Orbitz

Add me to the list.Got my X50v last week...have a USB PCI card installed (for some reason high speed hub would not be regognized at all on any of the 8 USP ports I have built in). Yesterday, I noticed that the ASync circle was grey...disconnected the hub and plubbed the Ax into the same port the hub was on...nothing. Moved the Axim to another unused port on the card and instantly recognized. Unplugged Axim, put hub back on the same port just working and hub was recognized immediately. Plugged Ax back into the hub...Async backup and running. Tried 3 other USB devices on the port in the card that seemed to "die" and nothing worked...1 port out of 4 on new PCI card dead in 6 days. At this rate I would need to replace the card ($40) every 3 weeks which will get just a little expensive!

What really is annoying is that I had the cradle connected WITH a Belkin powered hub which was then connected to a new PCI card...and it still killed the port on the card even with a hub in between....the powered hub says clearly on the packaging that overcurrent protection is built in yet somehow it still managed to fry part of the card? Anyone have any theories on this?

I bought the Ax knowing this could be an issue so I am not discouraged at all (and ONE look at Betaplayer running the trailer from Matrix insured I would stay in love with my new toy!) but frying pci cards are more of a pain then hubs to install :)

Just for reference...I have probably only pulled the Ax out of the cradle maybe 20 - 25 times since I have had it...and the battery has not gone below 80% yet. I keep the sound off on my computer most of the time so I would not have heard any pops coming thru the speakers.

Spotnik

I just raised this issue again at the Dell Community forums because I've been particularly curious and concerned over the lack of response from Dell to what would seem to be a real "deal killer" for most potential buyers. Based on the response I received from the forum's moderator, and on the numerous posts I have seen at Dell, here, and at AximUsers.com, I think I have an idea as to what is (not) happening.

Apparently when the cradle blows a usb port or, worse, a motherboard, a lot of people are contacting customer care and getting replacement cradles, units or both. What they are NOT doing is contacting technical support, or posting detailed descriptions, including service tag numbers, to the Dell Community Forum so that Dell's techhies have some information to go on in attempting to make a diagnosis. According to Dell, they issued a plea to users some months back to post such information to the forum was made last January or so, only two people responded. This is far below the 14% rate of failure reported by this poll. A lot of people seem to use the forums to complain, but don't provide any useful details. Yes, I realize this a common user response to a frustrating and disheartening situation, but it's not going to get anyone any closer to solving the problem.

What I think would be interesting to know is: how many of those who have had this problem simply got replacements without providing any further information to Dell, and how many people actually tried calling technical support to troubleshoot? Perhaps what we have here is a failure to communicate!

Orbitz

I have a little update on my situation. I managed to get both a Dell technical support person on the line with BOTH a Belkin Tech support rep and a Adaptec tech support rep (not all at the same time..first the Belkin tech then replaced him with the Adaptec tech..3 way call going. Little background...my USB High Speed hub is made by Belkin, my PCI USB card is made by Adaptec....both have USB ports that stopped working after hooking the Ax up. Also, the machine I am working on is a custom built rig (by me) utilizing a Asus A8V-E Deluxe Mobo...8 builtin high speed USB ports on board.

Total call length 4.5 hours...first 1.5 hours with Dell tech alone. After 1.5 hours with getting exactly no where (we reinstalled SP2 on XP Pro, uninstalled and reinstalled all USB drivers...sever times etc., moved the Ax cradle connection to different outlets, reinstalled Async etc. Now...much of this I had allready tried (generally speaking I would be considered an advanced user or higher with regard to the OS and hardware components of the PC) but the Dell tech insitsted it get done again with him involved. Resutlt, my Ax still would not work (nor would any other USB product...USB Wester Digital Harddrive, USB Pinnacle Systems breakout box..on the ports that had "died" on either the PCI card or the hub. Initially, Dell tech had told me they have never heard of this issue...after 1.5 hours he finally admitted he had "heard" something about it. At this point, I instisted I add on a rep from Belkin to see if we were missing anything...this turned out to hurt more then help initially because the Belkin rep's final analysis was that ALL of their products are known not to function well..if at all...with onboard USB driven by a VIA chip (which the Asus uses). The Dell rep of course was supporting this theory although not to aggressively. Not to be shot down, I then insisted on putting an Adaptec rep on the line since the PCI card is not driven by the onboard USB and uses its own dirvers. Dell rep was trying VERY HARD to dump the call at this point and I insisted if I could take all this time to try and figure out my problem then he should be will also...he softened and we added the Adaptec rep.

Adaptec rep confirmed there are no known issues with Adaptec products and my motherboard...after hearing the problem (2 ports dead on the card) he had me redo all the settings for the card from scratch...uninstall the card, reinstall etc. Nothing we did would bring the "dead" ports back to life. At this point, I had not mentioned to him that the "theory" was that the Ax had killed the ports...he brought this up on his own :) At this point, we were all out of ideas...the only plausable explanation was that somehow the cradle was frying ports on both the card and the hub...both have built in overcurrent protection and are designed to turn off the port in the event of a spike. Adaptec rep asked me to send the card directly to him so he could have the card checked to see if the overcurrent circuits where the cause of the dead ports. Card will be sent to him on Monday.

