[afro samurai lover]

Hi, I just got the Pearl, and I cannot get my Mac (PowerMac G5) to recognize it. I have tried PocketMac, which was not helpful. I tried a few of the other things people have posted on here and none seemed to work. I can't seem to find the bluetooth on my computer (maybe I don't have it... my computer is only 2 years old). If I just need bluetooth on my computer does anyone know how I can get it?

All I really want to do is be able to transfer ringtones and images onto the phone from my mac. I was hoping someone could help me figure out how to do this.

Thanks!

[ggoodale]

If your Mac has Bluetooth, You'll see a Bluetooth icon in the Hardware portion of your System Preferences. If you don't have Bluetooth, OS X should work with most USB Bluetooth interfaces - you can pick one up for under $30 most places computer accessories are sold.

[slipgear]

Yes i am have the same problem i have downloaded pocket mac. and it seem as if my mac is not recognizing the phone. it works fine on my Win PC? also when i used the bluetoth it says the device does not have the necessory services. please help i have been up all night trying to get thing to work. thanks

[mr_kitty]

first of all, your pearl won't really do anything useful with your mac via bluetooth. you need to use the usb to mini usb cable included with the phone.

second, to add ringtones, etc to a pear with your mac you pretty much need to have a media card in the device. once it is and you connect via usb it will show up on your desktop. put your ringtones in the ringtones folder

finally, pocketmac isn't the most bulletproof of applications. in cases where pocketmac 4 doesn't see the device that i have dealt with, the problem is usually that pocketmac 3 was installed on the mac at some point. the two versions drivers are competing for the device and canceling each other out. try the beta for missing sync for blackberrry: http://missingsync.com

[ibrg]

I am quite sure your Mac doesnxxx8217;t have Bluetooth (you need to buy one ~ USB Bluetooth is quite inexpensive).
But, as mentioned, youxxx8217;d need to use the UBS cable and a media card in your phone to use music and photos.
Finally, when it comes to synching or transferring MP3 tunes and photos between my Pearl and Mac, I avoid PockeMac at all cost. To do so, do this on the Pearl:
1. Click on Settings, or Options (the wrench icon)
2. In Settings/Options click on Advance Options
3. In Advance Options click on Media Card
4. In Media Card where it reads: Auto Enable Mass Storage Mode When Connected, click to xxx8220;Onxxx8221; (remember to click it back to xxx8220;Offxxx8221; if you use a PC although it wonxxx8217;t really hurt anything).

Now, whenever you connect your Pearl to the computer, the Pearl will show up on your desktop! Click on it and open it to the xxx8220;media Cardxxx8221; and now just drag stuff back and forth like normal. Easy!

[teamcrn]

My pearl connects to my mac book and mac mini via bluetooth although it doesnt do anything. there is an option to sync address book but it does nothing. My macs are the intel processor versions so that might be the diffrence. the best way to put anything on your pearl via mac is mass storage mode like ibrg has so thoughtfully explained. good luck! we keep a PC in the house for our BB's otherwise i would chuck the sony vaio we have it does the shake(reset) when ever it feels like it..lmao

[slipgear]

I have the macbook intel core duo, and i have turned the mass storage on and it still is not being recognized. thanks

[teamcrn]

Go to the finder and it will be on the left hand side as a docked hard drive sort of how it looks like when your ipod is attached.

[slipgear]

i have looked at the right side and it says nothing there, i have used missingsync it recognizes the blackberry but it says the phone is not set to process the information. so i cannot transfer a think.

[mr_kitty]

Originally Posted by slipgear

i have looked at the right side and it says nothing there, i have used missingsync it recognizes the blackberry but it says the phone is not set to process the information. so i cannot transfer a think.

do you have a SD Micro Card / media card in your phone? you would have had to buy it separately.

[slipgear]

Yes i do 1 GB; but my mac does not have an adapter for me to put that directly to the computer. thanks

[chitown72]

If you are able to get your Pearl connected to the Mac via bluetooth you CAN transfer files from the Mac to the Pearl - I've loaded music that way. You go into the media browser on the Pearl, hit the menu button and select "receive via bluetooth". You then use the "Send File" option on the bluetooth menu on the Mac. Once the transfer happens, your mac will tell you that the transfer failed, but you'll find that it did, in fact, happen. The Pearl-as-Modem works as well (I'm connected that way right now), although I have noticed that it will randomly boot you off and you have to reconnect.

[ibrg]

Originally Posted by slipgear

I have the macbook intel core duo, and i have turned the mass storage on and it still is not being recognized. thanks

Two questions:
1. Do you have a memory card in your BB?
2. Did you SAVE the settings (most of us forget) on your BB, after enabling "Auto Enable Mass Storage Mode When Connected”?

[PocketMacAnne]

Hi!

I thought I'd join in and share a little info about connecting the BlackBerry 8100 Pearl to the Mac.

Since the Pearl released at the same time as PocketMac 4, some of the delicacies in the new operating system were not available to PocketMac beforehand, and so these issues weren't discovered until the weeks following release. Fortunately, an updated version of PocketMac is being tested by RIM, and it handles the new aspects of the 8100 (and 8800) technology a whole lot better.

