How to use your SCH-i760 as a modem with Mac OS X
It is possible to use a Samsung SCI-i760 as a modem with Mac OSX. Verizon Wireless will be no help here, but hopefully I can. After literally months of hunting around, I have figured out how to do it. Here’s how:
You will need three files for this. They are Verizon Wireless’s VZAccess program, BTModem.exe, which creates a dial-up networking bluetooth interface, and VerizonWirelessModem, a modem script. I am not certain that VZAccess is required, but I had it installed when I managed to get this to work, so I’m going to recommend that you install it as well.
First, install BTModem.exe on your phone. Copy it over any way you can, such as with a memory card or using the Obex FTP application on the phone. Run it. It will create a bluetooth serial port to which your computer will connect and use as a modem.
Next, install VZAccess. The steps for this are pretty obvious.
Finally, you need to install the modem script. Unzip it and copy it to “/Library/Modem Scripts”.
Then, you need to set up the serial port. I assume that you have already paired your phone with your computer.
Go to the System Preferences and choose the Bluetooth pane. Select your phone, then click on the gear icon. Select “Edit Serial Ports…”. There should be one listed already, named with the bluetooth name of your phone followed by “-i730ModemS-1″. If there is not, click on the plus icon, and it will be added.
Select the serial port, and set the Protocol to RS-232. Set the Service to “i730 Modem Serial Port”. Check both “Require pairing for security” and “Show in network preferences”. Here is what mine looks like:
Next, back in the System Preferences, choose the Network pane. Select the “-i730-Modem-S-1″ interface, and name it something like “VZW”. Click Create.
Now to edit the modem settings. Use “#777″ as the telephone number. Account Name is “(yourphonenumber)@vzw3g.com”. For me, this was “5402728159@vzw3g.com”. The password is “vzw”.
Next, click on Advanced. Set Vendor to “Other”. Once you have done this, set “Modem” to “Verizon Wireless”. Click OK.
Now, disconnect your phone from the net if it is connected. Your modem is now set up.
Disconnect any other active network interfaces, such as an Airport. If your computer is already connected to the net, it doesn’t seem to work. Click “Connect” to try it out. :)
A side note: I have discovered an intermittent problem that undoes some of this connection stuff. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, my mac forgets that the serial port, “i760 Modem Serial Port”, exists. When this happens, go to the “Edit Serial Ports” dialog from the Bluetooth preferences, and click the “+” button below the list of serial ports. It should show up immediately. If you have already set up the VZW network interface, you don’t need to do that again after re-adding the serial port.
Side note 2: Sometimes, for example when you get a phone call while connected, OS X seems to hang on the disconnect step. It will say it is disconnecting, but never finish, and not let you reconnect either. Internally, this is the PPP daemon getting hung on a suddenly gone serial port. The solution to this is similar to the note above: If it hangs on disconnect, go to the bluetooth preferences for the device, click “Edit Serial Ports…”, and then remove the serial port. Click apply. Suddenly the stalled disconnect will finish. You can then re-add the serial port and connect again.
Robin – This is fantastic. I just bought a MacBook Pro and this was my big worry. I have an i760 and need to use it in tethered mode. The BTModem.exe and modem script links above aren’t working. Please update or send me the correct links. Thanks a lot
Naresh:
I have updated the two links. There was a capitalization error. Everything seems to be working now.
Robin – Great info. I’m having a problem with the VZAccess program each time I try to download and install. It’s saying that it’s not recognized. I’ve tried to download it from Verizon’s site but it doesn’t include the i760 in the menu. Any advise?
The i760 is not officially supported as a modem on OS X, which is why you can’t see it on the menu. As for the file itself, I had a partially uploaded one, it seems. I’ve corrected that problem.
Do you know if this come off of your alloted minutes per month or data usage?
To my knowledge, it goes toward your data usage, just like as if it was your phone’s data connection.
i know this setup is for OS X, but do you know if it’ll work w/ Vista 64?
Jon,
You may be able to use the btmodem.exe for Vista. However, I would investigate the Windows version of Verizon’s VZAccess program. I’m pretty sure the Windows version supports the i760. I don’t know if it will run on Vista, though; I haven’t been a Windows user for quite some time now.
robin, thanks for the quick reply!