Dell rep offered to send me to customer service to arrange for a replacement Ax / cradle...I have only had my Ax for one week and declined to have it replaced just yet since it is running fine otherwise. Dell rep promised to forward his notes on our call up the chain to see if anyone has any ideas...not sure I expect much from this or not. Over all Dell rep had less knoledge of the OS then I did...and only very basic knowledge of the USB hardware side. One thing he never asked (which I was expecting and was ready to do) was a hard reset on the Ax.

Overall, I think we did everything possible to eliminate the obvious possibilities...driver problems, hardware conflits (in the case of the card at least)etc. So much for half a day of my life :)

Jenster

I got my Axim Wednesday, and after charging it all night and playing solitare on it all day Thursday - Man I can't believe the awesome graphics :approve: - I hooked it up to my desktop today. I powered everything off and then plugged it into the usb and then the power cord. Call me paranoid, but I have not experienced any blown ports, smoke coming from the PC, the Axim or even the wall. I love this thing, but I feel sorry whenever I look at my iPaq, which has been moved across the room off of the desk, and I see the pretty red side grips. But then I look at my Axim and I don't feel bad any longer

awdark

Originally Posted by Orbitz

I have a little update on my situation. I managed to get both a Dell technical support person on the line with BOTH a Belkin Tech support rep and a Adaptec tech support rep (not all at the same time..first the Belkin tech then replaced him with the Adaptec tech..3 way call going. Little background...my USB High Speed hub is made by Belkin, my PCI USB card is made by Adaptec....both have USB ports that stopped working after hooking the Ax up. Also, the machine I am working on is a custom built rig (by me) utilizing a Asus A8V-E Deluxe Mobo...8 builtin high speed USB ports on board. Total call length 4.5 hours...first 1.5 hours with Dell tech alone. After 1.5 hours with getting exactly no where (we reinstalled SP2 on XP Pro, uninstalled and reinstalled all USB drivers...sever times etc., moved the Ax cradle connection to different outlets, reinstalled Async etc. Now...much of this I had allready tried (generally speaking I would be considered an advanced user or higher with regard to the OS and hardware components of the PC) but the Dell tech insitsted it get done again with him involved. Resutlt, my Ax still would not work (nor would any other USB product...USB Wester Digital Harddrive, USB Pinnacle Systems breakout box..on the ports that had "died" on either the PCI card or the hub. Initially, Dell tech had told me they have never heard of this issue...after 1.5 hours he finally admitted he had "heard" something about it. At this point, I instisted I add on a rep from Belkin to see if we were missing anything...this turned out to hurt more then help initially because the Belkin rep's final analysis was that ALL of their products are known not to function well..if at all...with onboard USB driven by a VIA chip (which the Asus uses). The Dell rep of course was supporting this theory although not to aggressively. Not to be shot down, I then insisted on putting an Adaptec rep on the line since the PCI card is not driven by the onboard USB and uses its own dirvers. Dell rep was trying VERY HARD to dump the call at this point and I insisted if I could take all this time to try and figure out my problem then he should be will also...he softened and we added the Adaptec rep. Adaptec rep confirmed there are no known issues with Adaptec products and my motherboard...after hearing the problem (2 ports dead on the card) he had me redo all the settings for the card from scratch...uninstall the card, reinstall etc. Nothing we did would bring the "dead" ports back to life. At this point, I had not mentioned to him that the "theory" was that the Ax had killed the ports...he brought this up on his own :) At this point, we were all out of ideas...the only plausable explanation was that somehow the cradle was frying ports on both the card and the hub...both have built in overcurrent protection and are designed to turn off the port in the event of a spike. Adaptec rep asked me to send the card directly to him so he could have the card checked to see if the overcurrent circuits where the cause of the dead ports. Card will be sent to him on Monday. Dell rep offered to send me to customer service to arrange for a replacement Ax / cradle...I have only had my Ax for one week and declined to have it replaced just yet since it is running fine otherwise. Dell rep promised to forward his notes on our call up the chain to see if anyone has any ideas...not sure I expect much from this or not. Over all Dell rep had less knoledge of the OS then I did...and only very basic knowledge of the USB hardware side. One thing he never asked (which I was expecting and was ready to do) was a hard reset on the Ax. Overall, I think we did everything possible to eliminate the obvious possibilities...driver problems, hardware conflits (in the case of the card at least)etc. So much for half a day of my life :)

:rolling: wow you actually tolerated tech support completely and eliminated every other possibility scary. I hope they figure out what the exact cause is soon :approve:

badersk

I got mine after december and had had no problems until a week ago and 2 times it has shut my pc down. Once I got shocked from it. I assumed it was static discharge.

nokomarie

"I just raised this issue again at the Dell Community forums "

Could you tell me where you posted your note.. when my axim trashed my motherboard it was a Dell to Dell kill. they were on the hook, both ends.. BUT I sacked that place and couldn't find anything.. I also posted a note that no one replied to and that I couldn't find a bit ago.

