Palm convert struggling with Pocketpc

[veltror]

After the release of the T5 I have switched to a Loox 720 and I am really struggling with PPC so apologies for the silly questions.

I have put in a Sandisk sd card I should be able to see this from activesync from explore? If I do try to explore my mobile device it just sits there (desktop is xp sp1), sometimes it fails with a communication has not started error, numerous soft resets which seem to be a way of life with ppc it seems for me, i can move mo3s to the card on the loox with resco and that works fine. Is there anywhere a definitive faq on how to install files on ppc, some are exe some are cabs etc etc, very confusing
The simplicity of Palm I miss but the features of ppc would be nice if I could use them so if anybody can suggest why I cannot see my sd card nor its subfolders from activesync I would be grateful

[rgribbons]

Not sure if you have already tried this but uninstall and reinstall activesync. It sounds like the Loox is reading the card ok but your PC does not see the card. I have been using a 2210 for a year now without any of these problems. However it sometimes take a second or 2 before explorer sees the PPC and SD card. Does your explorer actually see the PPC when it is connected (take your PPC off the cradle, open the explorer and then reconnect the PPC) and see if it pops up.

[TMann]

Veltror,

Hello from a fellow "Palm-to-PPC" switcher! (Actually, I continue to use my Palm, so I guess that I'm more of a dual-OS person...)

I agree with the above poster that reinstalling ActiveSync should help solve the problem of your PC not "seeing" the SD card in your PPC. (BTW, which model do you have?)

A second thing to consider is the formatting of the SD card itself. At my home, we have a Mac laptop, a Windows desktop, a Palm Tungsten T3, and a Dell x50v and they all format disk a bit differently. Thus, it is helpful to make sure that the SD card is formatted for the device that it is going into, in this case your PPC. I would try to back up the files on the card, and then reformat it in your PPC, using the program "File Explorer." I had a problem one time with a Palm formatted card being used in a PPC PDA; the issues were cured by reformatting it in the PPC.

Good luck with everything! You're going to find that your initial experiences with your PPC may be a bit trying, as you try to come to grips with the added complexity of the PPC OS. On a Palm PDA, all of the files that are stored in RAM are in one big directory/folder; on a PPC, they are all stored in separate folders, and it takes a while to learn where everything is stored! It's worth the hassle, though, so give yourself a little time to learn how to use your new toy.

TMann

[RD100]

Veltror,

Since you are able to move MP3's to the card, the problem is not your SD card. So no need to reformat it.

Based on the description of what you see on your PC, it sounds like you are not successfully making a connection between your PDA and your Desktop. If that is the case, you should first try to re-install ActiveSync on your Desktop. If that still doesn't work, you may want to Hard-Reset your PPC. Since it is fairly new, it should be relatively painless at this point.

When you have a successful connection, you should be able to browse Windows File Explorer, and see "Mobile Device" listed along with your disk drives.

I've also switched from Palm to PPC a year ago, and I have loved using PPCs. It takes a little while to get used to the different way things are done on the PPC, but once you do, it becomes simple to use.

To install software from a .CAB file, you simply copy it from your PC to a folder on your PPC (I usually use \TEMP), and then just tap on the .CAB file using Pocket PC file explorer. That will install the software. There is a also freeware app called CabInst, which lets you determine where the .CAB file will install the software if you don't want to use the default locations. You can find CabInst listed on this page of PPC apps:
http://www.desktopian.org/addonsi_ppc-apps.shtml

To install software from a .EXE Install file, you just run the .EXE on your desktop PC when your PPC is connected, and the app will install itself.



And since you are new to PPC, here are some useful websites:

Here is one of my favorite Introduction to PPC websites:
http://www.ipaqhq.com/articles/link.php?id=216

This FAQs website is a little old, but you still may find it useful:
http://www.cewindows.net/faqs.htm

Here is the ultimate source of website links for your PPC:
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_top/bestsites.asp

Here is a fantastic source of PPC freeware:
http://www.pdacorps.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2501&PN=1

Here is a list of the best software of 2004 for PPC:
http://www.pocketpcmag.com/awards/category_all_2004.asp

[veltror]

Many thanks for the ideas, after hard resets, reinstall everything from scratch. I found it still did not see the card, all I kept getting was a communication sub-process failed to start messages. Curiously it worked fine on XP Prof, then it dawned on me zonealarm, turned off the firewall and it works fine, sanity is over-hyped.

I have a Loox 720, PPC. Better then a T5 but just still missing some of the spit and polish. Still think the OS is a resettable too much and I miss the Palm Desktop.

I will perservere.

[TMann]

I think that the Palm OS and PPC OS each have their advantages. And clearly, for some people Palm is the way to go.

I just purchased a Del x50v and I am working towards making that my "main" PDA. I am slowly using it more and using my Tungsten T3, less as I get the data and programs loaded up on the Dell.

Good luck!

TMann

[jonathanchoo]

Another dual-OS guy here although lately I have been using PPC more often than PalmOS. Anyway, have found that I prefer Outlook compared to Palm Desktop.

I still find PPC's to be a very unstable platform but I can deal with it. The positive thing atleast for me is the ability to modify the registry which allows me to solve some of the problems I had (rather than just hard reset, re-install everything to find culprit solution).

TMann, I found cards that were formatted for Palm can work on PPC but not vice versa. I can't remember what FAT cluster size Palm SD cards work with but it seems to be different.

[darthbane2k]

Its a bug on activesync..

You cant explore your mobile device through xp using two windows.
For example, if I explored my pocket pc and clicked on MY POCKET PC and looked at its directory structure, say If I changed that window using the address bar to view a website, if I was to keep that website on my screen and then try and explore my mobile device using ANOTHER window, it would not work - it would not respond.

Trick is to make sure all explorer windows are closed before exploring your mobile device - stupid, I know....