Cables

The phone has two internal interfaces available. One is a serial connection and the other is a USB connection. The cables you can get usually have USB on one end, and then connect to the serial or USB connection on the other end. USB to serial cables also typically have a plastic blob in the middle which contain the USB to serial conversion chip.

It is recommended that you get a straight USB cable. (The USB issues that affect the VX4400 do not affect this phone).

When used via USB, the phone exposes two interfaces. One is to use the phone as a modem. The second interface (normally called the "diagnostics interface" is what BitPim needs to talk to).

RPI Wireless straight USB with charging

Available from www.rpiwireless.com. RPI were kind enough to loan a VX6000 to add support to BitPim. You can thank them by placing your order with them. Don't forget to mention that BitPim sent you!

This is a straight USB cable that also does charging. There is a red light that comes on when USB is connected (independent of whether there is a phone plugged into the other end of the cable).

Windows

This cable works well and is reliable. The cable comes with drivers for Windows.

Linux

Linux has drivers builtin, and should use the acm module for the phone interface. BitPim will talk to the diagnostics interface using its builtin USB support.

Mac

MacOS will automatically recognise the modem interface and configure it appropriately. BitPim will talk to the diagnostics interface using its builtin USB support.

FutureDial USB to serial

Available at RadioShack as catalog# 17-792 and will work with the VX4500, VX4600 and the VX6000.

Futuredial cable

This cable has a blob half way along the cable that converts from USB to serial and then connects to the serial interface in the phone. The chip inside the cable is a Prolific 2303 and this is how your operating system will report it.

Sometimes the phone does not respond when using this cable, and has to be manually forced to talk. Do this by Menu    9-Settings    6-1x Data    2-Select Port RS-232C(COM Port). Note that you can also change the port speed in that menu. Although the Prolific chip supports speeds up to 230400 and the phone may list them, some drivers for the chip only support speeds up to 115200. The BitPim log will show you what speeds BitPim tries to use, and if they are successful.

Windows

This cable works well and is reliable. You will need to obtain the drivers from FutureDial's website.

Linux

Linux has drivers builtin. Note: There is a bug in the Linux 2.4 kernel that causes many machines to crash when any program stops using the cable. This has been fixed in the kernel versions 2.4.23 and 2.6.

Mac

You will need to get drivers from the Prolific web site at http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

Speed

The default speed the diagnostics interface runs at is 38400. You can increase this to 115200. Do this by Menu    0-Service Menu    (Service code, usually 000000)    5-Data    3-Diag Baud. You may need to reboot the phone for the change to take effect.

BitPim Online Help built 17 January 2010