HP iPAQ hx4700 WM5 Upgrade Available in NA... Now?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmisc/vac/us/en/sm/pocketpc/MS5.0_upgrade.html' target='_blank'>http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscm....0_upgrade.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"This upgrade offer provides you the ability to upgrade your HP iPAQ hx2000 and hx4700 series Pocket PC with Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0, without purchasing new hardware. The Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade is currently available on CD for the HP iPAQ hx2000 and HP iPAQ hx4700 series Pocket PC. The downloads are currently available just for the HP iPAQ hx2000. The downloads for the HP iPAQ hx4700 will be available soon."</i><br /><br />A few weeks ago, HP UK suggested that the iPAQ upgrade availability <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47113">would be pushed back to April 1</a>, but for the North American owners amongst you, it appears you can now order the CD. A download-only version may be made available in the future as well; it also remains to be seen how quickly CD orders will be fulfilled. (Incidentally, I don't understand this: isn't it <i>easier</i> to make a download version? Wouldn't a company want to put that up first to fulfill as many sales and reduce the cost of manufacturing CDs? Or is it that they pressed lots of CDs and want to sell them out first? Or is HP clueless as usual?)<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> It appears HP only updated the frontpage, the order page doesn't actually offer the CD yet. :roll: And you guys were actually taking HP seriously. For shame. :lol:<br /><br /><b>Second update:</b> Apparently, you can now download this ROM. About time! :D Let us know how it works.

[JohnJohn]

I see the text you are refering too, but fail to find anything to actually buy, cd or download.

[Edgar_]

Argh, I didnt check that.

Click on the words "Purchase CD kits Now" near the top and you get

TADA! No Hx4700 option *grumble* - typical typical......... :roll:

Set us up, shoot us down. :snipersmile:

I'm sure some HP support person is reading some HTML book trying to figure how to add to an existing table.

-Edgar_


AHA! Click on the HX27XX one and you get:

This upgrade offer provides you the ability to upgrade your HP iPAQ hx2000 and hx4700 series Pocket PC products with Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0, without purchasing new hardware.

[tnelson2000]

Is it true that HP is part of the Federal Government? ;-)

[SHC]

Well I've finally decided not to upgrade anyway. I'm going to wait for the Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox T series. No more Hp for me.

[crimsonsky]

Sounds like the exact same fiasco that occured when the hx2000 series update was made available. Sheesh, don't these people ever learn?

[tnelson2000]

HP posts, "The downloads for the HP iPAQ hx4700 will be available soon."

Ok, so what is "soon?" HP claims that the CD ships in 1 to 2 weeks? Is "soon" less than or greater than 2 weeks? They cannot even post a download date for fear of missing the date! What a bunch of wimps. I will always look for another vendor first before buying HP!!

So, what is the difference between HP and Organized Crime?

Answer: One of them is organized!

[bigray327]

Sheesh, don't these people ever learn?
They never will, which is why I just bought an HTC Apache. Fool me once, yadda yadda.

[seaflipper]

Sounds like the exact same fiasco that occured when the hx2000 series update was made available. Sheesh, don't these people ever learn?

Yep...the problem is that the CD is made in Asia and the software is in Asia. HP hasn't figured out yet how to email a large file like that from one country to another so they have to hire a courier to pick up the CD in Taipei and then get on a plane and fly to the US and give the CD to someone in San Jose who then drives it over to guy in Napa (they have a glass of wine and exchange stories about last years finest vintage) AND then the guy in Napa has a friend in Dublin who has a day pass to the HP HQ and HE finally takes the CD to somone he knows at HP and they figure out how to put the CD into the computer and then hopefully someone can upload it to the web for purchase...

Hence, 1-2 weeks AFTER the CD is available the download MIGHT be available

[Oleander]

They never will, which is why I just bought an HTC Apache. Fool me once, yadda yadda.

Yup! Me too!
I'm soo happy with my new HTC Wizard.

And with the new F-S Loox on the horizon, why even bother?

[Janak Parekh]

Yep...the problem is that the CD is made in Asia and the software is in Asia. HP hasn't figured out yet how to email a large file like that from one country to another so they have to hire a courier to pick up the CD in Taipei and then get on a plane and fly to the US and give the CD to someone in San Jose who then drives it over to guy in Napa (they have a glass of wine and exchange stories about last years finest vintage) AND then the guy in Napa has a friend in Dublin who has a day pass to the HP HQ and HE finally takes the CD to somone he knows at HP and they figure out how to put the CD into the computer and then hopefully someone can upload it to the web for purchase...
:rotfl:

It's so pathetic, all I can do is laugh at it. If not, I'd be crying.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

I see the text you are refering too, but fail to find anything to actually buy, cd or download.
Sigh. Okay, updated the front-page post. Thanks.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

AHA! Click on the HX27XX one and you get:

This upgrade offer provides you the ability to upgrade your HP iPAQ hx2000 and hx4700 series Pocket PC products with Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0, without purchasing new hardware.
Would you honestly, truly trust this?

--janak

[nitestrike]

And to think I was going to upgrade the memory, and the 4700 had such potential. Stick a fork in me I'm done with HP, I've been waiting and waiting for the upgrade and now this. Those monkeys banging on typewriters didn't exactly duplicate Shakespeare, but looks like we know where they ended up. As with the rest of you I'm looking forward to the new Loox too, not quite ready for a converged device as my PDA, I had been wanting to get one anyway.

Hey HP if you listening, and can hear above the monkeys and typewriters, get a clue!

[Gerard]

I suspect that the reasoning behind offering a CD sooner is that they'll make more money that way. Sure, it's more trouble at both ends... but at least the first illicit copies of the ROM installer won't appear online until a few weeks after CD sales have started. If they offered a downloadable version too early they might lose many of those initial sales. It's hard to think of an OS update which hasn't been available on a torrent site...

[DaleReeck]

but at least the first illicit copies of the ROM installer won't appear online until a few weeks after CD sales have started.

Of course, HP could have offered the upgrade free, eliminating that possibilty - considering the 4700 was way overpriced to begin with. Oh, but I mentioned the "F" word to HP. Why give something away for free that just about everyone else gives away for free when you could make a buck? Even in death (4700 being discontinued), HP has found a way to make money off of it :evil:

[nitestrike]

My issue is with them saying it is available and it is not listed on the ordering page, and even more to the point that they have really been bungling the whole WM5 upgrade for both sets of device as it sounds, and what I see.

[Gerard]

I doubt they'll make a lot. Perhaps from a few companies who want to keep things up to date, but don't have the resources to update to new hardware... but the negative publicity around their handling of this upgrade (or lack of handling, as it seems they were leaving it on the back burner) will mean very few end users will bother to upgrade. (If WM5 can be called an 'upgrade' at this point!)

[Wiggster]

Well, you seem to be able to purchase the download on HP's site now. I'll wait until I get home to try it, but I'm glad that it looks like HP is FINALLY coming through on their word :)

[KH]

I just downloaded. I'm glad I blinked and missed all the whining - but HP probably needs to be more careful about the order in which they change their web pages, especially if it takes them a couple of days to get everything uploaded. This is not the first time someone found an announcement while they were in mid-update.

