A few tips on helping get your phone or device connected and working with FrontlineSMS

Quick help

Before you dig any deeper into the FrontlineSMS troubleshooting section, check the following which may help you quickly resolve your problem

Handset
Are you using a Symbian phone (for example, a Nokia N-series phone), a Windows Mobile phone, a Blackberry or an iPhone? If you are, FrontlineSMS does not currently support these generally higher-end devices. We plan to include support for these phones in future releases. Try and source an alternative phone

Cable
Are you using the correct cable for your phone? Many cables will fit phones they are not intended for, and using the wrong cable (or a cheap import) can cause your computer to not recognise your device. Check your phone manufacturer's website for further information, or see if your phone and laptop supports Bluetooth, in which case you will be able to connect without a cable

Driver
Have you installed a driver for your phone? Drivers tell your computer how to handle your phone. A missing driver, or a corrupt or invalid driver, will cause your computer to either not properly recognise your phone or cause it to fail to properly connect. Check your phone manufacturer's website for further details or, if your phone came with a CD, look there for installation instructions

Software
Some software programs which come on a CD with your phone block other applications, like FrontlineSMS, from accessing the phone. If you have installed Nokia PC Suite, or any other phone management/handset management software from a CD, close this program and try running FrontlineSMS again. You may have to also check that the program does not continue to run in the background - if it is you will usually see a small icon, usually towards the bottom right of your screen by the clock on Windows machines. If you see one, right-click on the icon and select "Close" or "Exit" and try running FrontlineSMS again

If none of this works, check that your phone isn't on the Unsupported Phones section of the website
 

My phone is plugged in but doesn't appear in either window

Make sure you have installed your phone driver. This might have come on a CD with your phone, or you can usually get it from your phone manufacturer's website. If you can't find the driver there you can try a generic driver which may help. There's one available on the Prolific Technology website. If you have another programs running on your computer which accesses your phone, this may 'lock' it and make it unavailable to other programs such as FrontlineSMS. If you're running any other software which might be doing this, close them and then try to connect again through the Auto Detect Phones button [3]

FrontlineSMS finds my phone but it shows in "Non-working" devices

This can happen if FrontlineSMS hasn't selected the correct "handler" to communicate with your phone. You can try to get your phone working by using the Manually Connect button [4] which will allow you to manually choose different "handlers". You may wish to ask your computer support person to help you with this, since you may need some technical knowledge to complete these options

Port
This is the communications (COM) port which your computer assigns to your phone or modem when you plug it in (for example, COM1, COM2 and so on). FrontlineSMS automatically searches through all your COM ports, but if for some reason it does not find your phone there, and you know which port it is connected to, you can select it here

Baud Rate
This is the speed at which FrontlineSMS communicates with your phone or modem. Again, during the scan of your computer, FrontlineSMS tries talking to your phone at different speeds. Once it ascertains the highest speed that your phone can work at, it fully connects with it at that speed. If for some reason FrontlineSMS is unable to communicate at the right speed, your phone may not work. If you know the speed at which your phone communicates, you can select it here

Handler
FrontlineSMS uses "handlers" to talk with your phone. If it is unable to figure out what kind of phone you have, it may assign the wrong handler. To help alleviate this, the Handler option allows you to manually select a handler, which you can then test and see if your phone works

You may find that a Samsung handler works with a Nokia phone, or a Sony Ericsson handler with a Samsung, so it's worth experimenting:

<default>
This is the default handler, and you should try using this first for any phone you experience a problem with

Nokia_S40_3Ed
If you're having problems connecting your Nokia phone, try using this handler. Please note that this handler only allows you to send messages, not receive

SonyEricsson
This handler is used by most SonyEricsson phones

Samsung
This handler only allows you to send messages

Once you've finished click on Connect. If it still doesn't work, try other settings or use a different phone

What if I still can't get my phone connected?

Because of the huge number of phones in the marketplace, FrontlineSMS is unable to support each and every one. Some phones are designed and built differently to others, and in some cases these subtle differences will stop FrontlineSMS from successfully communicating. These differences can also exist in phones made by the same manufacturer. For example, the Nokia 1100 uses different mobile-to-PC communications techniques to the Nokia 6100

If you want to check which phones we know work with FrontlineSMS, check out the Requirements page on the FrontlineSMS website. This list is not exhaustive and some phones not listed will work, it's just that we've not been able to test them all. If you get a phone to work which is not on our list, please let us know through the FrontlineSMS website Contact page and we'll let other users know. Thanks

If you'd like to find out about any other phone connection problems, check out the FrontlineSMS Community page. Check out the Discussion Forums in particular and, if you like, post your own entry and ask for help

