ActiveSync problem and FIX!

MikeKV · 12-29-05, 02:54 PM

All,
I thought i'd provide a summary of a problem that i had and a solution that i figured out myself to help many who seem to have the same problem. With today's seemingly declining quality support that we receive from vendors these forums are becoming more and more valuable in finding solutions to problems. I was on the phone with Dell for over 3 hours with no solution. Well, here's the scenerio and SOLUTION:

I purchased and received a new Dell X51v Axim PDA. I followed all procedures for synching the PDA with my laptop with no success. i installed ActiveSync 4.1 first. Connected the USB cradle to my laptop and then connected the PDA to the cradle. ActiveSync would not find the PDA. Interestingly, my laptop knew that I was connecting the PDA because it was showing up as an additional network adapter in "Network Neighborhood" and in device manager. Dell said that it was something with my firewall or antivirus or antispyware software. Not! I read on some website that ActiveSync needed a successful network connection to function properly. It finally dawned on me that after I connected the PDA to my laptop I should check my "properties" of the "mobile device" in the network adapter section in network neighborhood. I found that "client for Microsoft networks", "File and Printer sharing", and "TCP/IP" was disabled or unchecked. I checked all 3 of these and WHAM my PDA started synching.

I hope this helps some that have had the same problem as I. And feel free to let me know if this fixes your problem.
Mike

gleon69 · 01-05-06, 04:51 PM

nope, all of them were check and still no bananas

EasterLizard · 01-07-06, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeKV

All,
I thought i'd provide a summary of a problem that i had and a solution that i figured out myself to help many who seem to have the same problem. With today's seemingly declining quality support that we receive from vendors these forums are becoming more and more valuable in finding solutions to problems. I was on the phone with Dell for over 3 hours with no solution. Well, here's the scenerio and SOLUTION:

I purchased and received a new Dell X51v Axim PDA. I followed all procedures for synching the PDA with my laptop with no success. i installed ActiveSync 4.1 first. Connected the USB cradle to my laptop and then connected the PDA to the cradle. ActiveSync would not find the PDA. Interestingly, my laptop knew that I was connecting the PDA because it was showing up as an additional network adapter in "Network Neighborhood" and in device manager. Dell said that it was something with my firewall or antivirus or antispyware software. Not! I read on some website that ActiveSync needed a successful network connection to function properly. It finally dawned on me that after I connected the PDA to my laptop I should check my "properties" of the "mobile device" in the network adapter section in network neighborhood. I found that "client for Microsoft networks", "File and Printer sharing", and "TCP/IP" was disabled or unchecked. I checked all 3 of these and WHAM my PDA started synching.

I hope this helps some that have had the same problem as I. And feel free to let me know if this fixes your problem.
Mike

Mike!

Your, sir, are a genius. 5 hours I have been trying to get my Axim x51v to sync via USB (although it syncs via bluetooth just fine) to no avail and then I stumble upon your post. Thank you!

Michael

bigdave240 · 01-07-06, 06:26 AM

Mike, good find but it's a fix that has been posted many times before on Aximsite (including by me

) But certainly worth bringing up again. glad you are now running. welcome to Aximsite!

jp5926 · 01-07-06, 04:35 PM

Just purchased an X51V and installed Activesync 4.0, worked fine. Found out that Act! is not compatible with 4.0 so I downgraded to 3.8. Activesync is not detecting device now. It does show up in Network Adapters. I was not able to follow your instructions.

Laptop has XP SP2. I appreciate your help on this.

Hardwarejunkie · 01-07-06, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp5926

Just purchased an X51V and installed Activesync 4.0, worked fine. Found out that Act! is not compatible with 4.0 so I downgraded to 3.8. Activesync is not detecting device now. It does show up in Network Adapters. I was not able to follow your instructions.

Laptop has XP SP2. I appreciate your help on this.

I'm not sure if ActiveSync v3.8 is compatible with WM5. I'm assuming your X51v came with WM5 as I have not seen them come with WM2003SE. Here's what I found on Microsoft's website:

"Please note that it is recommended that customers use ActiveSync 4.0 only for devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 software."

So, my best guess is that WM5 may only work with v4.0 and above.

EDIT: I did another check for the Sys Requirements for v4.1 and see that it supports WM5 and older. However, Sys Reqs for v3.8 is not stated for the PocketPC OS and only for the host PCs. I believe WM5 was released after v3.8 was released and that might be where your problem is at.

jp5926 · 01-08-06, 08:52 AM

Thanks. Would you recommend downgrading to WM2003? The reason I'm trying to use Activesync 3.8 is because it is compatable with my Act! program with all my contacts.

