SMS for Windows: Trouble Shooting

If none of these tips solve your problem, contact our technical support department by email at  sms@ozeki.hu or by telephone on the following phone number: +36 20 993 7723.

STARTUP ERRORS

The description below is useful if the following error appears on the screen: could not connect to the device when you have clicked on the test connection button or when you wanted to start up the application.





If you have this error message, it means the SMS server software cannot open the serial port to communicate with the GSM device or it does not receive a response from the device attached to the port. In other words the communication between the pc and the mobile phone is not working.

POSSIBLE REASONS

Some of the reasons below may sound too obvious, but please go over them so we can solve the issue. If you check the following and the communication is still not working properly please contact us so that we could tackle it together.


Reason 1: The GSM phone or the SIM card is protected by a PIN code 


Disconnect your phone and PC (Simply take your phone off the data cable)
Switch off your phone then switch it on
Turn off the PIN code that protects the Device
Turn off the PIN code that protects the SIM
Attach your phone to the PC with the data cable
Try to connect to the phone from Ozeki SMS again



Reason 2: the device and the computer is not in sync

Disconnect your phone and PC (Simply take your phone off the data cable)
Switch off your phone off then swich it on
Unplug your PC then power it again
Attach your phone to the PC with the data cable
Start Ozeki SMS and try to connect to the phone from Ozeki SMS again



Reason 3: Invalid data cable

Some mobile phones can be connected to the PC using different data cables. Ozeki SMS uses the phones as GSM modems. You need to use a data cable that makes it possible to use the GSM phone as a modem. 


For Nokia 62xx, 63xx, 7xxx phones use a DLR-3 compatible cable
For Ericsson phones use a  DRS-11 or a DRS-10 compatible cable
For some phones e.g.: Nokia 6110, 5110, Nokia Card Phone you need to install a modem driver (Nokia Datasuite)



Reason 4: The port settings are not correct: your phone can be reached on a different port

Before we get into details, we must clarify what a port is. The port is the place where you attach your data cable. It is located at the back side of the computer. We use the 9-pin serial port, which is called: COM1  




You may have more than one of these ports on the back side of the computer. In this case you have COM1, COM2, COM3,...  


Make sure you select the appropriate COM port in the Ozeki SMS server. If you are not sure which one you should select try all of them. (There are usually only a few possible options)





Sometimes you use a different connection method. For example you can use IR, Bluetooth or a USB cable. In all cases the connection device is represented as a COM port in the Ozeki SMS application. If you have one of these alternative connection methods, the best option is to check all the listed ports:.


  

Of course you can try to find out which port you can use in another way. If you have USB data cable or you use a special phone driver, such as Nokia Datasuite or Nokia Cardphone II, you should open the Device manager form in Microsoft Windows and find out which port represents your device:




If you have located the serial port, specify it in Ozeki SMS and try to connect


Reason 5: The port settigs are not correct: The phone cannot connect on the default port speed

The phone model you have purchased can be different from the one we have tested. For example the port connection speed might not work with the default settings. You may open the port configuration screen and try to select a different port speed. 




The two most common port speeds are: 9600 and 19200. Try these two ones.


Reason 6: Another application or driver is using your serial port

This is the hardest error to detect. You may have another software installed on your pc that wants to communicate with a device over the same COM port  your device is attached to. In this case Ozeki SMS cannot open the port because the other software is using it.

Uninstall all the softwares that use the COM port (for example: mouse driver, fax software, pda synchronization tools, other SMS software you have previously installed, phone managers )
Reboot your PC and phone after uninstallation


If you think the port is available, and Ozeki SMS is the only software that cannot open it, you can test the port using Hyper Terminal. Here is how you should do it:


 Testing the connection

Start Hyper Terminal (You can find it in the following menu: Start menu / Programs / Accessories / Communications )

When the connection description window pops up, enter a name for the connection (e.g.: Ozeki test)

On the "Connect to" form select "Direct to COM1 " to make direct connection to the phone that is attached to port COM1. If your phone is attached to a different port you should choose that port instead of COM1. If you use Nokia Datasuite, select the virtual communication port. If you use Infra Red communication, find out the COM port number the IR port is using.

In the "COM1 Properties " window adjust port communication properties. For most of the time 9600 bits per second connection with (8, None, 1, Hardware) parameters will be ok. For Siemens phones use 19200 bits per second. 
After clicking OK , Hyper Terminal opens a connection to your device
Enter AT and hit Enter . If the modem replies with an OK message that means the connection is working.
Enter AT+CMGF= 0. If the modem replies with an OK, your device is capable of sending SMS messages. If AT+CMGF= 0results in an error message, you might have to turn off the PIN code protection of your SIM card or of your phone< /FONT>


Other sources:

See some other resolution tips on the following links:

http://www.ozeki.hu/index.phtml?owpn=300
http://www.ozeki.hu/index.phtml?owpn=298
http://www.ozeki.hu/attachments/159/Com_Port_Problems.pdf  
http://www.ozeki.hu/index.phtml?owpn=299 
 

Platform specific issues:

Windows 2000 Infra Red 

In Windows 2000 there is no default IRCOMM support. In order to use your phone as a modem through the infra red port, please get IRCOMM update from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/news/w2ksp3.asp.



RUN-TIME ERRORS

Error condition: The SMS Server stops working after a while.


 Server stops occasionally
Redirect voice and data calls to a different phone number. (For some devices an incoming voice call can break the connection between the PC and the Mobile.) 


Error message: "SMS_SEND_FAILED ...".

 Server stops occasionally
Make sure the service center is entered correctly on the preferences form 
Make sure the phone number is in international format 
If you use a pre-paid subscription, check if you have enough credits to send messages
Try to send a message from the device manually.
If other messages could be sent successfully, it is probable that the GSM network could not accept your message. Possible reason is that the network was overloaded.


Error message: "[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]Timeout expired".

 Server stops occasionally
Try checking the MDAC version you have. You might have to upgrade to version 2.7
You might need to right click on your server in Enterprise Manager and try to set the query timeout property under connections to '0'


More information