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Bob Russell · 01-10-2005, 10:52 PM

I think my Toshiba PPC is a torture device invented by some PalmOne secret agent whose mission is to make me switch back to PalmOS!

After one bad Toshiba, the kind customer support people there sent me a replacement. I hate to complain because they were very nice to me. But now, not much later, my next one has problems. Maybe I'm the problem?? Something was going haywire with activesync all of a sudden, and I lost some data.

No problem, right? I have Sprite Pro backup. So I restore and then can't resove some files. That should be easy also... just look at which files and take care of it. What? Activesync can't/won't tell you which of the thousands of files were the culprits? What nincompupe on the Microsoft activesync team decided that it was good to not tell you what file is the problem? (Please excuse my ramblings - I'm very frustrated again! I'm sure there's a logical explanation which is just beyond my grasp right now.)

So I figure it might be a locked resource problem. I reboot my computer and my PPC. No change. I try another restore from an older backup. Now I have hundreds of files to resolve. I try to resolve them in activesync and now I get an error for hundreds. The only way to get past the error screens is to hold down the enter key and let the keyboard repeat satisfy all the popup error messages from activesync. (I suppose I could have killed the task, but heaven knows what kind of problems THAT might have caused!)

Okay, our trusty MobileRead news tells me that there is a new version of ActiveSync available. The notes don't give me much hope that it will help me, but at least I can uninstall and install the new version to get a clean install. I also reinitialized my PPC. Certainly I can get it to work with fresh PPC and fresh ActiveSync. That's just like bringing it home out of the box.

Now, it won't even connect for more than a second or so before it drops out and can't find the device. I've had increasing problems along those lines already for a couple weeks, but it was resolved by unplugging the sync cord and then replacing. Not any more... it just won't work.

So I'm concluding it's another bad unit. Bad luck? I just don't know. But it leaves me with a quandry. Either way I am need to see what Toshiba can do for me, of course. But after that, I need to decide once again... PPC or PalmOS, and what model?

I really like PPC believe it or not and now I have the software I want. I know exactly how I want to set it up. And minimalist this time. I have my 12 trusty and can't-live-without-it apps and that will be it. Simple and hopefully safe.

Here they are if you're interested, in no particular order....
eSword with MKJV only, Solitaire City, Gamebox Asia, Pocket Informant, eWallet, Handy Shopper, Tombo, Sprite Backup Pro, SmallMenu Plus (which I intend to use to replace SPB Pocket Plus and vBar and ProgramMenu), eReader, iSilo, and Fitaly. To me this is absolute minimum functionality, but enough to keep me very happy.

If I go with PalmOS I'll surely have a whole new set of issues to overcome and some more software to buy. Plus I still consider them in transition, with an unknown future. I'm hoping it's a spectacular future, but for now it's unknown. I want stable. Other people don't have these kinds of problems with PPC, so I gotta figure it's bad luck with Toshiba. Or me. Or another unrecognized problem like a bad SD card, bad card reader, bad PC USB port, unexpected software incompatibilities, etc. If that's it, I'm probably still going to have problems with a new PPC unless the basic 12 programs eliminate an incompatibility.

Oh my oh my what am I going to choose now? Another replacement Toshiba? A PalmOS T5 with it's own set of challenges? Maybe a new PPC like a Dell or HP VGA model? Or, since I'm a cheapskate, maybe an economy model of some sort? I guess I'd better sleep on it. But I hate being PDA-less for long so it won't be long before I feel like I have to decide. Hmmm... a T5 is really sounding nice right about now because I never had all these problems with my Palms (well, except for some memory stick issues with my Sony, that is).

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, they would surely be appreciated!

01-10-2005, 10:52 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Pocket PC Torture! I think my Toshiba PPC is a torture device invented by some PalmOne secret agent whose mission is to make me switch back to PalmOS! After one bad Toshiba, the kind customer support people there sent me a replacement. I hate to complain because they were very nice to me. But now, not much later, my next one has problems. Maybe I'm the problem?? Something was going haywire with activesync all of a sudden, and I lost some data. No problem, right? I have Sprite Pro backup. So I restore and then can't resove some files. That should be easy also... just look at which files and take care of it. What? Activesync can't/won't tell you which of the thousands of files were the culprits? What nincompupe on the Microsoft activesync team decided that it was good to not tell you what file is the problem? (Please excuse my ramblings - I'm very frustrated again! I'm sure there's a logical explanation which is just beyond my grasp right now.) So I figure it might be a locked resource problem. I reboot my computer and my PPC. No change. I try another restore from an older backup. Now I have hundreds of files to resolve. I try to resolve them in activesync and now I get an error for hundreds. The only way to get past the error screens is to hold down the enter key and let the keyboard repeat satisfy all the popup error messages from activesync. (I suppose I could have killed the task, but heaven knows what kind of problems THAT might have caused!) Okay, our trusty MobileRead news tells me that there is a new version of ActiveSync available. The notes don't give me much hope that it will help me, but at least I can uninstall and install the new version to get a clean install. I also reinitialized my PPC. Certainly I can get it to work with fresh PPC and fresh ActiveSync. That's just like bringing it home out of the box. Now, it won't even connect for more than a second or so before it drops out and can't find the device. I've had increasing problems along those lines already for a couple weeks, but it was resolved by unplugging the sync cord and then replacing. Not any more... it just won't work. So I'm concluding it's another bad unit. Bad luck? I just don't know. But it leaves me with a quandry. Either way I am need to see what Toshiba can do for me, of course. But after that, I need to decide once again... PPC or PalmOS, and what model? I really like PPC believe it or not and now I have the software I want. I know exactly how I want to set it up. And minimalist this time. I have my 12 trusty and can't-live-without-it apps and that will be it. Simple and hopefully safe. Here they are if you're interested, in no particular order.... eSword with MKJV only, Solitaire City, Gamebox Asia, Pocket Informant, eWallet, Handy Shopper, Tombo, Sprite Backup Pro, SmallMenu Plus (which I intend to use to replace SPB Pocket Plus and vBar and ProgramMenu), eReader, iSilo, and Fitaly. To me this is absolute minimum functionality, but enough to keep me very happy. If I go with PalmOS I'll surely have a whole new set of issues to overcome and some more software to buy. Plus I still consider them in transition, with an unknown future. I'm hoping it's a spectacular future, but for now it's unknown. I want stable. Other people don't have these kinds of problems with PPC, so I gotta figure it's bad luck with Toshiba. Or me. Or another unrecognized problem like a bad SD card, bad card reader, bad PC USB port, unexpected software incompatibilities, etc. If that's it, I'm probably still going to have problems with a new PPC unless the basic 12 programs eliminate an incompatibility. Oh my oh my what am I going to choose now? Another replacement Toshiba? A PalmOS T5 with it's own set of challenges? Maybe a new PPC like a Dell or HP VGA model? Or, since I'm a cheapskate, maybe an economy model of some sort? I guess I'd better sleep on it. But I hate being PDA-less for long so it won't be long before I feel like I have to decide. Hmmm... a T5 is really sounding nice right about now because I never had all these problems with my Palms (well, except for some memory stick issues with my Sony, that is). If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, they would surely be appreciated!