Mobility Site - View Single Post - Step-by-step: Killing ActiveSync in cradle, for charging via USB

phi · 12-15-05, 11:31 PM

Did you know that you can use your cradle to charge your X51v without the power cable, because the USB cable itself delivers power? This means that you can split your cradle components - you've got 2 chargers for the price of one! Now you can use your Axim indefinitely while hanging at your local coffeeshop, without spending $20 for a portable charger. Otherwise -- on battery and wifi -- the hungry devil barely lasts longer than your cappucino.

This workaround is a combination hack from several different threads - I am simply compiling them for the new user because it took me a while to locate and figure them out myself.

This workaround gives you the ability to truly stop ActiveSync if you like, thereby allowing you to charge via USB, with the side benefit of making your axim more speedy when in use. It works for me. Your mileage may vary.

Background: You can only charge via USB while your unit is off while in the cradle, because the USB cable delivers enough juice to either sync or charge, but not both. OK, sounds easy. The problem is that every 5 minutes or so ActiveSync fires up, powers on the unit, and drains the battery again. What to do?

Here's how I got mine to work, step-by-step.
1. Get (partial) control of ActiveSync. You should first set ActiveSync to a manual schedule, and get rid of any attempt to sync to a phantom exchange server. This is the single most important thing I have done for the X51v. Go here for the fix:

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104805

This won't solve the cradle issue (as you'll see), but it does prevent a lot of completely wasted processor time (read battery drain) while ActiveSync tries to figure out if it needs to connect to something when not connected to your PC. Not to mention preventing a heck of a lot of soft resets.

2. Disconnect the power cord from the cradle. Put your Axim in the cradle. Note that ActiveSync automatically launches while in the cradle even when your axim is on battery power. After the initial sync, turn off the power of your axim just to see what happens. Although your power button will go amber (charging), after a few minutes ActiveSync will wake up your device. This is what prevents you from charging through your USB cable. Whenever your Axim wakes up, it diverts power to the syncing process, and never goes back to charging (unless of course you have your power cord plugged in). Now try to close ActiveSync with a task manager (my favorite is MagicButton), or through Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs. When there is a network connection to your PC, it is impossible to kill ActiveSync.

3. On your PC, open Control Panel->Network Connections. Take note of your connections. Now pull your axim out of the cradle. Note that one of the connections will disappear. Put your axim back in the cradle and watch it reappear (usually called 'LAN Connection [#]'). Under device name it will say 'Windows Mobile-Based Device'.

4. Now the one thing that will stop ActiveSync from launching on it's own, is to create a situation where your Axim can't detect the network. You guessed it -- disable that connection. In order to disable, just right-click the connection, and select 'Disable'. You must do this while the device is on and in the cradle. Why? Because the connection gets hidden when your Axim is off or not connected, as we just saw in step 3.

5. Well, what a pain to have to open Network Connections every time you want to stop syncing. My quick and easy method is to right-click on the connection and select 'create shortcut'. You'll be asked to put it on your desktop, which you should do. Once you have made the shortcut, simply Shift-drag it to your task bar (the quick launch toolbar). Now if you ever want to stop syncing, just right click on that icon, and select 'Disable'. Then select 'Enable' when you want to sync again. Everything else will be automagic. NOTE: you must have the Axim in the cradle and on to enable/disable the connection, otherwise you will get an error because the connection can't be initialized.

6. Just to test whether this works properly, go ahead and disable that connection while your axim is cradled. Now pull out your Axim from the cradle -or- do a power-off/power-on (the reason you have to do this is because ActiveSync isn't smart enough to notice there is no network unless there is a system event). Using a 3rd-party task manager (or the tedious Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs), try to turn off ActiveSync. If your Axim behaves like mine -- no guarantees -- you'll see that pesky program die without a whimper. Pop the Axim back into the cradle, keep your fingers crossed, and you shouldn't see ActiveSync rise from the dead. (Note: you will still hear that USB connection sound ("doo-dee!") when you cradle/uncradle, this is normal).

7. OK, let's see if you can charge from the USB cable without the annoying ActiveSync wakeups. Power off your axim. You should see that comforting amber color (charging) on the power button. Keep watch for 10 minutes. Still amber? Success! Go drink that cappucino with your new portable charger!

Final Notes: You don't actually need to turn off ActiveSync on your axim to do continuous charging, as long as the network connection is disabled, ActiveSync shouldn't wake up your device once it's off. And if it does wake up (it can be quirky once in a while) you'll hear the USB sound, but it will soon turn itself off again and keep charging (unlike when there is a network detected).

Thanks to those that have discussed these issues in various threads in the past.

Also, tallshorty has found an alternative workaround for the activesync thing, it requires you to do poweroff/on quickly.

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=103490

I prefer the network disable method myself, simply because I like to be extra careful to avoid interrupting a (potentially) running process.

