A solution to "Phone not connected" Motorola MPT

or "Communications port not available".

I've finally SOLVED the problem I was having with Motorola Phone Tools. My
V3i phone stopped talking to my PC but it was fine on my wifes PC. I still
don't know the exact cause but I wanted to get the solution I found out
there in case it helps others....

I'd tried un-installing and re-installing the MPT but that did NOT work.

My problem seemed to be related to the modem drivers. When I looked at the
modem tab on "Phone and Modem options" I had two entries:

Standard Modem COM3
Motorola USB Modem COM3

It tried changing them to different COM ports but that didn't work.

Here is what I did to solve the problem...

1) Dsconnected the phone.

2) Right click and removed the "Standard modem" and the "Motorola USB modem"
from "Phone and Modem Options (the modem tab). If you have other modems
installed take care not to delete the wrong ones.

3) Used "add/remove programs" from the control panel to uninstall the
Motorola Phone Tools. (When prompted, select the option to keep your
Motorola phone documents).

4) Rebooted my PC. This step seems to be important. Possibly because it
resets COM port allocations?

5) Re-install Motorola Phone Tools from the CD following the instructions.
(I note that the Motorola USB Modem isn't installed at this stage).

6) Ran Motorola Phone Tools (actually it's started automatically unless you
uncheck the tick box during installation).

7) When prompted (and not before) Connect your phone and follow the
instructions. (This will re-install the Motorola USB Modem).

After that it was all working again.

Humm. Just ran live update and the "Standard Modem" seems to have come back
as has the connection problem. It smells like a bug or race that causes a
modem/com port conflict. It seems to occur when the Motorola USB modem needs
re-installing.

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:50:52 +0100, "CWatters"
<colin.watters@turnersNOSPAMoak.plus.com> wrote in
<4627d6b6$0$8735$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>:

>Humm. Just ran live update and the "Standard Modem" seems to have come back
>as has the connection problem. It smells like a bug or race that causes a
>modem/com port conflict. It seems to occur when the Motorola USB modem needs
>re-installing.

Shouldn't normally happen. You may not have the correct port driver
installed. Suggest you download and install the port driver from
<http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/USB_Drivers/Handset_USB_Driver/>
[registration required but free]
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"jMon54" <jMon54@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177086421.464993.22880@b75g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...
> I had a similar experience with my V3. But all I had to do was choose
> the Motorola modem. It had somehow gotten switched to the standard
> one.

Yeah I'm reasonably sure there is a bug somwehere. I think it may also
happen sometimes when you change the USB port that you phone is plugged
into.

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 09:27:54 +0100, "CWatters"
<colin.watters@turnersNOSPAMoak.plus.com> wrote in
<462b1c82$0$8754$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>:

>"John Navas" <spamfilter1@navasgroup.com> wrote in message
>news:38nh23d3ovs2uiqu3e85nhvg9hok7h0us4@4ax.com.. .

>> Shouldn't normally happen. You may not have the correct port driver
>> installed. Suggest you download and install the port driver from
>> <http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/USB_Drivers/Handset_USB_Driver/>
>> [registration required but free]
>
>If I have the wrong port driver I got it from the Motorola CD or the live
>update process.

Possibly, but not necessarily -- you could have gotten it by plugging in
the modem before installing the correct driver. Windows has a nasty
habit of installing drivers without checking, and Motorola hasn't done a
good job of getting its drivers into the official Windows mechanism.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 09:30:07 +0100, "CWatters"
<colin.watters@turnersNOSPAMoak.plus.com> wrote in
<462b1d07$0$8721$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net>:

>"jMon54" <jMon54@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1177086421.464993.22880@b75g2000hsg.googlegr oups.com...
> > I had a similar experience with my V3. But all I had to do was choose
>> the Motorola modem. It had somehow gotten switched to the standard
>> one.
>
>Yeah I'm reasonably sure there is a bug somwehere. I think it may also
>happen sometimes when you change the USB port that you phone is plugged
>into.

The "bug" is that Windows has a nasty habit of installing drivers
without checking, and that Motorola hasn't done a good job of getting
its drivers into the official Windows mechanism.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>