Pocket PC 2002 Alarm Stability

[Jason Dunn]

This morning my wife used her Toshiba e310 Pocket PC to set an alarm - it never went off when it was supposed to. Instead, when I powered on the unit, the alarm triggered. How useless is that? :x I double checked the time - it was all correct, but somehow the device was "locked up" until I pressed the power button. My wife's Pocket PC is quite "clean" - only a few third party games installed. <br /><br />This has long been a known issue with the Pocket PC 2002 OS, and it still frustrates me when it happens. So I'm curious how wide-spread this issue is. Survey time! I'm also curious to know if any of you have figured out any patterns. We've taken this to Microsoft as MVPs several times, but we've been told they're having a hard time reproducing the problem (I can believe that - as far as I can tell, it's completely intermittent).

[BruceG]

I've never used the native alarm on either my (former) HP Jornada or my (current) Dell Axim. Instead, I have always used StopTime from Jonathan Sachs :) . This wakes me up in the morning when I am at home and when I travel :sleeping: , and I have never had any problems with it.

[Ed Hansberry]

I have personally quit using my Pocket PC for wake ups. First, it doesn't repeat, and that sad little ding one time isn't going to cut it. Second, I have seen the exact same thing - nothing until you power on then it fires. Well Duh! I am awake now.

I rely on the piercing shrill of my T68 to wake me up now. Great alarm that would wake the dead.

[deaj]

Hi,

I used a nice product called Super Alert (9.95$), you can tell it to use the volume which overwrite the one on your pocket pc. Also you can repeat alarm and wake up to your favorite song instead of a boring alarm.
:lol:

[Andrew]

Im with Ed on this one. I usually use the alarm on my mobile now as an alarm if need be, rather than the alarm on my ipaq. First off, it doesnt always trigger, and secondly as Ed says, the one beep isnt going to cut it. I think MS really 'broke' the alarms with ppc2002. Even the reminder is kind of useless because of these problems too... :(

[mgd]

Jason,

may I suggest that you put a DK/NA option on these polls. I don't use the alarms, so I don't fall into either of the categories. However, if I don't vote, I don't get to see the results. So, I lie.

[renz]

Hi, same problem here, so I rely on the alarm of my mobile phone to wake me up. That one works every time.

[RickP in AZ]

It happened to me just this morning. The clock radio finally wole me up, I picked up the iPAQ from the night stand and when I plugged it into sync... BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Right on power up StopTime's Alarm is going off... Only 45 minutes late.

(BTW This is not only a problem on my 3975, but was also and issue on my 3630 post PPC2k2 upgrade, and *maybe* under PPC2k but I can't remember.)

I've used StopTime v1 and v2 for 2 years now... Usually I can rely opon it waking me up, but lately I have stumbled upon the same solution as EdH: My T68 goes off with this weird ringing/buzzing and as I have it also set to vibrate, it starts crawling across the night table.

This is like number 3 on my lengthy list of improvements to the PPC OS. And Inbox, and Connections, and PIE, and PWord, and Reader, and... Don't even get me on the hardware list...

[Janak Parekh]

Question: could this vary amongst OEM's? I don't think I've ever had a problem with my 3870, especially after the 2.20 ROM update. I keep my alarms silent though, since I wake up pretty early every morning anyway.

This'll become a much bigger issue once I have vibrate on the 5450. :)

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

I had the problem with my 3870. Don't know about my 3970. I am hooked now on the T68 alarm. I never set the alarm on the 3900.

[tccox]

Never a problem with my IPAQ 3835 using Stoptime 2.0. Five days a week, 5:45am always goes off no problem......

[RickP in AZ]

Never a problem with my IPAQ 3835 using Stoptime 2.0. Five days a week, 5:45am always goes off no problem......

Hmm, maybe I should stop being a lazy bum and start waking up at 5:45am instead of 6:02am?
8O

[Xaximus]

may I suggest that you put a DK/NA option on these polls. I don't use the alarms, so I don't fall into either of the categories. However, if I don't vote, I don't get to see the results. So, I lie.

