Man in the Middle is a type of security procedure that can be used to confirm the pairing of two Bluetooth devices. The device you are connecting to will generate a code on a screen, and then that code is confirmed on the second device to finish the pairing process. This is common when trying to pair to a car’s head unit.
The default security level of the Portland Tool & Die BQC or BTC does not allow these types of connections. To change the security level, the command line utility must be used.
- Under the “Control Software” tab from the link below, select your device.
https://portlandtoolanddie.com/support/
- Download and run the “<device-name>-WindowsSetup-<version>.exe” file. The command line utility as well as documentation will be installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\PTD under a folder with the device name in use.
- Open the command prompt by searching CMD in Windows
- Each device will have a different command name. For example, to run the BQC-4148 utility the command “bqcutil” will need to be entered to the command prompt. Check the documentation for your device to get the appropriate name. To enable man in the middle, run the command line:
<util> /mm ON
Running the command <util> /L will list the current configuration of the Portland Tool & Die device. If man in the middle is enabled it will have a value of 1, disabled will have a value of 0.
With Man in the Middle enabled, the Portland Tool & Die device will automatically respond that the security strings match. There is no need to manually enter the string on the Portland Tool & Die device, but it might be necessary to manually confirm on the connected Bluetooth device that the strings match.
To set the current configuration as the default run the /sd option. This will retain all current settings, including the Man in the Middle state, the next time the device is restarted. For more information please see the Portland Tool & Die documentation for your specific device.
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