[juni]

Wow, I never thought they'd release it. Now I don't have to send skin suites off to be beta tested on WM5 devices (except when it comes to VGA phone versions). :)

[Wiggster]

Unfortunately, I plum forgot about getting the upgrade to my device last night, housekeeping got in the way. But I'm sure I'll get the upgrade by Friday :D

Wow, I never thought they'd release it. Now I don't have to send skin suites off to be beta tested on WM5 devices (except when it comes to VGA phone versions). :)

Does this mean there's new VGA WM5 suites in the works? With suites to match our WM Smartphones? :mrgreen:

[ljclark]

I managed to purchase the CD version online this morning...Got a confirmation e-mail and everything. (Golly!) They say the CD will ship some time after 5 April.

This may not be critical in my case since I really want to wait for Chapura to update PocketMirror.

I will admit there were a couple of false starts with their links and pages.

[dlauri]

I just got done ordering, downloading and installing the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for my iPaq 4700, and after reinstalling various programs, I've discovered to my dismay that SE_VGA doesn't work with WM5, which is a real disappointment. Has anyone found a way to enable true VGA on 4700s under WM5?

[KTamas]

I just got done ordering, downloading and installing the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for my iPaq 4700, and after reinstalling various programs, I've discovered to my dismay that SE_VGA doesn't work with WM5, which is a real disappointment. Has anyone found a way to enable true VGA on 4700s under WM5?
The guys at Aximsite has figured out a while ago how to run OZVGA under WM5.

[SHC]

Now that its available I'm tempted. Does anyone know if I can buy / dowload from the US to the UK? The ipaqchoice site for the UK still says 1st April. The download page says "worldwide english". Anyone from the UK tried?

Well, did it anyway, 332mb!!. Can't install it till the weekend anyway Doh! :oops:

[Jereboam]

I hope it works on a UK iPaq too...as I just bought and downloaded it.

Actually just found a post on Brighthand that suggests it works just fine. Although I must say I'm not looking forward to resintalling WM5 versions of everything on my PPC...better be worth it...!

Now to poach somebody's Windows computer...I'm on a PowerBook and don't want to risk bricking it with Virtual PC!

J'bm

[Menneisyys]

I just got done ordering, downloading and installing the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for my iPaq 4700, and after reinstalling various programs, I've discovered to my dismay that SE_VGA doesn't work with WM5, which is a real disappointment. Has anyone found a way to enable true VGA on 4700s under WM5?

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=98163

[unxmully]

It's a shame the download server's only connected via a dialup modem :cry:

[Jereboam]

Yep, there is an option in Regional Settings to choose English (United Kingdom) which gives you all the regional stuff like £ sign and so on...again found on that other forum...

J'bm

[ricoks]

Forgive me, but what does WM5 give me over 2003SE?? The site at HP says nutin different than what i can do now. $40 seems like a LOT for an upgrade that may not do much better for you. I guess i'm just a little noob at what WM5 brings to the table. :oops:
I know that WM5 smartphone is a LOT better, but what about the 4700???

i appreciate all the response. I mean, is $40 worth the upgrade???? :?

[tsaxton]

From memory, I think you're supposed to install Activesync 3.8 for WM2003SE devices, and Activesync 4.1 for WM2005 devices.

What are you supposed to do if you have one 2005 device (a 4700 that is about to get upgraded) and one or more 2003SE devices? Install both versions of Activesync? Or just 3.8? Or uninstall 3.8, and then install 4.1?

[Darius Wey]

What are you supposed to do if you have one 2005 device (a 4700 that is about to get upgraded) and one or more 2003SE devices? Install both versions of Activesync? Or just 3.8? Or uninstall 3.8, and then install 4.1?

Windows Mobile 5.0 devices require ActiveSync 4.1, so install that. Fortunately for you, it's backward compatible, so it will work with your Windows Mobile 2003/2003SE devices.

[Darius Wey]

Forgive me, but what does WM5 give me over 2003SE??

Not a definitive list, but some major enhancements include:

• Persistent storage: Windows Mobile 5.0 devices now retain data even when your battery runs out.
• Updated Office Mobile: Addition of PowerPoint Mobile (as a viewer), and a huge boost to Outlook Mobile's capabilities (e.g. inclusion of photo support for contacts).
• New developer APIs: At the end of the day, this will allow developers to create some advanced applications for the end-user (you) to play with.
• Direct3D Mobile: Devices with dedicated GPUs (e.g. Axim X50v/X51v) will really see something different here. Direct3D Mobile will enable developers to create more media-focused applications (and games).

[ctmagnus]

• Persistent storage: Windows Mobile 5.0 devices now retain data even when your battery runs out.

Maybe I've been watching too much Lost, but this feature alone seems worth the upgrade. :silly:

[ricoks]

For the persistent Storage -->Isn't that what the 128mb ROM in the Hx4700 gives you???

[Gerard]

Your persistent storage is non-volatile file storage only. You may install programs there, but the databases and registry remain in RAM with pre-WM5.0 OS versions, and as such are lost if battery power fails completely. This is the touted advantage of WM5. For myself, in almost 6 years and 11 Pocket PCs, I have not once lost data due to battery rundown. Not even close. And even if a battery did, someday, run out completely due to unavoidable circumstances (lost on an island, etc), there are always my daily or more frequent Sprite Backup EXE files from which to restore. Takes 3 minutes, then all is back to normal. Hard resets are no big deal when one has good backup habits.

I do daily Phatware dbExplorer database backups too, for insurance, just of the primary PIM databases. A simple scripted behavior in the program makes this a matter of launching the app, then 2 taps to run. Easy stuff. A whole new OS and way of doing things is more convenient than that? Sorry, no, not when it seems to mean operational slowdowns, the potential for ROM reaching its write limit prematurely and leaving me with a brick, and all the non-compatible software I'd have to abandon. Just not worth it.

[Dave Beauvais]

Is Pocket Informant still included with the WM5 upgrade? If so, could someone who has already upgraded please tell me which version it is? Thank you!

[Jereboam]

Yes, and it's PI 2005 Rev 4 Build 477 apparently.

[ricoks]

Yes, and it's PI 2005 Rev 4 Build 477 apparently.
Is this confirmed????
Because that may make it worth part of the upgrade price there.
if it's the same, it's a good program, no doubt, but they've added a lot to it since the 4700 came out

[Dave Beauvais]

Yes, and it's PI 2005 Rev 4 Build 477 apparently.
Excellent; thanks!

[Jereboam]

Can't confirm personally as I can't do the upgrade until I get at a Windows PC in the office tomorrow...but that's what I read elsewhere. Even though I have already bought PI 2005 separately, this is great news for people, it's a superb PIM, and makes the WM5 upgrade really good value.

For anyone who is a Sprite Backup fan, bad news, I just spent $15 to upgrade to version 5 for WM5 to find it doesn't work with machines with Credant installed, ie the 4700. They say a fix is coming, it's Credant's fault, yada yada but it is very annoying for the time being.

[chrisloker]

2005 Rev 4 Build 477 per the about screen on my upgraded 4700

Posted my opinions on other board - overall very happy with the upgrade!