Just click the the "Discuss this story" link and you'll have the option to view the results without voting.

[bfergus]

I've had this happen, and I have a theory. However, I haven't spent too much time to test it out. Here it is:
If the alarm is set for 5:00am, for instance, and stored in the case, then sometimes a credit card or the case itself causes the unit to stay on when the unit powers up at midnight (this is a documented "feature" that drives me crazy). The unit then only powers down because of a loss of power causing it to go into battery conserve mode- and the alarms, etc. are ignored. Now, setting it in the cradle restores full power and resets the conserve mode. All alarms trigger.

Maybe? 8O

[Stone]

AlarMe has worked great for me! :D

Can anyone that has tried a few different alarm apps perhaps summarize their thoughts on them?

[JonnoB]

Sometimes I am doing something for the day that does not allow me to turn on my Pocket PC for nearly a whole day.... and then when I power on my device, it goes crazy - ding ding, ding ding, ding ding - all of the open tasks and normally scheduled events pop up. Unless I had it on all day, these task reminders are useless.

[JoshB]

This is my BIGGEST complaint about the Pocket PCs I've owned. It happened with my iPAQ 3450 (and still does, now that my wife uses it), and it happens with my Jornada 568. Sometimes, the alarms work fine, and sometimes, they all bunch up, and fire off when I turn it on.

Microsoft, can we please, PLEASE get a fix for this? :cry:

JoshB

[RickP in AZ]

I'd also like to remind everyone of the *lack* of repeating reminders in PPC2k2. A great feature of PPC2k "dropped..." Sometimes I think that the Mobile Devices team is asleep. Come on, we've been complaining about these alarm/reminder problems for 1 year and 3 months now...

That's it, they're on my list... :x

[Jason Lee]

I have an e740 and had this problem this morning.. and many other times as well with my ipaq. If you plug your PPC into power but DO NOT turn it on the alarm will not sound until the device is powered on and realizes that it is now on ac power. If you turn it on and back off after you plug it in everything works fine. For some reason the device has to realize that it is on ac power before anything will auto turn it on. With my Toshiba it takes 1-2 seconds after it is powered on or pluged in while on to realize that it is on ac power. The same when you unplug it. Also with the e740 sometimes if you don't turn it on and open the battery meter before you unplug it it will mess up the power level reported by the battery. It will say 100% until you reach 89-91% then it drops to 1% and thinks it is dead. Some times, if you're lucky it will make it to 50% then drop to 1%.


Oh and my reminders don't repeat but the alarm will every few seconds. It will play the sound again and wait 5-10 more seconds then go again. (I am not for sure on the 5-10 second thing. I am usually pretty out of it in the mornings. :) )

[RickP in AZ]

[quote="Jason Lee"]... If you plug your PPC into power but DO NOT turn it on the alarm will not sound until the device is powered on and realizes that it is now on ac power. If you turn it on and back off after you plug it in everything works fine. For some reason the device has to realize that it is on ac power before anything will auto turn it on. quote]

Jason, you may have hit upon something. I *always* plug my iPAQ into AC power right before going to sleep. (I generally read an ebook before bed.) I'm going to try to repeat your same results...

[Speed Racer]

This is an excerpt from a thread (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62361&perpage=15&pagenumber=2) at Brighthand.

quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Chairman Clench
HP is aware of this issue.

They have not been able to reproduce it in their lab, however as it seems to happen randomly. If you are able to establish a pattern or a specific set of circumstances that causes this, please let me know and I will send it to the people we have been talking to at HP.

I do know that this only affects PPC2K2 devices. The original PPC seems to be unaffected.

I am using a 3970 with SuperAlert and I have never missed an alarm. I suggested to HP that they package SuperAlert with all their iPAQs in the future. Some 39xx users have reported problems using SuperAlert, however.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can get this error to repeat consistently on my 3835. The easiest way for HP to duplicate the situation is to start with a clean iPaq (ie hard reset), set the time, then set an alarm at least 4 hours from the current time. Now turn the unit off and leave it alone (note: I have only tried this on battery power). You'll find that the iPaq will not wake up and sound the alarm. The next time you turn on the iPaq the alarm will sound and the indicator light will flash.

