Dave, I’m very excited. I just bought a brand new Motorola RAZR V3c cellphone and it’s as cool and sexy as can be, but I’m now wondering what I can do with the bluetooth capability. How do I use this thing to copy pictures up and down from my Mac to the RAZR?
As it happens, I’ve been experimenting (read “playing”) with a new Motorola RAZR V3c cellphone too, from Verizon. I’m both trying to get it to sync up with my Toyota Prius (which has been pretty darn easy) and with my bluetooth-capable Mac Powerbook (not so easy!)
To get the RAZR and Mac talking to each other, I had to do a bit of hacking too, which you might not be comfortable with. Not tweaking the phone, but the Mac itself. Here are the steps I took. Take a deep breath, it’s kinda complex…
First off, you need to grab the two data files accessible at the file archive site megaupload.com. It forces you to look at some ads for 30 seconds or so, then you’ll see a “click to download” option: do so, and then leave it alone for now.
Next, in the Finder identify the iSync application, then right click on the iSync icon and choose “Show Package Contents”. You’ll see a folder labeled “Contents” and it’s deep within that folder’s subfolder directory that the two new files need to be copied. Here’s where I ended up (I used the command-click option on the directory status in the window title to show the full path here):
For the record, the full path you need to navigate through to is: Contents : PlugIns : ApplePhoneConduit.syncdevice : Contents : PlugIns : PhoneModelsSync.phoneplugin : Contents : Resources. Got it? 🙂
Rename the file MetaClasses.plist to “MetaClasses.plist.old” (as you can see I’ve already done in the screenshot shown) then copy the two files you downloaded into this directory. One is a new version of MetaClasses.plist and the other is the file MOTV3-cdma.tiff.
Now you can close that window up. Your Mac knows what a Motorola RAZR V3c is at this point, at least it knows some of the capabilities…
Open up the Bluetooth System Preference (Apple Menu -> System Preferences -> Bluetooth) and turn Bluetooth on if you need to, then click on the “Devices” option. You’ll see the following:
No big surprise, it’s time to click on “Set Up New Device…” which launches the Bluetooth Setup Assistant. It’s pretty straightforward: choose “mobile phone” when you get to pick what type of device you’re working with, then while it’s searching for mobile phones, flip open your fancy new Motorola RAZR V3c and go to: Menu -> Settings -> Connections -> Bluetooth.
Choose Setup then choose Find Me, which will make your RAZR visible to the Bluetooth world for 60 seconds. A few seconds later your Mac will cheerily show “Motorola Phone” in the Setup Assistant and you can Continue to the next step in the process.
The Mac will pop up a Mobile Phone Setup Pairing code, a security key to ensure that you have control of both the Mac and the RAZR. It’ll look like this:
Before the sixty seconds are up, select Yes when the RAZR asks you “Bond with TiBook?” (TiBook is the name of my laptop, yours will vary). Enter the code and click OK on the phone and you should get a “Congratulations! Your mobile phone is now set up to use your computer’s Bluetooth features.”
The phone and computer can now communicate. Before you leave the Setup area on the RAZR, however, make sure you’ve turned the Power to “On” so you don’t have to fiddle with it any time you want to use it with your Mac in the future.
Now your Bluetooth configuration on the Mac looks splendid:
Go back to the “Settings” area and choose to have the bluetooth icon appear on the menubar and you should be done with the Bluetooth System configuration window.
Just make sure that the “Sharing” settings look like this:
Now, to browse the RAZR file system, grabbing photos, videos and even uploading new images, wallpapers and ringtones, simply choose “Browse Device…” from the Bluetooth menu:
Then select “Motorola Phone” from the list and click Browse. It’s amazing! You’re browsing the cellphone file system via bluetooth from your Mac:
Photographs are found in “picture”, ringtones in “ringtone” and so on. You can download content from the phone to your Mac by clicking on the appropriate folder, then choosing “Get” or “Send”, depending on what you seek.
Curious about what a picture taken with the phone looks like? Here’s a pic I just took of a calendar photo (B&W, not color, don’t panic) that I grabbed off the phone and uploaded to my server:
It’s not the same quality as my $2500 Nikon digital camera, but for a phone, heck, it’s not bad either!
That’s as far as I’ve gotten with my own RAZR V3c, but I’m really hoping to get someone to add information about how to use the RAZR as a bluetooth modem since it is clearly quite capable of that functionality!
One last note: if you want to add wallpapers, make sure they’re in JPEG format and you can shrink them down to a tiny 176×220 and they’ll appear beautiful on the phone itself.
I hope this incredibly detailed article is helpful. Good luck and, um, please remember that I take no responsibility for your trying the mods shown herein.
Great tip, Dave! Thanks much.
Wow you are like a life saver! Thanks man!
Dave, you are the man. All works just as you describe. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You’re generosity inspires me! Thanks!
I have the new Razr V3c from Bell Mobility and I’ve been able to transfer downloaded ringtone mp3s and wallpapers etc with bluetooth.. Not sure why other people can’t…
I was able to get my new RAZR (Verizon) to work just find with 10.4.4 & 10.4.5 other than the Browsing the file system.
Syncing contacts was a breeze, the bluetooth wizard setup a dialup connection, and iSync picked the phone up without a problem.
My problem lies with the browsing of the file system on the phone.
When I select “Browse Device…” nothing (and I mean nothing) happens at all. Device is paired and all check boxes in the bluetooth preferences are selected. I’ve taken this as a sign to stop trying so I have; however, if anyone has any suggestions I’d appreciate it.
Thank you.
After Rick’s comment that he was able to do transfers I got a BT dongle and it works fine, though iSync still won’t sync (gets a disconnect message). But file transfers (eg. ringtones,audio,pictures,video) from OS X’s built-in BT transfer utility work fine, and OnSync works like a charm (I’ll gladly pay the 14.50 CAD for the software)
any help with syncing v3c (verizon) with isync? i really only want to sync my contacts. tried the brian toth hack, but to no avail. (http://www.briantoth.com/razr_v3c/)
i pair the device with no problem, but when i try and add device to isync, i get “no device found” any joy would be appreciated. thanks
running 10.4.5 1.42 g4 mini
I was wondering if anyone knew about the compatability with Cingular Razr V3c and the Mac. I am contemplating an upgrade and want to make sure I won’t have the same issues listed above with the Verizon Razr.
The latest version of the RAZR software from Verizon (known as the “.3” release) frustratingly appears to have disabled the OBEX feature completely, so you might be out of luck. Very upsetting when we pay a premium for this phone!
Hi Dave, wonderful article. Love it. Got my address book to sync up with my V3C (verizon). However, I can’t browse the device to edit images, songs, yadda yadda. Is this the OBEX problem? Any patches to solve this thing?
Thanks so much.
I answered my first question. Sorry for the post. I’ve followed your instructions but I am getting the message: “Device does not have the necessary services” once I click “browse files.” I’ll be happy to buy the Chai if we can figure this one out.
I cannot find the path to this step.
“Next, in the Finder identify the iSync application, then right click on the iSync icon and choose “Show Package Contents”. ”
Can you help? I tried “spotlighting” “MetaClasses.plist” and only saw the downloaded title.
Alas, Morgan, I didn’t get it to work, and reading up on the subject quite a bit, it appears that Motorola / Verizon disabled the “send your contact list” capability in the RAZR V3c. Incredibly – INCREDIBLY – stupid and anti-consumer, but if I want to have Verizon as my carrier, I don’t know how to sidestep it.
I’ve wondered if anyone has had any success with syncing their RAZR with a bluetooth laptop, then trying to trick the Prius into receiving a phone book transmission from the laptop itself?
Dave,
How did you get the phone to snyc with the Prius, I can’t make it work. I just want to load contacts from phone to car, I had the v710 and could not make that work either
Tim, I also have the pink .03 version and had no luck with Browse. Please post if you have found a solution
Hey Bell Canada Users.
I was able to do OBEX file transfers via Bluetooth. Tigerdirect in Toronto has the dongle selling for $40 with a $10 rebate if you get it by Feb 28th. You can transfer ringtones and pictures to and from the phone.
For transferring Contacts, I used On-Sync instead of iSync, I tried what dave said but I couldn’t get iSync to work. For the $14 shareware it was fine. Good luck!
Great article, and thanks for this.
I was disappointed like so many others to learn that this new capable phone (Ravor V3c) has the full OBEX disabled, to force you to d/l ringtones etc., from the provider. I have thousands of ringtones, and can send them to the phone, and play them, but they can not be made ringtones in the phone. This sucks, and it should be widely publicized that companies like TELUS (in my case), Bell, Verizon, etc., disable technology to force you to buy something you already have. So typical.
The first provider that eliminates this greedy tactic gets my business.
