Solution - Axim not turning on, Disappearing CF/SD Cards and Battery Discharge

[x51vuser2]

This was the all time best tip I have ever seen on any computer forum of any kind...thank you!

I applied that fix and WLAN LED still blinks a while
after unit turns itself off. The battery area gets hot
sometimes....
When unit is in cradle it synchronizes every 5 minutes.

This does not fix anything.

I double checked and have manual/manual settings if I
add fake server.

[Terryvi]

Just a quick side comment on the fake exchange server "fix". First, great post very detailed and informative. To all in this thread who don't want to go to the nosebleed of click home, click memory, click running programs, click stop all to stop Active Sync form running after a sync, get Magic Button. It's free and it takes less effort to close AS. Yes, you still have to close AS after a sync manually. To Superpoweruser, sorry we don't allow anyone under the age of 12 in this thread, go away!

[leelee]

I don't know what issues there may be with ActiveSync, or not. But here's my experience and it seems to be shared by some others out there.

Got my first Axim X51v in October and it was fairly stable. Other than the occasional missing SD/CF card, I had no other major complaints.

When A04 firmware came out and I installed it, all hell broke loose. Within the first week, my battery got hot and completely drained twice, I had bumped into this problem with A01 as well, but I thought turning off the battery monitor in my SPB Pocket Plus solved it. Apparently not. Aside from the "get hot and drain" problem, the battery would randomly not last through the night. This is different because the battery was not dead, but simply use up 50 to 70% of its battery over night. And I bumped into the WSOD with amazing regularity every time I charge it. To add insult to injury, my unit developed the "battery latch was open" syndrom. There is also the refusing the turn on issue, and what not. It got to the point where every time I started the Axiom it was not working correctly because it refused to turn on, got WSOD, or was simply dead from a drained battery. The battery latch problem really made the Axiom completely unusable because not only was my Axiom refusing to turn on properly, but now it shuts off randomly even when it is on.

I chatted with Dell support, who offered me a refurbished replacement, which I promptly got him to change to a new unit. I now have a newly delivered Axiom with A01 firmware. This unit was delivered to me on January 9th, and so far, other than disappearing SD/CF cards, it has had none of the other problems. I haven't charged it since Friday and didn't use it that much during the weekend. This Monday morning it reported 90% battery remaining. During the week that I've had it, it had not refused to turn on, nor experienced any WSOD.

I don't know what's going on. Another possible variable is that I had SPB pocket plus installed on my old X51v and did not install it on the new one. But I doubt everyone experiencing problems with their X51v is running SPB Pocket Plus so I dout that's the root cause of anything.

I like the hardware, and I like the software when it is working. So I am going to take a wait-and-see stance and not do any more firmware upgrades until we get a stable release.

[KeithED]

Thanx g00nerz, problems fixed. Battery still over 80% charge since mid afternoon yesterday and I don't have to do a soft reset to get started.

[Tak Maze]

My CF card still keeps disappearing :(.

[dwoloz]

Reporting back with results on my x50v


ITS FIXED!!


I have both a SD card and a CF Microdrive in and neither have dissappeared in the 2 days since applying the ActiveSync fix. No more battery drain either it seems.

x50 users having these problems, try this fix; it's not only for the x51

[davarei]

Activesync-on-cradling is impossible to prevent. But not really a bad-thing, is it? Well.. ok it is a bad thing, I would prefer the axim to not be powered on all the time, but just turning off your display backlight (press and hold your power button for a while) will fix this.

Not a bad thing unless you use your synch computer for something other than synching.
It has had occasion to boot me out in the middle of a game when my AXIM decides to synch.

[russ9]

I have had a remarkable improvement in battey life with A06, and have had no signs of reset , WSOD are dissapearing SD anymore. I have the activesync fix working, I just have been unable to stop synching (or trying to)while cradled. Even turning off 'connect with USB', or running activesynctoggle, doesn't stop the axim from trying. Heck, if it sync "quietly" with the axim screen staying off, I wouldn't mind, but why does it have to stay completly on (or come back on if I turn it off)

Arghhh

[aussie123]

Need help.

I have x51mid. I upgraded to rom05, and then did this work around. Initially active sync was working, but now I can't sync. Even though on my laptop activesync it says "not connected" I can still use "file explorer" and add programs. When I hit "sync" on the x51 nothing happens? Any ideas?

Edit: Disregard. Activesync / Sygate firewall problem.

[jds12]

Positive note:

I had previously applied the AS tweak but with no success.

I have noticed that if I always ensure that wireless and BT are turned off prior to switching the unit off (standby), I don't get the battery drain issue.

I observed that whilst in standby the green and blue link lights would suddenly start flashing. Since disabling I no longer get this phenomenon and my battery drain issue appears to be resolved.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar and maybe this will work for other users if they have?