If you'll direct me to your post I'll post my experience, gladly.

I keep my axim in the other room now, I won't let it near my computer, it syncs via wifi beautifully :) thank god. if it didn't I'd take my old x5 back from my husband and use the x50v as a paperweight.. if I have to choose I choose life for my desktop..

Ann in Reno

Spotnik

Here's the link--I hope (I'm pasting from my browser)

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...ssage.id=31465

If this doesn't get it, Follow the Community Forum links to Dell Axim/General Hardware, and it's on the second page of posts if you're just browsing the posts.

By all means, post details of your experience to this thread, and if you can include your service tag in your forum profile, that would also help (I'm not sure how or why, but that's what Rollie says he wants) Good luck. These machines should not be allowed to destroy our workstations!

Originally Posted by nokomarie

"I just raised this issue again at the Dell Community forums " Could you tell me where you posted your note.. when my axim trashed my motherboard it was a Dell to Dell kill. they were on the hook, both ends.. BUT I sacked that place and couldn't find anything.. I also posted a note that no one replied to and that I couldn't find a bit ago. If you'll direct me to your post I'll post my experience, gladly. I keep my axim in the other room now, I won't let it near my computer, it syncs via wifi beautifully :) thank god. if it didn't I'd take my old x5 back from my husband and use the x50v as a paperweight.. if I have to choose I choose life for my desktop.. Ann in Reno

nokomarie

I'm going to wander over there now..

I did talk to tech support about it.. they told me.. quote "there is no possible way that this could happen ma'am" sigh.. it did happen.. they did replace the cradle however..

I talked to a guy in dispatch when they were sending out my motherboard and explained to him what happened.. directed him here to this link and I think he read everything.

Dell is going to deny an issue till death due us all part.. why? liability.. they've probably killed their fair share of Sony, HP, Compaq also.. for me they were on the hook no matter what.. but for a lot of people this has been a costly mess up..

I just bought a new computer, a notebook for working on the road.. I bought an HP.. why? customer service with Dell is gawdawful and the HP had what I wanted at a much better price.. sigh.. and I used to bleed dell blue <G>

Ann in Reno

Originally Posted by Spotnik

Here's the link--I hope (I'm pasting from my browser) http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...ssage.id=31465 If this doesn't get it, Follow the Community Forum links to Dell Axim/General Hardware, and it's on the second page of posts if you're just browsing the posts. By all means, post details of your experience to this thread, and if you can include your service tag in your forum profile, that would also help (I'm not sure how or why, but that's what Rollie says he wants) Good luck. These machines should not be allowed to destroy our workstations!

Spotnik

No technical support operator should ever accuse a customer of lying. If I were his/her supervisor I'd give 'em a good tongue lashing for saying such a thing. That's just plain bad customer service. It's bad enough their stupid PDA fried your computer, now they accuse you of making it up? Where do they get these operators anyway? Sheesh!

[QUOTE=nokomarie]I'm going to wander over there now..

I did talk to tech support about it.. they told me.. quote "there is no possible way that this could happen ma'am" sigh.. it did happen.. they did replace the cradle however..

nokomarie

"Where do they get these operators anyway?"

New Delhi?

It kind of irked me at the time.. all I could think was "fine, you're the guys buying me a new motherboard, want to try for two?"

You'd think they'd be all over it just because of incidents like mine where they are on the hook, no matter what, for the damage..

I haven't seen that Rollie or anyone has seen or responded to my post over there.. same thing happened when I posted about the lines on my display.. someone ask a followup question, I answered and then never heard a word from them again.. very little actual action there.. in fact the only person I did talk to throughout the whole thing who actually seemed to know what he was talking about and actually give a rats rear end was the guy in dispatch here stateside.. he came here and read the notes.. I don't know. Dell.. I just bought my husband a HP notebook.. and it's NICE, I actually may have to steal it from him .. LOL.. I don't know how their customer service is but it's really hard to imagine that it's worse than Dell.. :bang:

Ann in Reno.. sigh, more snow on the way.. spring?? please??

awdark

My cradle works well and doesn't blow up USB ports. Just wanted a positive reply here

paul_b5

I would like to also give a positive reply, but after reading this, I've pluged it in once ok (to an ibm iseries laptop) to set up active sync, and then it wireless connections from now on. Its not worth risking expensive hardware to find out.

Malix

I got my ax a week or so ago and have it plugged up to USB with no shutdowns or blown ports so far.

RangerDanger

Dell has messed up my order four times now. Alls I wanted were two Dell AXIM's. For there chaos and confusion they send me a cradle. The thing doesn't even work in my laptop. I will never buy anything from dell again. I know I cannot speak good English.....but I wish someone over there could.


Sorry for the nasty comment

thank you to all