So… any way to do this via USB? I did the first part and my Mac can see the phone however whenever I try to sync I get a message that the device disconnected.
Also… any way (or any application) for transferring such files via USB? Even if I GOT a BT card I’d still have the same problem as PA as I’m also with Bell Cda. (I suspect that they’ve even blocked the ability to download ringtones from sites other than their own, the b******s piss me off)
I have the Motorola RAZR v3c. I belong to Bell Canada in Ontario. The soultion in article #5836 works as you said but Bell has specific software that blocks OBEX file transfer.
It is the same as selling me a car that has a radio and telling me I can use it. They have a *disclamer on their site that says:
“The RAZAR V#c supports the wireless headset and hands free Bluetooth profiles. It doen not support Bluetooth ooject transfer (OBEX) profiles. ” Thats because they have disabeled the manafacture’s feature.
Bell Canada simply don’t get the customer need and seemingly don’t care. I am returning the RAZR and finding a suplier with features that i can use. PA
I just bought 2 RAZR phones from Verizon. One works (grey) with these instructions, and one doesn’t (pink). Comparing the two, they have different software versions. [Go to Setting & Tools > System > Device Info > Other Information > S/W Version (hit View)]
GATW_01.0F.02 — this one works
GATW_01.0F.03 — doesn’t work
I’ve seen other indications around the web that Verizon forgot to plug OBEX in some versions. Do your instructions actually enable OBEX? Has anyone with the .03 version been successful at ‘Browse Device…’ (I can get address book to sync, and sometimes calendar, but no browsing).
Thanks for the insight on bluetooth. I bought this phone to connect to my mac as a high speed modem. has anyone had any experience connecting this way? Explain what is needed please. Does it work as well as the cards?
Hi Dave,
I tried deleting the device from iSync and tried to add it again but it won’t let me now. I get the “iSync cannot connect to this device” message. What have I done? Anyone?
Unfortunately, I haven’t had any luck with the USB cable at all, either for charging (apparently the V3c needs more voltage than is usually on a USB wire to charge) or accessing any of the files. If someone else has had luck, do share!
Hi. Great article. Going to try this tonight. Just a question – I don’t have bluetooth on my mac. One of the last without. If do most of your steps up to:
“Now you can close that window up. Your Mac knows what a Motorola RAZR V3c is at this point, at least it knows some of the capabilities…”
can I do the rest (syncing stuff) with the USB connection? I have a new Bell Mobility V3C in Canada. It didn’t recognize my phone last night, and I’m thinking that i need those files from that megaupload site. Your thoughts (and thank you)?
Chris, I used the Mac program iSync so I don’t know what files or folders it was using. Please do check out the free iSync plugins from Nuvo Media too:
http://www.novamedia.de/sync/index.html
Stefan, I’m afraid I can’t help you any further than what I’ve written here. Perhaps someone else can help?
Hi Dave, I was just wondering, I’ve followed through on everything listed, however it doesn’t complete the sync stating that it lost the connection, meanwhile nothing transferred. Any ideas?
Thanks.
i have a razr v3 for tmobile. when i pair my razr with my pbook g4, i get three folders: pics/vids/music. you say that you were able to sync the phone book… how?
thanks dave! this worked beautifully and now i can change my ringtone to be anything i want without having to pay verizon’s extortion fees! hooray!
Now i can’t transfer anything from my computer to my phone. Can you tell me the steps that have to be taken to do this?
Thank you
I can’t transfer music to my phone from my iBook. It keeps on saying bad request. Is there anything i can do?
Laura, I think you might need to check with the fine folk at Howard Forums , which is the best place to find out the real details about cellphones and systems I’ve found online. The answer from Motorola is particularly puzzling, though, because bluetooth shouldn’t need to be “compatible” with another computer as it’s a standard low-range wireless protocol.
The problem is that the Mac set of configurations might not include your phone, but, again, that seems like it’d affect your ability to do things like sync with iSync, not get the two devices paired in the first place.
I’m afraid I don’t have a great answer for you. Experiment, though, and see what you can find.
I don’t have your specific gear to test, but I imagine that should work, John. Try using Google to search for comments from other users with a search like
cingular razr inspiron bluetooth
and see what you find!
Dave, what about connecting my Cingular Razr3 to my Inspiron M600 Dell Laptop, equipped with Windows XP Pro, using Bluetooth on my Razr. Possible. How?