[UCCOFFEE]

just remember, no WIFI sync with activesync 4.1 (if upgrade to WM5, you must use activesync 4.1)

[limp]

just remember, no WIFI sync with activesync 4.1 (if upgrade to WM5, you must use activesync 4.1)
Exactly. Which for me one of the most useful aspects of Activesync and alone is a significant enough loss to stop me upgrading to WM2005. :(

[SciFrigGuy]

Well I just installed Windows Mobile 5 on to my HX4705. I went very nice and it is working great. I loaded a few apps and it went good. So far I think it is definently worth upgrading to WM5. I have never used Wi Fi to sync my iPaq so in my case I won't miss it. I do like that it has the persistant memory now. Also had the RAM upgrade done today at Pocket PC Techs and together with WM5 it is almost like having a new PPC.:D

[Dave Beauvais]

Wow... this is really sluggish running WM5. The lag between tapping something and an action taking place is extremely irritating. The pseudo softkeys making me do one extra tap to get to menus is annoying. I've been reading for the past several months about how many people were disappointed with their WM5 devices and wow... they weren't kidding. I'm going to give it a few days before deciding, but I might be going back to WM2003SE. I'm a little bummed that I spent $40 on this. :| And ActiveSync 4.1 is driving me nuts keeping background copies of Outlook running for no reason even when the device is disconnected.

[hiatus]

could anyone report the free RAM on the 4700 after a hard reset? I have the X50v and after the upgrade, free RAM right after a hard reset is somewhere around 28MB!

People said it was memory leak from the OS or the Dell ROM, anyways, I can't use my PDA with only 28MB free RAM and I went back to WM2003.

[bystander]

Download and installation went very smoothly.

Device operation seems good and quick

On the Active Sync screen I notice the red circle and white "!" and when I click status I get "Support Code 85010014".

I also notice under the calendar the is no data under the contacts.

Any suggestions

[ricoks]

just remember, no WIFI sync with activesync 4.1 (if upgrade to WM5, you must use activesync 4.1)

Does this include sync'ing to an exchange account, or does this only affect your local active stinc?
I'm trialing a hosted exchange, and NEED to be able to wifi active sync.
interesting that there are some that are excited, and some that are dreading it (WM5.0, that is...)

BTW, how do you go back, once you've upgraded???

[MobileAGBell]

Wow... this is really sluggish running WM5.... And ActiveSync 4.1 is driving me nuts keeping background copies of Outlook running for no reason even when the device is disconnected.
There is a fix for the ActiveSync problem. I had the same problem on my 2795 (and now on my upgraded 4705). I called hp and they walked me through setting up a bogus ActiveSync connection and then removing it on my 2795 a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember the exact details but I will post the instructions after I make another call to them.

[waterboy]

Can anyone tell me which Bluetooth stack HP used in its build of WM5?

[Janak Parekh]

• Updated Office Mobile: Addition of PowerPoint Mobile (as a viewer), and a huge boost to Outlook Mobile's capabilities (e.g. inclusion of photo support for contacts).
Not to mention a much better Pocket Word. Other features include softkeys, new notification mechanism, one-handed operation, various updates elsewhere I can't remember. ;)

Wow... this is really sluggish running WM5. The lag between tapping something and an action taking place is extremely irritating. The pseudo softkeys making me do one extra tap to get to menus is annoying.
I don't have the lag you're speaking of. Do you have any background or today screen applets running? Some of the older ones are known to slow down WM5 significantly. As for the softkeys, yes, it's annoying, although since I'm using a softkey-enabled Pocket PC, I like not having to pull out the stylus for everything I do.

--janak

[Kvalnir]

Download and installation went very smoothly.

Device operation seems good and quick

On the Active Sync screen I notice the red circle and white "!" and when I click status I get "Support Code 85010014".

I also notice under the calendar the is no data under the contacts.

Any suggestions

Had the same problem and spent an evening on it, the only thing that fixed it was to uninstall Outlook, then reinstall it again. Detect &amp; Repair wasn't good enough, you have to uninstall/reinstall to get it working.

85010014 is definately an Outlook issue.

[Dave Beauvais]

This thing is sucking the life from my battery faster than I have ever seen a Pocket PC drain. I haven't seen my battery at less than 50% for months, but it's at 46% right now. It drained about 6% overnight. This morning before work, I was fighting with the Messaging app slowing down to the point of making the entire PPC unresponsive and after a soft reset, I saw that my battery had drained by 9% within the previous five minutes.

Apps I have installed: ListPro 4.1.0.1072 FlexWallet 2006 Rev 1 Build 353 Spb Pocket Plus v3.5 CalliGrapher v8.2 Build 8.319.0110 PhatPad v3.186.0110 Resco Explorer 2005 v5.35 Spb FreeCell v1.5.0 Build 66 Mapopolis v4.7Pocket Plus has just the Today plugin and close button modules active, and I've uninstalled the components I am not using. CalliGrapher has just the Write Anywhere SIP installed, and I've disabled all but that and the built-in keyboard SIP since I don't use Letter or Block Recognizers.

Edit: I have uninstalled Pocket Plus completely and will see if that makes any difference.

[Tye]

This thing is sucking the life from my battery faster than I have ever seen a Pocket PC drain. I haven't seen my battery at less than 50% for months, but it's at 46% right now. It drained about 6% overnight. This morning before work, I was fighting with the Messaging app slowing down to the point of making the entire PPC unresponsive and after a soft reset, I saw that my battery had drained by 9% within the previous five minutes.

Apps I have installed: ListPro 4.1.0.1072 FlexWallet 2006 Rev 1 Build 353 Spb Pocket Plus v3.5 CalliGrapher v8.2 Build 8.319.0110 PhatPad v3.186.0110 Resco Explorer 2005 v5.35 Spb FreeCell v1.5.0 Build 66 Mapopolis v4.7Pocket Plus has just the Today plugin and close button modules active, and I've uninstalled the components I am not using. CalliGrapher has just the Write Anywhere SIP installed, and I've disabled all but that and the built-in keyboard SIP since I don't use Letter or Block Recognizers.

Edit: I have uninstalled Pocket Plus completely and will see if that makes any difference.
I'm seeing the slowdown and battery suckage too. The only common app we have is Calligrapher. Unfortunately, I won't have much time to test out any other configurations for the next couple of weeks.

[Islanti]

I'm seeing the slowdown and battery suckage too.One of the advantages of WM5's persistant storage is that they run the battery down much further (potentially to zero), whereas WM2K3SE would reserve a large portion of the battery to keep RAM going. You'd think the battery would last longer!

What might be happening, though, is that the hx4700 needs to recalibrate the battery meter. Try running the battery down all the way before recharging it. That should help the OS determine what battery voltages map to what percentages.

[Edgar_]

What might be happening, though, is that the hx4700 needs to recalibrate the battery meter. Try running the battery down all the way before recharging it. That should help the OS determine what battery voltages map to what percentages.

This was my thought as well. Any battery monitoring program calibrates after two or three cycles. Albeit, I thought these were supposed to be "smart batteries" with a circuit to report back, but they never seem to be correct.

Cycle the battery a few times and give us a report back. I'm holding off on my WM5 upgrade for a month and let you "on the edge" folk run it through its paces.

-Edgar_

[ctmagnus]

And ActiveSync 4.1 is driving me nuts keeping background copies of Outlook running for no reason even when the device is disconnected.

KnockOut (http://sunflowerhead.com/software/knockout/) ;) - it sticks an icon in the system tray showing whether Outlook is running, and if it is after you've exited it, you can kill it from there.

And how do you disable the SIPs you never use? I use Fitaly and I have Calligrapher installed for PhatPad purposes, but I never use block recognizer, letter recognizer or the built-in keyboard.

