Palm Treo 700w Firmware Update 1.10 Now Available

[Raphael Salgado]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo700wupdater/verizon.html' target='_blank'>http://www.palm.com/us/support/down...er/verizon.html</a><br /><br /></div>Palm has finally released the first firmware update for the Treo 700w for Verizon (well, it's the only carrier right now). Microsoft's MSFP for Direct Push Email, better memory management, and a few more enhancements make it worth the download. :mrgreen: Sorry, no A2DP in this release, though. :(<br /><br />Make sure you have your Treo 700w's serial number handy (on the back of your device, behind the battery), as you will need it in order to download. See you on the other side!<br /><br /><b>UPDATE:</b> It seems that the update was pulled from Palm's website. You can begin to speculate why this has happened... Too many failed updates turning Treos into paperweights? The update was still buggy, or they didn't catch a critical issue, or perhaps created a new one? They wanted to add A2DP? They forgot to add Verizon's special crippling sauce? Your guess is as good as mine... :?:

[Janak Parekh]

Sure, they release it the one night I didn't have time. :P I'll be installing this tomorrow night, for sure.

Did you notice it's designed to preserve data while upgrading? 8O

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

Sure, they release it the one night I didn't have time. :P I'll be installing this tomorrow night, for sure.

Did you notice it's designed to preserve data while upgrading? 8O

--janak
Oh sweet! I have to upgrade one next week, so let me know how the upgrade with data preservation goes, or let me know if you bork it. :lol:

[Raphael Salgado]

Some things you may or may not know about the 1.10 Update...

1. You don't have to take out the battery to retreive the serial number. Go to the About button on the System tab in the Settings Panel, and you'll find your device's serial number in the Phone tab.

2. All the data was preserved before the update (I saw a "RegSave" window pop-up before the upgrade was executed), and restored down perfectly.

3. Update did take nearly a full 30 minutes.

4. If you have a USB cable that comes off comparatively easy from your Treo 700w, I suggest you perform the update away from kids, away from yourself if you have a tendency to be klutzy, on the middle of a table, with the AC adapter and USB cable close to the PC as well as your Treo. If you're on a notebook, prevent Suspend Mode from closing the lid, make sure you're notebook is on AC power, too, disable any screensaver, and prevent yourself from surfing or using the PC while the update is in progress. Did I forget anything?

5. Wireless Manager in Connections applet now toggles Bluetooth, Phone, and Both.

6. Direct Push Email. Enough said.

7. Simple PIN passwords can now be entered either on-screen or via the keyboard automatically in numeric keypad mode. ;)

8. Software version will show Treo 700W-1.10-VZW and Windows Mobile 5.1.195 (Build 14929.2.2.1).

9. Memory management is improved and leak appears to be resolved.

10. A USBSwitch application sits in the Programs folder to switch between Serial USB and RNDIS USB mode. Explanation, anyone?

11. Windows Media Player is version 10.2 build 14929.

12. Tapping on the battery icon on the Menu Bar actually shows a Battery Status balloon with the battery percentage and charging status.

13. A full version of Sprite Backup 5.0.1 build 1338 specifically for the Palm Treo 700w is available on Palm's website.

14. An updated version of Picsel PDF Viewer 1.1.1 is available on Palm's website, and fixes Memory Full errors and other issues.

15. The Lock feature (previously called Password) will activate and lock itself after a certain time, even when the device is in AC mode (charging).

[Darius Wey]

10. A USBSwitch application sits in the Programs folder to switch between Serial USB and RNDIS USB mode. Explanation, anyone?

In ActiveSync 4.x, the RNDIS model was adopted for Pocket PC / PC connections, but it caused some conflicts with firewalls and network settings (which I'm sure you've heard plenty about). This USB mode switch allows the user to switch back to serial in an attempt to solve the problem.

Off-topic: HP also included a similar mode switch application in a recent update for the rx1900 series.

[bvkeen]

Looking forward to it, although may wait until weekend.

Raphael: thank you for the details. Sounds like a very worthwhile update.