Jds. :approve:

[ladytonya]

Okay, I now officially have my first problem. Got Axim X51 mid Dec. 30. Have upgraded to A05, turned off error reporting, and performed dummy server tweak. Only problem I have is that it keeps turning on in the cradle. I know that the only way to get rid of this is either AS Toggle or ending task on PC so this is only a minor nuisance. Anyway, I have never had any battery drain problem before today. Now that I think about it, I had to soft reset twice last night. I used my Ax more yesterday that I probably have at any one time since I've had it. Last night, I put it on the charger to charge and went off to watch television. Came back and it showed it was fully charged. Turned it on and it froze. Had to soft reset and it was working fine for a few minutes then froze again. Another soft reset and then no more problems for the rest of the night. Before I went to bed, I did one last sync and took it off the cradle. Battery was showing fully charged and all programs were closed including AS. As I do every night, I put the AS in it's case and in my purse. The first time I used it this morning, all was fine but I didn't think to look at the battery because it's never been a problem. Just now, i went to turn it on and it wouldn't turn on at all. Tried soft reset and nothing. Took battery out and put it back in, then it turned on but said that the battery was dangerously low. The battery shows 0%. I verified that nothing was running before shutting down for the day. THERE ARE NO, ZERO, ZIP, NADA PROGRAMS RUNNING! How is this possible?

[pacstar]

Many thanks mate...I had these problems and Dell CS told me to go to this and first try, you had the answer. Thank Goodness for intelligent kind Axim owners or Dell would be out of the PDA business....Thanks again for the resolution since the rumor that MS is going to issue a patch is still in the rumor stage and probably will remain there.

[Note: This 'fix' is already known to many, but for those that are unaware, and those that don't understand why the Activesync fix will help, please read on - I have re-written in layman's terms. Those who actually use Exchange Servers for syncing their Axim should check posts #9 and #12 below before doing anything.]

Got a brand spanking new Axim x51(v)? Are YOU experiencing these problems?

• Axim Will not power on after standby?
• White Screen Of Death (WSOD)
• Losing CF or SD cards?
• Battery losing charge while on standby?
• Axim overheating when left in standby mode?
• If Leaving WiFi on when putting into standby, it's light starts flashing for no reason?

Feeling like you've just wasted your hard earned cash on a bad buy? Upset by people in this very forum telling you to send it back, take legal action, burn it, demand a refund etc? Fear not my fellow Axim user, for they are the uneducated... Let's start at the beginning:

These problems appear to be caused by Activesync, a program that runs in the background of Windows Mobile on your Axim - The good news is they CAN be solved in most cases!

There is strong reasoning to suggest that the cause of these problems is that little program we all know and love called Activesync. Read on fellow forumite, as fixing these problems should be a case of simply changing a few settings in Activesync's options menu!

Some Background:

Activesync on your Axim
Activesync is a program installed on your Axim by default as part of the Windows Mobile Operating System. It's primary function as far as I'm aware is for syncing data with your PC and providing a means to install software and transfer files. You cannot get rid of it from your Axim (as far as I know), nor would you really want to. Unfortunately for all the good things Activesync should do, it is a bit of a badly designed program.

Activesync on your PC, and Synchronising data
In order to connect and synchronise data between your Axim and a PC you also have to install a version of Activesync on your PC (included on the Axim CD). When you plug your Axim into it's USB Dock both versions of Activesync talk to each other and your information is synchronised automatically. Every change you make on your PC relating to your calendar, emails or shared files while the Axim is docked will trigger a new sync and vice versa. The Axim and PC will also sync every 5 minutes while docked no matter what. As far as I know this currently cannot be stopped without the aid of a third party program called Activesync Toggle, or some deft 'end tasking' in the Windows PC's Task Manager.

So, why do I keep getting the problems listed above?
This is due to Activesync launching itself on your Axim when it is not docked with your PC. You may ask why Activesync isn't intelligent enough to see that your Axim is not docked...

For an unknown reason Microsoft thought it would be a great idea to make Activesync load itself automatically and attempt to sync even when your Axim is not docked. Even if you manually close it, or go into Start > Memory > Running Programs > Stop on your Axim, it will simply re-launch itself 5 minutes later. It will then attempt to connect to your PC Activesync connection every 5 minutes by default, again even though your Axim is not docked. It does this no matter what you do. You could be in the middle of a critical Axim gaming moment on a processor intensive 3D game where all your memory counts, and suddenly everything becomes choppy and bang, you crash and burn... Activesync is eating your memory. Or your Axim could be on standby and Activesync will load and bring your Axim out of standby... How annoying! And what is worse, by default there is no option to stop it behaving in this odd manner.