[Gerard]

A few of the 'tweak' applications have SIP disabling functions. I can't speak to exactly which ones, but I use Tillanosoft's Pocket Tweak (freeware) which does this just fine. Un-check a box. That's all.

[Edgar_]

Does anyone have WinMo5 on the 4700 along with the PPCTECHS 128Mb upgrade?

Any issues, does it runn faster/slower - how much memory is available? Does the Ipaq File store remain or just become part of the persistent memory? Same with Extra memory left from 128M upgrade.

I intend to use:
SPB Pocketpcplus - latest rev (3.1)
SPB Diary (1.71)
SPB Weather (1.5)
PocketInformant 2005 (bld 492)
Inav IGuidance 2.1.3

Maybe a few games and some other side apps like Ewallet, etc

[Happyman]

Here is upgrade to WM5.0 already.
http://www.pdamobiz.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=55373&amp;PN=1&amp;TPN=1
It's work.

[Edgar_]

uhm, its all in Thai! I can't even google/babelfish it. :?

The screenshots are nice though, and we get memory size and all the revision numbers. Hmm the ROM is dated Feb 16 - looks like they were actually working on it - I expected an October date :)

This unit appears it has the 128M upgrade. I assumed everything should load and it would recognize the memory. Does it affect device speed vs a unit without the memory upgrade?

[badbob001]

Somebody report the amount of total and available ram after the upgrade.

[rtrueman]

What a hunk of S**T. Installed fine, but device runs VERY slow and I'm constantly getting, "The server is busy. Support Code: 85010017" when Active-syncing. Anyone else having these issues?

What a nightmare.

Rob

[Dave Beauvais]

I don't have the lag you're speaking of. Do you have any background or today screen applets running? Some of the older ones are known to slow down WM5 significantly.
Well, I uninstalled Pocket Plus and used the included Today Panel, which I think was even worse. I don't know if it's constantly polling the free space on storage cards or what, but disabling that Today add-in, as well, seems to have helped dramatically in terms of performance. It still isn't nearly as snappy as WM2003 SE was, but this is at least tolerable. I also have not had issues with the Messaging app locking up the device since turning off the Today screen apps or uninstalling Pocket Plus.

I'm now using Magic Button for my close button functionality and battery meter. I will probably reload Resco Explorer and use its Today add-in for a launcher if it doesn't have too negative an impact on performance. I will miss the backlight slider from Pocket Plus, though.

Edit: Things seem to be working very well now. I reloaded Resco Explorer, this time installing the Today add-in, which I'm using as a program launcher and battery monitor. (I'm not using the memory/storage meters.) My battery seems to be draining at a more normal rate; more along the lines of the way it functioned under WM2003 SE. The only major thing I miss from Pocket Plus is being able to open links in new windows in IE.

[rtrueman]

Thanks for that information, Dave. I'll uninstall the memory displays (I'm currently using the one from Resco) and only use the task launcher.

Is anyone having the same "Server busy" error I indicated below? What a pain. This is certainly my last HP product...

[Edgar_]

rtrueman, thats a MS issue, not an HP issue. Did you look up/google the support code?

http://www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport/detail.aspx?guid=&amp;ErrorID=30451and MS's official page on it

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/help/activesync/default.mspx

It was reported on other devices as well.

[rtrueman]

rtrueman, thats a MS issue, not an HP issue. Did you look up/google the support code?

Well... you see... uhhh. Oh, crap. I did Google the error, but didn't see anything like this. I do have a ton of emails in my Inbox. That's one cause mentioned in your links. I'll see how it performs today and run through the steps your links provided. Big thanks!

Later.

[DustyLBottoms]

I downloaded and installed the upgrade yesterday, then last night when I was browsing the web over wi-fi with my 4700 is suddenly locked up!

I tried a soft reset, no good. I took the battery out and soft reset, No good. Each time it would just sit on the boot screen - with no progress bar.

So I did the HP live chat deal for an hour last night, he had me do all sorts of "touch three buttons while soft resetting and doing a jig."

After nothing worked me pronounced my ipaq DOA. They have the standard ipaq coffin on it's way via DHL to repair it.

:-(

[Kt3]

I purchased and installed this upgrade.

Some thoughts:

- Considerable degradation of performance vs. WM2003, even without status panel on today screen.

- Battery life unaffected or possibly worse.

- Persistent storage does not mean your iPaq won't soft reset after the battery drains completely and you re-dock it.

- The OS upgrade seems to offer more style than functionality.

- HP couldn't even release some new utilities with this. They still have the same WiFi control utility with the horrible silver background texture.

- I am not sure whether to be more disappointed with HP for taking so long to provide such a crappy upgrade, or Microsoft for marketing this OS as a new paradigm in PDA technology.

Having said that, the pocket MSN freebie is useful addition and checking hotmail from the mail client is convenient.

[Kt3]

Okay I'm not sure if this is temporary but my ipaq seems to be running a little better than before. Performance is still slightly worse than WM2003 but there was considerable lag before and now it is running a little snappier.

All my applications run fine, some tested are:

- Core Pocket Media Player
- Resco File Explorer 2005
- Skype
- Opera mini

I'm still slightly disappointed with the battery life but it's not all that bad.

[tnelson2000]

Boy, this is a tough crowd. I actually really like the new memory mgmt. I have lots of programs installed so having all main memory for loading programs keeps me from having to manually unload programs all the time.

Per the sluggish deal, it seems to run fast once a program is loaded into memory. Just observation here, no benchmarking done.

And for battery drain, I liked the 4700 because it had a small removable battery. I just carry an extra battery with me. I never am without power.

However, on the dark side, where is the iPaq Backup Utility!?? And does anyone know about the HID bluetooth service that is supposed to be in WM5?? Has anyone tried using a generic keyboard and/or mouse with the unit yet?

[Edgar_]

I'd like to see someone run their battery down until it gives a low battery warning to see if its actually shorter. Clock time vs a "percentage remaining report". Also, has anyone done a couple full battery cycles to set a baseline for the wm5 OS monitor?

Now that the OS doesnt reserve a percentage of battery as a safety net as WM2003SE did - and the new algorthm that WM5 supposedly uses for the battery, I wonder if actual time is different or whether we're just seeing the percentage go down and am assuming wm5 percentage equals wm2003 percentage.

My 4700 is enroute back from PPCTechs or i'd do it myself.

Also, has anyone confirmed that the 128M upgrade by PPCTechs does or does not affect performance at all?

-Edgar_

[Tye]

I'd like to see someone run their battery down until it gives a low battery warning to see if its actually shorter. Clock time vs a "percentage remaining report". Also, has anyone done a couple full battery cycles to set a baseline for the wm5 OS monitor?

Now that the OS doesnt reserve a percentage of battery as a safety net as WM2003SE did - and the new algorthm that WM5 supposedly uses for the battery, I wonder if actual time is different or whether we're just seeing the percentage go down and am assuming wm5 percentage equals

These are not official number but I started my PPC running last night from a full charge. I had wifi on and was streaming with the new SlingPlayer mobile. I started at 10:50pm and my iPaq stopped playing at 1:20.
What is interesting is that when it finally shut down, it said there was still a 10% charge left. However, it absolutely refused to start again until I plugged it in and soft reset with the reset button.
I've gone through two more charge/discharge cycles and will try to post more info soon.
What does all this mean? Heck if I know, but maybe someone will find it useful.