Hardwarejunkie · 01-08-06, 06:18 PM

I checked Dell's site and it looks like the X51 series is supported by WM2003SE. Also to note is that the X51 series is essentially identical to that of the X50 series, hardware wise. You'll need a ROM from Dell in order to downgrade. Looking at what's available for download from their site does not show any ROM downloads for the X51 series under WM2003.

I also took a look at ACT!'s website and found that ACT! Link is now compatible with ActiveSync v3.5 - v4.1. It still does not support WM5.

In my opinion, it would be a shame to have to downgrade your Axim to support one app. However, the decision lies with you. I'm not sure if this is a critical app that you use. If you can contact ACT! and see what their timeline is to get a version out that does support WM5 you may not have to wait that long.

cneufeld · 01-08-06, 06:50 PM

The X51 series (AFAIK) is NOT compatible with WM2003SE. Or more accurately, Dell has never said they'd offer the ROM to "downgrade" it. They've got their hands full right now trying to get the X50/X51 series working with WM5!

jp5926 · 01-09-06, 08:05 AM

Ok, I guess I will wait. In the meantime I will import my contacts to Outlook and use that. Thanks for your help, you saved me some time!

gleon69 · 01-09-06, 05:56 PM

I am using BT sync...because whatever i do, still I am not able to do it USB...

zhiliang_jin · 04-05-06, 02:06 AM

Thanks for the tips. It also helped me resolve my problems. Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeKV

All,
I thought i'd provide a summary of a problem that i had and a solution that i figured out myself to help many who seem to have the same problem. With today's seemingly declining quality support that we receive from vendors these forums are becoming more and more valuable in finding solutions to problems. I was on the phone with Dell for over 3 hours with no solution. Well, here's the scenerio and SOLUTION:

I purchased and received a new Dell X51v Axim PDA. I followed all procedures for synching the PDA with my laptop with no success. i installed ActiveSync 4.1 first. Connected the USB cradle to my laptop and then connected the PDA to the cradle. ActiveSync would not find the PDA. Interestingly, my laptop knew that I was connecting the PDA because it was showing up as an additional network adapter in "Network Neighborhood" and in device manager. Dell said that it was something with my firewall or antivirus or antispyware software. Not! I read on some website that ActiveSync needed a successful network connection to function properly. It finally dawned on me that after I connected the PDA to my laptop I should check my "properties" of the "mobile device" in the network adapter section in network neighborhood. I found that "client for Microsoft networks", "File and Printer sharing", and "TCP/IP" was disabled or unchecked. I checked all 3 of these and WHAM my PDA started synching.

I hope this helps some that have had the same problem as I. And feel free to let me know if this fixes your problem.
Mike

harimano · 04-13-06, 03:07 AM

Hello MikeKV,
I got this baby yesterday and since today evening, I have been struggling to figure this activeSync issue with USB by trying various combinations (port forwarding, firewall, USB drive update etc). Initially, I noticed that the device showed up as storage , but ignored. Then, I came across your post and and fixed the network settings on the properties.. Boom.. Everything works.!!!!!

Thanks a lot for the insight(whoever said/found this before.. Thanks to everyone...)

Microsoft website does not have this info listed on the USB troubleshooting page.

Hari

Gigi · 04-13-06, 04:04 AM

To clarify:

1. X51s cannot be downgraded to WM2003SE.

2. WM5 devices require ActiveSync4.x.

So if you've got an X51, you're stuck with ActiveSync4.x with no wifi sync and the extra tweaking required to get around networking and firewall problems.

Daiseyland · 04-15-06, 03:11 AM

I put this in another thread also, but thought I would post it here as well in case it could help you.

I FINALLY got my ActiveSync working on my new Dell XPS laptop - it drove me crazy for 3 days. My boss is mad and my kids are mad, but I'm doing a little dance amid piles of work and laundry that have been neglected while I've been battling the ActiveSync demons. (could not connect, could not find my device, all the same problems everyone else has, worked fine on the PC, would not connect with the laptop.)

Here is what I did after reading and rereading thousands of these threads and winging it myself:

1) I turned off my firewall.
2) uninstalled AS
3) hooked up cradle with USB, Axim X51 in cradle
4) installed ActiveSync from my 'Axim getting started CD'
5) went to Device Manager/Action/ scan for hardware changes
6) It found it! then I got a new message, asking for the drivers to be installed - hadn't seen that on any of these posts and threads. so...
7) installed the Axim drivers on the laptop and
BOOM
ActiveSync goes green, connects, gives me the sync options, I pick what I want synced and now I am going to go do laundry and finally take a shower.

I don't know if this will help anyone else, but I never saw all these suggestions in any thread, so maybe this will help someone else.