jdamberger1

The cradle that came with my axim x50 works every time with no problems on my dell home pc. I ordered one for work to put on a HP pc and blew two mother boards . I believe the problem may be with the type of mther board not being compatible with the cradle.


To determine whether or not a bad batch of cradles was released which has now been rectified, or whether the problem is onging, I am creating this poll.

The poll is simple: in what month did you receive your Axim X50; and did plugging your Axim into it either cause your computer to reboot spontaneously more than once or actually result in your usb port no longer being functional?

Please make sure that you are answering this question based on experience with the cradle alone. The synch cable has not yet appeared to be associated with this problem (and is therefore the safest solution if you are unsure about your cradle)

I would really appreciate it if everyone responded to this. Thanks! I'd also appreciate it if this post could get a temporary sticky. Thanks again![/QUOTE]

djhaynie

I recieved my Axim in Jul05 and have been running it all fall thru a powered hub and have had no problems. Today while at home on break plugged the cradle directly into my laptop and my computer immediately crashed. Initially my computer would not power up, but after allowing it to sit for a few hours the lights will come in and the fans and hardrive starts spinning but it wont boot. I am afraid after reading this thread that my MOB is blown. Luckily computer is still under HP warranty and I can get it repaired. I havent contacted dell yet, but I am not optimistic

puntloos

Hmm just noticed this.

I had the same thing without the cradle! Just using an USB (vga) cable killed my USB port. Wheeeee. Happy.. happy..

by the way, it happened halfway during a sync, not immediately on connect.

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puntloos

Let me elaborate a bit, given Im an electrical engineer and all. :P

All USB drivers should be protected against overcurrent but that protection will only last for a short while. Keeping a bad situation going is.. bad. I also think that the 'blast' you can give an USB power circuit by having a static discharge run from the axim to the PC should not cause problems. Sure, if you're unlucky anything can happen, but in general: no.

My main diagnosis so far is this: the connector design on the axim might be flawed in such a way that it is possible to have a signal lead connected to a power lead. The way to prevent this is to Make sure the axim is snug in the cradle you don't have to ram it in, but don't 'throw it in' and not look back. The same applies for cables, but they usually snap in place in such a way that you can't go wrong. (which explains why it happens less often with a cable..)

This theory is compounded by people claiming that the PC died 'halfway during a sync' not immediately after connecting. If it was a static blast it would've died immediately. Also, a static blast should not go into the USB signal pins, but into the power pins that would go directly to the computer's powersupply (and usually not through any sensitive USB circuitry). If it was a static blast it would kill your powersupply not your computer (although a killed powersupply could damage other components I suppose)

__________________
Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

JJ47

Purchased my x50v in Nov 04 and have never had this problem. :)

Chillywinter

My X51 has done this ever since I bought it in Nov 06.

1. It happens on average once a week
2. when it happens, it usually takes 1 second before the PC resets, but sometimes 5 to 10 seconds, (but when it does happen it's always within a millisecond of the active-sync sound occurring)
3. It happens whether I plug the x51 straight into the cradle or if I plug the cradled x51 straight into the usb port

Because step 2 suggests it can be a delayed reaction, I don't think it's an electrical short causing problems. Rather I think it's some kind of memory corruption caused when the x51 is first trying to communicate with the PC.

My PC is an ASUS A7V400-MX-SE. But I think it boils down to either a windows XP problem (due to its delayed reaction nature) or an electrical surge / spike, affecting memory and causing the reset.

:exc: So far my USB port has survived the punishment, so I am ruling out the electrical short theory for now. :exc:

grahill

Hi,
my experience is little different, I have an X50V and an X51V and several batteries I have found with both computers that I have far fewer reset (even some hard) problems if I do not use the cradle to charge the ppc but instead remove the battery (swap) first and charge it separately using the cradle ,the problems seem to arise when I remove the ppc from the cradle even if it is off, the next time I use it it needs to be reset
Graham

giffer2

Maybe connected maybe not - Last weekend I plugged my X50v back in after using it, had to reboot the computer cause things stopped working only to find my MoBo is fried.

