Multiple partnership problems with ActiveSync 4.1

There have been quite a few posts on multiple partnership problems with
ActiveSync 4.1. I have had my first customer report this problem to me and I
find that I can replicate this problem using the PocketPC emulator in VS2005.

Here is a really easy way to do it. Go in to VS and open the Device
Emulation Manager. Select the Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Emulator and
Connect to it (right click, select connect.) Then Select and Connect to the
Windows Mobile Pocket PC VGA Emulator. You should now have two emulators on
your desktop.

Go into each emulator and make sure they have unique names. (on the
emulator, Start->Settings-> System Tab -> About -> DeviceID tab -> Device
Name field) I named mine PocketPC1 and PocketPC2.

Now go to the Device Emulator Manager and right click on either of the
connected emulators and cradle it. It should bring up the PocketPC Sync Setup
Wizard. I hit next, deselect all the options and click Next, then Finish.
This should set up the partnership for one of our emulators. Right click on
this emulator and Uncradle it.

If you look at the Microsoft ActiveSync Dialog on your desktop and select
File->Mobile Device you will see your device name there (i.e. PocketPC1).

Now go and do the same procedure for the other emulator. When you look at
the ActiveSync dialog Mobile Device list, you will notice that PocketPC1 has
disappeared and has been replaced by PocketPC2. In my opinion this should not
happen and did not happen in ActiveSync 3.7.1.

But it gets betterâ?¦ now go back to the other emulator and Cradle it. The
Sync Setup Wizard will pop up again, even though we just did this on the
first go-around. Click Next and you will get this â??Computer Nameâ?? Dialogâ?¦???
It will say that â??Your Pocket PC is already set up to synchronize with
another computerâ?? and want to you enter a name to distinguish this computer
from your other computerâ?¦. Even though we are trying to sync on the exact
same computer!

This sure looks like a bug in ActiveSync to me. Or is there some sort of
setup option that I am missing here??

Titan
Mon Apr 03 20:26:39 CDT 2006

Have you tried this on real PPC?
I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.

RonWeldy
Mon Apr 03 20:38:03 CDT 2006

That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's on
one computer.

"Titan" wrote:

> Have you tried this on real PPC?
> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
>
>

Chris
Mon Apr 03 22:57:37 CDT 2006

Hi,
With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
You can sync many devices one at a time.


--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm

"Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
> That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's on
> one computer.
>
> "Titan" wrote:
>
>> Have you tried this on real PPC?
>> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
>>
>>

RonWeldy
Tue Apr 04 11:27:02 CDT 2006

Hi Chris,

That is precisely what I am doing here, synching one device at a time. I
only have one device cradled at any one time. What is happening is that
ActiveSync is losing the partnership for the device that was cradled first.

I don't think that the emulator in 2005 is any less real that a physical
device, is it? I am not trying to dock or cradle 2 devices at the same time,
so it should work but it does not.


"Chris De Herrera" wrote:

> Hi,
> With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
> You can sync many devices one at a time.
>
>
> --
> Chris De Herrera
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
>
> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
>
> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
> > That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's on
> > one computer.
> >
> > "Titan" wrote:
> >
> >> Have you tried this on real PPC?
> >> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

RonWeldy
Tue Apr 04 16:16:04 CDT 2006

By the way Chris, on a different thread (Beware of PPC-6700 Problems) with
the same problem you mentioned this:

"For item #1 I suggest that you contact Verizon regarding a rom upgrade. I
suspect that the unit is not defined as unique to the PC."

This is an interesting comment. It seems that the HP iPaq and the PPC-6700
are having this problem with ActiveSync deleting the partnership when the
second unit is cradled. But I have also seen some posts that Dell PPC's do
not seem to have this problem.

So I wonder if this new version of ActiveSync is ignoring the DeviceID and
using some internal device id that is common on all the units that have
problems but unique on the units that are not having problems. If this were
the case then it could be vendor-specific, but something must have changed in
the way ActiveSync identifies the unit as well.


"Chris De Herrera" wrote:

> Hi,
> With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
> You can sync many devices one at a time.
>
>
> --
> Chris De Herrera
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
>
> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
>
> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
> > That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's on
> > one computer.
> >
> > "Titan" wrote:
> >
> >> Have you tried this on real PPC?
> >> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Chris
Tue Apr 04 16:57:24 CDT 2006

Hi Ron,
Actually the way the emulator connects is totally different than the way a
physical device connects. The emulator uses a software interrupt while the
real device uses RNDIS. Also, the emulator does not allow you to sync
Outlook items while a real device does.

