[BitPim-user] UTStarcom CDM7076 Interface

[Bill B. <bil...@ea...>]

I wondered if BitPim would work with my new UTStarcom CDM7076 phone (used on
VZW).

I sure would like to move pictures off the phone onto my PC and BitPim was
designed for that and a lot more.

The C7076 has a tempting USB port on the side.
Would it work with BitPim?
Ultimate Answer: No
But: I got some intriguing test results.  They suggested I am close.

Here’s what I found out.

I am using BitPim v. 1.0.7 official downloaded from BitPim.org.

The CDM7076 is a poor man’s phone.  It is not in BitPim’s inventory of high
class prestige phones.  So, if it is going to work in BitPim, it will go
through the “other” choice.

Push “Find Phone” button on BitPim menu.  The BitPim Settings menu comes up
after a search through the phone inventory.   I select “Browse” and that
gets me down low level, where I might be able to connect up.

But, first things first.
Will the C7076 even work on my Win XT Pro PC?
I take an ordinary USB cable off a PC USB port (no hub) and plug it into the
phone.
Joy!
Win Device Manager puts up a yellow colored question mark “Other Devices”,
with a yellow colored question mark submenu titled “UTStarcom C7076”.
Unplug and it went away.  This is all the way it should work.

Now all I need is a USB device driver.
Hey, I actually found this at:
http://rapidshare.com/files/132983536/UTStarcom_CDMA_Handset_USB_Driver.rar

It is from Starcom, no less.
I downloaded and installed this.

With the UTStarcom USB driver installed:
Before the handset is plugged in:
Device Manager shows no changes yet:
Under USB controllers: No mention of UTStarcom device.
Under Modem: Only my PCI modem is in the list.


Now plug in the handset:
Device Manager shows:
Under USB controllers: UTStarcom USB Composite Device is added to the list.
Under Modem: UTStarcom CDMA Handset #2 is added to the list.
This looks good.
(The #2 should probably be ignored.  Each time I deinstall and run this test
procedure, the Handset # gets incremented by 1.)


Now start up BitPim:
Push top menu button “Find Phone”.
Select Other phone
Browse
Under Available Ports you see:
UTStarcom CDMA Handset #2
UTStarcom CDMA Handset Diagnostic Serial Port (WDM) (COM7)
For completeness under Inoperable Ports you see:
UTStarcom CDMA Handset
UTStarcom CDMA Handset Diagnostic Serial Port (WDM) (COM7) 
(i.e. you see this one again)

Select UTStarcom CDMA Handset #2 (and for grins push the Refresh button):
Read the associated lower window, and here are the most important results:
driverdate 2005-12-22
driverdescription UTStarcom CDMA Handset
driverprovider UTStarcom Incorporated
driverversion 4.36.1.52
hardwareinstance  USB\VID_0D08&PID_0300&MI_00\6&371CA69&2&2_00
name COM6

Click through 2 OK’s to back out of the submenus, returning to BitPim's main
window.

>From the pull down menu, “View”, select “Phone Info”.
Nope – get error “Phone info not available”.

Push the “Get Phone Data” button in the top menu ribbon.
The resulting “Get Data from the Phone” window is all grayed out.
Nope – nothing is got – phone is not talking.
Cancel that window, returning to main window.

Push Log button (Open Log); get:
17:37:44.921 Detect Phone result: {'COM6': {'mode_modem': True, 'mode_brew':
False, 'firmwareresponse': None, 'esn': '8066140E', 'model': 'CDM7076',
'firmware_version': 'S/W VER: V7I_UC1.79', 'manufacturer': 'UTStarcom
Incorporated'}}

17:53:28.780 COM6: USB support is not available
(This line is bad news.)

17:53:28.780 COM6: Opening port COM6, 115200 baud, timeout 3.000000,
hardwareflow 0, softwareflow 0

17:53:28.812 COM6: Open of comm port suceeded

Next, stop the BitPim.dat recording.
Open BitPim.dat file and look:
I see BitPim is actively working on port COM6.
But near the end of the log is this unfortunate result, namely no firmware
response:
"Detect Phone result: {'COM6': {'mode_modem': True, 'mode_brew': False,
'firmwareresponse': None, 'esn': '8066140E', 'model': 'CDM7076',
'firmware_version': 'S/W VER: V7I_UC1.79', 'manufacturer': 'UTStarcom
Incorporated'}}"

Results: My conclusion: 1. The phone firmware will not speak to BitPim
either because: 1A the phone is not programmed to spill user info guts over
this USB port or 1B the phone speaks a unique protocol (BIOS vocabulary) and
BitPim does not yet know this protocol.

The good news: This is close, very close.  The phone DID seem to identify
itself, when asked to do so.
The bad news: No cigar.

Please notice that the Device Manager sees another port, the “Handset
Diagnostic Serial Port”.  BitPim sees it as an active port, too.  So I
select “Handset Diagnostic Serial Port”, clear the logs, and do this whole
test over again, as described.  This time we are going through COM7.

Again the log shows COM7 opened ok, but no USB support.
18:21:34.390 COM7: USB support is not available
18:21:34.390 COM7: Opening port COM7, 115200 baud, timeout 3.000000,
hardwareflow 0, softwareflow 0
18:21:34.390 COM7: Open of comm port suceeded


Looking in BitPim.dat, I see, as I did before:
USB support is not available but the COM port is successfully opened.
The log says:
'COM7: USB support is not available'

But here BitPim.dat seems a little less successful.  BitPim.dat did not
appear to see the UTStarcom phone.  

At the end of the log it just records:
COM7: Opening port COM7, 115200 baud, timeout 3.000000, hardwareflow 0,
softwareflow 0' p10 sS'_class_module' p11 Nsb.<-->ï
ccopy_reg_reconstructor p1
(cdata_recordingDR_Recordp2c__builtin__objectp3NtRp4(dp5S'_time'p6F128346609
400001sS'_type'p7I1sS'_class_name'p8NsS'_data'p9S'COM7: Open of comm port
suceeded'p10sS'_class_module'p11Nsb.

Results: My conclusion: The phone will not speak over COM7 either.  Worse
yet, the phone will not identify itself.

Future work:
Maybe I should download Python and source code, use it to build a little
BIOS poker, and try to see some hex data coming back out of the phone.  If I
could prove that the phone will spill its guts through the USB driver I
have, it might be worth looking for a protocol stream.  Surely, the BIOS
commands are somewhat industry standard.

I think I am still at too high a level, in the middleware.  I need to get
closer to the BIOS, somehow.  This is my present thinking.



Bill Butler