I bought my X50v May 05.

shiftymcfargus

My problem was not the Usb syncing but the connectors of the base of the cradle - I could not sync unless i put pressure on the cradle. It wasnt until it totally failed on me that I decided to open the cradle up. I found that the structure of the cradle is fragile and the structural support for the connectors is very poor (because the axim is on an angle there is some downforce acting to pull away the connectors from the main circuit board, and the only thing holding the connectors to the circuit board of the cradle are some small welded metal teeth, 4 in total, very short). Therefore the only way to sync using this cradle was to put some force between the circuit board and the connector so that the circuits for syncing are complete. Has anyone else had this problem and should I switch to using the USB charge/sync cable sold by Dell?

Oh, and a minor thing: are there any ways to restore the axim's skin (nothing on the screen) to like new conditions? (i.e. remove blemishes, scratches on the silver, etc)

bugsysiegel

I got my x50v in October 2005 and purchased an additional cradle in March 2006. I have not experienced any of these issues.

Andy
Dover, DE

Menneisyys

I’m cross-posting this here too as a summary – comments, flames are welcome :)

In the microsoft.public.pocketpc newsgroup, I’ve promised to look into the problem of the Dell Axim X50(v)/ X51(v) cradles frying up motherboards you can read more of here (a highly recommended thread – you may want to read at least the first post in there. Note that there are a lot of posts in there that are uncertain; therefore, it’s better to read my article first. In here, I tried to clean up and summarize everything worth knowing.). Note that there are two other, but older and less specific threads discussing the same question here and here. Note that there is another sticky AximSite thread here on a similar matter. It, however, only discusses third-party sync/charge cables and NOT the standard cradle coming with the PDA. Therefore, I only recommend the last thread if you’d like to purchase a third-party cable. If you don't, you won't need to read it.

First, all the (to my knowledge - if you have a newer cradle revision, let me know) three cradle revisions (the initial A00, A01, which started to ship around December 2004 and A02, which started to ship in July/August 2005) seem to have this problem – again, even the last (and, to my knowledge, still current) A02. (As far as the latest, A02 revision is concerned, see d00567’s posts on 09-25-05 and 09-26-05 here).

Dell states it’s a manufacturing defect. It’s pretty sad to see their quality control does not check for this problem.

Note that the cradle cable only recharges the PDA (if no AC adapter is plugged in) while the PDA is off (this itself means the USB host will not need to power the PDA itself, only the battery), I don’t think it’s a “PDA overloading the desktop with larger than 500 mA” (the maximal USB charge Amperage USB ports should be obligatorily certified) case; not when the PDA is plugged in (as opposed to, say, the Pocket Loox 720, the iPAQ hx4700 or any HTC PPC Phone Edition device that has a mini USB sync port). You, however, may encounter problems because of this, particularly if you try to charge a severely depleted battery off USB (with depleted batteries, the charging current may be well over even 1 Ampers (see for example these figures), which is way more than a USB host may be able to provide). Then, the USB port in the desktop computer may indeed be overloaded. The “burn out” cases, however, show the problem is lying somewhere else.

If you still don’t want to put any strain on your desktop computer, USB recharging-wise, make sure you only connect your PDA to it when it’s not switched off (if you don’t have an AC adapter around – if you do have, always use it instead in the way I’ve explained at the end of the article) so that USB charging doesn’t “kick in”.

My tests

I’ve tried really hard to lock up my computer (which the cradle is directly attached to; the USB2 ports are on the motherboard) by removing and replacing the PDA in the AC- and USB-connected cradle (A02 cradle revision – it’s an x51v, which were, as it seems, all delivered with A02 cradles) like mad. I’ve done the same with a cradle not AC-connected to see whether anything happens. Nothing happened.

I’ve encountered some kind of static (and a resulting voltage difference between the PDA’s USB cable and that of the computer) on the cable before the first connection (after switching on the desktop PC), but it’s a problem with the USB port itself, not the PDA and, therefore, affects all Pocket PC’s, not just the Dells. After the static has been shorted out (it has never caused me any problems so you shouldn’t be afraid of it either), I’ve done some serious measurements to see whether there is any voltage leakage or potential difference between the chassis and the PDA’s ground. I couldn’t find any.

That is, my particular setup worked OK (both in my tests and in the last 8-9 months). This, however, may mean I’m plain lucky not to have a defective unit.

Still, how can you be ABSOLUTELY sure you won’t ever damage your desktop PC?

If you are afraid of frying your motherboard (or the USB circuitry), always do the same, in this order:

1. plug in the AC charger in the cradle
2. put the Axim onto the cradle
3. connect & disconnect USB cradle to/from PC as desired.