Hey Robin,
This is a great guide – but I do have a quick question, maybe you can help:
VZWireless is installed, but nothing has been configured.
BTModem.exe has been installed on my SCH-i760, moved to /Windows/Startup and is running with no problems.
The VerizonWireless modem script has been placed into /Library/Modem Scripts
Here’s where I run into problems:
1) After pairing my i760, and editing the serial port, I do not have an “i730 Modem Serial Port” option. Any ideas?
This is what’s preventing me from completing the rest of this configuration. I’m also assuming that you’re using the 1730 because the i760 is not officially supported.
Thanks for the great guide.
Chappy
If you do not see “i730 Modem Serial Port”, try clicking the ‘+’ button in the edit serial ports dialog. It should show up then.
Hi Robin,
I tried to use my i760 with my Mac Book pro using OSX 10.4.10 and I am having no luck. I was able to install all the software but I get different dialog boxes and is difficult to compare to yours. However when I try to connect I see my phone light up and the computer says “connecting” but then I get this error message “Could not open the communication device, a blue tooth failure has occurred. Fail to open RFCOMM serial channel, check if autentification needs to be enabled on your device”, One thing that I noticed when setting up the device is that on the port service it doesn’t allow me to chose the service. I get the box but not selection to choose.
Any idea?
Thanks!
Paolo
I just started having trouble becaue all od a sudden I am getting an error that says that the internal modem may already be in use. This just started appearing on the phone and on the computer I am getting the same error as the person before me. Any suggestions?
It has been my experience that the Bluetooth stack spazzes out now and then for no apparent reason. When this happens, all you can really do is reboot. Sometimes you can remove the Bluetooth serial port from the Bluetooth preferences for the device and re-add it, but this is not a reliable method. It primarily locks up like this while disconnecting.
As for an error saying the internal modem is already in use, you must disconnect the data session that your phone is using before you can use it with your computer. Tap on the connection icon at the top of the screen, then choose Disconnect.
When you see an error about the port not being found, that usually means that BTModem.exe has stopped running for some reason, such as when you attempt to connect while there is already a data session active. In this case, simply run BTModem.exe again, and it should solve your serial port problem. You may have to re-add the serial port after doing this, though, as sometimes OS X removes the serial port after not finding it when trying to connect.
Great Guide. I wanted you to know that I didn’t have to unzip the script, just copy it over. It was already in script format from the download link…I would just hate for someone to get hung up on that step.
As a side note, I was also to fully carry a VPN connection over this. It was great. Thanks for the great help.
Any chance you are working to get the Widget emitSMS to connect to the i760? I have been trying for a week and can’t get a connection made. I think I am facing a serial port problem with their Widget, like with connecting via Bluetooth for web access. Let me know.
Thanks!
Hi Robin,
I’m having a similar problem to Chappy’s when in the edit serial port nothing shows up and it won’t allow me to click on the plus sign. The button is there but not active. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Missy
Missy,
When this happens, your computer has forgotten that the BTModem port is available. First, make sure BTModem is running and turned on on your phone. Then, go to the Bluetooth preferences in System Preferences. Select the phone, then click on the gear icon. From that menu, choose “Configure this device…” to launch the Bluetooth Setup Assistant. When that runs, it will open a window with the Bluetooth services your phone offers and some check marks to the left of each. One of them should be “Access the Internet with your phone’s data connection”
Once you have done that, you can close the Bluetooth Setup Assistant. Then, back in the bluetooth preferences, “Edit Serial Ports…” should show up when you click on the gear for your phone.
That worked and I got the device to show up in the edit serial port section, but there’s nothing in the pull-down menu for device service…thoughts?
Missy,
I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “the pull-down menu for device service”. I have the Bluetooth menu on my top menu bar, and when I click on that, under the devices section, there is one for my PDA which lists some services. Is that what you mean?
If so, you will not find the ability to use your phone as a modem there. The phone exposes a serial port as a service, but that is not something you can directly use. Instead, you must use the Network preference pane in System Preferences to set up a network device which will use the serial port created above.
When I go into system preferences-bluetooth, select my phone and push the edit serial ports, everything comes up like it should except for device service, which is blank and the pull-down menu won’t allow me to add anything
And you cannot click on the plus sign? If this is the case, you may not have BTModem running on your phone. Otherwise, I can’t really say what’s going on.
