Cradle Killing USB ports?

Aximmixa · 11-23-04, 01:38 PM

Greetings all,

I've been lurking around for several months, read up on the Axim. Well my X50 (mid) showed up last Thursday. My first PDA.

Now on to my problem :D

Everything was working great until last night. I came home plugged in my cradle/charger (I only have one so I'm carting them back and forth to work). I dock the PDA and an appointment pops up that I'd forgotten (very cool!), I grab the PDA and head out. When I get home I plug the PDA back into the cradle and notice my PC is hung. No ctrl-alt-del, no key-repeat beeps, so I power it down. When I restart the PC it is very sick: the HD light comes on but not the power light

I power down and unplug the PC for 2-3 minutes and power it back up. TA-DA! All is well!

Now today, I'm at work, I'd docked/undocked my PDA 4-5 times when I dock it the last time my work PC hangs. I won't bore you with all the details but this PC reboots fine with just a power down/power up...but...the USB ports on the front of the box are now dead. (I haven't had the guts to test the back ports)

I've tried other cradles on other machines (two people here have X50v's). My cradle on another machines (it worked but took a looong while to see it). I have an Archos MP3 player and my PC doesn't see it either. Re-install the drivers. Basically everything but kick the machine.

I talked to Dell support (chat) and they are sending me info on "cleaning my startup"

I've done searches and I've not seen this problem, sorry if it's already been covered.

Any ideas? I was just hoping for a new cradle and I'll let the IT people here call Dell about the PC's USB ports (it's a Dell PC less than a year old).

Thanks!

-A

Aximmixa · 11-23-04, 03:14 PM

Update: all the USB ports on the machine are dead...never got the email, chatted with the same tech person again. I'm now on the phone, on hold, waiting for a tech to send me a new cradle.

11-23-04, 05:38 PM

Humm. I plugged in mine once and my speakers barked and my whole PC restarted. I figured it was a fluke, but maybe not. Hasn't done it since, about 2 weeks.

autoprime · 11-24-04, 03:33 AM

nothing wrong here...

12-06-04, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by Aximmixa

Greetings all,

I've been lurking around for several months, read up on the Axim. Well my X50 (mid) showed up last Thursday. My first PDA.

Now on to my problem :D

Everything was working great until last night. I came home plugged in my cradle/charger (I only have one so I'm carting them back and forth to work). I dock the PDA and an appointment pops up that I'd forgotten (very cool!), I grab the PDA and head out. When I get home I plug the PDA back into the cradle and notice my PC is hung. No ctrl-alt-del, no key-repeat beeps, so I power it down. When I restart the PC it is very sick: the HD light comes on but not the power light

I power down and unplug the PC for 2-3 minutes and power it back up. TA-DA! All is well!

Now today, I'm at work, I'd docked/undocked my PDA 4-5 times when I dock it the last time my work PC hangs. I won't bore you with all the details but this PC reboots fine with just a power down/power up...but...the USB ports on the front of the box are now dead. (I haven't had the guts to test the back ports)

I've tried other cradles on other machines (two people here have X50v's). My cradle on another machines (it worked but took a looong while to see it). I have an Archos MP3 player and my PC doesn't see it either. Re-install the drivers. Basically everything but kick the machine.

I talked to Dell support (chat) and they are sending me info on "cleaning my startup"

I've done searches and I've not seen this problem, sorry if it's already been covered.

Any ideas? I was just hoping for a new cradle and I'll let the IT people here call Dell about the PC's USB ports (it's a Dell PC less than a year old).

Thanks!

-A

Well - glad I am now part of a growing club of people who have had their usb ports fried by these cradles. I am going to make a stink about this.

DavidLennartz · 12-06-04, 04:21 PM

I haven't had this problem, and hope not to, but it sounds like it would be rather rare and somewhat difficult to account for in the first place....Please post whatever you find out about this problem TiA:scratch_h

12-06-04, 05:26 PM

i AM NOt hooking the cradle to my pc when i get it... wifi active sync for me!!!

KLappDOgg · 12-06-04, 05:45 PM

first sync needs to be via cable or IR FYI.

12-06-04, 06:00 PM

thanks...

REVISION
IR sync first, then WIFI active sync for me!!!

aximbigfan · 12-06-04, 06:06 PM

that is very strange,,,,,my ppc starts up when i plug it in but i never thought it would be other way round....my speakers make a sound when i plug my ppc in to the front usb port. is it possible that u short curceted the usb? a the usb ports to my knolege are linked. i would not try to connect till u get a new one

good luck
aximbigfan

12-06-04, 06:41 PM

i think i read somewhere on aximsite that if you have your usb cable next to your speaker cable it can cause noise or something in the speaker wires that cause the speakers to make sounds

12-06-04, 06:50 PM

Everything should be shielded well enough where that isn't an issue. I have, however, heard about the idea of not having the axim turned on when put in the cradle. I won't be using the cradle again for synching until the new one comes and probably only using the cable from now on. This has been a costly lesson.

12-06-04, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by Shrink

Everything should be shielded well enough where that isn't an issue. I have, however, heard about the idea of not having the axim turned on when put in the cradle. I won't be using the cradle again for synching until the new one comes and probably only using the cable from now on. This has been a costly lesson.

Shrink,

Was your X50 affected in any way? I sure hope not!

12-06-04, 08:21 PM

Thanks for the concern, socpsy :-) The Axim doesn't appear to be affected but I sure look at it differently now. Dell has agreed to replace the Axim and cradle but I will not feel comfortable using their cradle again without some type of surge suppressor. Now I need to get them to own up to the two wrecked motherboards. This is going to take awhile, I think.

Aximmixa · 12-06-04, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Shrink

Everything should be shielded well enough where that isn't an issue. I have, however, heard about the idea of not having the axim turned on when put in the cradle. I won't be using the cradle again for synching until the new one comes and probably only using the cable from now on. This has been a costly lesson.

Tried this, I actually forgot to turn it on, it still hung my computer.

I'm "lucky" both effected PCs are Dells so they couldn't tell me it was the PC's fault

My work PC is still fried but IT is working on that and it's still under warranty.

I now threaten people at work that I'll plug my Axim in their PC if they don't treat me right. I'm the "Axim bully" at work :)

-A