12-15-05, 11:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
phi Aximsite Prospect Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Step-by-step: Killing ActiveSync in cradle, for charging via USB Did you know that you can use your cradle to charge your X51v without the power cable, because the USB cable itself delivers power? This means that you can split your cradle components - you've got 2 chargers for the price of one! Now you can use your Axim indefinitely while hanging at your local coffeeshop, without spending $20 for a portable charger. Otherwise -- on battery and wifi -- the hungry devil barely lasts longer than your cappucino. This workaround is a combination hack from several different threads - I am simply compiling them for the new user because it took me a while to locate and figure them out myself. This workaround gives you the ability to truly stop ActiveSync if you like, thereby allowing you to charge via USB, with the side benefit of making your axim more speedy when in use. It works for me. Your mileage may vary. Background: You can only charge via USB while your unit is off while in the cradle, because the USB cable delivers enough juice to either sync or charge, but not both. OK, sounds easy. The problem is that every 5 minutes or so ActiveSync fires up, powers on the unit, and drains the battery again. What to do? Here's how I got mine to work, step-by-step. 1. Get (partial) control of ActiveSync. You should first set ActiveSync to a manual schedule, and get rid of any attempt to sync to a phantom exchange server. This is the single most important thing I have done for the X51v. Go here for the fix: http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104805 This won't solve the cradle issue (as you'll see), but it does prevent a lot of completely wasted processor time (read battery drain) while ActiveSync tries to figure out if it needs to connect to something when not connected to your PC. Not to mention preventing a heck of a lot of soft resets. 2. Disconnect the power cord from the cradle. Put your Axim in the cradle. Note that ActiveSync automatically launches while in the cradle even when your axim is on battery power. After the initial sync, turn off the power of your axim just to see what happens. Although your power button will go amber (charging), after a few minutes ActiveSync will wake up your device. This is what prevents you from charging through your USB cable. Whenever your Axim wakes up, it diverts power to the syncing process, and never goes back to charging (unless of course you have your power cord plugged in). Now try to close ActiveSync with a task manager (my favorite is MagicButton), or through Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs. When there is a network connection to your PC, it is impossible to kill ActiveSync. 3. On your PC, open Control Panel->Network Connections. Take note of your connections. Now pull your axim out of the cradle. Note that one of the connections will disappear. Put your axim back in the cradle and watch it reappear (usually called 'LAN Connection [#]'). Under device name it will say 'Windows Mobile-Based Device'. 4. Now the one thing that will stop ActiveSync from launching on it's own, is to create a situation where your Axim can't detect the network. You guessed it -- disable that connection. In order to disable, just right-click the connection, and select 'Disable'. You must do this while the device is on and in the cradle. Why? Because the connection gets hidden when your Axim is off or not connected, as we just saw in step 3. 5. Well, what a pain to have to open Network Connections every time you want to stop syncing. My quick and easy method is to right-click on the connection and select 'create shortcut'. You'll be asked to put it on your desktop, which you should do. Once you have made the shortcut, simply Shift-drag it to your task bar (the quick launch toolbar). Now if you ever want to stop syncing, just right click on that icon, and select 'Disable'. Then select 'Enable' when you want to sync again. Everything else will be automagic. NOTE: you must have the Axim in the cradle and on to enable/disable the connection, otherwise you will get an error because the connection can't be initialized. 6. Just to test whether this works properly, go ahead and disable that connection while your axim is cradled. Now pull out your Axim from the cradle -or- do a power-off/power-on (the reason you have to do this is because ActiveSync isn't smart enough to notice there is no network unless there is a system event). Using a 3rd-party task manager (or the tedious Settings->System->Memory->Running Programs), try to turn off ActiveSync. If your Axim behaves like mine -- no guarantees -- you'll see that pesky program die without a whimper. Pop the Axim back into the cradle, keep your fingers crossed, and you shouldn't see ActiveSync rise from the dead. (Note: you will still hear that USB connection sound ("doo-dee!") when you cradle/uncradle, this is normal). 7. OK, let's see if you can charge from the USB cable without the annoying ActiveSync wakeups. Power off your axim. You should see that comforting amber color (charging) on the power button. Keep watch for 10 minutes. Still amber? Success! Go drink that cappucino with your new portable charger! Final Notes: You don't actually need to turn off ActiveSync on your axim to do continuous charging, as long as the network connection is disabled, ActiveSync shouldn't wake up your device once it's off. And if it does wake up (it can be quirky once in a while) you'll hear the USB sound, but it will soon turn itself off again and keep charging (unlike when there is a network detected). Thanks to those that have discussed these issues in various threads in the past. Also, tallshorty has found an alternative workaround for the activesync thing, it requires you to do poweroff/on quickly. http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=103490 I prefer the network disable method myself, simply because I like to be extra careful to avoid interrupting a (potentially) running process.