Sync cable fried the Axim's port? .....help

erickn8318u · 10-05-03, 11:25 AM

First of all, I've already read the threads regarding Activesync not working, etc. and come to the conclusion that my problem is different.

My Axim had been working fine. Then I plugged in a 3rd-party sync cable/charger into my USB port and plugged the other end into my Axim, and WHOA, I was startled. The battery indicator on my Axim immediately began going DOWN quickly, all the way down to 0% power. So I decided the cable was defective, and went and charged up my Dell Axim using my cradle as usual. BUT, now my Axim no longer syncs with my computer ANYMORE. My computer does not even recognize that the Axim is plugged into the cradle AT ALL. I tried it on multiple computers with Microsoft ActiveSync installed. IT WON'T recognize the device at all. Ever since the moment I plugged the cable into my Axim's port, that socket is not recognized -- The machines don't communicate at all.

(Unfortunately I can't sync now using any method, because I don't have infrared or bluetooth or any network on my computers.)

To clarify, I've been syncing with my non-Dell laptop, and I tried on our non-Dell desktop. The USB ports on both computers work fine for our other devices.

I have no firewall, and I can't even connect as "guest" on Activesync. I did a hard reset on my Axim, and re-installed Activesync 3 times.

When I click "Get connected" on Activesync, it brings up a dialog saying that it is searching the COM ports and USB to find the device. But it won't find the device. The Axim isn't communicating through that socket on the bottom of the device, which must have fried after plugging in that new cable.

I heard that Dell has a warranty service where they can send you a new Axim the next day, and you can send your broken one back or something. How do I do that? I couldn't find any info on how to do that. I have 68 days left in my warranty.

Thanks for your help

:rolling:

blatty · 10-06-03, 12:54 PM

you have to call their tech support number you can find on their site. But if you did fry the port using a non-dell sync cable I'm not sure they will cover that under warranty.

erickn8318u · 10-10-03, 01:24 AM

Thanks, I called the Dell tech support. I just told them that it was no longer syncing at all, and they didn't even ask if I had done anything unusual that might have caused it!

They just walked me through some testing steps to determine whether it was a software or hardware problem. Apparantly it was obvious to them that it wasn't a software problem, so they sent me a new CRADLE. After I tried the new cradle, I called them back since it STILL wasn't syncing. They had me do some more testing, and then told me that they would send me a replacement AXIM!! So, now I'm waiting to see how my new (probably refurbished) Axim will be.

:)

suemccartin · 10-24-03, 01:28 PM

Send that cable back and tell the crooks that sold it to you that you're going to tell the whole universe that they sell junk that fries people's computers unless they give your money back and this time you want them to test it before they send you a new one if they won't give your $$ back. It almost sounds like somebody got the + and - pins reversed in the connector, which is why it sucked the charge down. It probably did fry something, but why it wouldn't kill the whole machine is a mystery to me unless it melted something inside before it got any farther.

erickn8318u · 10-24-03, 05:29 PM

Yeah, I sent the cable back some time ago, but I haven't heard from the sellers at all.. I had purchased the cable from a major Ebay seller/company with thousands of feedback...but the company doesn't do any refunds at all...only exchanges or store-credit.... and I don't want to risk any items with them again.

On a more positive note, the replacement Axim that I received from Dell has PPC 2003 on it!! That was a nice surprise, seeing that my fried one was PPC 2002. However, they didn't send me the CD that is supposed to come with PPC 2003... the software/Companion CD that has Outlook 2002 on it...

(so I'm using Outlook 2000 from my old Axim's CD.)

All seems to work fine, however.

Jimmy · 10-24-03, 05:47 PM

Tell us the name of the cable so no one else uses it! I'm not in the market for one, but would like to know the brand to stay away from.

PeterHoogsteen · 10-24-03, 05:56 PM

Did you try a hard reset?
I had also a problem that async didn't see my axim.
Also on my other computer.
So i tried a hard reset wich solves my problem. :)

But i hate to install everything again and seting up partnerships all the time.

I hope this is usefull.
Succes!

erickn8318u · 10-24-03, 06:42 PM

Jimmy :

I already sent back the cable (I also sent back the car-adapter that came with it), so I can't remember what name was printed on it. It certainly wasn't Dell or Belkin. It was probably some off-brand or no-name thing, but it did say that it was for the Dell Axim X5. I bought a Battery-extender from the same Ebay seller, ("eforcity", also see www.eforcity.com), and it seems to work great, unlike the charging/sync cable.

PeterHoogsteen:

Yeah, I tried the hard reset and nothing seemed to help the issue (as stated in my original post) which is why Dell decided to send me a new Axim...

takbal · 10-28-03, 12:03 PM

I've run into a similar cable which I bought here at Hungary at www.speedshop.hu. There is a picture about this cable at http://www.mobiltelefonok.hu/kepek/3786.jpg. The seller denotes Asus as the manufacturer and costs cc. 11-12$ in my local currency. It worked fine for sync for several days when I noticed that the charging LED flashes like a disco light on my Axim. I checked the battery indicator after plugging in the cable again and I found suprisingly that the charging indicator started to go downwards instead of doing any charging. When I pull out the cable, the charging meter increases immediately some percent then stops.

Of course, I do not use it any more. Fortunately, it did not seem to do any harm to the Axim. Syncing works correctly but I'm a little bit concerned about the battery life being shortened. I'm searching for a reliable and cheap replacement, but I cannot find one sync cable which is easily accessible until now. Maybe somebody could recommend a brand...