I also tried other iterations of this test. If the iPaq is on when the alarm is supposed to sound the alarm will work 100% of the time. Where as I get seemingly random results if the iPaq is turned off but had been used during the period of time leading up to the alarm.

SuperAlert has been a life saver. Without it I would have taken pervse pleasure in smashing my POS 3835 into a million pieces. SuperAlert has its own quirks but when I use it my alarms go off reliably which is the way it should be.

[WallackAS]

I have had the same problem with my Jornada 560 with the standard alarm, StopTime, and standard alarm using SuperAlert.
It is pretty rare when it does not go off, but it happens often enough (usually only the really important times) to not be able to rely on it.

A shame since this is the first organizer type device in a long list (HP200lx, Newton, PalmPilot) that cant handle this one basic task for me.

I have also seen the same issue for reminders during the day.

For preventative measures on nights before I really need to get up I do a soft reset, which seems to have helped a lot (although I always have my TV turn on as a backup).

-Andy

[Barry_Rau]

I have known about this (And I have been late for a meeting or 2) I have found one device the alarm works fine. First of all I use my PPC to listen to music at nite, I have never had an alarm work correctly In fact I have had to soft reset my device several times when it became totally locked up.
I Have However, Had 100% luck with the alarm working on the T-Mobile PPCPE (My Thought is that the divice is designed to have a very good interrupt system so when you get a call, the phone part of the device takes control)
Anyway that's my 2 cent's worth..

Cheers.. :D

[Mr. Anonymous]

The only time I have problems have problems with alarms is when my T-Mobile Pocket PC is docked in it's cradle. The alarms sound, but the notification bubble goes away after just 5 minutes! When not docked, the notification bubble stays on screen indefinately.

Better than totally missing an alarm, but if I happen to be away from my Pocket PC (gasp!) I miss the alarm.

[ChrisW]

I haven't encountered it yet with the new patch (just installed this morning), but this happens occasionally on my Jornada. I also use StopTime and SuperAlert, and this doesn't eliminate the problem.

I am quite certain that the problem is not power related. The way I store the unit, as well as the Jornada's flip cover, preclude the possibility of the power accidentally activating the unit.

[ledowning]

I don't use audible alarms on my Jornada 568 very often. I do use 'Stop Time' as an alarm clock when I travelling and it works fine. I also use Agenda Fusion with no problems. All my appointments pop up at the specified times that I had entered.

[RickP in AZ]

I have not been able to recreate Jason's solution. Using both standard alarms and StopTime v2 the alarms sounded everytime. This was done with the AC power attached. It may be related to the device being turned off for an extended length of time so I may have to wait until tomorrow morning to see.
:x

[agostumpy]

I was late for work this morning because of this problem. One thing I've found that fixes if most of the time is changing the "regional settings" to a 24 hr clock (i.e., 15:00 instead of 3:00). That's taken care of 90% of the non-alarms on my 3835. Some people hate the 24hr clock, but ya get used to it. If my clock is set to anything else, it NEVER goes off for alarms OR events.

[palmsolo]

I constantly experience the issue on my 568 and don't even set alarms on it anymore. I use my CLIE T615C as my alarm clock. It's simple things like these that frustrate me with the Pocket PC OS.

[R K]

I Have However, Had 100% luck with the alarm working on the T-Mobile PPCPE (My Thought is that the divice is designed to have a very good interrupt system so when you get a call, the phone part of the device takes control)

Same here,

When I used to own an iPAQ H3870, I was able to associate a pattern to tihs problem. The alarms would work whenever I soft-reset the Pocket PC after setting the alarm, but they would rarely work if I never soft-reset the PPC before the alarm was supposed to go off.

[T-Will]

Has anyone ever had their Pocket PC lock up then when you do a soft reset it sets the date ahead about 3-6 months and every alarm goes off for all the days in between? I've had this happen multiple times, and it usually happens when I'm using Media Player.