[DaleReeck]

You know, I don't even have a 700w, yet I'm still pi$$ed that yet again another device, another patch and no A2DP. What exactly is the problem with vendors getting this thing deployed? :evil:

[Janak Parekh]

Oh sweet! I have to upgrade one next week, so let me know how the upgrade with data preservation goes, or let me know if you bork it. :lol:
Sounds like Raphael already tried it. :) I'm thinking of hard resetting anyway -- I find ROM updates a good time to refresh all the software and configurations on a device, and I can do it pretty quickly now.

--janak

[alex_kac]

It worked great for me. Shocked that it kept my data...now that's what I'm talking about.

As for AD2P, my understanding is that its too CPU intensive for many PDAs. I might be very very wrong, though :)

[ntractv]

I can't seem to install. I keep getting the error message "Treo 700w Updater.msi" not found

[yanathin]

I plan on hard resetting when I upgrade as well... what might be the best way to do this? Should I hard reset and then upgrade, or upgrade first and then hard reset? I guess my question is this... would I need to reinstall this upgrade every time I hard reset?

[buddr]

can't seem to install. I keep getting the error message "Treo 700w Updater.msi" not found
_________________
HP iPAQ 5555; Palm Treo 700w

Caste Your Fate To The Wind

I am getting that error message too. Frustrating!!!
B

[bvkeen]

I plan on hard resetting when I upgrade as well... what might be the best way to do this? Should I hard reset and then upgrade, or upgrade first and then hard reset? I guess my question is this... would I need to reinstall this upgrade every time I hard reset?

If it's like every other ROM upgrade I've done, you have to reset it after the new ROM is installed (menu-driven software generally guides you through this). You would not have to reinstall the ROM update everytime you subsequently hard reset, though - once it's there, it's there.

[jkcofield]

I did the upgrade. Went without a hitch, as mentioned elsewhere on the site.

One thing I did have a problem with was the "msi not found" error. I just ran the .msi directly and it worked fine.

Also, in addition to the seemingly better memory handling and auto-magical msn mail downloading, I have noticed what seems to be better battery performance.

Jeff C.

[ntractv]

I did the upgrade. Went without a hitch, as mentioned elsewhere on the site.

One thing I did have a problem with was the "msi not found" error. I just ran the .msi directly and it worked fine.

Also, in addition to the seemingly better memory handling and auto-magical msn mail downloading, I have noticed what seems to be better battery performance.

Jeff C.

Still not working. I was able to get the 700w Updater icon onto my desktop, but when clicked notepad opens up with script.

[Janak Parekh]

I plan on hard resetting when I upgrade as well... what might be the best way to do this? Should I hard reset and then upgrade, or upgrade first and then hard reset? I guess my question is this... would I need to reinstall this upgrade every time I hard reset?
If it's like every other ROM upgrade I've done, you have to reset it after the new ROM is installed (menu-driven software generally guides you through this). You would not have to reinstall the ROM update everytime you subsequently hard reset, though - once it's there, it's there.
I'm paranoid. I hard reset before and after. :P Well, to be precise, I've done the before hard reset; it's installing as we speak.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Still not working. I was able to get the 700w Updater icon onto my desktop, but when clicked notepad opens up with script.
The updater icon is an .HTA file, which should be opened up with Internet Explorer, or the Windows Script Engine, or.... Your file associations are messed up on your computer. When it's done, I'll check to see what the association is, but you can try right-clicking and Open With, and choose Internet Explorer. Or just wait about 25 minutes until I can check. ;)

--janak

Update: Actually, it's Microsoft HTML Application Host. I browsed the registry and it looks like the program is "C:\WINDOWS\system32\mshta.exe".

[Janak Parekh]

Hey all... is it me, or does it soft-reset much more quickly?

--janak

[Raphael Salgado]

It does soft-reset faster.

Clicking BACK and FORWARD in Internet Explorer Mobile is lightning quick now.

Even my ActiveSync seems really fast on its first run with 300+ contacts, 1000+ email headers to sift through and download.

Someone else said that Pocket MSN finally auto-retrieves the messages, whereas it didn't (and I know it didn't) even if you set it to retrieve every 15 minutes.

My favorites though are the free Sprite Backup, the ability to enter your PIN password using the keypad. ;)

[Janak Parekh]

My favorites though are the free Sprite Backup, the ability to enter your PIN password using the keypad. ;)
Yeah, I might set up a PIN now... I was tired of double-pumping the Fn key.

