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… and thankfully, The Good Again!

Last week gasusan2005 posted an item on the Treo 700w/wx Updater 1.22 for Verizon Wireless smartphones that was available on the Palm website.  It was designed for both the Palm Treo 700w and the Palm Treo 700wx running on the Verizon Wireless network. The expectation a user can get is that it will update the smartphone’s software to the latest release, version 1.22  and there is always that expectation that it will go flawlessly.

At least that was my expectation and why not.  I’ve gone through countless numbers of upgrades on a myriad of devices over the past 10 years or so and never once have I had an issue.  I always read the instructions, OK, I admit, sometimes I don’t read all of it but I always read what appears to be the most important and usually the most prominent on a sites set of instructions.  As you read a set of instructions and if it just goes on blah, blah, blah; I tend to skip over those parts.

So Saturday I decided to update my Palm 700W.  I’m not sure why I decided to do it, I really had no serious need to do it then (or maybe even at all) but it was the latest and greatest for that device, I use it everyday, so why not upgrade and possibly be able to take advantage of a few of the changes.  So I went to where I had posted it on my blog, clicked on the download link and carefully read the instructions that appeared. 

Of course I did get to the “standard warning” that said:

Do not stop the update before it is finished. It is possible for your device to become unusable if the update process is interrupted during a critical phase.

Running applications or browsing the internet on the desktop PC during the update is not advised. Ensure that ActiveSync is not currently synchronizing before running the update. These activities may interfere with the updater process.

For some reason I did reflect on it and was tempted to put it off but what the heck, nothing has EVER gone wrong before so I made sure nothing was running and downloaded the update to a folder on my desktop.  It was fast and all of a sudden I was ready to begin.  I should point out that I decided to run the update off my tablet which is running XP.  I didn’t want to use my Vista machine because I had a concern on WMDC (Windows Media Device Center) and just did not want to risk an error.

So I have ActiveSync 4.5 which was more than what was needed, I did a sync as instructed and made sure ActiveSync said “Connected” with the green icon, but not currently synchronizing, as I ran the update. The cables were connected, all screen savers and power saving utilities were off and I had AC power applied to the tablet so there would be no issues relative to having enough “juice”.  So I thought I was ready and began the process.

I clicked on the downloaded file and the process began.  It copied the files and began to execute the update.

So things were looking good but it did appear as if was going to take a while so I started working on my other PC glancing at the update process on occasion just to see what was happening.  It backed up the NV items, the FW update was completed and the updating the device screen appeared.

Things were still looking good and I expected it to finish relatively soon so I continued to work and eventually looked over at the screen of my tablet and low and behold this is what I saw…

PANIC set in!

Oh my God, I could not believe it!  My blood pressure had to have started to rise, sweat began to appear on my forehead (in an air conditioned room BTW) and the only thought that went through my mind was the statement that I read earlier saying “Do not stop the update before it is finished. It is possible for your device to become unusable if the update process is interrupted during a critical phase.” 

Did I now have a BRICK?  So what were my alternatives?  What if it was (a brick)? 

Well, I suppose it might be a good thing in disguise because I like the device so much (even with its limited memory issues) it possibly would be the time to go get the WX … hmmm, my mind was racing.

So I looked at the screen again, got up and went downstairs to get a drink (of Diet Coke) and just relax a bit to get back to “thinking mode” so could deal with this issue.  After a short break, I went back and reviewed the Palm page and at the bottom was a link to TROUBLESHOOTING (thank God for that).

The Troubleshooting Guide gave the following information:

Do not quit the installer unless specifically instructed to do so. If your smartphone appears to be frozen on a screen, wait at least 30-45 minutes before taking further action.

If the updater is not making progress, wait at least 30 minutes for something to happen. Do not stop the update before it is finished. It is possible for your device to become unusable if the update process is interrupted during a critical phase.

Disconnect the device from the cable and then reconnect.

If progress is not observed, do the following;

1. Soft Reset the device.
2. Reboot the PC.
3. Close all running applications except ActiveSync (Windows Media Device Center on Windows Vista).
4. If you use Windows 2000 or XP, check the ActiveSync version – If the version is 4.1, or a Beta version of 4.5, download the latest version from Microsoft.
5. Attach the smartphone to the sync cable and AC power.
6. Verify that synchronization can complete.
7. Run the Updater again, following all previous instructions and steps.

