HELP - IR not working 100%

[khpchan]

This situation is strange, :cry: or perhaps not (I am a new PPC user).

My unit is 300mhz AXIM x5.

Okay, here is my problem. I have a laptop running windows 98 with an IR port. I am trying to create a connection between it and my Dell. They momentarily connect and disconncect. When I watch the status on my laptop, there is a device (apparently my Dell) trying to conncect. However, sometimes the name in the status shows as "Pocket Pc" but sometimes with a bunch of meaningless symbols. (I install Ce-star suite on my dell.)

After doing a lot of resets (hard or soft), they does not solve the scenario I described above. I also try to beam files, and it becomes stranger:

1. When I send a file from my laptop to my PDA, it is successful.
2. When I send a file from my PDA to my laptop, it is not.

Can anyone please help me out? Is it related to the device itself or the OS? Thanks a lot. :oops:

[GoldKey]

I had a different, but related problem with IR. Is IR not compatible between PPC 2000 and PPC 2002 devices? When I first got my Axim, I was at work and needed to wait to get home to active sync on that computer. I wanted to move my contacts over from my ipaq 3150, so I thought I would beam them from device to device. It would not work. But I was able to beam from the Axim to a friends Ipaq that had been upgraded to PPC 2002.

Any thoughts?

[dr_doak]

Just to confuse the situation a bit more:
I'm pretty sure that I read about PPC 2002 being able to beam contacts and the like to PalmOS and back... Never actually seen this done (my Axim isn't here yet), but it would be strange indeed for 2000 and 2002 not to be compatible, while 2002 will do some stuff with PalmOS. 8O

Ona slightly different tack: have you tried many variations on distance between devices and angles? Even putting them on different materials when syncing? I've never had an easy time beaming between two PalmOS devices, they all seem to want very specific distances and angles in order to work. I've even had luck using reflective or non reflective surfaces under them (depending on the device's mood). :roll:

One possible explanation, maybe the laptop has a higher power and more sensitive emitter and sensor and is easier to use IR with as a result?

[ECOslin]

Yep, tried that, and had the same problem.

1st being that the infra-red port on the pda is in an unhandy spot.

2nd being that the even at the right angle, sometimes it was intermittant.

I looked for reflective surfaces and bolting the IR tranceiver(for my desktop) at different angles to try for better reception.

Of course the thing(desktop IR) worked fine with my Acer Notebook, and my PDA works fine with the notebook(98se).

Eventual solution: I stopped using IR.

Is there PPC2002 software for measuring IR signal strength?

Edward

[dr_doak]

I imagine that there must be software out there, but another solution involves a small plastic card that phosphoresces when IR hits it... You could also use that sort of thing (prolly cheaper than software, excepting freeware) to see where the beam is strongest... In fact, I just tried it myself and noticed that the darn thing on my Handspring is actually pointing at a downward angle... Not wonder its so hard to get a connection while its on a table! I also noticed that the card seems to have to be pretty close and in the dark to work, but you can at least see where the beam is really going.

I've gotta agree though, aside from occasional program transfers, IR is not something to be relied on.

[GoldKey]

Sounds cool, where would you get such a card?

[khpchan]

I have tried various distances, angles, but if the communication was weak, I wasn't supposed to be able to send my file from the laptop to the PDA. 8O I am still assuming this is a software problem rather than a hardware (physical problem).

Can anyone please help? I recall there is a Dell Axim (official) forum; could anyone give me the url? Thanks.

[smapdi636]

Not sure if it'll help, but if you videotape, or watch through a video camera (through camera viewport LCD), you will be able to see the IR coming from the device. Not like a "laser", IOW you won't see the whole beam, but at the point of origin from the PDA.

[GoldKey]

Not sure if it'll help, but if you videotape, or watch through a video camera (through camera viewport LCD), you will be able to see the IR coming from the device. Not like a "laser", IOW you won't see the whole beam, but at the point of origin from the PDA.

Didn't think about that, my Sony video camera has the Infrared nightvision. That should do it!

[mscdex]

Just to confuse the situation a bit more:
I'm pretty sure that I read about PPC 2002 being able to beam contacts and the like to PalmOS and back... Never actually seen this done (my Axim isn't here yet), but it would be strange indeed for 2000 and 2002 not to be compatible, while 2002 will do some stuff with PalmOS. 8O



You can transfer files to Palm-based devices with special software only, such as Peacemaker.

[Wingnut]

Actually Pocket PC 2002 is OBEX compliant, which means that it can transfer and recieve between Palm OS devices and Pocket PC 2002 devices with ease. However, to recieve from a Pocket PC 2000 device, you need to start up the Programs->Infrared Recieve program and you shouldn't have a problem. Actually all you have to do is pretend you are doing a file transfer between two Pocket PC 2000 devices, and everything should work fine.

And mscdex, the reason Teflon sticks to the pan is because it is forced into tiny imperfections on the surface. So Teflon doesn't really "stick" to the surface, but is forcefully bonded to it.

[khpchan]

It has nothing to do with the physical IR conditions because I was able to beam a file from my laptop to my dell. I am not able to create a connection between the two, and I am not able to beam a file from my dell to my laptop.

Could anyone please help me out?