Activesync - Microsoft's crazy logic
Nothing is more important to Activesync than synchronising your data... The only thing that ever goes through Activesync's tiny little program loop are the words "Must Sync, Must Sync, Must Sync". In Commodore 64 Basic (which it may well be written in) it's source code would look like this:

10 Print "Must Sync"
20 goto 10

Ok, now that we know Activesync is trying to sync constantly, why is this causing so many power-related problems? The answer is nobody knows for sure. We can only surmise that Activesync launching itself while your Axim is on standby is causing some kind of software error that means it will not switch on from standby. If it's in this state and you plug it into it's PC docking station you will most likely also see a WSOD (White Screen Of Death). Activesync switching your Axim on while unattended may also be the cause of WiFi suddenly coming to life, battery discharging itself overnight and finding your Axim very hot when picking up to use.

The all important Solution
This 'server trick' was discovered by another Aximsite forum member known as Invid a little while ago. This information is courtesy of him originally, and copied many times throughout the Aximsite forum, but I am re-writing in easy to follow laymans terms to hopefully make this a sticky, and stop the multiple posting regarding the same old problems. Here we go!

1. Turn on your Axim
2. Go to Start > Programs > Activesync. This will open the Activesync program.
3. Tap Menu at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This will bring up the Options Menu. Notice the option Schedule... is greyed out? This is the all-critical option we need to get access to. But as it's disabled we can't change Activesync's default synchronisation schedule.

Ok, so how do we enable the Schedule option? Easy!!! Fool Activesync into thinking there is an Exchange Server to sync with:

1. From Activesync's Menu tap on Add Server Source.
2. In the following screens you can enter any old garbage. It does not matter, but just in case your unsure, just type the following in the indicated boxes:

Server Address: fake
Tap Next
User name: fake
Password: fake
Domain: fake
(Ticking save password or going into the Advanced menu makes no difference, so no need to bother).
Tap Next
Untick all of the 'Data you want to synchronise' options
Tap Finish

3. Ok, we're done creating the server. You should now see in Activesync's main screen your normal Activesync connection(s), and a new connection called Exchange Server.
4. Go back into the Menu, and lo and behold the Schedule option is now enabled! Go ahead and tap it!
5. You will see that both options in the Schedule screen are set to Every 5 Minutes (A01 Rom), or Every 10 Minutes (A06 Rom). This simply will not do! ( * Advanced users - please see my note below * )
6. Using the drop downs, change both the Peak times and Off-peak times boxes to Manually.
7. Press the OK button at the top right of the screen.

Congratulations! Activesync is now gagged from opening on it's own and ruining your life! Your work is not done just yet though - time to clean up and get rid of the now unwanted fake Exchange Server.

1. Go back into Activesync's Menu, then Tap Options.
2. Highlight Exchange Server, then tap Delete. A warning message will appear about removing files etc, but as you have no files associated with the fake Exchange Server, it's nothing to worry about - just tap Ok.
3. The list will now only show your remaining PC Sync connection(s). Obviously do not delete these!

So there you go, your Axim will now be happy to lead a normal and fulfilling life serving your organisational needs.

You may now put your Axim on Standby safe in the knowledge it will turn back on when you need it to. You can be sure that your CF and SD cards are no longer going to go walkabout. You can be safe in the knowledge that your battery should no longer lose it's charge. Etc etc.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you.

Forum Admin - PLEASE MAKE THIS STICKY!!!

* Advanced users: The fact that the default Sync times have been changed by Dell on each of the new ROMs indicates they know Activesync is the cause of the problems... *

[Kazkin]

Many thanks mate...I had these problems and Dell CS told me to go to this and first try, you had the answer. Thank Goodness for intelligent kind Axim owners or Dell would be out of the PDA business....Thanks again for the resolution since the rumor that MS is going to issue a patch is still in the rumor stage and probably will remain there.

I think something should benefit this community ( VIA DELL ... in the form of compensation ) ... since your post confirmed that we are BETA testers for DELL !!





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[Kazkin]

I applied that fix and WLAN LED still blinks a while
after unit turns itself off. The battery area gets hot
sometimes....
When unit is in cradle it synchronizes every 5 minutes.

This does not fix anything.

I double checked and have manual/manual settings if I
add fake server.

you are in suspend/standby mode ... your unit isn't OFF yet ... to turn off ..you need to set the settings in "POWER SETTINGS" to fully off ... and physically have to HOLD DOWN the button for a few sec. ... if you did not get a warning notification about the unit being turn off & have to confirm by clicking "OK" ..then you are ONLY in suspend/standby mode !!!!

and to others out there who might have misunderstood the "trick" ... it only works when the unit is UNDOCKED !!!! ... seems some are expecting it to be off even when it is DOCKING !!! NOT happening !!!

[Kazkin]

...

Device cannot lock onto my home wireless network. I have a number of strong networks where I live and the device constantly tracks between them cause me issues. How do I lock it down to one whilst at home -- application?


Jds

the ODYSEE client in the axim let you do this ... although I'm not sure why some owner dislike it though ... if you don't like it ..there is another software called "SocketCom.WiFi.Companion" available here:
http://www.socketcom.com/support/sup....asp?Type=WiFi

;)

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