I've also had times where I was using my Pocket PC then turned it off and put it in my pocket and a few hours later I pulled it out of my pocket and found that it was still turned on,very warm, battery run down, and locked up, then when I do the soft reset it sets the date way ahead and plays all the alarms.

So I'm not sure if it's the OS causing this or some program I have loaded, but it can be very annoying when it happens.

[mgd]

I had the problem with my 3870. Don't know about my 3970. I am hooked now on the T68 alarm. I never set the alarm on the 3900.

Me too. My T68 never fails me.

[mgd]

may I suggest that you put a DK/NA option on these polls. I don't use the alarms, so I don't fall into either of the categories. However, if I don't vote, I don't get to see the results. So, I lie.

Just click the the "Discuss this story" link and you'll have the option to view the results without voting.

Thanks for that bit of info.

[griffter]

On my E-125 the alarms would never sound if Microsoft reader was running, i.e. if i had been reading before I went to bed. (on my E-740 I use palm reader just in case).

Nowadays, I soft reset if I must wake up with the alarm.

[Gary Garland, Esq.]

on a potentially similar (internal?) problem, i'd like to take this opportunity to bash sprite software and their pocket backup. yes, it's integrated into the 3975 rom. yes, i downloaded the latest updates, every time. yes, i've had numerous exchanges with their useless tech support (i hate non sequitur responses). i set the backup to work every day at 2:00 a.m. it will usually work ONCE. if i want it to work the next day, i have to enter the program and make sure it correctly brought the next day into the program as a scheduled operation. the program says to reset, so i reset. still no good, unless you enter the program daily. :twisted: maybe this has something to do with how the ppc updates it's appointments (rumor has it midnight is the witching hour and the thing turns itself on to update, but sure doesn't for backup!) ok, enough whining...for now! :2gunfire:

[Steven Cedrone]

on a potentially similar (internal?) problem, i'd like to take this opportunity to bash sprite software

Wow, I've been dealing with Sprite since the old "Ghost" days. I've never had anything but positive experiences with them...

Steve

[Gary Garland, Esq.]

on a potentially similar (internal?) problem, i'd like to take this opportunity to bash sprite software

Wow, I've been dealing with Sprite since the old "Ghost" days. I've never had anything but positive experiences with them...

Steve
steve, can you actually get your beast to schedule an automatic backup daily, say at 2:00 a.m. when the unit has been powered off for a few hours?
i did advise sprite i am using wisbar and battery pack - those are the only two "shell" programs i can think of...

[Msabene]

AlarMe has worked great for me! :D

Can anyone that has tried a few different alarm apps perhaps summarize their thoughts on them?

I've been using MeetingMute by PocketConcepts since changes in the new OS made it impossible for me to rely on the alarms on my PocketPC...

[Steven Cedrone]

on a potentially similar (internal?) problem, i'd like to take this opportunity to bash sprite software

Wow, I've been dealing with Sprite since the old "Ghost" days. I've never had anything but positive experiences with them...

Steve
steve, can you actually get your beast to schedule an automatic backup daily, say at 2:00 a.m. when the unit has been powered off for a few hours?
i did advise sprite i am using wisbar and battery pack - those are the only two "shell" programs i can think of...

I usually fire off a backup manually. But I can try and get back to you...

Steve

[The Big Jay]

Where's the option "What's an alarm?"

Oh come on, there's gotta be somebody you know who doesn't have an alarm. :D :D :D

[Gary Garland, Esq.]

I usually fire off a backup manually. But I can try and get back to you...

Steve[/quote]
that would be much appreciated - even if you do a mini backup - the first day should work fine, but day number 2....muwhahahaha!

[Mojo Jojo]

Just a quick work around for the repeating alarm. Yes, its crude but it does work.

Take an alarm .wav of your choice and open it up in in a .wav file editor. Copy and repeat the file over and over till it reaches about 30-45 seconds. Save the file and download it to your pda.

This will provide with a long alarm that is better suited to wake up a heavier sleeper. Down side to this is that it creates a slightly large file. Hope that helps some of you.

-Mojo

[dochall]

Question: could this vary amongst OEM's? I don't think I've ever had a problem with my 3870, especially after the 2.20 ROM update.