For me, the fact that the push is real and doesn't do the spastic 80% vibrate, sleep, 20% vibrate is gold. I love it when little nagging bugs are fixed. :mrgreen: I'm also appreciating the extra few MB of memory!

--janak

[yanathin]

I ended up hard-resetting before I installed the update. When it finished, it didn't even need to soft-reset! Everything seemed so stable that I just left it the way it was. It's AMAZING how stable this phone is compared to the Qtek 9100 I used to have (even with the newest firmware). Kinda funny that it takes Palm to really make the Windows Mobile experience so much better. :D

I still wish I could change those soft-keys at the bottom though... Tweaks2k2 doesn't do anything, and it's really strange how it works.

[ntractv]

Still not working. I was able to get the 700w Updater icon onto my desktop, but when clicked notepad opens up with script.
The updater icon is an .HTA file, which should be opened up with Internet Explorer, or the Windows Script Engine, or.... Your file associations are messed up on your computer. When it's done, I'll check to see what the association is, but you can try right-clicking and Open With, and choose Internet Explorer. Or just wait about 25 minutes until I can check. ;)

--janak

Update: Actually, it's Microsoft HTML Application Host. I browsed the registry and it looks like the program is "C:\WINDOWS\system32\mshta.exe".

Okay, next problem. Followed your suggestion and right clicked destop installer to open with IE. Things start out OK, but then I get the following script error:

Installer Script Error (or something to that effect)

Line: 51
Char: 3
Error: Object does not support this property or method
Code: 0
url: file//c:\programfiles\palm\treo700wupdate\steps.html

I am then asked if I want to continue running scripts on this page and whichever I choose nothing.

What gives?

[lsbeller]

Any feedback on EVDO speed improvement over time and use?

[Janak Parekh]

Update: Actually, it's Microsoft HTML Application Host. I browsed the registry and it looks like the program is "C:\WINDOWS\system32\mshta.exe".

Okay, next problem. Followed your suggestion and right clicked destop installer to open with IE. Things start out OK, but then I get the following script error:
As my post update implied, you actually can't use IE directly, but must rather point it to the HTML Application Host. You should be able to specify the executable via an Other button or something.

If, after all that, you continue having problems, your computer's got some registry misconfigurations... if you have access to another Windows machine, it'd be easier to install it that way.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Any feedback on EVDO speed improvement over time and use?
No hugely visible change in my immediate experience, although I'll keep testing. But... I didn't have any problem the first time around and got very fast speeds, so I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.

--janak

[mvandell]

I can't seem to install. I keep getting the error message "Treo 700w Updater.msi" not found

The built-in Windows unzip mangles some of the file names with special characters in them, use winzip and it will work...

[yanathin]

I am having the worst problems trying to set up Exchange on here... After hours of tinkering, I finally got everything set up with the right domain and server settings. But, for some reason my phone still does NOT automatically receive emails. The only way my exchange server syncs is if I manually hit the "sync" button in ActiveSync, even if I have the schedule set to "As Items Arrive." Anybody else have this problem? Isn't there supposed to be some other option under "schedule" where I have to put in my verizon text email address so it can automatically forward new email information to me?

[Ed Hansberry]

I am having the worst problems trying to set up Exchange on here... After hours of tinkering, I finally got everything set up with the right domain and server settings. But, for some reason my phone still does NOT automatically receive emails. The only way my exchange server syncs is if I manually hit the "sync" button in ActiveSync, even if I have the schedule set to "As Items Arrive." Anybody else have this problem? Isn't there supposed to be some other option under "schedule" where I have to put in my verizon text email address so it can automatically forward new email information to me?

make sure in AS settings you tell it to use your roaming setting same as normal. sometimes the device doesn't know it isn't roaming, so to be safe it assumes it is and won't do much unless you override that and say to use mobile settings.

[arb]

I am very pleased with the updater program. It copied and saved all of my settings and data then updated the unit without any problems.

I don't have an exchange 2003 SP2 server up and active anymore and where I work we use Lotus Notes. So I don't care about the Push technology. The unit seems to have a better use of memory, I will see over time if it really does work better.

[Igon]

Any idea what happened to the updater? It is no longer available for download.

[Darius Wey]

Any idea what happened to the updater? It is no longer available for download.