Robin this great, but I am not coming up with the “Verizon Wireless” option in the model drop down. I had to create my own folder called “Modem Scripts” in the /library and then I put the script in it. Is that correct or not! Thanks for leading the way with this
Never Mind! This is great. I wasnt puttin the script in the root library.
Have you received a bill since you have done this? Does Verizon charge you a tethering fee for this??
Jake,
I have not been charged for anything by Verizon. This uses the PDA’s internet connection, so there is no tethering charge.
Thanks so much for the step-by-step instructions. Really helpful, and worked like a charm on the first try.
Couple things:
1) I just got my MacBook Pro, and it came with a Verizon Support script already loaded. I didn’t need the Verizon Wireless script above, so I didn’t install it.
2) I didn’t need to install VZAccess. It still works.
Thanks again. You’ve made my life a million times easier!
This is a great tutorial. However I am having a slight problem with the com port part.
I downloaded all packages and moved the btmodem.exe file to the phone and ran it. I installed the VZAccess on my computer and moved the modem script to the correct folder.
When I go to pair the device with the computer the only protocols I get to select on the phone are Active Sync and OBEX Push. Should there be a com port protocol that I can select?
When I go into the System Preferences on the computer and Bluetooth and select my devise then go to edit the serial ports there aren’t any and the window is locked up and have to force quit.
Am I missing a step or getting them out of order?
Thanks for the help
Jared,
You don’t need to select any services on the phone. Whether or not you see Active Sync and OBEX Push on the phone when you try to pair doesn’t matter. Instead, what matters is what services the phone offers to the computer.
If you don’t see the “Edit serial ports” option, my suggestion is to run the bluetooth setup assistant again. You don’t have to go through all of it, just enough for the mac to scan the services your phone offers. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see the “Edit serial ports” option.
I will note that btmodem.exe does not permanently install a modem driver. Every time your phone resets, or every time btmodem fails, you will have to run btmodem again. Not having btmodem running may be why you don’t see the serial port.
As for locking up when you try to do bluetooth operations, that sounds like a tech support issue for Apple. System Preferences shouldn’t need to be force-quitted because of bluetooth, and if it consistently does this, I suggest you call Apple support.
This is fantastic.
It took some finesse and some patience but it’s working and it’s working consistently.
Thank you.
Robin,
I got it all working and I didn’t have to install VZAccess and I don’t even think you need the modem script because when I was following your directions it did not show up as an other device in the modem setup part and I just selected the default Verizon Wireless (PC 5200) and everything works just fine. Also, my previous problem was on a Power Mac G4 with a Jabra bluetooth dongle and I think that’s what was causing my system preferences to lock up. I just got a Macbook Pro and everything worked flawlessly.
Thanks again for the post and the help with sticking it to verizon.
Robin,
This is great! I’ve been fighting with this for hours and I think I’m finally getting close thanks to your post. However I run into problems when I try to download the modem script…it isn’t anything to unzip, just a text edit dialog for me. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong? Thanks!
nevermind about my last post, reread the instructions and I’m all set. Thank you so much!
Sounds kewl…can I tether the I760 to an ipod touch for internet access?
Adam,
I doubt you can tether to an iPod touch. That would require bluetooth modem support on the iPod, which I find unlikely. I don’t have an iPod touch, so I cannot say for sure that it is impossible, but I strongly doubt it can be done.
First off thanks for such a great post!
I keep getting disconnected after about a minute of inactivity. How can I prevent this?
Error message comes up saying:
The connection was terminated because the other side is not responding. Please try again.
Well I think I sorted it all out. I am running Leopard on a new Intel Macbook btw.
So I looked around online, and someone suggested disabling the send PPP echo packets in the PPP tab of the BT VZW advanced network options.
Whereas I used to get disconnected due to inactivity every minute, I was able to sit idly connected to the internet for 10 minutes without a disconnect.
Robin do I have to use the BTModem on my phone? I can’t seem to be able to download on my computer.
AWESOME! I’ve been wanting this for quite some time. Just got it working tonight. Thank you SO much!
I just wanted to let you know that after about 4 hours of research and attempts at getting my I760 to tether to my MBP I finally tried your setup and it worked! Thank you very much for your detailed instructions on how to get tethering working.