Hotsync Problem

S

Seminarian Edward

New member
Hi,

I checked old posts, but could not find answer to my problem. They just upgraded my pc at work to Windows XP. I had to remove and reinstall palm software. I have usb ports. I cannot make the connection to the cradle.

I have checked the hotsync manager, it is set to local usb. All of the customizations are set. What am I missing?

Do I need to buy a serial cable? What am I missing here?

Thanks in advance.

Tweety
 
First soft reset the T3 (assuming that's what you have because it's not mentioned but gleened from your name).

2nd: Was the cradle connected to the PC before the software was installed? If so, then disconnect the cradle and unistall the software. Reboot the computer and then install the desktop software again but follow the details of the intructions for when to plug in the device to the PC intensely.

3rd: If your using a Palm device that only has a serial connection - and not USB - go buy a new Palm, otherwise I'm not sure why you mentioned a Serial Cable. Those went out with Apple Newtons'


Step Two - follow it and it should get you back on track - if not then Post back and we'll get you through this.
 
Mooseman,

Yes, it is a T3. I did all that you suggested. Uninstalled the software, reinstalled it. On either end of the process I rebooted the system removing the usb cable before the reinstall. The hotsync manager is open, it is set for local usb. Still no connection.

Any other ideas?

This is so frustrating!

Tweety
 
Right click on My Computer, choose Properties, then Hardware, then Click on the Device Manager button:

Attempt a hot sync and watch the device manager - it should "blip" and perhaps give you a Yellow Question mark in the other device area of the "tree".

Right click on the yellow question mark and see if your giving the option to install.

Then let me know if that does it.

If your getting a sound input of some kind on the pressing of the hotsync - then it would seem that the device is communicating through the USB port.

Also, I assume that you have Administrator rights on this computer at work?

Try the above and advise.
 
palmOne support has three knowledge base articles on the subject of troubleshooting Hotsync problems under XP. They are located here, here, and here.

Moose Man said:


Moose Man, they are not easy to find but palmOne does offer a cradle for the T3 which has a DB9 connector instead of USB. They are useful in certain situations - older (okay, really old) PCs that do not have USB ports or operating systems such as Windows 98 original edition or Windows NT (all versions) which do not support USB.

Carmine Castiglia
Drill size for a 3/8-16 STI Tap?
 
Carmine - perhaps it would have been clear on my part if I'd mentioned that since Tweety had said that the Local USB was checked why would Tweety then mention Serial?

I'm aware of the ability of just about any "cradle'd" Palm device being Serial compatible - it just struck me as odd that it was mentioned in the same basic sentence as USB being checked.

Why would anyone want to "slow" down using serial over USB would be beyond me, unless as you mentioned they had really old hardware that it was syncing too.

The other thing was that if the PC doesn't recognize the USB port the odds of it recognizing the Serial aren't much better.
 
Moose,
There is a common issue with the T3 (and other USB devices) not being able to sync with the Dell D-series laptops via the Port Replicator USB ports.
Dell insists the problems were fixed with the latest drivers from Dell, but that Dell acknowledges that people will still have problems with the T3 & Port Replicator not working together in Win2000 or WinXP.
Dell says that Palm has admitted it's the Palm... But I've never seen confirmation, or see a true fix.
It syncs fine connected directly to the laptop USB, just not going though the port replicator.

One of the easiest, sure-fire work arounds I have used, is to buy the M5xx/Tx Serial Cradle cradle. It's a little bit slower, but at least it never fails. I've also tried external 3rd-party USB hubs between the T2 & Port with mixed results.
So the serial cradle does have a use. :)

Tweety,
If you're having problems, and it's being used with a Port Replicator (dock) (and I've heard Toshiba's have the same issue), yes, I'd have your company order the Serial Cradle for you. (It might be listed as a M5xx series serial cradle, but it'sthe same thing. About $20.00).

Good luck,
Timerider
 
Hi Guys,

The only reason that I mentioned Serial cable is because at the office other folks who have bought palm T3's have not been able to connect to windows 95 machines because there were no USB ports and they needed serial cables. I thought that it was an either or situation.

I have a dell xp laptop at home which i was able to load all palm software and sync with no problems.

They recently upgraded my machine at work to an XP machine. I went to load the software and sync and nothing worked. I have had IT people trying to troubleshoot and have gotten nowhere for three days. The machine is not recognizing the device. I have plugged in usb flash drives and those get recognized. I don't know what the problem is. We are still working on it.

I'll let you know what happens.

Tweety:confused:
 
But is the work machine using a Port Replicator (docking station)?

If so, your IT group needs to update the Chipset drivers and Notebook System Software (NSS) drivers which contain the latest Microsoft USB XP and Win2000 patches.
This might help... but I wouldn't bet on it.

And yeah... other USB devices will work.. but the T3 will NOT work probably.
 
Some of the items I have read on this problem (USB ports and port replicators) indicate that you basically have two types of USB devices - devices which are seen by the operating system as "drives" such as flash or thumb drives, digital cameras, etc, and "all other" devices, including handhelds like the T3.

The "drives" work correctly whereas the "other devices" do not. And, it's not just Dell that has this problem - I've seen it reported in IBM user groups as well.

Carmine Castiglia
c = SqRt(a^2 + b^2) but there's an easier way!
 
There was a post over in the Que forum that confirms that some of the Dell port reps weren't fully powered enough via their USB to support certain devices of the Palm OS persuasion.

As I recall the position of the USB port on some Dell Desktops made a difference according to Dell's tech support.

So to some degrees it confirms both what Carmine and Timerider are saying.

This applied to Dell units and as Carmine points out I'd suspect other's as well.

The fix on the Dell was to get a powered hub and connect to it at the port replicator.

The option of serial to the T3 is still valid and may be the cheapest fix but be advised that serial is so much slower than USB that performance might be a concern.....but if the IT guys can fix it.

Regardless, I still like to know what happens per my suggestion above of watching the device manager.....their should be a blip. If not then there probably isn't enough power to the USB port.

Dell is a company that for one reason, we won't use their hardware in laptop form. You never get 150 units that are identical in spec even though that's what was ordered.

I use a Dell for my desktop but with 150 laptops in our company - we stick with Toshiba because they build them to our spec.
 
Hi!

I am having similar problems with Hotsync'ing my new T3 via the IBM docking station. It hotsync's totally fine when directly connected to the laptop, but not via the dock. I'm running Win2000 on the ThinkPad.

I tried the steps suggested by Mooseman to Tweety's original post and here's what happens:

- When I first connect the hotsync cable to the USB port on the dock and hit the hotsync button, the system recognizes new hardware. The device manager creates a new section called "Palm OS Handheld Devices" with one entry in it (Palm) that has the question mark superimposed with the yellow exclamation mark.

- It tells me to reboot, which I do

- After reboot, the new "Palm" section disappears and instead moves the device with the yellow exclamation mark down to the USB controller section

- This entry soon disappears, so that now I have no entry whatsoever for the Palm

I then tried to hit the hotsync button again and noticed that the above cycle is repeated. At the end, I get the message on the palm saying connection to the desktop could not be established.

Looking up the properties of the new entry "Palm OS Handheld Devices" when it appears ever so briefly, I see that it says "This device cannot start (Code 10)"

Any advice, aside from get a serial cable or connect to the laptop directly? I'm looking for a fast stable connection to the dock so I don't have to unplug the usb cable everytime I move the laptop.

Thanks in advance

Nadeem
 
One more suggestion: Uninstall the desktop and then reboot. With the laptop loaded into the port replicator reinstall the Palm Desktop and see if it will sync.

I had to do the above with my Toshiba so it may help or not but at least I got it to work on that replicator.
 
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