[G-squared]

One thing that I found that speeded up my hx4700 was to turn off the error reporting feature. I was quite surprised at how much more responsive my iPaq was after I turned off this "feature." Of course, YMMV.

[Edgar_]

DR WATSON I PRESUME! :roll:

I disabled that on my Desktop years ago for the same reason. Does it attempt to connect externally or just log locally?

[Manatee]

Since installing WM5 on my 4700, I'm getting strange performance problems. Sometimes applications respond instantly, and other times it sits for several seconds (or more) before responding. I was trying to do a crossword puzzle on it, and with every tap of the stylus it would get slower.

I've also noticed that toggling Flight Mode on and off (or off and on) sometimes brings responsiveness back to normal. Strange.

I've also had problems with it not recognizing the directories on the CF card properly. Oddly, Resco Explorer sees the directories properly (they ARE there), but other apps, and the display on my PC when connected show all sorts of garbage directories. A soft reset brings things back to normal for a while.

I hate that soft-keys "feature". It takes up screen space mostly to display "Calendar" and "Contacts" links, for which I already have hardware buttons. What a waste of space and time.

If I can ever get past these problems, maybe I'll get a chance to examine some of the "benefits" of upgrading to WM5. :wink:

Peter

[Hx4700]

Manatee, I've also have had problems with WM2005 not recognizing the directories on the CF card properly. Most of the time just removing and reinserting the CF card clears this up and avoids a reset.
I turned off the Error Reporting when a popup gave me that choice, but how do I get at flight mode.
Thanks,
Ron....

[Dave Beauvais]

Since installing WM5 on my 4700, I'm getting strange performance problems. Sometimes applications respond instantly, and other times it sits for several seconds (or more) before responding. I was trying to do a crossword puzzle on it, and with every tap of the stylus it would get slower.I am having similar problems. Under WM2003 SE, I would have to soft reset my device maybe once per week to clear out the effects of a memory leak or whatever wasn't releasing RAM. So far after installing WM5, I have to reset at least 2-3 times a day to get the system responding again. I'm seeing some of the same effects as you, where the system just gets slower and slower, eventually getting to the point where it essentially stops responding and I have to soft reset.

I've also had problems with it not recognizing the directories on the CF card properly. Oddly, Resco Explorer sees the directories properly (they ARE there), but other apps, and the display on my PC when connected show all sorts of garbage directories. A soft reset brings things back to normal for a while.I have a problem where PhatPad 3 doesn't see any of the PhatPad documents on my storage cards. Under WM2003SE, I was running PhatPad 2.x, but it had zero problems seeing the files on the exact same card. If I tap them in Resco Explorer, they open in PhatPad, but it's as though the SD and CF cards are completely invisible to the application. Extremely irritating.

I hate that soft-keys "feature". [...] What a waste of space and time.I agree there. As Janak hinted at a few pages back, perhaps if our hx4700s actually had hardware softkeys it would be more useful. As it is, however, it's very irritating; especially in the apps where there were toolbar buttons for things in the old OS which are now buried two taps deep in a menu. I am grateful for apps which allow you to go back to "old school" menus. (Resco Explorer, Pocket Informant, etc.)

While I'm airing complaints, is anyone else having a problem with Pocket IE not saving their custom start page settings after a soft reset? I change my PIE start page to a custom page (http://www.beauvais1.com/archives/2004/04/10/pocket-internet-explorer-start-page/) I made a while ago, but as soon as I soft reset, it reverts back to the default.htm page which is the factory default. The only way I was able to work around this was to edit the registry and change the page that the "about:home" URL points to. Very sloppy programming. And why can't I turn off the address bar?! :evil:

Edit: Never mind. Even the manual registry edit has been "fixed" and is back to the factory default. I'm sorry, but WtF?

One thing that I found that speeded up my hx4700 was to turn off the error reporting feature. I was quite surprised at how much more responsive my iPaq was after I turned off this "feature." Of course, YMMV.Wow, I totally forgot about that setting. I just turned it off on mine to see what, if any, effect it has on my performance issues. Thanks for the tip; I hope it helps!

[SciFrigGuy]

Well I have to reverse my earlier posting. Since I installed WM5 it has had the following problems after using it a couple of days...

1. Slow and unresponsive to screen taps.
2. Device ID name has changed/reverted back to original one from the one the install program assigned.
3. Hardware buttons start the wrong program.
4. Turning off "Error Reporting" has not added any speed.

This is not good. I had the PPC Techs 128 MB upgrade done on this prior to installing WM5 and all worked great with WM 2003SE. Memory shows 82.87mb for storage and 121.65 for program now under the "Memory" app in Settings under WM5. I think I will have to go back to WM2003SE:?

[Dave Beauvais]

I just had my first experience with the CF card getting "lost." This whole upgrade is just a complete waste of my time at this point and I will be reverting back to WM2003 SE. I need to be able to rely on my PPC to work, and that doesn't happen in its current state. I have never had to go to such efforts to make something work, and I'm done with it. I wonder what it will take to get HP to refund my $40, because I am most definitely not going to pay for this horrible "upgrade." :evil: I can't believe we waited so many months for this.

Hm... perhaps most importantly in this discussion... has anyone who's reverted back to WM2003 SE had any issues with that process? Does the downgrade (or perhaps we should call it an upgrade?) contain all the hotfixes from the HP Web site for WM2003 SE? And is ActiveStink 4.1 actually compatible with WM2003 SE or should I revert that back to 3.8?

[llcanada]

I have an hx4705 with the 128 upgrade from PPCtechs and having a really bad time trying to upgrade to the new WM5. I keep getting error number 514 which is the Device Failed Verification. I do not know what is causing this is anyone else having this problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[blue_pond]

I "upgraded" my Hx4700 to Windows Mobile 5.

It worked for about a day, then it froze. I shut the unit off and did a soft boot. It went through the boot and stop at the "Windows Mobile" screen.

I tried a hard boot. Same outcome. ActiveSync does not see the unit so I can not reimage it.

My Hx4700 is dead. :cry:

[blue_pond]

I spoke to HP. I wonder, if some Hx4700 cannot handle Mobile 5.

The tech asked me to put unit into USB boot mode and I was able to reapply the Windows Mobile flash.

You can enter the USB boot mode by holding the upper left and lower right buttons and doing a soft reset. Hold all for about 5 seconds.

I will give Window Mobile 5 one more try. If it fails again, back to 2003SE.

[bdavidson9554]

Hm... perhaps most importantly in this discussion... has anyone who's reverted back to WM2003 SE had any issues with that process? Does the downgrade (or perhaps we should call it an upgrade?) contain all the hotfixes from the HP Web site for WM2003 SE? And is ActiveStink 4.1 actually compatible with WM2003 SE or should I revert that back to 3.8?

I upgraded on Wednesday and downgraded on Thursday with no problems using the "HP Install Wizard". You get ROM 1.10.08 w/ the latest XIP update:

Version
Product Revision Level : 1.0
ROM Date : 04/13/05
ROM Revision : 1.10.08 ENG
OS Version : Windows CE 4.21
Bootloader Version : 1.01
XIP Version : 4.21.15045.7

I downgraded AS as well, since it was my primary reason for going back.

