xdeb.org

How to get Nokia 6131 work with iSync and connect via GPRS on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Also how to add SSL certificats to Nokia 6131 for POP/IMAP/SMTP over SSL and other neat stuff.

My aging Sony Ericsson T68i was due for a replacement but I was having trouble finding a good replacement.

The T68i has good hardware and was the first phone I tested where Bluetooth worked well. The user interface on the other hand is almost as bad and irritating as the Windows OS is.

After spending some time in Japan I started to like the flip open phones. Big screens that are automatically protected in the pocket and decent size keys. Not to talk about the great featured the Japanese phones have.

The Nokia 6131 was one of the few phones that I found interesting. It uses the relative new Symbian Series 40 3rd Edition OS and have a lot of nice modern features. Nokia also seems to finally deliver phones where Bluetooth works well. The user interface is ok, even nice, Nokia has always been better on that then Ericsson.

From what I could find on the web the Nokia 6131 should be able to work with Mac OS X and it does. Here how I made it work.

Install extra iSync plugin

Update 2007-03-14: Mac OS X 10.4.9 adds built in support for Nokia 6131 and a lot of other phones.

The version of iSync provided with Mac OS X 10.4.7 does not support the Nokia 6131. A free third party plugin can be downloaded from iSync-Hilfe - Nokia iSync PhonePlugin.

They do not provide a ikon for the Nokia 6131 yet so I made one myself. Feel free to download from the link at the bottom of this post. Here are the path to the image that is to be replaced.

Pair via Bluetooth

Next thing that needs to be done is to pair the phone with the Mac. Activate Bluetooth on both and set the phone to “Temporary visibility”. Initiate the paring from the Mac. You can go to System Preferences > Bluetooth > Devices and klick “Set Up New Device…” or choose “Set up Bluetooth Device…” from the Bluetooth meny.

The Internet via GPRS

Before you start, make sure your mobil phone subscription have GPRS service and that your phone have the correct settings for GPRS. My phone needed some GPRS settings and the easiest way to get them was to go to my providers homepage and have them sent to the phone via SMS.

Telia.se - Inställningar/Kom igång GPRS MMS etc.

Next go to the excellent Ross Barkman’s Modem Scripts Page to get the right GPRS modem scripts for Nokia. On Ross Barkman’s GPRS Info Page you find connection information for many network providers from Albania to Venezuela.

Replace my APN, online.telia.se, with your own and you might need to test several of the Nokia modem scripts to find one that works for your setup. Otherwise the settings should look like in the screenshots below.

NOT FOUND: system&

E-mail and SSL

To my pleasant surprise the E-mail client in the Nokia 6131 supports SSL for POP/IMAP/SMTP. Overall it looks like a decent e-mail client though I have not used it much yet.

To activate SSL go to: Messaging > E-mail > Options > Manage accounts > Edit > Advanced receiving/sending.

Unfortunately the SSL root certificate used by my ISP was missing from the phone so I needed a way to add it. But before that I must find the right cert, in the right format.

Run this command to get a look at your mailservers SSL certificate.

Look for a line similar to this, “issuer” is the keyword here I believe.

A search for “Equifax Secure Global eBusiness” brings me to the page GeoTrust: SSL Certificate, SSL, Server Certificates, Web Server Certificates.

There they have a number of certificated including the one I need “Equifax Secure Global eBusiness CA-1”.

They offer a number of formats including the one that Symbian Series 40 can recognize, DER encoded X.509. If you can’t get the cert you need in that format here are the command to convert a cert to DER format.

Make sure the filename extensions is *.crt since that is what Symbian Series 40 expect.

Now that we have the file we need to put it on a web server and place a link to it on a page that can be reached via the phones web browser. When you click the link to the file the phone will ask if you want to add the certificate, answer yes and you are done.

Other things

The most useful configuration option on the Nokia 6131 is in my opinion the ability to set your own shortcuts. You can e.g. set the right selection key to “Bluetooth menu” so you easily can turn Bluetooth on and off.

Settings > My shortcuts

Also have a look at the settings for the Main and Mini display, especially the screen saver part. Set it to “Digital clock” and the phone will always tell you the time without the need to press any button.

Settings > Main display > Screen saver Settings > Mini display > Screen saver

To get the date to also show go here.

Settings > Time and date > Date

Update 2007-07-16: Google Maps on Nokia 6131, it works quite well. Point your mobile browser to http://www.google.com/gmm.

Please add your own tips in a comment to this post. I will also post updates her if I find out anything new.

Attachment	Size
NOK6131.tiff	17.9 KB