Thanks,
John
Has anyone tried to connect the V3c to a palm one T series? I have a T3, and would like to know if I will be able to have all 3, powerbook – T3 – V3c communicate. Specifically the address book, and calendar. If only they could get all 3 of these to be the size of a RAZR in one package…
Hey Dave,
Just read this site and thought it might help me. I have a motorola e770v (vodafone Spain) that I just bought solely b/c of the bluetooth capacity. Bummed to realize it doesn’t work w/ my ibook (OSX 10.4.4). The computer and the phone recognize each other but when I go to transfer a file I am given the “device cannot be validated” error.
Before I go trying the steps you suggest for the razr v3, I was wondering if you could give me your opinion of whether or not you think it would resolve my phone’s problem. Seeing that I have a motorola it might work, but then again, it’s not a razr, so i’m not sure.
I’ve already contacted motorola about the problem and was told the software isn’t compatible with Macs. grr….
Anyway, advice would be appreciated!!!
What version of iSinc are you using, on mine after i go to “Show Package Contents” there is no “Plugins” folder, Just {“Info.plist”, “MacOS”, “PkgInfo”, “Resources” amd “version.plist”}
Dave: (re: voice memo function on V3c) … THANK YOU! I would never have been able to figure that out on my own… gotta go… time to record/play some memos!
Steve, I pulled this into its own entry and figured out how to get pretty nice screenshots of the cellphone screen itself (finally!) so I could answer your question:
https://www.askdavetaylor.com/motorola_razr_v3c_how_do_i_use_voice_memos.html
Hope it’s helpful!
Dave: I can’t get my V3c voice memo tool to work. I upgraded from a Motorola V710 which had an easy two-step process for recording and listening to voice memos. The V3c allows me to record (over multiple steps), but then I can’t find where/how to listen to my memos! I know this is a ‘low on the radar’ issue, but any insight would be appreciated.
Hi Dave,
I’m also a little bit puzzled at your comment about how Verizon’s current V3C phones have the OBEX profile enabled. I’m a Verizon user and I’m planning to upgrade to the Razr, but I’m not eligible until April 16. I’m going to assume that at that point Verizon will have disabled the OBEX profile – how can I re-enable that when the time comes? I’m sure it’s possible, but I don’t know how.
Any ideas?
Bob, a logical point of confusion. Motorola has lots of support for cool stuff, but Verizon appears to prefer limiting featuresets to generate revenue, so while the phone supports OBEX, for example, theoretically Verizon is going to shut it down. Meanwhile, the current release of the RAZR V3c *does* have OBEX enabled, hence my ability to sync address books and up/download pictures, etc.
I’m confused, your article talks about setting up the V3c for OBEX, but at the bottom here, you say it doesn’t support it. You say you can transfer the phone book, but then you say Verizon disbled this feature (OBEX). Can you clarify?
What about windows machines?
David, I’m running 10.4.4 and I still had to do all the tweaks I outlined, so while it theoretically includes support for the RAZR, it doesn’t actually support the RAZR V3c, and so it didn’t work for me, at least.
Thanks for your article – but I wanted to share with your readers that as of 10.4.4 it is no longer necessary to download or tweak iSync – OS X now knows all about the Razor phone.
So – just pickup on Dave’s wonderful tutorial at the Open BlueTooth preferences pane and ask it to setup a new device!
Very tasty.
I do too, Jack. Unfortunately, Verizon has disabled this feature of the Motorola RAZR V3c telephone, as far as I can ascertain. There’s no way I can figure out to transfer the phone book, short of sync’ing it with another bluetooth device and using that as an intermediary (which I have yet to try).
Dave,
I want to transfer my contacts on the Verizon Razr V3c to my ’04 Prius. HELP? Thanks. I have the phone paired, but don’t know where on the phone to send the contacts (phonebook.)
Jack
What a great article! It was detailed, accurate and cleared up all my problems. Thanks for all your hard work!
Nathan, I have read that people can sync both their calendar (with iCal) and their phone book (with Address Book). I have only tried the latter – with success – but don’t need my calendar on my phone. Worth noting: I had to cycle power on the RAZR for it to work properly…
I have a question, what can you sync with it in iSync, i.e. calendars, to-do items, address book, etc.?
I like the captcha.
I was wondering whether I wanted to buy one of these phone because the specs say “It does not support Bluetooth object transfer (OBEX) profiles.” Anyways, you cleared it up for me, I still don’t know what that means but at least I know I can sync it now if I decide to buy it.
Thanks!