Axim Activesync problems

[Sunnyone]

Is anyone having problems with their Axim and Activesync? I am getting very frustrated. I have an iPAQ and I had a HP 548, so I'm not new to Activesync, but until now I have been lucky enough to never have sync problems. Not the case with my Dell. The first sync hung and never completed. I disconnected everything and soft reset the device and tried again. This time the connection wizard started and I was able to sync. But about 1/2 way through the Avantgo update/install, my sync connection dropped on my device, but Activesync acted like my device was still connected. About 1-2 minutes later, Activesync realized that my device was no longer connected. Again, I soft reset.... Same problem. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled Activesync. Same problem. Then I hard reset my device and again uninstalled and reinstalled Activesync. Now I can connect and sync (although I haven't tried Avantgo again, yet), but my sync connection gets dropped by the device periodically, especially if I try to load any software on the device. Anyone have any ideas on what is happening? I've tried the Activesync troubleshooter (this morning) but it was "down" on the Microsoft website. I searched the MS knowledge base and got on hit on a dropped connection from the device - followed directions to get into task manager and end wcemgr.exe (or something like that file) along with wcesvc? (blah - I'm at work now and can't remember the exact file name). Did this and another soft reset - thought it helped but then go another dropped connection.

So - is it Activesync - the Dell - the cable? I'm running XP at home on a 6 month old Dell 8100. I was going to call Dell, but thought I'd check here to see if there were any thoughts from some of you experts here!

Thanks!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Sunnyone]

Is anyone having problems with their Axim and Activesync? I am getting very frustrated. I have an iPAQ and I had a HP 548, so I'm not new to Activesync, but until now I have been lucky enough to never have sync problems. Not the case with my Dell. The first sync hung and never completed. I disconnected everything and soft reset the device and tried again. This time the connection wizard started and I was able to sync. But about 1/2 way through the Avantgo update/install, my sync connection dropped on my device, but Activesync acted like my device was still connected. About 1-2 minutes later, Activesync realized that my device was no longer connected. Again, I soft reset.... Same problem. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled Activesync. Same problem. Then I hard reset my device and again uninstalled and reinstalled Activesync. Now I can connect and sync (although I haven't tried Avantgo again, yet), but my sync connection gets dropped by the device periodically, especially if I try to load any software on the device. Anyone have any ideas on what is happening? I've tried the Activesync troubleshooter (this morning) but it was "down" on the Microsoft website. I searched the MS knowledge base and got on hit on a dropped connection from the device - followed directions to get into task manager and end wcemgr.exe (or something like that file) along with wcesvc? (blah - I'm at work now and can't remember the exact file name). Did this and another soft reset - thought it helped but then go another dropped connection.

So - is it Activesync - the Dell - the cable? I'm running XP at home on a 6 month old Dell 8100. I was going to call Dell, but thought I'd check here to see if there were any thoughts from some of you experts here!

Thanks!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Sven]

Gotta ask if you are installing (re-installing) AS from the Dell distribution CD. I expect that is the only place the right drivers are for the Axim. Only reason I ask is that there have been some reports of problems, but mostly with folks that had AS already installed, or had AS 3.6 already.

[Steven Cedrone]

Is the sync cradle/cable connected to a hub? Have you tried connecting directly to a USB port on the PC. Just throwing out some things for you to look at...

Steve

[Sunnyone]

Actually, at first I tried to sync with my current version of Activesync. Stupid mistake, I know. Then I reinstalled from the Dell CD. And again after a hard reset.

And I am not connected via a hub, but directly to a PC USB port. I got the USB sync cable option, rather than the cradle.

[Sunnyone]

And, hey, everyone - I appreciate all responses. Don't be afraid to ask me if I did something stupid. ops:

[Sven]

Don't be worried about doing something stupid. The fault here is with the OEMs, MS included. It is well known that their download of AS 3.6 is short on device drivers. (So if you are building a new machine and download 3.6 as the initial install, it likely won't detect your device, starting a string of difficulties).

Not sure if there is a tried and true method for getting a new installation of AS with OEM specific drivers to load over an existing installation. Especially if the existing installation is at a higher rev. Guess I'll be finding this out since my machines both have AS 3.6 on them and it sounds like the Axim ships with 3.5.

This is certainly an area that should have been tested and detailed instructions and hints provided with the PPC. Any of them. Seems the OEMs assume theirs is the first and only PPC a consumer owns.

[Janak Parekh]

Originally Posted by Sven

Don't be worried about doing something stupid. The fault here is with the OEMs, MS included. It is well known that their download of AS 3.6 is short on device drivers. (So if you are building a new machine and download 3.6 as the initial install, it likely won't detect your device, starting a string of difficulties).

I'm not sure this is not his problem, as it fails midway--the device is detected, starts syncing, but later drops the connection.

Good luck--I hope it's not an incompatibility between your USB chipset and the computer. Do you have another machine to test it on?

--bdj

[Sunnyone]

No, I don't have another machine to test. We're "not allowed" to sync anything but Palm M130s at work - a whole other rant I'll try not to get started on.... Well, actually I have my daughter's 333 mhz Compaq running Windows 95...does Activesync 3.5 run on Windows 95?

USB chipsets? Way over my head. But since I'm syncing a Dell Axim with a pretty recent Dell Dimension - I certainly hope this isn't the issue!

[Janak Parekh]

Originally Posted by Sunnyone

No, I don't have another machine to test. We're "not allowed" to sync anything but Palm M130s at work - a whole other rant I'll try not to get started on.... Well, actually I have my daughter's 333 mhz Compaq running Windows 95...does Activesync 3.5 run on Windows 95?

No

USB chipsets? Way over my head. But since I'm syncing a Dell Axim with a pretty recent Dell Dimension - I certainly hope this isn't the issue!

Hmm... since it's Dell end-to-end... you might want to call them up and see if they have a clue. They may not, though, since this is such a new device..

--bdj

[Sunnyone]

Spoke to John at Dell. He seemed somewhat knowledgeable and advised the following solution. I won't be able to try this until this evening, but someone advised privately that they were having the same problem. I agreed to post the solution to the forum. I'll let ya know if it works after I try it tonight. :wink: Basically I was told to delete all USB devices from the device manager and to reinstall Activesync.

Specific directions by the tech:
Go to Start menu
Right click on my computer
Select properties
Hardware tab
Device manager
Click on + by USB devices
Delete "all" of them
If prompted that shared dlls are no longer needed by windows, do not remove dlls
Restart system
Reinstall Activesync from the Dell CD
Connect sync cable at prompt
All should be well....we'll see

Then I have to reinstall my other USB devices...digital camera, scanner, card reader.... Don't you think I could just delete the Axim? And maybe my iPAQ if I can't tell which is which?