It's good to be back to WM2003SE &amp; AS 3.8...

Brian

[Dave Beauvais]

I upgraded on Wednesday and downgraded on Thursday with no problems using the "HP Install Wizard". You get ROM 1.10.08 w/ the latest XIP update:Thank you very much for confirming that for me! When I get home tomorrow, I will be reverting my hx4700 back to WM2003 SE. I, too, think it'll be good to be back. I appreciate the info.

[acetuk]

It's a real shame to hear of these problems. I had a hx4700 for about 15 months and actually bought it with the main aim to be able to upgrade it to WM5 when it was available.

However after I felt HP had messed us around (I know that's a little strong but I got tired of waiting, after having been bitten once when my previous 2210 was refused an upgrade by HP) I made the decision to sell the hx4700 on and change to another manufacturer.

Thanks to some special pricing at Christmas by O2 in the UK I was able to pick up both an Exec and a Wizard very cheaply. Both run WM5 and the availability of rom updates is really quite amazing. Compared to HP it is close to frightening and I find myself having to hold back from constantly updating both devices.

The reason for this post is that from my fairly experienced PPC eyes I feel that WM5 does work and is a decent upgrade for devices built for it. And that might well be the point - the device needs to be built for it. I read earlier about soft keys being offered when the hx4700 doesn't have any and that is a very good example. Yes there are some issues but the latest releases for both the Exec and the Wizard are very close to solving them and I am very happy at the moment.

Fingers crossed the HP will solve some of these problems and update the release for what was at one time one of the best PPCs released.

[Janak Parekh]

IThe reason for this post is that from my fairly experienced PPC eyes I feel that WM5 does work and is a decent upgrade for devices built for it. And that might well be the point - the device needs to be built for it.
I agree with this point. I've used WM5 on both the i-mate Jasjar and the Treo 700w. The Jasjar is not the speediest unit, but it's certainly tolerable. The 700w is actually quite snappy -- one of the faster WM devices I've used. It's a huge shame that people like Dave are having trouble with HP's build, and I don't think it's entirely hardware. I'm more inclined to suspect HP is being incompetent about it. :?

--janak

[Dave Beauvais]

Yeah, it is a shame, and I wish I didn't have to go back to WM2003 SE. I need a device I can rely on, though, and this just isn't it with WM5 installed. I may hard reset and run it for a couple hours with nothing but what's in ROM and no third party apps, but I suspect it'll make no difference. If it does make a difference, I'll see if I can install things one at a time until it starts to misbehave again, but I really don't have time for that, especially during the week. Ah, the joys of being one of the first to try something... :(

[blue_pond]

My Hx4700 has been stable on Windows Mobile 5, so far. I installed all my programs in the device's flash memory.

I think my problem was caused by installing application on the CF card.

[Ti22]

Hmm

from what i've read people seem to be having alot of problems

well i just want to say that I haven't been having any problems my WM5 upgrade went smoothly. I install all my apps in SD card and it runs perfectly fine.

TBH my 4700 is now faster than when it had WM2003 in it. programs load and run faster for me. over all it seems like a more stable system I am really enjoying it. somtimes it seems like it crashed (like when i used opera to run www.ign.com) other than that its been fine.

[tekchic]

I gave up on my hx4705 this weekend and picked up an HTC Wizard myself (T-Mobile MDA). Absolutely loving it.

hx4705 with 2003 SP2 OS hittin ebay soon ;)

[phunkynutz]

I must confess I give up.

I usually pride myself on being an 'early adopter', and eagerly installed the WM5 upgrade the day it was released.

Having tried to live with it for days, I can no longer put up with the slow response to input and the slower program loading - 5 seconds for a 624Mhz processor to respond to a screen tap - your having a laugh HP!

I am, at this very moment downgrading to WM2003SE. Im looking forward to getting my old, fast, reliable hx4700 back!

[Dave Beauvais]

The saga continues... For the past two days, WM5 has been performing significantly better and I don't know why. Maybe it heard me threaten to remove it and decided to shape up a bit. :) I made three changes since my last post on this subject: disabling the power-on password, convincing ActiveSync to not auto-load (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=112638), and moving attachments to a storage card. I have had four occurrences of the CF card not working properly, though that may be related to the application I was using each time, Mapopolis (http://www.mapopolis.com/). I start up Mapopolis, it tries to load maps, and hangs on loading the first one until I soft reset. Even clicking End Task doesn't close it. This is a very random problem and doesn't happen often enough for me to narrow down a sequence of events which cause it. I'm going to move my maps to my SD card since that is the only thing I use on the CF card now and see if the problem persists. If so, it's likely to be the app, not a fault with the OS.

The system is still a little sluggish at times, which I think is likely to be due to the same compaction thread (http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/03/16/552996.aspx) issue which is plaguing Axim X50 owners who have upgraded to WM5. But I've had no further issues with the Messaging apps, no unusual battery draining, and no lockups where the device requires a soft reset. (Even when Mapopolis is locked, the rest of the device functions fine.)

So I'm going to stick with WM5 for now. If there are any other things of interest, I will post here.

[ricoks]

Keep us posted - ALL of you.
It helps us all, and the patience to really run it thru some 'time' helps, as there are certainly many variables involved with experience.

Thanks all - keep it up!

[juni]

I'm planning on upgrading this evening. :)

[Kt3]

After extensive research I determined the cause of the WM5 slowdown to be attributed to the way the operating system recycles ROM blocks in order to enable the persistent storage feature. If you run a task manager such as Vidya Task Manager for the pocket PC you will see a process called filesys.exe take up a huge chunk of CPU time occasionally, and that happens whenever the OS determines it needs to recycle blocks.

I believe when I initially installed WM5, I did not allow the process to run as it should have. I recall actually getting filesys.exe errors and since then my OS slowly degraded into a very unstable and slow platform.

This morning I re-applied the WM5 upgrade over itself. One of the first things I did was let the OS sit at the WM5 welcome screen for a few minutes to give any processes the chance to execute.

My iPaq 4700 now runs WM5 beautifully and it is extremely fast.

I should also note that performance decreases as your available ROM space decreases, as the compactor code running in filesys.exe has less available memory to work with. There are several tweaks that the Dell Axim X50/X51v users are coming out with and there are several known caching tweaks that you can apply within the registry to improve this I/O performance.

Newer devices do not experience this slowdown because their ROM is designed to be both read and written to at a high rate of speed. The hx4700's ROM will read back fast but it was not designed for a fast write time. Conserving your free space, loading temporary files on an SD/CF card and applying a few tweaks should give you performance that is worthy of running WM5 on the ddevice.

[ricoks]

interesting..............

enlightening too - anyone else have similar results, or willing to try this solution to verify that may be their 'hang-up' as well???

[Dave Beauvais]

After extensive research I determined the cause of the WM5 slowdown to be attributed to the way the operating system recycles ROM blocks in order to enable the persistent storage feature. [...]I also believe that to be at the root of the sluggish performance. I linked to this article (http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/03/16/552996.aspx) on the subject in my previous post, which goes into great detail about the process and why it's necessary for the longevity of the flash ROM.

After some tweaking, I've found my hx4700's performance to be acceptable, despite my early problems with it. At the moment I am using just my SD card since it holds everything I need to carry and the CF card is in its case on my desk at home. The device is actually pretty snappy overall most of the time.