I do have exactly the same problem with a 3870 with 2.2. In fact 2.2 seems to have made my problems with the 3870 worse (although I can't decide if I had this prob before or not)

It sucks

[Timothy Rapson]

Amazing. Just amazing.

[Pony99CA]

I have personally quit using my Pocket PC for wake ups. First, it doesn't repeat, and that sad little ding one time isn't going to cut it.

I agree that the default alarms are way too wimpy. It won't matter to you, as you use your T68 for alarms, but I replaced the default alarm with a loud gong sound (it was either on my iPAQ 3870 or installed with some software).

It's called startlev.wav, and is in my \Windows directory. I copied that to Gong.wav so I wouldn't lose it if I happened to uninstall whatever installed it. Does anybody know what software startlev.wav is associated with?

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I had the problem with my 3870. Don't know about my 3970. I am hooked now on the T68 alarm. I never set the alarm on the 3900.
My 3870 has the problem, too. :multi:

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I've had this happen, and I have a theory. However, I haven't spent too much time to test it out. Here it is:
If the alarm is set for 5:00am, for instance, and stored in the case, then sometimes a credit card or the case itself causes the unit to stay on when the unit powers up at midnight (this is a documented "feature" that drives me crazy). The unit then only powers down because of a loss of power causing it to go into battery conserve mode- and the alarms, etc. are ignored. Now, setting it in the cradle restores full power and resets the conserve mode. All alarms trigger.

Maybe? 8O
I don't think this is the problem. I've seen it occur when my iPAQ 3870 is in my iHolster on my waist during the afternoon.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I'd also like to remind everyone of the *lack* of repeating reminders in PPC2k2. A great feature of PPC2k "dropped..." Sometimes I think that the Mobile Devices team is asleep. Come on, we've been complaining about these alarm/reminder problems for 1 year and 3 months now...

It's odd that they dropped repeating alarms for Calendar items, but kept them for Alarm items in the Clock applet.
I wonder what they were :drinking:.

Steve

[sobert]

I have had the problems with the alarms ever since upgrading my 3670 to 2002. Up until the latest rom upgrade 2.20 it was intermittent and would happen maybe once every few weeks. Now it happens everyday!

I am using SuperAlert and it will tell you when the next alarm will happen when things are messed up it says the next alarm is for April 6 2003.

Changing the clock settings to a different timezone waiting a little while then changing in back will ALWAYS correct the problem.


It is time to get Microsoft to fix this, it is one of the things that people buy Pocket PCs for.

[Coralie]

i've had these problems (the alarm will only go off once you turn the device on) with a program called BugMe! i spoke to their tech support & they were quite helpful by sending me the newest vesion, but it still didn't fix the problem. i could not find any rhyme or reason as to when & why this this happens. seems to be totally intermittent.

nobody has mentioned BugMe! yet, but it makes me wonder if it's not the program, but the os which is the problem.

When I used to own an iPAQ H3870, I was able to associate a pattern to tihs problem. The alarms would work whenever I soft-reset the Pocket PC after setting the alarm, but they would rarely work if I never soft-reset the PPC before the alarm was supposed to go off.
doesn't make any difference for me.


I was late for work this morning because of this problem. One thing I've found that fixes if most of the time is changing the "regional settings" to a 24 hr clock (i.e., 15:00 instead of 3:00). That's taken care of 90% of the non-alarms on my 3835. Some people hate the 24hr clock, but ya get used to it. If my clock is set to anything else, it NEVER goes off for alarms OR events.
hmm, i'm using a 3630 on ppc2002. i can't seem to find how to change the time to a 24 hour clock. am i just being dense? :oops:

[MBaas]

Hi,

with my ipaq 3760 I also missed a few alarms, but not again since using SuperAlert. However, I had the opposite thing happening a few times lately and haven't seen that mentioned anywhere in this thread - had anyone else also seen this? I've cancelled an alarm, waited more than 3secs before switching off the machine, but it rang anyway... Or: I've changed my wakeup-call from 5:30 to 8:00, but it rang at 5:30 anyways...

Cheers

Michael