E61i no longer connects successfully

Question

Hi,
I'm having a very frustrating problem with my E61i, which has worked perfectly with Bluetooth File Exchange, Nokia Multimedia transfer etc., but now fails to connect. It seems something is corrupted on the phone such that this no longer works. Rebooting the phone / Mac achieves nothing. Here are the details:
- From a clean start (after rebooting both systems), Bluetooth File Exchange successfully connects to the phone, but any attempt to transfer a file leads to a "connection failed or closed" error. It doesn't matter whether the file is on phone memory or the memory card.
- thereafter, Bluetooth File Exchange is not even able to connect to the phone ... I get this same error message. On the phone screen I see parentheses appear for about a quarter second around the bluetooth symbol (indicating a connection), but then vanish. It is trying, but immediately fails.
- via USB cable, Nokia Multimedia Transfer has a similar problem. After starting the "connect and transfer" from NMT, I then connect the USB cable from phone to Mac; the Data vs. PC Suite choice is offered to me by the phone; I choose PC Suite, briefly see the PC Suite connection symbol, which immediately vanishes. NMT works for a bit (i.e. NMT icon on the menu bar shows activity for a few seconds) then nothing further happens -- no iPhoto or iTunes launch as would normally be expected. Trying to connect via bluetooth gives the same behavior: a brief flash of the parentheses around the bluetooth symbol on the phone indicating a connection, which immediately vanishes, and NMT acts as if nothing happened (no connection).
- iSync via bluetooth works just fine at transferring contacts and appointments back and forth between phone and mac.
- USB data transfer to access files the memory card (E also works just fine. My understanding is that this is just a direct USB access to the memory card, effectively disconnecting the phone from the memory card.
It looks like the functionality on the phone that supports file transfer to outside applications like PC Suite, Bluetooth File Exchange and Nokia Multimedia Transfer has corrupted some of its data files, so that it fails whenever it tries to start. I've searched quite a bit on the web, and lots of people have similar problems with Nokia file transfer, but no solutions that seem relevant.
The problem is that the system is so damn opaque! If only I could see a log file like on linux I could presumably track down the meaning of the error messages and resolve the cause of the problem. But I haven't found any info that would indicate even where to start -- I can't even find out whether there are useful log files, let alone where to look for them.
This problem started after transferring a 7 MB file from phone to Mac via Bluetooth File Exchange: during the transfer a GSM call came in (from a telemarketing idiot!); while I took the call, the transfer continued fine but a bit slower, and completed with no apparent problem. The transferred file seems fine. However, afterwards I'm having all these problems that I never had before.
firmware 1.0633.86.02 14-03-07 RM-227 Nokia E61i-1
MacBook Pro 1st generation, OS 10.4.11
Help!
-- Chris Lee

Answer 1

I think I have solved my problem after a frustrating week. I traveled last week and changed time zones. I then changed the time zones on both my MacBook and E61i. However, once that was done, everytime I tried to synchronize my phone and iCal and Address Book, I kept getting a SYSTEM ERROR message, and the two would not sync.
When I returned to home, and reset the times, I still got the System Error message, and no synchronization. Emailing the help desk here, they just told me to download the plug in! Not very "helpful" as I'd already done that!
This morning then, I deleted all the calendar entries from my phone, and tried to sync again. Finally successes!
Seems there's some kind of glitch if you change the time zone settings. Just delete all the entries on the phone, and then re-sync.