Will I ever be on time again? WM2003 alarm problem.

[rud56789]

Since I upgraded to WM2003 I have been suffering with the non-repeating or non-sounding alarm problem. I used to add everything into my calendar with an automatic reminder set and forget about it. Now I have had to start setting an alarm in my cell phone because at least that beeps every minute without fail.

I know Whittaker Moore is working on it but from their forum I don't think they are close. I haven't seen any updates from SPB. Has anyone found a solution? Do I have go back to 2002 or resolve myself on being forever late.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm having some of the same problems, but I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly WHAT the problem is. I just started using a new Pocket PC, and I haven't installed any third party software (Pocket Plus included), just to see if all the alarms are firing. So far it seems to be working properly so far...you might want to try the same.

[Thinkingmandavid]

mmm, I know there have been other complaints in other threads. I bought my e355 wiht wm2003 but I have not had any alarm issues, and I am using pocket plus.It works great! :)
Makes me wonder what is going on. mmm, maybe everyone should check and see if they are suffering from a 'common problem' on that issue.

[spursdude]

If you've seen other people with this problem, doesn't it mean that it's a common problem :?:

It's kinda pathetic that this issue was in PPC 2002 and Microsoft didn't bother to fix it for 2003. I guess that's why people get third-party software to do the job.

[rud56789]

I can't get alarms to repeat consistently with pocket plus or superalert. Having just one alarm is useless to me, I sleep through them. Like Jason said it might be fine with no other software but I need repeating alarms which override the system sound so they are loud enough to hear. Pocket plus and superalert seem to be having a problem with wm2003.

[szamot]

dito, I have upgraded 5450 to w2k3 and as soon as I instal SPB pocket Pluse they die. This irks me because I love the software but I can't live without the alarms. What is a man to do?

[rud56789]

I am tempted to go back but it is so much work. I use sync manager to connect to my three home computers and one work computer and I have to set up the partnerships all over again with a rom upgrade/downgrade. Not to mention all the rest of the software. I was hoping that there would be a fix soon and I could wait it out. I have read threads everywhere looking for a solution to no avail.

I think I can hold out a little longer. Winter is coming, maybe I'll just hibernate and not worry about waking up on time.

[Thinkingmandavid]

Have you contacted pocket plus to see if there is anyway that they can help? It for certain isnt going to hurt.
It does sound like you will have a lot of work. mmmm,

[terrypin]

Same here - unreliable/erratic alarms has been the biggest disappointment with my new PPC.

It's an issue widely discussed, for instance in other threads here, in Brighthand, in the HP forum, and in TekGuru. In that latter forum, several developers have been exploring potential fixes in this long, ongoing thread:
http://www.tekguru.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=308&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I'm hoping MS/HP will fix soon, with an easily implementable patch, but I've heard nothing to make me optimistic.

Incredible that a 500 USD device offers less reliable alarms than a 'PIM' for a few dollars.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.

[brianchris]

Ever since I upgraded to WM2003 (on my iPaq 5455), my alarms would *never* even wake up the device, and therefore would *never* go off. After quite a bit of troubleshooting (and an email to Jason @ his spb software adress), I have determined that my problem was completely due to Pocket Plus. If interested, here is another head spinning thread in which I detail my troubleshooting progress (same username and avatar as here: brinchris): http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=90687&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

If you read that thread, you'll discover that I had the newest version of Pocket Plus (which is supoosed to be WM2003 compatible) from day one of the WM2003, and Pocket Plus was configured for repeating alarm functionality. Once I disabled Pocket Plus' repeating alarms features, and configured WM20003's naitive repeating alarm features, my alarms now reliably fire off.

Jason, as the Marketing VP of SPB, have you given any more thought to my email to you, in which I suggested you update Pocket Plus' product description page to indicate Pocket Plus's repeating alarm functionality is not yet fully compatible with Windows Mobile 2003? By doing this, you may avoid upset new customers. SPB's tech support admits there is a problem (I have their emails to prove it).

Also, I must stress, this was the cause of the problem for me. There may be some other alarm issues without any third party apps installed, but what it looks like is that the alarm code in WM2003 is buggy to the point that 3rd party apps (regardless of the author) can't interface properly.

-Brian

[aero]

I had same problems as listed in this post on my Dell Axim x5 and the following solved my problem: http://www.atechware.com/fixalarm.htm

[rud56789]

I can say my problems are not related to superalert or pocket plus. Without either of them ever being installed I could turn on my Axim and the alarm would then sound, many hours after it should have. With the software same thing occurs.

I was hoping that one of the two would have been able to solve the problem.

Oh, btw, I must be stupid. I did not have any alarm problems until I upgraded. The greed of the new and faster software OS overtook me and forced me to do the upgrade. :twisted:

[Kati Compton]

I can say my problems are not related to superalert or pocket plus. Without either of them ever being installed I could turn on my Axim and the alarm would then sound, many hours after it should have. With the software same thing occurs.
Hmm... I thought the alarms would just fail to go off at all, not that they'd be delayed. Or that you'd get all the dialog boxes as soon as you turned on your PPC.

Is this delay consistent? i.e., always an hour?

Here's question - this probably isn't it - but have you checked that the timezone and time are set correctly on the PPC?

[rud56789]

The alarms which fail to sound seem to go off when the device is turned on, just like with Jason and the others. Delay is not consistent - they just seem to trigger when turned on, maybe Microsoft has built a considerate alarm clock. One that won't wake you up if you are sleeping. Alarms will only sound if you are using your ppc.

[Thinkingmandavid]

Kati has a good point, check your time zones :wink:
I am still doing great with pocket plus :mrgreen:

[rud56789]

My time zone is set correctly. The problem has to do with WM2003.

[Brad Adrian]

I used to rely completely upon my Pocket PC(s) to notify me of upcoming appointments. However, now that I have no guarantee that my 2215 will wake up and sound an alarm when it's supposed to, I'm about at my wit's end. It's honestly enough to make me go back to my 2002 device.

This is nothing but blind conjecture, but I am hoping that sometime some kind of ROM upgrade will be developed that fixes this. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[rud56789]

It is a sad state when PPC users are setting alarms on our cellphones. What are Smartphone users with WM2003 doing? Are they actually having to go out and buy alarm/watches.

I was late for a meeting tonight, no alarm, and I lost track of time at the office. At the end of the meeting I pulled my Axim out to look at my calendar for next month's meeting and guess what shows up on the screen and makes noise. I don't have to tell anyone, you know the answer.

[buckyg]

Seems to me that there is an alarm problem, but it's hard to pin down. What works for you may not work for others. What fixes it for me may not fix it for others.

I hope that MS fixes this before it becomes too widely known outside the PPC world. If it does, we'll all keep hearing people gloating, "Yeah, but I can trust the alarms on my *PALM*!", well after the problem is fixed.

[Thinkingmandavid]

palm, oh excuse me, palmone :roll: cannot get that kind of an edge. Of course my alarms work great :mrgreen: pocket plus :mrgreen:

[PoweriPaq]

Mine works, but it doesn't work when it's not on the power supply. Meaning, my iPaq has to be on. If it's off, it doesn't work. Ridicilous, I thought it was my iPaq, so I hard reset it and tested from there. And found the solution.

What if I don't have my power supply with me, then what?