So what you are seeing is totally different than users see with real
devices. I have multiple Windows Mobile 5.0 devices I sync and I do not see
the same problem.


--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm


"Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:592AF938-5283-4D65-8BBD-5913948F4656@microsoft.com...
> Hi Chris,
>
> That is precisely what I am doing here, synching one device at a time. I
> only have one device cradled at any one time. What is happening is that
> ActiveSync is losing the partnership for the device that was cradled
> first.
>
> I don't think that the emulator in 2005 is any less real that a physical
> device, is it? I am not trying to dock or cradle 2 devices at the same
> time,
> so it should work but it does not.
>
>
> "Chris De Herrera" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
>> You can sync many devices one at a time.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chris De Herrera
>> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
>> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
>> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
>> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
>>
>> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
>> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
>>
>> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
>> > That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's
>> > on
>> > one computer.
>> >
>> > "Titan" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Have you tried this on real PPC?
>> >> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

Chris
Fri Apr 07 14:12:47 CDT 2006

Hi,
The 6700 has a different issue related to the rom. That is why I suggested
that the reader contact Verizon for assistance with it.

--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm

"Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B059BF6E-C0BA-4B06-A76F-1095AD10013F@microsoft.com...
> By the way Chris, on a different thread (Beware of PPC-6700 Problems) with
> the same problem you mentioned this:
>
> "For item #1 I suggest that you contact Verizon regarding a rom upgrade. I
> suspect that the unit is not defined as unique to the PC."
>
> This is an interesting comment. It seems that the HP iPaq and the PPC-6700
> are having this problem with ActiveSync deleting the partnership when the
> second unit is cradled. But I have also seen some posts that Dell PPC's do
> not seem to have this problem.
>
> So I wonder if this new version of ActiveSync is ignoring the DeviceID and
> using some internal device id that is common on all the units that have
> problems but unique on the units that are not having problems. If this
> were
> the case then it could be vendor-specific, but something must have changed
> in
> the way ActiveSync identifies the unit as well.
>
>
> "Chris De Herrera" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
>> You can sync many devices one at a time.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chris De Herrera
>> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
>> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
>> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
>> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
>>
>> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
>> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
>>
>> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
>> > That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's
>> > on
>> > one computer.
>> >
>> > "Titan" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Have you tried this on real PPC?
>> >> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

heartdoc
Fri Apr 14 01:03:01 CDT 2006

I have exactly the same problem with 2 XDA Atoms. Did not occur with 1 Atom
and 1 IPAQ and 4.1, but now the first partnerchip is deleted when the 2nd
Atom is connected. Real pain

"Chris De Herrera" wrote:

> Hi,
> The 6700 has a different issue related to the rom. That is why I suggested
> that the reader contact Verizon for assistance with it.
>
> --
> Chris De Herrera
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
>
> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
>
> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B059BF6E-C0BA-4B06-A76F-1095AD10013F@microsoft.com...
> > By the way Chris, on a different thread (Beware of PPC-6700 Problems) with
> > the same problem you mentioned this:
> >
> > "For item #1 I suggest that you contact Verizon regarding a rom upgrade. I
> > suspect that the unit is not defined as unique to the PC."
> >
> > This is an interesting comment. It seems that the HP iPaq and the PPC-6700
> > are having this problem with ActiveSync deleting the partnership when the
> > second unit is cradled. But I have also seen some posts that Dell PPC's do
> > not seem to have this problem.
> >
> > So I wonder if this new version of ActiveSync is ignoring the DeviceID and
> > using some internal device id that is common on all the units that have
> > problems but unique on the units that are not having problems. If this
> > were
> > the case then it could be vendor-specific, but something must have changed
> > in
> > the way ActiveSync identifies the unit as well.
> >
> >
> > "Chris De Herrera" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >> With real devices you can only sync one device at a time with ActiveSync.
> >> You can sync many devices one at a time.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Chris De Herrera
> >> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
> >> http://www.tabletpctalk.com
> >> http://www.pocketpctalk.com
> >> http://www.mobilitytalk.com
> >>
> >> ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide -
> >> http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm
> >>
> >> "Ron Weldy" <RonWeldy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:573601F7-EA6D-45A9-834D-5B43F19A634D@microsoft.com...
> >> > That's not the problem. The problem is being able to sync 2 Pocket PC's
> >> > on
> >> > one computer.
> >> >
> >> > "Titan" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Have you tried this on real PPC?
> >> >> I sync data with 1 PPC and 2 PCs. It works well.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>