First item in this discussion is how to get the Mac to recognize the Pearl as a mass storage device so you can copy ringtones, music, photos, etc. to the device. (Second item is synching, and I'll get to that in a minute.)

Comments above about Bluetooth linking are on point: RIM currently doesn't allow any meaningful data movement across the Bluetooth connection, so we have not been able to add that to PocketMac yet. RIM knows how eager everyone is to get that feature added, and I understand they are working on it.

Now, let's talk about clearing the decks so that you can get a good solid connection with PocketMac. Sorry the Pearl is so particular right now: it will be easier in the next release.

1. If you have MissingSync installed, you must completely remove it. Their driver will directly block all other drivers. Just as PocketMac will block theirs: we are both competing for the same USB port. I have also seen some users with old Palm software installed and running, and the USB drivers can compete with one another.

2. If you connect the Pearl without PocketMac installed, the Pearl will report that "USB charging is not sufficient. Verify that your handheld is connected to a powered USB charging source and that the proper USB driver is installed." Just unplug the handheld, launch PocketMac, and then plug the handheld back in.

3. If you get the same error after launching PocketMac, don't worry. See Step 5 below.

4. If you still have difficulty connecting, look at the face of the Pearl to see if you have any other errors. Do this fairly quickly. Especially if you have installed the microSD card so you can have more space for the new multimedia features in the Pearl, the Pearl may pop up a message asking for your permission to use it as a mass storage device.

Here's the unique problem with the Pearl: if fail to answer this question quickly enough, or answer "No," the Mac can actually freeze. The Apple developers have delivered some feedback to RIM about why this happens, so they will be able to address it in a future version. In the mean time, if you don't answer this question fast enough, the Mac freezes so hard that you may have to restart by pressing the button. Thank goodness we have an easy workaround.

ALWAYS ANSWER YES IMMEDIATELY after you connect the Pearl. That's it!

*See below for more about this freeze and why you don't have to worry about it beyond the inconvenience factor.

5. If still getting the USB charging error from step 2, sometimes the program needs to run a sync once to push more connections to the device. If that is the case, open the Preferences in PocketMac for BlackBerry 4, and turn on one of the syncs, such as the Tasks, or Notes. If you are nervous, use a database that you use rarely until you are more comfortable. Then hit the green button to start a sync.

6. In some rare cases, we have had to have people reset the Mac and the Pearl after installation to get everyone talking to one another. On the Pearl, we just removed the battery, made sure the MicroSD card was set in and locked into position, and then put the battery back in and close the handheld.

7. For best results, launch PocketMac first, and THEN hook up the Pearl to the USB cable. That makes sure that PocketMac can help the USB port output the whole 500mA that the BlackBerry needs to feed.

8. The Pearl and the 8800 need more juice than older BlackBerry handhelds, so they tend to do better using a USB port straight out of the Mac. If you use a USB hub, it MUST be a powered hub, and the ports must be able to put out 500 mA of power, or it is too weak. If you suspect this may be a problem, temporarily use a Mac-based port for your BlackBerry to see if the low-power problem goes away. If it does, you know your hub is too weak. If it doesn't, then it's time to look at how the drivers are working.


*Now, about that freeze: what's happening is that the Mac's utility for setting up USB mass storage devices like USB thumb drives is turned on in the system as soon as the Mac recognized such a device. The program is called "pcscd" and you can see it in the Activity Monitor if you show All processes. Normally, the Mac sets up the device as a volume that you can see in your Finder window, and drops away. However, if you answer No or don't answer the Pearl question, the pcscd driver keeps trying to get that answer, and eventually takes over all the CPU cycles, making the Mac appear to freeze. It doesn't hurt anything, but if your work isn't saved and you have to reboot manually, you could lose data. PocketMac has programmed around that problem for the version that RIM is testing now, and we're just waiting for its release by RIM.

You can stack the deck in your favor by controlling some settings on your Pearl. Here's how:

In Options, Advanced Options, Media Card:

1. If you have a Media Card, Media Card Support should be ON.
2. Mass Storage Mode support should be ON if you want to be able to drag files to and from the Pearl.
3. AutoEnable Mass Storage Mode When Connected should be set to Yes (PREFERABLE) or AT LEAST Prompt. (And when it's set to Prompt, that's when you have to answer YES, and do it within a minute or so after connection.)
4. Press the Pearl, and choose SAVE.

Of course, if none of these general troubleshooting steps solves your connection problem, we would LOVE to work with you personally in our technical support department. Both RIM and PocketMac offer support for the BlackBerry handhelds using PocketMac.

RIM offers a variety of support options (including e-mail support) at the following sites (as a new poster I can't put in URLs so you may need to type these in manually... sorry about that!):

discoverblackberry.com/discover/mac_solutions DOT jsp (Get Technical Support link on the bottom of the page)

and PocketMac offers support here:

pocketmac.net/support DOT htm

PocketMac has free web-based support with our team of technicians, and if you want to speak with an engineer, we have a paid phone support option available. Either way, we are relentless at helping you get up and running.

Whew! I'm long-winded today! I hope I've been of some help to you!

Thanks for listening!

[ibrg]

Thanks. Excellent post Anne