My phone is connected but will only send or receive messages - not both

Some phones are only supported in send or receive mode (these phones are categorised as "partially working" on the FrontlineSMS website Requirements page). Your phone may be one of these "partially supported" devices. If so, there is nothing more you can do. However, it is possible that you have simply configured your phone to only be used to send, or to receive, in the phone's Settings menu. Settings for phones and modems listed in the Working devices window [1] can be changed through their "Settings" menu. To access this menu, right-click your mouse on the phone or modem in the list and select View/Edit Device Details from the menu. The following screen will appear:

Please note: If FrontlineSMS knows that your phone is "partially working", i.e. unable to send, or unable to receive, some of the options above will be deactivated

Don't use this phone
If this phone is connected to your computer for another use, and you don't want FrontlineSMS to touch it, select Don't use this phone and click Save

Use for sending
If you want this phone to appear in the Phones tab and be available to send text messages, tick this box

Use delivery reports
If the phone has been selected to Use for sending, tick the Use delivery reports if you want FrontlineSMS to check if messages have been successfully delivered (please note that not all networks operators support delivery confirmations)

Use for receiving
If you want FrontlineSMS to monitor this phone and download incoming messages, tick this box

Delete messages from phone, after receiving
If the phone has been selected to Use for receiving and you'd like FrontlineSMS to leave messages on the phone once they are downloaded and read, leave this box unticked. Tick this box if you want them removed

Once you have finished setting up your phone, click on Save. If you change your mind, click on Cancel. These settings can be changed at any time by returning to the Phones module and repeating these instructions

I'm using a Clickatell or IntelliSMS account and my messages won't send, or AutoReply won't work

If you're using Clickatell or IntelliSMS to send your messages, in FrontlineSMS your numbers need to be saved in international format, i.e. they must start with 00<country code><number> or +<country code><number>. You may need to go back and edit the numbers in your Groups to correct this. If you're using Clickatell or IntelliSMS and are having problems with the AutoReply functionality in FrontlineSMS, check out the Settings menu for a possible cause and solution

I've edited my Database Settings and now FrontlineSMS won't start

If, for some reason, you've needed to edit your Database Settings and you now find that FrontlineSMS won't start, you can manually edit them in the FrontlineSMS Properties Directory. The location of this Directory varies depending on your operating system

NOTE: You can check the location of your system files by clicking on Show Configuration Location in the Help menu in FrontlineSMS

Once you find the Properties Directory, you can manually edit your database settings in the database.properties and mysql.properties files (if you're using the default MySQL database in FrontlineSMS). If this sounds too much like hard work, just delete the whole properties directory and the next time FrontlineSMS starts it will revert to the original default settings

What if I'm still having problems?

If FrontlineSMS has previously worked but doesn't any longer:

Have you changed the device, or are you using a different cable, or plugged it into a different socket/port, or have you installed some new software? One of these may have caused the problem, so track back and see what might have changed. Or, sometimes if a device is left attached and running for a long period of time, it can hang or 'drop out'. If this happens, or you think it may have happened, unplug your phone or modem, shut down FrontlineSMS, restart your computer, reattach your phone or modem, and then restart FrontlineSMS. In most cases this will correct the problem. If it does, try to shut down FrontlineSMS each evening before you leave, if it's not needed (to avoid the problem happening again). Don't worry - it will pick up any messages that are sent overnight as soon as you start it up again

If FrontlineSMS still refuses to connect to the phone or modem:

Sometimes other programs running on your computer can block FrontlineSMS, stopping it from seeing your phone or modem. These programs often 'lock' the device, which stops anything else from using it (not just our software!). If you are running software which came with your phone or modem (such as Nokia Handset Manager), close the program (and make sure it's not running in the background, where it will be visible in your System Tray, near the clock on your screen). Once you have closed the program, reconnect your device, restart FrontlineSMS and see if the software can find it

If none of this works:

If you can't find the answer in any of the FrontlineSMS Help screens, the FrontlineSMS Community may be able to help. If you are having problems connecting devices then try speaking to your computer support person, who may be able to help determine if you're having driver or cable problems. If you have time to send log files for us to look at, please follow the procedure below
 

FrontlineSMS log files

We're constantly looking to improve FrontlineSMS. If you're experiencing any problems we'd love to hear from you. The easiest way for us to analyse problems is to look at the "log files" which are generated while you use FrontlineSMS. If you are connected to the Internet, you can submit your log files automatically to the FrontlineSMS Support Team by selecting Submit Error Report from the Help menu. Please then post an entry in the online forum, and we'll get back to you from there