Well, thirty minutes went by and my device still looked like this:

So by now the initial panic had gone, I still had that “heavy feeling” in my stomach but it was time to move on.  I followed the instructions and reset the device (and thankfully the screen came back to normal), made sure all applications were not running and attempted to sync my device.  It just hung there ”looking for changes”.  There was no way it was going anywhere … it was not going to sync!

With no luck, I went back in to the troubleshooting area and found a section on “ActiveSync process takes a very long time, or appears to freeze at ‘Looking for changes’ on desktop PC.”

It indicated the Treo 700w running version 1.02 may have a number of files in the Temp folder that can cause the Active Sync process to take an inordinately long period of time to complete. There was a little more explanation and a process for deleting the files that was pretty obvious but for an inexperienced user, the instruction were clear and concise.  With the files deleted, the Temp folder was now empty.

So I began the process again, attaching the device (not paying attention to what I was doing) and clicking on the updater.  It began and failed immediately.  It could not even begin the process … I was most definitely bummed!  So I called Verizon support and got a great guy who listened and when I told him that he was not going to solve the issue and that he needed to get me in touch with Palm, he graciously understood and said hang on, he will try to connect me.  With in a few minutes, he came back and said he had some bad news … Palm support was closed but then he gave me some good news and gave me a direct line to Verizon support and the process I needed to follow to take care of my issue on Monday morning.

By now I was resigned to the fact that I lost the upgrade, lost the ability to sync but the saving grace was that the device was still working … but with the old pre-update version.  I’m not quite sure why it was still working but it was so I was not too terribly upset.  I decided that I would just call on Monday and begin the process (albeit painful) of trying to get the device to sync and then to get the upgrade to work. 

I was just about to call it a day and then I started to dwell upon the disaster and for some reason I decided that the issue now was that it was looking for changes during the Active Sync process.  Clearly it recognized the device and obviously when it was connected, it began the initial stages of the sync process by looking for changes …. which is where the current issue was. 

So I asked myself “what if I delete the partnership and remove all traces of it from my tablet?”  In theory, I should be able to reestablish a NEW partnership since it is currently connecting but hanging on the “looking for changes”.  I needed to try it … what did I have to lose other than the functionality of the device?  I thought a second, well maybe two and just moved forward and deleted the partnership and removed all traces of it from my tablet.  I then did a soft reset of my device, and rebooted the tablet.

When the tablet came back up, I connected, it recognized that it was a NEW connection and the process began.  I had it copy over all the sync’ed info from my tablet  to the device and it completed flawlessly.  So now my device was synching … YEA!! 

Hmmm …. I thought, now that it has completed the sync and it is just sitting there, why not run the update again?  It took less than a half a second to make that decision!  I clicked on the Updater and the process began again.  This time however, I decided to watch it the entire time to see just what was happening. 

It proceeded through each piece that had occurred previously.  It backed up the appropriate files, began an update process and eventually came back as a NEW Palm 700W with a second life!  Everything was there, the update shows as completed, I re-activated the phone with Verizon and I was off and running …. and quite happy I might add!

So what did I not do?  Why was there an issue? Something caused the issue and it may well have been user error.  I reviewed the process, and although at the time I had thought I done everything that I was supposed to, there is clearly the chance I missed something but there as also the chance something just did not “grab” during the upgrade.

After going through the experience I had several things to reflect upon.  I was pleased with the extensive support database that Palm had up on their site.  It was easy to look at so you were not the slightest bit confused as you read each topic.  Each topic was well presented with step by step process to follow and although the solution for me was not there, it was so well done that it got me to think about what else I could do.  Palm did a good job … and maybe they will now add “delete the partnership and start fresh”!

I was also extremely pleased with the Verizon customer service.  The fellow I chatted with was an excellent representative of Verizon.  He did what he was able to do and made every attempt to make sure I was all set to make a call on Monday.

So I’m up, I’m running, I’m happy and I have now had my first experience of an upgrade go UGLY … but fortunately turn out GOOD!

Jack Cook (2693 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook