UPDATED: 09-01-07
PROBLEM: no Reminders aka Alarms from: Tasks, Calendar, system etc.
Administrator consider for Sticky or edit and incorporate into a general post on the topic.
Updates at the bottom of my post: 04-24-07, 05-30-07, 06-06-07, 06-12-07, 07-17-07, 09-01-07
KEY FACTS: This problem occurs on devices running Pocket PC regardless of brand. Affected OS versions include Pocket PC 1.0 through 2002, 2003/se, WM5.x, WM6.x. This is Microsoft operating system issue and but really kicks in with Dell's A12 ROM update. The problem is the worst in WM5 and maybe WM6. After monitoring and cleaning the Notification Queue weekly with Memmaid I still ran into trouble becasue of
RECURRING appointments in the calendar that had reminders aka a reminder alarm.
Reminders Fail & Notification Queue Jam is Caused by the Dell Axim ROM A12 Update:
01-31-06 Purchased my Dell Axim x51v and started syncing with outlook - including about 20+ recurring / reoccurring reminders, mainly birthdays, etc.
No problems with reminders for 8 months!
09-30-06 I upgraded my Dell Axim x51v with
ROM A06 TO A12 ROM firmware.
10-20-06 Twenty days after the A06 to A12 ROM firmware update my reminders are broken for the first time ever!
12-05-06 - fixed with MemMaid. Numerous blank and random events occurring 1 yr in past or future. Accidentally, deleted one or two repllog.exe events needed by activesync and the Mobile Operating which fixed with a
HARD RESET.
04-01-07 reminders broken again after four months.
xx-xx-07 Reminders fail 2 more times and stay broken...
08-01-07 Working perfectly for two months and not one invalid entry in the notification queue after implementing the fix listed below.
Affect all years and brands
Temporary Solutions that Last a short while:
1. Installing certain types of programs and doing a soft reset. I installed dell's notification tool and ran it but I did NOT use it to delete anything and that solved the problem for a few weeks. Aparently, certain software installs are an event which jump start the notification queue and fix the offending notification causing the log jam but after a short time another log comes along and jams the queue.
2. Changing the time zone to a different zone and then back again - can be dangerous and I don't recommend it.
What Solutions Shoud I Use?:
This depends on why your reminders are broken. Common examples include a notification queue that is flooded with duplicate entries, bad calendar entries on your desktop, blank or duplicate system events, et al. The fix below only addresses the problem caused by reoccurring calendar entries.
DON'T HARD RESET: I got frustrated Dec 2006 and performed a hard reset but the problem returned 4 months later and soon things were worse than ever. You must deal with the problem head on.
BEST PRACTICES:
Move all recurring / reoccurring appointments out of outlook and into a different calendaring program such as the free Mozilla sunbird. If you don't the problem will return. Snoozing re-occurring appointments for several days or a week on the computer can mess things up.
UTILITIES: I have found no difference in using MemMaid or Dell's Notification Management utility or Pmclean etc. However, I just started using
MemMaid version 2.0 and it is
much safer because it's default mode prevents you from deleting system events that will result in a
HARD RESET!
Re-occuring or recurring events that have gone bad often don't appear in the queue at all. So none of the utilities are capable of deleting what can't be sceen.
SOLUTION Summary: Set Active Sync to sync 2 weeks in the past (this is the minimum setting). Back-up the ppc. Hook pocket pc to a different computer running outlook 2002 / xp and activesync 4.5 that I had never synced to. Searched for all calendar events and tasks and temporarily moved them to the trash on desktop outlook. I then synced with the ppc effectively clearing or deleting ALL calendar entries. I then made a new calendar entry and the problem was instantly resolved (didn't even need to soft reset). I then moved all entries from the desktop outlook trash back into the calendar and retested. Everything has been working perfectly ever since.
FIX Step by Step:
1. always close outlook if having problems with reminders.
2. try to eliminate all reoccurring appts / events and instead put them is a different program on the computer and / or pocket pc.
3. Find all reoccurring calendar entries automatically so you don't have to manually hunt for them and hope you found them all. Start Outlook 2002, Outlook 2003,
Click on Calendar, "Advanced Find", Click on "Advanced Tab", click the "Field" button in the lower left corner, anc select "Frequently-used Fields", "Recurring", Condition: select Equals, Value: select Yes, click "Add to List", click "Find Now". This will scan your entire calendar and show you ALL Recurring events. You can make a new folder on your desktop and select the entire list and drag them to the folder which will make a backup copy of them (outside of outlook).
4. Now you can delete them all by temporarily sending just reoccurring entries to the trash. Now synchronize with ppc.
5. Make a new (non-reoccurring) test calendar entry and synchronize. If it works you are done. If not perform a soft reset and retest and consider sending all calendar entries to the recycle bin and retesting.
6. Finally, import or retype all reoccurring calendar entries into either a different outlook profile of which does not sync with your ppc or use a totally different calendaring program dedicated to reoccuring appointments or reminders.
Journal of the Reminder Failing to Sound Problem in Detail:
10-20-06, first time ever, 20 day after applying the A12 ROM update on 09-30-06.
12-05-06 - fixed with MemMaid. Numerous blank and random events occurring 1 yr in past or future. Accidentally, deleted one or two repllog.exe events needed by activesync and the Mobile Operating which fixed with a
HARD RESET.
04-01-07 reminders broken again.
04-15-07 I have
25 reoccurring appointments mostly birthdays. I sync daily my xp sp2+ desktop using ActiveSync 4.2 but will be switching to 4.5 which might help prevent the problem. MemMaid 1.72 FAILED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM! \windows\PlusReminder.exe (SPB Plus) event was missing. Tasks were working but NOT calendar reminders. Installed and ran the dell utility {R148392.exe NotificationMgrCabv1.1.0.0.CAB}, but there no bad entries to delete. A soft reset and things started working again.
05-30-07 Update: Notifications stopped about a week ago. I had been cleaning with MemMaid almost weekly. I ran MemMaid and deleted two old calendar items that REOCCUR every other week on monday.
Did two soft resets. Tested with a new calendar appt. All events were marked inactive, which is normal.
06-06-07 Notifications are down again. The real problem is that I DON'T HAVE ANY BLANK OR DUPLICATE ENTRIES. All entries are normal system stuff. Thus there is noting to delete or clean with the dell tool or MemMaid. I moved all recurring outlook appointments to a separate freeware program called Sunbird. I tried increasing the time period for syncing old events from 2 weeks in the past to 3, then 6 months then ALL past events. None of it worked because these solutions don't address the specific problem I am having.
06-10-07 Problem occurred again. Task reminders work fine but calendar reminders fail to sound. I really worried because the problem is happening with increasing frequency and I'm running out of tricks to make notification reminders work. There's nothing bad in the queue to delete; some system entries or spb plus repeat reminders are missing. I removed ALL reoccurring calendar entries but things remain broken
[
Update: Removing all reoccurring calendar entries will prevent the problem but, if your reminders have stopped working then you must also fix the problem by
removing all calendar entries temporarily which will clear any problems left over in the calendar. Now move non-reoccurring appointments from the trash back into the calendar and everything should start working. Recurring calendar entries create incidents of themselves which seem to be stored somewhere like in a pre-notification queue and are not visible until the appointment is a week or so away. Removing all calendar entries seems to be the only way to flush all entries out of the pocket pc that whether visible or invisible.]
09-01-07 Working perfectly for over 3 months without even one invalid entry in the notification queue!
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