This all means you should only put the Axim on / take it off the cradle only when the cradle has AC power but is not connected to the desktop PC via USB. That is, do not connect the Axim to the PC unless the Axim is in its cradle, receiving AC power.

You may also want to consider using self-powered USB hubs. Public opinion certainly differs on them; they may prove useful with your particular setup.

Alternatively, if Bluetooth’s nearly-an-order-of-magnitude less speed isn’t a problem, do all your ActiveSync synchronization via Bluetooth (or, with WM2003SE x50(v)’s, Wi-Fi) and never connect the cradle to the desktop computer. Then, you will be absolutely safe.

__________________
MS MVP- Mobile Devices.

Menneisyys

Two additional thoughts: whether it's "just" the recharge current that is causing the problem and how external/additional USB cards / surge protectors may help.

- one of the AximSite posters stated his ThinkPad completely shut down once upon cradling the Axim. The IBM ThinkPad completely shutting down (needing the removal of the battery for some seconds in order to get it back into life) clearly shows there was a short circuit - not just a plain "too much energy is needed" situation. I too own a IBM ThinkPad and had exactly the same situation with a badly constructed external HDD enclosure one day (the power cable of the enclosure is engineered in a very bad way, very easily causing short circuit). It's only at direct short circuits (and NOT "only" excess Amperage needs) that the ThinkPad shuts down in a way that requires the battery to be (temporarily) removed.

- if you are afraid of burning / frying your motherboard but wouldn't want to switch to the slow Bluetooth / don't want to take risk, a very cheap alternative is just getting a USB2 PCI card if it’s a desktop computer. If, on the other hand, you have a notebook, you may want to invest into USB-capable power surge / short-circuit protectors OR externally (self)-powered USB hosts instead; these, BTW, should also work with the desktop too (just remember NOT to do any ROM upgrading through them!). Another alternative is using PCMCIA USB(2) cards with your notebook. I’m not sure whether the latter will protect the notebook’s motherboard (a very expensive item – much more expensive than desktop motherboards) though. Then, if the cradle does cause a short-circuit, it’s only the USB card that dies (and the surge protector, naturally, defends your PC), not the in cases order(s) of magnitude more expensive motherboard.

You can safely use additional PCI (or, for that matter, PCMCIA) USB(2) cards in a desktop (notebook) computer; they won’t interfere in the built-in USB(2) ports. Actually, I’ve actively been using one of these cheap cards in my desktop computer and never had any problem with it, except for a blue screen of death once, upon trying to update my HTC Wizard, connected to the PCI USB2 card, to the latest 2.26 ROM version. I haven’t had such cases with the built-in USB2 ports (have done dozens of ROM flashes on it, particularly when flashing different ROM versions to my Wizard in rapid succession to find out their differences, boot-in and EDGE speed). That is, try avoid doing any critical – for example, ROM update – using a PCI add-on card; then, just (temporarily) switch to using the built-in ports and just make sure you cradle your Axim and put in the wall charger before connecting the cradle to the desktop computer.

__________________
MS MVP- Mobile Devices.

PWMULLINS

I'm on my 3rd Axim x50 and having problems syncing and charging. Hoping it is the cradle that has died. When charging, LED changes from gold to green to gold, back and forth, and charge doesn't hold. The Activsync doesn't work at all. Have ordered a sync cable and waiting to see if that helps.

This is my second rebuilt Axim that Dell sent; charging me $180.00 for the priviledge of owning one. It only had a 6 month warranty and I've had it for about a year. Lucky me.

I've had the cradle for about 4 years, so it might have crashed. Any one else had these type of problems?

NicolasS

I bought X51v 3 weeks ago. It was natively with A06 ROM. Cradle revision is A00 (the sign on the bottom: "AXIM X51/X51v ..... REV A00", I think it means that X51-cradles also have different revisions). Cradle is mostly not powered, the machine was synchronised several dozens of times with no problems. I'm using self-powered USB hub with mouse, Bluetooth, X51v cradle and sometimes flash drive, digital camera etc. in it.

sfglass

Last week the wifes x50 (Its a couple of years old now) quit being recognized by the desktop. I determined that the USB port the cradle connected to had died. It was connected directly to one of four on the motherboard. We switched ports and all was ok except we needed more USB ports than were then available so a couple of days later installed a 4port pci card and migrated the x50's cradle to the new pci cards #1 port. This morning the X50 could not connect with the desktop and it appears that the the new usb card has lost its #1 port.
Bud in Austin