I'm still annoyed, however, because I shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops, make so many little tweaks, and be unable to use the software I want to use just to keep my Pocket PC usable.

[bdavidson9554]

My $42.39 WM5 refund posted to my credit card from HP today. I'll ride out using the hx4700 with WM2003SE until I can get my hands on a hw6940. :D

Brian

[buzzard]

I'm planning on upgrading this evening. :)
And the outcome is........

[klanum]

Well, I've been at it a week and initially had problems first with speed and then activesyncing. I decided to go back to square one a couple days ago and reset the hx4705 and then formatted the SD/CF cards clean. I've been able now to make it acceptable and in some cases faster than thought possible.

I've done all the things mentioned:

1. Tweaks2k2 - to modify the I/O settings and moved the temp files to the CF (I hate messing with the registry 8O )
2. Turned off the IR and the error reporting function (that latter part helped alot)
3. Installed a sizeable chunk of software to the CF card
4. I have modified the activesync server connection to do it every hour in prime and manual in off-peak hours.

It's all help to make it tolerable and in some cases really good but...

In loading SuperTasks, I still have the filesys.exe issue with the file compacting by the WM5 OS on the system ROM. Some other sites have suggested deleting these registry keys:

HKLM\drivers\Builtin\StrataFMD\CompactionPrio256
HKLM\drivers\Builtin\StrataFMD\CompactionCritPrio2 56

I do not like deleting registry keys (a big phobia of mine) and just renamed it hoping it would do some good but the IPAQ still runs in the 60-70% range on CPU for a large portion of the time for the last several hours I have read per the MS Dev blog on this issue that it does no good doing anything to the keys and is not editable by the end-user. I have also read on the Axim site that they have a user-made patch for this very issue.

Has anyone had luck in shutting or scaling this monster back or is it just something to live with because we have older devices with slower ROM memory that can't handle the read/writes associated with this process? Also would moving "everything" possible to the cards really speed it up and lessen the filesys.exe effect?

Been a great thread to watch and hope some of you "brains" out there have had luck on this issue.

[waterboy]

I've given up and gone back to WM2K3SE!

I could live with the loss of WiFi syncing, but I was totally unaware that WM5 does not support Pocket Access syncing. I tried to get around that by exporting, each day, the info I needed from Access 2002 databases to Excel files, so I would have the information on my iPAQ, but after syncing the Excel files, I find that Excel Mobile will not open Excel files created by Access 2002. Of course, I can manually open the Excel files on my PC, and then resave them, resync, and Excel Mobile does fine. But that defeats the whole purpose of automation in syncing files.

Perhaps, and I'm not holding my breath, there will be workarounds, probably 3rd party, developed for these issues, if enough people need the same kind of functionality that I do. Here's hoping!

[Edgar_]

Waterboy

Have you tried PLanmaker by Softmaker?

http://www.softmaker.com/english/pmp_en.htm

Download the trial, I think it supports opening access files.

-Edgar

[juni]

I did it. And you were right, the device was sluggish - a complete opposite of the speedy wm2003SE. But, I used it for an hour or so and then it amazingly suddenly picked up speed. I don't really know what happened :D.

Some observations:

- Softkeys? Why can't they be reassigned to what you want? I already have a calendar and a contacts button on the device. (at least they can be skinned)

- Where did the file storage go?

- Themes. WM5 uses colors differently. I think I know how to get them how I want already though, just never could experiment before :).

[Dave Beauvais]

[...] But, I used it for an hour or so and then it amazingly suddenly picked up speed. I don't really know what happened :D.That was my experience, as well, though it took a couple days for me. Maybe I just let the ROM compaction process have enough time to finally finish what it needed to do. &lt;shrug>

Where did the file storage go?
In WM5, basically all of the flash ROM space (that isn't used for the OS itself) is available to you to use for program installation &amp; storage and RAM is used as it is on a regular computer: for executing programs. There is no longer any need for a separate "File Store."

[pwsabm]

I spent the last few days working on making the upgrade work. I found the following:

1) Certain applications will not work properly or at all when installed to a storage card.
2) Certain programs, an older version of SPB Plus 3.0, caused the device to not start after a soft reboot, starting only after a hard reset.
3) Going through all the tricks people have mentioned does help a lot.

I had to install my applications one at a time, back up after every install until I found the one that was causing the crashes, I downloaded the latest version of SPB Plus 3.0 and installed, so far no crash.

The only thing I am experiencing is an error "Storage memory very low" after the unit had been sitting in the cradle overnight. I don't know if it will happen again tonight.

What happened the the slider bar in the memory setting screen? I do not have that on my device.

[Gerard]

RAM is used differently with WM5. All available RAM, that is all the hardware RAM installed on the device, is used to run applications and services. None of it is for storage. Therefore there is no need, and no way, to use any portion of it for storage... so no slider.

[Edgar_]

Interesting. So, for those of us that bought the 128M PPCTechs upgrade providing 128/128M for our systems; we now have 128M for programs and a 128M internal store? How does this affect the performance? I would think this scenario would provide a large boost to background applications like this forboding filesys.exe ROM compaction schema.

Are any of you running on a PPCTechs modded 4700? If so, can you relate if this seems to make a difference

-Edgar

[Gerard]

If the PPC Techs upgrade truly doubles the device RAM, then I'd expect to see improved speed, or at least reduced tendency to bog down under heavy OS and program loads. Not being too familiar with the hx4700 or the exact nature of their RAM upgrade I couldn't say anything definitive here. For some devices I know that their 'RAM upgrades' are in fact more like adding 64MB of file store. Is this the case with the 4700? Or is it true RAM doubling, where there is no difference between how the OEM RAM functions and the new chip they've stacked? Or have they not stacked it, but instead replaced it with a 128MB RAM chip? Pardon my ignorance. There has been confusion in the past around these things, with various PPC models and PPC Techs' treatments.

The performance problems with WM5, those often reported so far, seem to have more to do with ROM write-speeds than with RAM available. I'd suspect no real improvements would be visible in raw speed, even if one quadrupled RAM. The device clock speed may have a larger role, but still, the potential for write-speed seems the critical factor here. Flash stores are slow, really slow. Seems they've done some tricks to help with that, at least on some models, but still it's a heck of a slow place to cache data. That's why I'm happy to stick with WM2003SE for now, waiting to see what comes next. I'll be interested in hearing from power users after a year or so, if/when their ROM starts failing after too many write cycles. Might not happen, but I'll wait anyway.

[Edgar_]

Well in WM2003SE my memory slider shows 64M/64M

My Filestore is 87M

Here's a write up gadgeteer did on the changes to the system under wm2003SE when the upgrade was complete

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/pocket_pc_techs_hp_ipaq_hx4700_series_64mb_to_128mb_internal_ram_upgrade_service_review

[Gerard]

Ah, so they do pull the original 64MB RAM chip and replace it with a 128MB version, and it is all recognised as RAM. Well, that should mean better performance regardless of OS version, I think.

[Kvalnir]

FYI
I've found after reapplying the upgrade that it's much, much faster and more responsive if you install most of your programs onto a SD card instead of system ram.

Taps are as fast as they were before the upgrade.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

FYI
I've found after reapplying the upgrade that it's much, much faster and more responsive if you install most of your programs onto a SD card instead of system ram.

