which is quite cool.

[ll71]

Don't know, it doesn't work with mine, but I don't have Enhanced Bluetooth. Do you?

BMW have told me that yes indeed, you need Enhanced BT to get Email via BT MAP, but also, they cannot restrospectively add that to a car once it has left the factory. Hopeless.

Obviously there are other ways of adding it though!

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by ll71

Don't know, it doesn't work with mine, but I don't have Enhanced Bluetooth. Do you?

BMW have told me that yes indeed, you need Enhanced BT to get Email via BT MAP, but also, they cannot restrospectively add that to a car once it has left the factory. Hopeless.

Obviously there are other ways of adding it though!

I have no idea whether I have enhanced Bluetooth. My car was purchased in Dec 2012.

At present with my Bold 9700 the whole email and text message is displayed read out. Really cool.

I'll check whether I have enhanced Bluetooth. I'll go and find my VIN No and do a search and get back to you.