TheBuzz · 10-30-03, 05:52 PM

Here's my problem, seemingly related to this thread. I didn't use my X5 for a couple of months, and both batteries when to 0. Lost all data in the X5. The main battery came back fine, but the backup stayed at 0. My desktop won't reconize my X5 (in its cradle). I've tried all my USB ports, same results. Downloaded latest version of ActiveSync, no joy. Deleted Active Sync and reinstalled from disc. No luck. Replaced the backup battery, which shows 100%.

Any suggestions, other than a hard reset?.

JakeRich · 10-30-03, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TheBuzz
Here's my problem, seemingly related to this thread. I didn't use my X5 for a couple of months, and both batteries when to 0. Lost all data in the X5. The main battery came back fine, but the backup stayed at 0. My desktop won't reconize my X5 (in its cradle). I've tried all my USB ports, same results. Downloaded latest version of ActiveSync, no joy. Deleted Active Sync and reinstalled from disc. No luck. Replaced the backup battery, which shows 100%.

Any suggestions, other than a hard reset?.

Backup batteries don't recharge, so that was normal that you had to replace it.

Look on the installation CDROM for a file ending in .inf. I think it is something like wcesusb.inf, or some such. That is the installation file for the Dell USB drivers that you must have to connect. Go to the Add Hardware function and point to that file. Have the Axim in the cradle, connected and turned on and it should install and connect. Otherwise, you may have a hardware problem that co-incidentally cropped up.

janethughes · 01-06-04, 10:23 AM

I too believe I have fired my USB port on my Axim (see post - Have I fired my axim?) However, I had used the travel cable (bought from Ebay seller Eforcetrading -- related to Eforcecity??) in the past with no problems, so why would it fry it now?

My Axim is not under warranty so I cannot call Dell (I got it from someone else who bought it and did not like it). What are my options?

JakeRich · 01-06-04, 11:59 AM

Why do you think you fried the port? What symptoms? What have you tried?

janethughes · 01-06-04, 02:34 PM

In my post I explained the following:

Over the holidays I tried to sync my Axim with a third computer by first deleting the partnership with my home computer. I installed ActiveSync 3.7.1 on the computer, hooked up my travel cable and although it would charge through the cable, the desktop would not recognize my Axim.

So when I got home I tried re-establishing my partnership with my home computer and no luck. I thought, well, perhaps I screwed up the partnership when I deleted it and tried to re-establish. I did not think much about this until I got back to work yesterday. This is where my main partnership resides.

I turned on my computer, plugged in my cradle, put my Axim in, and .... nothing. It will not recognize my Axim.

I tried a soft re-boot of my Axim, I tried a hard re-boot. I tried re-installing ActiveSync on my office computer. I tried every thing I could think of. The device manager says all 4 USB ports on my desktop are functioning properly. The cradle is working fine since someone else tried their Axim in it and it recognized it immediately. I tried installing an older version of ActiveSync (3.5 that came on the CD). I have turned off my desktop numerous times, tried checking and unchecking options in connection settings, start-up menus, etc. to see if these made any difference.

Nothing....the desktop (and my home desktop) will not recognize my Axim.

Did I somehow fry the Axim? It works fine on its own (except the stupid cover on the backup battery needs to be held on with cellophane tape). It just cannot be recognized as a USB device.

So the symptoms are as follows:

1) cradle works fine but cannot get my desktop (or my home computer) to recognize that my Ax is inserted properly in it. The cradle worked with my colleague's Ax, so it is fine. The Ax will charge through the cradle, but will not be recognized by the computer.

2) ActiveSync was uninstalled, re-installed, downgraded to 3.5, upgraded to 3.7.1 and still no go.

3) Ax has been soft re-booted and hard reset with no luck.

4) Desktop is working fine, even after numerous re-boots, changing software configurations, changeing start-up configurations, trying to make it recognize the Dell drivers manually by pointing the "add new hardware" to the .inf file. All USB ports are shown as functioning bu the device manager, and again, a colleague's Ax seemed to sync up properly.

5) All programs on the Ax seem to work fine except for synching. Calendar is there, but without most data since I did a hard reset. I input a few contacts and that seems fine also.

So I think somehow I fried my USB port. Not sure how, and not sure why, but I cannot think of any other reason for this.

01-07-04, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by takbal
I've run into a similar cable which I bought here at Hungary at www.speedshop.hu. There is a picture about this cable at http://www.mobiltelefonok.hu/kepek/3786.jpg. The seller denotes Asus as the manufacturer and costs cc. 11-12$ in my local currency. It worked fine for sync for several days when I noticed that the charging LED flashes like a disco light on my Axim. I checked the battery indicator after plugging in the cable again and I found suprisingly that the charging indicator started to go downwards instead of doing any charging. When I pull out the cable, the charging meter increases immediately some percent then stops.

Of course, I do not use it any more. Fortunately, it did not seem to do any harm to the Axim. Syncing works correctly but I'm a little bit concerned about the battery life being shortened. I'm searching for a reliable and cheap replacement, but I cannot find one sync cable which is easily accessible until now. Maybe somebody could recommend a brand...

I bought exactly the same cable in that shop in Budapest. I have no problems with the cable yet, the battery indicator is stable, no discharging.

I think the flashing red light indicates that the device detects the cable as a charger and puts itself to external power mode, but the usb port cannot supply enough power to charge the axim. So I set up my external power settings same as my battery power settings to prevent draining my battery, and it works perfectly.