Problem connection to Modem

[ck123]

Hi

I am using the trial version of NotePager Pro and new to this. I want to use NotePager Pro to send SMS Alerts from Solarwinds Orion through a Blackberry phone connected to the Orion machine.

To evaluate that I first want to do a basic test where I can send SMS using NotePager Pro. I am performing the following steps to do this:

1) Connect my Blackberry Phone (8100 - Pearl) to my computer via an USB port.

2) Start the desktop manager and then I could see the modem of Blackberry on COM Port 3. I also have an internal modem on my computer connected to COM Port 5.

3) But when I run the Connection Wizard from Notepager, it does not detect my Blackberry Model but detects my internal modem.

I want Notepage pro to detect my phone's modem so that I can use that to send SMS using T-Mobile TAP gateway but so far, I am getting stuck at the very first step.

Any help with regards to this problem will be greatly appreciated and I want to use this tool to integrate it with our Network Monitoring system.

(I tried using my Phone's modem to connect to the Internet and it worked fine, so this shows that the computer is able to detect and use the phone's modem but not with Notepage)

Thank You

CK

[Tech Support]

NPP won't recognize your blackberry as a modem, because it really isn't one. However, if you setup NPP to use serial port 3 (the port for the blackberry) and choose 'GSM' as the protocol when you setup a carrier, then you should be able to send out through it.

The problem you will have it that NPP can only be setup for one serial device. It can deliver over the Internet and over a local device, but it can't handle two local devices (your real modem and the blackberry). You would need to go with PageGate for that type of functionality.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[ck123]

Dear Support

Thank you for your response.

Actually I have used my Blackberry as a modem to connect to the internet, so I think that my Blackberry device has a modem with it.

I tried your suggestion and configured the modem settings to use COM Port 3 where my Blackberry is connected but I do not see GSM as an option in NPP when I configure the carrier settings. I tried with GSMAT but it failed again.

Just to give you an idea, here is what my ultimate goal is with NotePager:

We are using SolarWinds Orion as our Network Monitoring system. We send alerts via emails through our exchange server and using the internet, when any nodes in our network fail.

Now we want a backup system where if our Internet connection is down and so is our Exchange server, we still want to send alerts by sending SMS messages on our mobile phones. Orion has this capability of sending SMS but it requires NotePager as per their documentation and support.

So how can I use my Blackberry (T-Mobile network), which will be connected via USB to the machine which has Orion monitoring system to send SMS to me and some other users using T-Mobile's network and not relying on the internet connection.

Any inputs to this will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

CK

[Tech Support]

I guess the first step is to test connectivity to the blackberry.

Try going into HyperTerminal (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> Hyperterminal) and choosing COM3 for the 'Connect Using' field. Accept the defaults and when you get to the blank terminal screen, try typing AT <enter> where <enter> is the key on your keyboard. You should get an OK back.

Can you get that far?

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[ck123]

Dear Notepager Support

Thanks again for the response.

I forgot to mention that I already tried this step and it gives me an "OK" when I type
AT <enter>.


When I use NotePager pro and set it to use Model on COM3 and then select GSMAT as the protocol, I get a message that "NotePager Pro was unable to talk to your modem"

What should I try next?

I appreciate your support and if I am successful with the test of using NotePager Pro with Orion, we really want to buy this asap for the SMS alerts.

Thanks

CK

[Tech Support]

First make sure HyperTerm is not running.

Then go into NPP and edit a carrier (or create a new one). Set the protocol to GSMAT, the baud rate to 9600, parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1. Clear out anything in the init string field.

Next setup a recipient to use that carrier and send a test message.

Finally go to View -> Dialer Log, scroll to the bottom, and post the section of the log where you see NPP trying to connect to that new/edited carrier.

We will take it from there.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[ck123]

Dear Support

Thanks again for the response.

I tried the steps suggested and got the following logs from the Dialer Log:

4/1/2008 10:45:41 AM Dialer Started
4/1/2008 10:45:42 AM ====================================
4/1/2008 10:45:42 AM Start connection to carrier: T-Mobile
4/1/2008 10:45:42 AM Connect using GSMAT protocol
4/1/2008 10:45:42 AM Setting communication parameters
4/1/2008 10:45:42 AM Attempting to reset modem
4/1/2008 10:45:48 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:45:53 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:45:59 AM Program Halted. modem error: 8020 Error reading comm device in Procedure: SendGSM
4/1/2008 10:46:01 AM Dialer Started
4/1/2008 10:46:02 AM ====================================
4/1/2008 10:46:02 AM Start connection to carrier: T-Mobile
4/1/2008 10:46:02 AM Connect using GSMAT protocol
4/1/2008 10:46:02 AM Setting communication parameters
4/1/2008 10:46:02 AM Attempting to reset modem
4/1/2008 10:46:08 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:46:13 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:46:19 AM Program Halted. modem error: 8020 Error reading comm device in Procedure: SendGSM
4/1/2008 10:46:21 AM Dialer Started
4/1/2008 10:46:22 AM ====================================
4/1/2008 10:46:22 AM Start connection to carrier: T-Mobile
4/1/2008 10:46:22 AM Connect using GSMAT protocol
4/1/2008 10:46:22 AM Setting communication parameters
4/1/2008 10:46:22 AM Attempting to reset modem
4/1/2008 10:46:28 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:46:33 AM Warning. Unable to access modem: Procedure: SendGSM. Retrying...
4/1/2008 10:46:39 AM Program Halted. modem error: 8020 Error reading comm device in Procedure: SendGSM
4/1/2008 10:46:41 AM Dialer Started


Hope this helps you to troubleshoot and identify the cause of this problem.

Thanks once again.

Regards

CK

[Tech Support]

I guess the next step is to try to talk to your Blackberry with a terminal emulation program that uses the same Windows comm controls as we do. There is a terminal emulator made by Microsoft called VBTerm that you can download from here:

http://www.notepage.net/download/vbterm.exe

Download and install it. Then try to get it to communicate with your Blackberry on COM3.

Please post your results.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[ck123]

Dear Support,

Thanks again for your support.

When you say try to get Vbterm communicate with your Blackberry, what exactly should I verify?

I installed Vbterm and then connected and tried to connect it to COM port 3. There was no message on the screen but when I tried to make an outside call, I could see that the call going through the Blackberry (on Blackberry screen).

As in Hyperterminal, When I typed "AT" <enter>, the program aborted with the message that not able to communicate with the port.


Please let me know if anything else needs to be done with VBTerm or what options do I have next.

I am new to this so thank you for bearing with me.

I appreciate your responses.

Regards

CK

[Tech Support]

In VBTerm we want to see an 'OK' response to you typing 'AT'

Any luck with that?

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[ck123]

Dear Support

As I told before, using VBterm when I type AT <enter>, I get an error as following:

"Run-Time error '8020'
Error reading comm device"

But when I use Hyperterminal, I got an OK when I type AT + enter.

Please let me know what options I have next.

I appreciate your patience with this problem.

Regards

CK

[Tech Support]

It turns out that the 8020 error is due to a buggy device driver for the device being used. Is there a newer driver you can install for your blackberry?

Here is a Microsoft article explaining the problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318784


Email support @ notepage dot com if you want to work with us trying to get around the driver bug (will include testing different modifications to the software).

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net

[Mr_Pat]

I to am also getting the 8020 error on a BlackBerry 5350 and would be willing to trouble shoot it with you guys.