End of the road for Axims? (ActiveSync)

[ToxikJonny]

...I hope not. But it seems to be inevitable (if my Axim is anything to go by). I've had my X51v for years and it continues to be brilliant.

Like many people I dislike (hate) ActiveSync - the only reason I need to use it is for work. All the installers for my 60+ apps & games are on my 2Gb SD card including backup software and the backups themselves. Take a copy of the SD card using a card reader and I'm backed up :).

However, for work I use SOTI's Pocket Controller to display the Axim's screen on my PC and this requires ActiveSync (boo).

Many months ago, after years of faultless (ish) operation, ActiveSync didn't recognise my Axim. I read the forums and tried a few things successfully - until the only way to fix it was to reset while still connected. Now that doesn't work either...

Now (when ActiveSync doesn't connect) I have to disconnect, remove the battery, replace battery, switch on, wait for Today screen and reconnect. Works every time (for now).

Remove the battery?! How ridiculous is that?! How long before this stops working too?

Bizarrely, even when ActiveSync doesn't connect, 'ipconfig /all' still reports the PDA's IP address which I can ping ok.

Things I've tried:

• uninstall, reboot & reinstall ActiveSync 4.5.0
• Start/settings/connection/USB to PC/Use Advanced Network Functionality
• reset while connected and disconnected
• remove the battery
• delete partnerships
• check firewall settings

My setup:

• Dell Axim X51v ROM version A12
• Windows Mobile 5 (OS 5.1.95 - build 14957.2.3.1)
• Windows XP SP2

(I don't want to hard reset and reinstall everything because (apart from being scared) I can't see how it would fix anything I shouldn't be able to do another way. I've been in IT for years and starting again from scratch has always seemed like a cop-out.)

Remove the battery?!! pah! What does removing the battery do that pressing the reset button doesn't do? All the other PDAs at work (HP, HTC, ETEN, etc) perform perfectly with ActiveSync - even 5 year old devices.

So: Does anyone know whether there's a fix to get ActiveSync working correctly with the Dell Axim X51v? I love this PDA.

[Steven855]

Have you tried going back to activesync 4.2? The only reason you ever need version 4.5 is if you update your axim to WM6/6.1. Something like this happened to me once, and going back to version 4.2 helped me.

[mkss55442]

As painful as it is, you may have no other choice but to do a hard reset. That was the only way I was able to get mine and my brother's x51v's to work again with AS. AS is user hostile, and for reasons unknown to many, it stops working. I think something gets corrupted in the x51v's registry. Why not use the hard reset as an opportunity to upgrade to WM6.1 (Experimental/Beta WM6.1 ROMs for Axim X51v). I've used Lenny's 07 version and am now using his L11. I'd be hard pressed to go back to WM5.

[srvctec]

Have you tried going back to activesync 4.2? The only reason you ever need version 4.5 is if you update your axim to WM6/6.1. Something like this happened to me once, and going back to version 4.2 helped me.

That's exactly what I was going to suggest after reading the first post. I never did upgrade to AS 4.5 simply because 4.2 was/is working fine and always has. The more I read about 4.5 having problems, the more I think I made the right decision. My setup is the same as the op, except I have XP SP3 now, but all other things are the same with my pda- same OS and rom. But I've only had my x51v for 2 years, so maybe this will eventually happen to me as well.

[Julie]

Seems like you've tried everything but a factory reset. That'd be the next thing to do.

And, like other users have already mentioned, there's really no reason to use ActiveSync 4.5 unless you are also syncing a WM6.0 device. ActiveSync 4.5 does seem to be pretty quirky.

And you know, instead of removing the battery and provoking something like a hard reset on a WM5.0 device (data remains intact), you could try the so called "welcome cure". Go to the windows folder, find the welcome file, tap it. The pocket pc will boot up like it just completed a hard reset and return you to the alignment screen.

[gdcfc1]

Julie - great suggestion. just ran the Welcome as you posted above and AS connected and synch'd straight away. Thanks

[RobTheHillbill]

I tied both welcome files and neither one worked for me:(

[gdcfc1]

Contrary to my reply above I am now again in a mode of only occasional success with AS. It did work after running WELCOME but now it will not. I have gone back to AS 4.2 and that worked at first but has stopped again.

So I am left wondering what else to do. I still do not seem to be able to do a hard reset!

[Julie]

So I am left wondering what else to do. I still do not seem to be able to do a hard reset!

You don't know how to do a hard reset? or you don't want to do a hard reset?
If you've tried to perform a hard reset and it did not work properly, can you describe how you attempted a hard reset (what keys did you press down, etc) and what happened?

[gdcfc1]

I am happy to perform a hard reset. I have attempted this by (i) press and hold power botton, then push reset at back, and (ii) press and hold power button then press and hold reset at the back. With both ways the device reverts back to July 01, 2005 as date & 12:00am as the time and seems to have everything installed still and has all data in it (eg calendar events, etc) as from the last synch that was achieved. I am flumoxed! Any suggestions gratefully received.


PART 2!!!
So, I just opened AS on the x51v and it had 4 partnerships - 2 partnerships duplicated. I managed to scale them all down to only synch'ing favourites and after the device tidied up I deleted 3 of the 4. Then I put it in the cradle and heh-presto it connected! The PC asked me to set up a new partnership which I did and it synch'd. Then I added in the other options to synch (email, etc) and heh-presto it did! After a long synch'ing process it all seems to be connected and cynching practively now on any change I make to email, contacts, etc. Oh, yes, and I have deleted the old partnership that I left (4th of the 4) and I have my new partnership only.

I don;t know why but all seems to be working. Perhaps I'll never know. At least I have my baby back.

[gdcfc1]

I am again answering my own questions but in case this is helpful to anyone else, here is the progress I have made.

Despite my above claims of success the connection was flaky and synching was taking an inordinate amount of time - read infinite!

I reduced the synching down to just trying to synch Favourites and still it was hanging.

So, I then deleted all email, all contacts, all calendar entries, all tasks, all notes from my x51v. Then I deleted all partnerships from the PC. Then I cradled my Axim and was taken through the setting up a partnership wizard. All went smoothly.

Then I uncradled, went back into options on the Axim and ticked calendar, email, contacts, tasks (and favourtites was ticked anyway). All went smoothly.

Multiple disconnects/connects (taking out and putting back into the cradle) later I am still running with successful synchs .... and realtime synchronisation is working as emails come in or other changes are made to the items that synch.

Maybe I am there ..............

[Julie]

I hope you've worked out the problem, but if you find you still need to perform a factory reset, you could use SKTOOLS to do it. There's an option in SKTOOLS that will reset the device and perhaps it will do the job for you.

[bigtsr]

The free app Tweaks2k2.NET will also give you the hard reset option.

[Cirrob]

Had the same problem... purchased a new cradle (an official dell axim cradle, not a aftermarket one) and everything worked fine again.

[mellojoe]

This is what I was going to suggest. After you try to work out all the software bugs, it may become obvious that it is a hardware problem. A new sync cable or a new cradle may be options before throwing away the Axim.

Good luck!