I'm guessing either Palm slipped and released the updater too early, so they've since pulled it from the public eye, or it's been giving users problems, so they may patch it and release an updated version in the near future.

[fishfuzz]

From a post at http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=896485 mentions that there were a lot of Treos that got bricked because of:

While making the transfer of the new software to the device if you computer goes into sleep OR hibernate you will kill your device.

If there is any hiccup during the transfer you will kill your device.

If norton or zonealarm is running, you will kill your device. Even if you've made the device trusted/allowable/whatever.

That updater killed a lot of treos today.

Please, do not install the update unless you are comfortable with activesync and the install process. And for god's sake PLEASE disable your firewalls/antispyware/antivirus.

So my guess is, they pulled it because of the bricks.

And you can still find the file here: http://www.savefile.com/files/8803988

[Janak Parekh]

Well, it could be that, or it could be a bug...:

Is anyone else having a problem whereby after some unpredictable amount of time, the network connection is dropped and can't be regained by ActiveSync? Worse, the phone part starts behaving oddly. A soft-reset fixes it, but it seems to happen again after an unpredictable number of hours. This seems to happen more at home, where I'm in 1x, than at work. I'll have to keep on debugging and see if it's a software, firmware, or home antenna issue.

--janak

[that_kid]

Not yet Janak, the biggest problem I had was trying to activate direct push after the update. On my 700 and another user's 700 that was already setup to use sms triggered sync, the device just didn't want to give into the new syncing. A hard reset later and everything was good. I still wish they would get rid of that extra notification that pops up when you get new mail. I hate acknowledging the acknowledgement.

[Janak Parekh]

I still wish they would get rid of that extra notification that pops up when you get new mail. I hate acknowledging the acknowledgement.
Can't you turn off the toast in Sounds &amp; Notifications (e.g., uncheck Display message on screen)?

And, one other trick, which you probably know: going into the Inbox dismisses it as well.

--janak

[Raphael Salgado]

This internal link on Palm's website IS working, but you're still updating completely at your own risk:

http://ws.palm.com/SupportDownload/app?service=external/Home&amp;sp=1

I assume that the new version will be from the same or similar link, so if you're desperate to download from the horse's mouth and not someone else's posting of it, that link does still work...

[Darius Wey]

By the way, for those interested in what appears to be official word from Palm about the removal of the update, check out the small note at CNET (http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6511134.html?subj=blog&amp;part=rss&amp;tag=Treo)-

"After posting the 700w update, Palm received feedback on an issue that appears to be affecting a small percentage of 700w customers running the update. Some decompression software applications may be having difficulty decompressing the .zip file downloaded from the website and, as a result, the installation process will not start. Palm is looking into adjusting the updater, as well as reviewing customer feedback on the installer. Palm and Verizon Wireless are committed to customer satisfaction and are working together to provide this update to our customers as quickly as possible." The Palm representative also said he didn't have a confirmed date or time as to when the update would be reposted but he suspects it will be early this week."

[that_kid]

Can't you turn off the toast in Sounds &amp; Notifications (e.g., uncheck Display message on screen)?

And, one other trick, which you probably know: going into the Inbox dismisses it as well.

--janak

Nope, when you uncheck Display message on Screen you still get this when a new e-mail arrives
http://www.br-productions.com/images/e/treo700/treo_notification2.JPG

Yes I knew about the second trick, I use that all the time. Still I wish the treo would alert you to a new e-mail like every other WM5 device.

[Janak Parekh]

Nope, when you uncheck Display message on Screen you still get this when a new e-mail arrives
No kidding. :( That little pop-up menu, as my review mentioned, drives me nuts. One of the few awkward things Palm did with the UI.

--janak

[Vivarin]

I did have almost all the problems on this forum. I got the script in notepad, then after fixing the .hta file association I got the script error. The solution turned out to be very simple:

I noticed the files were extracted to the directory I downloaded to -- NOT to the location specified in the desktop shortcut. That's why the ".msi" file was missing. Wasn't really missing, it was just not where the shortcut thought it was.

Same for the script. It's apparently coded to use the location in the shortcut and breaks if not there.

So I moved all the files to the "C:\Program Files\Palm\Treo700wUpdater" directory and ran the desktop shortcut again. Worked perfectly.

Downloaded the updater from:
http://www.savefile.com/files/8803988