For those of you who don't know, Bitpim is a great tool for transferring files back and forth between phones and your PC (ie. backing up contacts and making your own mp3 ringtones). This tutorial will be given for a LG VX-8300 specifically, but it should work with later (maybe some earlier) models.

First, get bitpim from the repositories and make sure that bluetooth utilities are installed:
Code:
sudo apt-get install bitpim bluez-utils
Start bluetooth with the command:
Code:
sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth start
In your phone, go under the Main Menu -> Settings & Tools -> Bluetooth. Then, highlight Add New Device and under settings select "discovery mode" (the location and name of this option may vary from model to model. What this option does is enable your phone to be seen by your system for a few minutes.)

Then find out your phone's mac address and connect with the commands:
Code:
$ hcitool scan
$ sudo hcitool cc ##:##:##:##:##:##
$ sudo hcitool auth ##:##:##:##:##:##
, where ##:##:##:##:##:## is the mac address of the phone.

This last line may or may not be necessary. When I entered it, I got the output "Not connected." However, I'd already previously connected my phone with the laptop through gnome-bluetooth in a previous failed attempt to get bluetooth working and had already authorized my phone for connection, so I ignored the message.

Now we need to find out what channel to connect rfcomm to, so enter
Code:
sdptool browse ##:##:##:##:##:##
and find the section with "Service Name: BT DIAG." Look under "Protocal Descriptor List" and find the Channel number:

Code:
Service Name: BT DIAG
Service RecHandle: 0x10005
Service Class ID List:
  "Serial Port" (0x1101)
Protocol Descriptor List:
  "L2CAP" (0x0100)
  "RFCOMM" (0x0003)
    Channel: 16
Language Base Attr List:
  code_ISO639: 0x656e
  encoding:    0x6a
  base_offset: 0x100
Profile Descriptor List:
  "Serial Port" (0x1101)
Here it's 16.

Now run
Code:
rfcomm connect 0 ##:##:##:##:##:## ??
where ?? is the channel number.

At this point the phone should be connected via bluetooth with ubuntu and we can run bitpim. Start it up with
Code:
bitpim
Click on settings (icon with wrench on screwdriver) and under Com Port select /dev/rfcomm0. If you know your phone type select it under Phone Type. Hit OK and click on the icon with the magnifying glass over the phone to detect your phone. After doing this I get an error message
Code:
No phone detected/recognized.  
Run Settings?
After doing this your phone should be connected (regardless of what Bitpim tells you). Try getting your phonebook data from your phone to verify that the connection works.

These directions were adopted from instructions for an LG VX-9800: http://www.quietearth.us/vx9800.htm