Uhm, but one of the main features of WM5 means you can't install any programs into system RAM anyway - it's not possible unless you're running a RAMdisk. Unless you mean ROM?

[Kvalnir]

FYI
I've found after reapplying the upgrade that it's much, much faster and more responsive if you install most of your programs onto a SD card instead of system ram.

Uhm, but one of the main features of WM5 means you can't install any programs into system RAM anyway - it's not possible unless you're running a RAMdisk. Unless you mean ROM?

I meant the file store.

[dgarlock]

I have an hx4705 with the 128 upgrade from PPCtechs and having a really bad time trying to upgrade to the new WM5. I keep getting error number 514 which is the Device Failed Verification. I do not know what is causing this is anyone else having this problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I also experienced this same problem trying to upgrade my HX4705 with WM5. I also frequently received errors claiming my IPAQ was not connected to AC power when clearly it was. Searching around on the web I found a suggestion that resolved my problem and may do the same for you. Place the unit in bootloader mode before trying to do the install. Do this by holding down the I key and the contacts key (these surround the touch pad on the lower right and upper left respectively) While holding down these 2 keys press the soft reset buttn on the bottom of the unit. Hold the keys for a few seconds and immediately place the unit back into the cradle connected to USB. My unit loaded after doing this and the process of getting the program to start actually doing something was much faster. I usually had to wait through 5-10 minutes before receiving the 514 error. When in boot loader mode you will notice a very different screen that will report the progress of the ROM upgrade once it starts. Hope this helps and good luck.

[l_emmerdeur]

I upgraded about a week ago, and boy are my buttocks sore!

1. Occasional crashes when I run Vindigo. Soft reset fixes this.

2. Mobipocket reader is fubar. Sometimes, I turn on the hx4700, open the Reader, and it won't see the ebooks on my CF card. Soft reset fixes this. More importantly, after reading a few pages, the text turns into ASCII garbage and, you guessed it, I have to soft reset to fix it. One thing a soft reset won't fix: some of my ebooks are cut off at the end, as if there are pages missing. I re-downloaded the ebooks from Fictionwise, but this did not fix it. Also, at times, I browse the CF card using File Explorer, and I see hundreds of bogus files with garbled ASCII names. Once again, soft reset fixes this for a little while. I even tried copying an ebook to main memory, removed the CF card and soft reset, but I still get the brabled ASCII in the ebook and the missing pages at the end.

I never had any of these problems on WM2003.

3. I did apply the manual sync fix to get my battery to not drain after around 6 hours, and now the battery life is fine. Troubling that a $600 device with a $40 OS upgrade requires such hacks to work as intended. GG HP you suck noobs.

I'm considering either downgrading to WM2003 or skipping that completely and going for a new, native WM5 device like the Acer n311.

[ricoks]

anyone else have any thoughts?
experiences?
rants?
raves.....??????

[ricoks]

One question I had - will this upgrade (havne't done it yet) include the MSFT for push email? or does that have to be 'added' to WM5 by HP first??
Thanks

[Darius Wey]

One question I had - will this upgrade (havne't done it yet) include the MSFT for push email? or does that have to be 'added' to WM5 by HP first??

It has to be added by HP to Windows Mobile 5.0 via Adaptation Kit Update 2.0 (AKU 2). I don't think this initial upgrade includes it.

[ricoks]

That's what I was afraid of, just thought I'd ask w/ my fingers crossed!
:( :evil:

[Janak Parekh]

One question I had - will this upgrade (havne't done it yet) include the MSFT for push email? or does that have to be 'added' to WM5 by HP first??
It has to be added by HP to Windows Mobile 5.0 via Adaptation Kit Update 2.0 (AKU 2). I don't think this initial upgrade includes it.
Well, only Phone Edition devices can even support Direct Push in the first place; it needs the ability to sustain an idle wireless network connection. As the hx4700 has no phone module, the point is moot. Now, there are other fixes in AKU2, but I wouldn't put it past HP to not bother. (For those of you with the upgrade, you can check what the version number is by looking at the build number in About; what does it read?)

--janak

[Edgar_]

Isn't the software "transport" independant? Doesn't it work under Wi-Fi as well, and thereby allow me to use my 4700 in a wi-fi'ed environment such as my 12 story fully capable office complex?

I would love to be able to use it at home and the office as a push ready system.

[Janak Parekh]

Isn't the software "transport" independant? Doesn't it work under Wi-Fi as well, and thereby allow me to use my 4700 in a wi-fi'ed environment such as my 12 story fully capable office complex?
No -- the problem is WiFi doesn't idle well, and the battery would drain in no time. The cellular channel and its supporting chipsets work quite differently.

--janak

[Edgar_]

With the Mugen 5k I can leave wifi on all day with out drining it. So, I'm SOL on AKU2 push? Cause I can get Goodlink on this if I wanted to use that.

[Janak Parekh]

With the Mugen 5k I can leave wifi on all day with out drining it. So, I'm SOL on AKU2 push?
In short, yes.

Cause I can get Goodlink on this if I wanted to use that.
... but in this case, why not simply set ActiveSync to check the server every five minutes? If you need sub-5-minute latencies, then yes, you can use third-party services.

--janak

[Edgar_]

I thought wi-fi synching was killed in AS 4.1? Isn't it?

[Janak Parekh]

I thought wi-fi synching was killed in AS 4.1? Isn't it?
Only against desktops. Exchange ActiveSync, on the other hand, can be done via any IP connection -- via a desktop AS connection, via cellular, or via WiFi.

--janak

[ricoks]

what about using a GPRS connection via bluetooth cellular phone???
This is what I was hoping for, as well as wifi, to use push email, at least until i get my smartphone (maybe waiting for the Q, or the smaller samsung, tho neither have wi-fi :( ) when HSDPA or WCDMA come out for Cingular. until then, my 4700 will have to do.

5 minutes isn't 'that' bad, but it is when you're impatiently waiting for an email that you just 'have' to have and you know it's coming.

(I am SUCH a geek...........)

Ricoks

[kratam]

I just got the update for WM5 for my HX4700. I have followed all the instructions for the installation, clicked on the hpRUU.exe Rom update utility 2.2.14.0, tick the "I understand the warning indictated above and have reviewed the readme" then clicked "next." After i click next i get a blue screen on my PC and my computer restarts. I three machines at home i have tried it all of them and get the same error on all of them.
I have version 1.10 on my HX4700.

Any help on this matter would be greatfull.

[Sculpher]

Have a look here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&amp;p=1096&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1). It seems that using a hub or usb cable extender is the main culprit for WM5 instalation BDOD's and crashes.

[andybi]

Hi, I read something on this post, and I see that many of you after the upgrade decides to come back to the original Wm2003SE rom. I woul like to try to upgrade, just to touch with my hands, but I want to be really sure about reverting:

Please inform me about the right procedure to revert, and the files I need.

Thank you

Andrea

[juni]

Instead of doing the WM5 upgrade, try the WM6 one found in this thread:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55843&amp;highlight=hx4700+wm6

[andybi]

Instead of doing the WM5 upgrade, try the WM6 one found in this thread:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55843&amp;highlight=hx4700+wm6

Yes, but I really need WPA+PSK and the wm6 seems not to support it yet.

Regarding the downgrade could someone help me?

Thank you

[juni]

Sure it does, one of our home networks use WPA-PSK with TKIP and I can connect just fine. :)