Thread: How To use your Blackberry as a wireless modem

Hello All,

The following will describe how I got my blackberry to connect to the internet as a modem, and how I integrated it into my front end. I use RoadRunner, but the procedure should be relatively the same between the various front ends, especially since it is mostly accomplished with some Autoit Scripts that I created. Of course, you will need to edit the scripts some to get them to work for your situation, but at least this will get you started.

Before I begin, I just want to let everyone know that there most likely is a better, more efficient, more elegant, easier, etc... way to accomplish this. This is just the way I did it. If you have suggestions, that would be great, I might change mine to make it better. But, if you ask me why I did so and so, the answer will most likely be, just because that is how I did it, and it works.

What you will need:
You will need your BB software
A USB cable for the BB
A compatible BB
AutoIt version 3 Installed on your carputer.

Now, in order accomplish using your Blackberry as a Modem, you have to first make sure you have a BB that can be a modem, and then you have to install your desktop software on your carputer, and setup a dial up connection in your OS. Also, UNFORTUNATELY, you have to actually connect your BB to the carputer using a USB cable. BB/RIM does not allow a DUN to be established over BT (sucks really, but what can I do). I would suggest you follow the instructions at www.blackberryforums.com. If you have a BB, and have never been to Blackberryforums.com, then you are missing out. That is THE blackberry forum. Here is the link in particular to setup the DUN. Follow it to the letter. http://www.blackberryforums.com/blac...ighlight=modem
Make sure you test the connection before you begin (I know, common sense, but I should mention it)

When you are done, you will have a connection icon where you created it from the instructions on BBForums. Make sure it is a shortcut (has an .lnk extension). If it is not a shortcut (it should be, but just in case it is not) right click on the icon, and click create shortcut. Then rename it to something like "BB" (it should automatically add the .lnk extension) Then cut and paste the shortcut into your root drive, that means onto the C: drive. Ya, it might work in other places, but I found that I had problems running it from the desktop with AutoIt. Remember, it might work in other places, I put it in the root.

Then find the icon for Internet Explorer. Again, create a shortcut, this time to IE, and move the shortcut to the root directory. I would also name it "ie".

Now, do the following

Open IE, with the link or anyway you want
Open the Blackberry Desktop Manager
Open up a command promt (go to start>run>type "cmd">enter

With the "autoit Windows info tool", confirm the name of your blackberry
desktop manager window. Mine was called just that, and yours
probably is also, and write it down. IT MUST MATCH EXACTLY THE NAME OF THE WINDOW

Do the same thing for the Internet Explorer Window that you did for the Blackberry Manager Window and do it again for the Command prompt window

You will need this information for the script(s)

At this time, I would also determine the exact path for the two .lnk's you created, BB and IE. You can do that by right clicking on the link that you find using the windows explorer (or however you navigate windows). You will also need the path to the Blackberry Desktop software you installed, it should be called "DesktopMgr.exe" and if installed to the default, it should match what I have in the script.

You will then need to enter the appropriate information into the script(s). Yes, I have 2 scripts, you might only need one, but I used two, and I will explain later on why.

You should read the Autoit help to figure out how to create a script.

Script 1

; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;
; AutoIt Version: 3.1.0
; Author: A.N.Other <myemail@nowhere.com>
;
; Script Function:
; Template AutoIt script.
;
; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

; Script Start - Add your code below here

; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;
; AutoIt Version: 3.1.0
; Author: A.N.Other <myemail@nowhere.com>
;
; Script Function:
; Template AutoIt script.
;
; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

; Script Start - Add your code below here

opt("wintitlematchmode",2)
;With the "autoit Windows info tool", confirm the name of your blackberry
;desktop manager window. Mine was called just that, and yours
;probably is also. If it is not, then enter the name below, where I
;entered the name. IT MUST MATCH EXACTLY THE NAME OF THE WINDOW

$BB=winexists("BlackBerry Desktop Manager")

;Do the samething for the Internet Explorer Window that you did for
;the Blackberry Manager Window.

$ie=winexists("Microsoft Internet Explorer")
opt("wintitlematchmode",3)

;And again for the Command prompt window

$CMD=winexists("C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe")


Select
case $bb=0

;This is where the path for the Blackberry Desktop manager goes. Make sure
; all references are the same

run("C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\DesktopMgr.exe")
opt("wintitlematchmode",3)
winwait("Connected - BlackBerry Desktop Manager")
sleep(1000)
winwait("Connected - BlackBerry Desktop Manager")

case $bb=1
opt("wintitlematchmode",3)
winwait("Connected - BlackBerry Desktop Manager")
sleep(1000)
winwait("Connected - BlackBerry Desktop Manager")


endselect

select
case $cmd=1

; This the window name of the cmd window you determined with the
; autoit window info tool. Make sure all references are the same.

winactivate("C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe")
sleep(1000)
send("exit")
send("{enter}")
sleep(1000)
run("cmd.exe")
sleep(1000)
send("cd\")
send("{enter}")

; this is the name of the DUN connection link. Notice there is no path. None
; is needed because the commands above force the CMD window to the root
;drive. Make sure all references are the same.

send("BB.lnk")
send("{enter}")

case $cmd=0
run("cmd.exe")
sleep(1000)
winactivate("C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe")
send("cd\")
send("{enter}")
send("BB.lnk")
send("{enter}")
endselect

opt("wintitlematchmode",3)
winactivate("Connecting Blackberry Connection...")
winwaitclose("Connecting Blackberry Connection...")
sleep(5000)
winactivate("C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe")
sleep(5000)

; this is the name of the IE link. Notice there is no path. None
; is needed because the commands above force the CMD window to the root
; drive. Make sure all references are the same.

send("IE.lnk")
send("{enter}")
sleep(5000)
winactivate("C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe")
send("exit")
send("{enter}")

Notice the "sleep" commands might be able to be shortened on your
machine (5000) is equal to 5 seconds. That is just some trial and error, but like I said, it works for me.

I also optimized the DUN connection as follows

Go to Start > Connect To > Show All Connections. Then, right click on your blackberry dial up connection (whatever YOU called it) and click Properties. Click the Options tab, and uncheck "prompt for username and password" and also "Prompt for Phone Number" but leave "Display progress while connecting" checked, the script needs it to determine when the connection is established.

I also optimized the BB software, so that it doesn't syncronize, which makes the process faster since the connection doesn't have to wait for the sync to end. To do this, open the BB desktop manager, You will see in the middle window the word "Intellisync" just below to opposite facing arrows. Double click that icon. Almost at the bottom, you will see "select the actions to occur when your device is connected...." Click the button to the right of that, and uncheck all the options.

If you have done the above, and entered all the information (Remember, the paths must match exatcly with your computer, so confirm that everything is spelled correctly), you can test it out. You can do that by just double clicking the .AU3 file, no need to compile the script to an exe yet. In order to test this, you MUST connect your BB to the carputer, or else it will wait till it is connected. The script should automatically start the BB software, then start the dial up connection, and then start IE. Make sure you do not hae any other connections to the internet when you try with the BB, because IE will choose any active connection, and not just the BB connection. If all is correct, IE should start and be at your home page. If it works, then you can compile the script into an exe.

If you are using an FE other then RR, then you need to figure out how to execute the script from with in your FE. If you ARE a RR user, then read on.

For RR users, you now need to make the following changes to your RR setup.

If your skin has a button to access the web, then all you have to do start RR Config, and then in the web browser section, choose IE and then choose the path to your AutoIT .exe file from above. You are then all set.