Why does removing and reinserting the battery help synching?

gfmucci · 10-22-07, 07:09 PM

Does anyone have an answer why momentarily removing and reinserting the battery in my Axim x51V enables it to connect and synch when all other methods fail?

Sorry for this repeated post. I thought asking the question in a different way (with a different heading that I was unable to change) might elicit a helpful response.

mostlylisten · 10-22-07, 07:11 PM

Removing the battery erases the memory settings.

gfmucci · 10-22-07, 11:11 PM

OK...and if the memory settings are erased by removing the battery, it is able to synch again. The question then is what causes it then not to synch after I merely turn it off and then on again while in the cradle, or if I momentarily remove it from its cradle and place it back in. What might that have to do with its memory keeping it from synching? Any thoughts?

Asked another way, what memory settings that reestablish themselves might be keeping it from connecting and synching? How can I keep it from establishing the wrong settings?

10-23-07, 09:06 AM

It is possible that your X51v is still runing ActiveSync and removing the battery stops it running.

I am afraid I do not know the WM5 OS, but with WM 2003 SE you can go to Settings\System\Memory\Running Programs and this will tell you if AS is still running or not.

I have found that if AS is still running the Axim will not sync with AS. I always close all running programs (including AS) using SBSH iLauncher Task Manager before shutting down

Just a thought but worth a try.

gfmucci · 10-23-07, 09:24 PM

davrol:

Thanks for your comment. Trying to make sense of this, shouldn't either turning the unit off, or doing a reboot (by either depressing through the pinhole in the back or depressing the "on" button for several seconds) also accomplish "turning off" the offending running ActiveSynch? Yet when I do those things, it still does not synch, unless I remove and reinsert the battery.

Strange.

mostlylisten · 10-23-07, 10:46 PM

I can't answer why yours isn't syncing correctly. All I can say is that if you check settings/running programs you'll see a list of programs. By taking out the battery you will be doing the same thing as deleting these running programs or doing a soft reset. Hope I'm right on that.

ehudgens · 10-24-07, 10:02 AM

Right on. Most Axims require that you manually stop ActiveSync before it will sync again after being removed from the cradle. Even back to my old x3i.

Julie · 10-24-07, 10:30 AM

Removing the battery does two things: it resets the pocket pc (just like a soft reset) and it resets the pocket pc's hardware.

It sounds to me like there is some kind of conflict going on, although I have no idea what it might be. Have you thought about performing a full reset of the pocket pc and then seeing if that makes any difference?

gfmucci · 10-24-07, 07:09 PM

Yes, I am thinking more and more about the option of a full hard reset. Although I'm leary about the results of that because the last time I got a "replacement" Axim from Dell, a "clean slate", I loaded only 2 new programs on it:

Pocket Weather and
Pocket Player

...instead of the 6 or 8 programs, including a couple layers of contact and calendar programs I had on my first Axim. I thought "thinning out the ranks" of potentially conflicting programs would solve my problem. But my assumption was wrong.

I am most suspect of Pocket Weather, because it uses its own processes fro downloading weather data every time I synch. I wonder if others have had experiences with synching conflicts with either of these programs?

Julie · 10-24-07, 09:32 PM

If you perform a hard reset, and your pocket pc performs well without having installed any third party apps (or restoring from a backup file), then I think one of your third party apps is the culpret causing your issues. I recommend that you run your pocket pc "naked" for a while, just to get a baseline on performance. Then install the first application, run it for a while to see if there are any issues. Assuming you have no issues, install the next application, run it for a while, then install the 3rd application. Proceed in this manner until you start encountering these issues. Then you will have found the application that is causing your problem.

gfmucci · 10-24-07, 09:43 PM

Yes, self-discipline is the key - to a smooth running Axim - as in all things in life.:) Thanks for the reminder.

10-25-07, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by gfmucci

davrol:

Thanks for your comment. Trying to make sense of this, shouldn't either turning the unit off, or doing a reboot (by either depressing through the pinhole in the back or depressing the "on" button for several seconds) also accomplish "turning off" the offending running ActiveSynch? Yet when I do those things, it still does not synch, unless I remove and reinsert the battery.

Strange.

Simply turning off the Axim will not stop ActiveSync running but doing a soft reset (what you call a reboot) will stop it.

I think what Julie says in post #8 above is the answer.

gfmucci · 10-25-07, 12:59 PM

Based on my recent experience, removing and reinserting the battery does MORE than a soft reset. I have performed the soft reset numerous times without any syncing success. Each and every time I remove and reinsert the battery, the Axim syncs properly.

I did the hard reset last night. It now syncs again as it should. I will exercise restraint and not install another program until this weekend. I will probably start with Pocket Player, and by the end of the week, if all is well, install Pocket Weather.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.

kcallahan · 10-25-07, 01:24 PM

If you turn power of while its in the cradle or remove it with the power on and reinsert it, an Axim will not resync. This is normal. If you turn it off, remove it from the cradle, reinsert it and it doesn't sync, that's not normal. Long story short, it has to do with the chip inside the cradle.

gfmucci · 10-26-07, 09:25 PM

Is the chip inside the cradle more trouble than it's worth?