2003 Sound Notifications

lmtuxinc · 08-11-03, 09:26 AM

Is anybody else having problems with their sound notifications?

My axim doesn't play the startup sound after a soft reset, or the connection sound when activesync connects (unless i am doing it wirelessly and push the sync button in ppc activesync)

Thanks,
Alan

jurgen.piek · 08-20-03, 10:08 AM

My alarm / sound notification doesn't work....

Ohayden · 08-22-03, 11:18 AM

My app had the same issue and now it's fixed. It's not a free app, but it's free to try out. The issue was caused my WM2003 so there are a lot of alarm apps that are broken. We figured a way around the issue. Unfortunately our work around won't fix the built in alarm, but it does fix our app. Our app also can use MP3s/WMAs to sound off. If you guys are interested: http://www.ATechware.com/

Qwab · 08-27-03, 09:04 AM

Same problem here. I create an appointment and set it to alert me 15 minutes before the start of the appointment but get nothing. No reminder popup or sound. All Dell says is to do a soft reset and if that does not work then do a hard reset and rebuild it. Well, I've done that three times now and for awhile the sound/notification will work then suddenly one day it will stop!

I think Dell has a serious problem here that needs to be addressed! What good is a PDA that does not alert you to upcomming appointments?

Here are some links with more detailed info on the problem.
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showt...=notifications

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...cending&page=1

This is getting very frustrating. I promise you my next PDA will not be a Dell.

Ohayden · 08-27-03, 09:30 AM

Qwab,

I'm sorry to say, it's not DELL that's the culprit. If you want to point fingers, point at Microsoft. I know for a fact, that it's them causing the issue and not DELL. I have had many customers with different PPCs report this issue.

Here is something that might help you all:

http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc...ar2003fix.html

Each time a WM2003 PPC resets it adds a 3 records into the notify queue, which are NOT needed. This is the culprit for some of WM2003 slow downs and it also causes issues with the alarms not firing. Please download their utility and give it a try. It's free. There are two different utils, a do it your self and an automatic one. Use the do it your self one so you can see what is going on and if it solves your issue then go back and download the automatic one.

Let me know if this solves your issue. I have a few other tricks you can try. I want to know what solves your issue as there are several issues that are similar going around and I'm trying to track them.

Thanks

Qwab · 08-27-03, 11:21 AM

Thanks Ohayden, that's great information! Unfortunately I just finished a hard reset and rebuild on my Axim. Fourth time in two months now! Also, I'm running PPC2002 not 2003. I'm sure the problem will happen again so I will try this the next time it happens. As for this being a Microsoft problem, why couldn't someone at Dell acknowledge that and post this info on their web site rather than giving it's customers the run around?

Thanks again!

Ohayden · 08-27-03, 11:39 AM

Qwab,

Hmmmm PPC2002... shouldn't have the notify queue issue, so it may be something else. Strange enough that a hard reset fixes it though (the same pattern as the WM2003 issue). I'll do some more research on this and let you know what I find out.

As for DELL, not confirming the issue... I agree whole heartly with you. I don't understand why companies are not more proactive in finding these issues. Even if it's not them, they should at least point out the issue so it can be fixed and the end customers know what's going on. That's why I'm not waiting for my customer to tell me about issues; I'm going after the issues first so I can figure out workarounds. Hopefully this concept catches on :P.

Qwab · 08-29-03, 03:25 PM

Well Ohayden that rebuild lasted all of 2 days and now the notification has stopped this afternoon. I downloaded the Notification Checker tool you suggested and even though I'm running PPC2002 it did remove the conmgr.exe file. Unfortunately that did not fix the problem. I created a dummy appointment with a reminder for 15 minutes before the start time and as usual no notification popup or sound. This is getting very frustrating!

Got any more tricks up you sleeves?

Ohayden · 08-29-03, 03:43 PM

Qwab,

This is interesting. I haven't had this issue on PPC2002 at all. We initially had an issue with WM2003 but that was fixed.

I had my testers test on PPC2002 and none of them can re-create the issue. Even on my Axim with PPC2002, I haven't had one issue and I use it every day. The easiest was for me to solve this issue is for you to make a backup of your PPC and then send it to me. You can email it to me at OHayden@ATechware.com or if your email doesn't allow large attachements then let me know and I'll give your instructions on FTPing it to us.

If I can see the issue happening it will allow me to solve it very quickly, otherwise I'm shooting in the dark here.

If you can get the backup to me today, I'll work on it over the weekend.

Ohayden · 08-29-03, 04:12 PM

You had me worried their Qwab, I thought you were using ATAlarm and was having an issue

. I just re-read above and remembered your just using the notification alarms within PPC2002, right?

Even so, if you don't mind... please send me your backup file and I'll work on it. I would love to re-create the issue on PPC2002. I'm sure it has something to do with the DBs on the PPC. When I find the fix, I'll make sure you get a copy of it.

Thanks for helping me track down this issue. So far none of my PPC2002 customers have this issue... but I want to make sure I find it and fix it before I get anyone with this issue :P.

Qwab · 09-04-03, 01:30 PM

I think I may have found the culprit causing this nagging problem. I found that I had several duplicate recurring appointments in my calendar. These were birthdays for friends and relatives. Once I removed the duplicates the notification popup and sound started to work again! I'm not sure why I had duplicated appointments, maybe since I sync between my work PC (W2K) and home PC (XP Home Edition) something went haywire in the sync process. I will keep an eye on it and see if it happens again.

Qwab · 09-22-03, 10:08 AM

Well folks, I absolutely give up! I thought I had figured out the problem here but it has reared its ugly head yet again. This time there are no duplicate reminders to remove. I have no idea what the cause or the solution to this problem is. I have no idea if it’s a Microsoft or Dell problem. Microsoft refers me to Dell and all Dell says to do is hard reset and reload. Well, I’m sick and tired of doing this over and over! All I know is that my Dell Axim X5 is useless as a PDA and is going in the junk pile. I’m off to look for a new and different PDA. Any suggestions on what my new one should be?

Ohayden · 09-22-03, 10:40 AM

I have a program that may help you. We are going to release it free. Send me an email. I've been extremely busy and haven't had the time to release it, but I'll send it to you for testing. It's already been tested by a dozen beta testers but one more won't hurt. So far it's help in many of the cases, though one tester is still having problems with internal alarms / notifications. Although it's work 100% with ATAlarm. There seems to be an issue with the internal alarms that may be related to microsofts code. Unfortunately we can do anything about it, though some of the testers claimed the program worked for thier internal alarms. So for internal alarms if a 50/50 chance but ATAlarm seems to be a 100%.

SteveFe · 09-22-03, 11:50 AM

Ohayden,
I have a question for you about your ATAlarm. Do all the alarm sounds work only with ATAlarm or will they work with calender events as well? The little bingbong default sound is inadequate for my needs and I have not found a way to change it.

Ohayden · 09-22-03, 04:14 PM

SteveFe,

I'm not certian I quite understand your question fully. I'll try to answer the best I can. ATAlarm allows the user to choose any WAV, MP3, WMA, OGG, and other music files. It's a "replacement" for the built in alarms. The next version will even let the user to add notes to popup. Currently it an alarm and doesn't popup text reminders, but the notes in the next version will allow this. For more information see our website at: http://www.ATechWare.com. Under the products is a description of ATAlarm and screen shots.

Regards,

Hayden.