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- How To / Troubleshooting (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=2)
-- Suddenly Can't Hotsync (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=2233)

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Originally posted by Mark Squires:
<B>Here's how to fix Hot Sync problems</b>

Do you get an error message saying "can't connect to desktop?" This is a known problem--although most Handspring techs don't seem familiar with it. In some instances it is a hardware defect with the Visor, but in most cases here's how to fix it:

(a) Simplest. Just do a soft reset on your Visor. It may work next time. Worked for me.

(b) Worse comes to worst, you may have to edit the registry. If you're not comfortable doing this, don't, call Handspring, have someone walk you through it, but what you'd want to do is find the section dealing with the Visor USB drivers, click on it, select all the items listed in the right-hand pane, and delete them.

Then uninstall the Palm Software and reinstall it.

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I'm using a VD on a Mac Clone with OS 8.1 and syncing with Now Contact and Now Up-to-Date with Now Sync.

All was fine until yesterday, now if won't sync. Done soft and hard resets, and reloaded sync software - nothing.

Any advice?

Thanks.

This sucks!! My Visor just started failing to hotsync also. I did a soft reset and it now works, but I think Handspring should definately put up something on their website to warn us of this and send us a permanent fix for this via mail (a download would be good also).

I had problems syncing and beaming after downloading ir software. I could not delete the stuff -- it went into rom. I did a hard reset and started fresh and left off the IR stuff. I can now sync and beam. I've had no problems with "hacks" I have snoozer and alarm3 and popup -- all runing without problems.

My VDx (USB cradle) started synching after soft-reset.

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Originally posted by PastorOBC:
I had problems syncing and beaming after downloading ir software. I could not delete the stuff -- it went into rom.

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I too am having problems...I cannot hotsync anymore. I have tried a soft reset, and it is not working for me. I may have to do a hard reset.

I am using the serial cradle on two different machines (NT at work, win95 at home). It used to hotsync everytime with no problems. I did get it to hotsync one more time over the weekend, but I can't repeat it (in that case, I changed the batteries).

I have tried soft reset/semi-soft reset (hold down the scroll up button while doing a reset)/turning off all hacks/soft reset with visor in cradle/changing batteries/loading palm software on different machine at work/reinstalling software at home & cleaning out all "pilot" entried in registry...but nothing seems to work

I down loaded a program to watch the serial port (http://www.avance-systems.com/easycom/) to watch what was happening with the serial connection.

It turns out that as soon as you put your visor in the cradle (if it is on), it sends something via the serial port to the PC. Likewise, if you put in the cradle when it's off, it won't send anything till you turn it on.

It looks like everytime, it sends something different. I would expect it to send the same thing...

So it looks like my serial cradle is working, but the visor is sending junk. I'm going to do some research on how the visor does a serial connection. Hopefully this will shed some light.

Does anyone have any other ideas...

BTW...I'm still waiting on my email help request to Handspring

I too had this problem. Pin resets would sometimes work and sometimes they would not. Then I noticed that when I held the Visor down in the cradle more snugly it would sync every time. I have installed a rubber band around the cradle and place it over the top of the visor when I sync. This holds the Visor down in the cradle a lot better. It has not failed since. It seems like I read somewhere that the Visor has to be a certain weight in order to hotsync on the USB. Maybe they just did not make it quite heavy enough. Hope this solves some of your problems.
Jason

I just tried a hard reset, and I still can't do a hotsync. I guess I will be sending this visor back in

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Originally posted by wilderf:
I just tried a hard reset, and I still can't do a hotsync. I guess I will be sending this visor back in

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I'm pretty sure something is wrong with my visor.

I have:
1)uninstalled & re-installed the software on 2 different machines (NT & WIN95 using serial) with not luck (this includes clearing out all entries that reference "pilot" in the registry.
2) installed on a brand new win95 machine at work (serial) with not luck
3) installed on a win98/w USB machine at work, still not luck.
4) down-loaded some software (mentioned above in previous post) and watched what was happening on the serial connection.

So, I have tried the software on 4 different machines, the serial cradle on 3 different machines and the USB on a 4th machine...no luck.

I finally got through to Handspring. They said it would take 2-4 weeks just to pick up my "can't synch" visor for repair (using a RMA and their shipping label). This means that I may not have a working visor for over a month!

Forget that:
1) That's way too long
2) They just may send me someone else's repaired visor and it will be all scratched
up.

I really don't think I should have to wait "who knows how many weeks" to get a working visor...this one is not even a month old. Plus it took multiple calls to get through to Handspring (I would be on hold for 20-50 mins, then the line would just go dead). I never did get a response via email (Thank gosh for this site or I would have been really lost-isn't the internet GREAT!)

So, I'm just going to send this one back with the 30 day money-back-guarantee .(I received mine on Dec 23rd) and think about buying a 3Com or something else.

I'm hoping that Handspring just needs a few more months to work out all the bugs...
It's a shame, I REALLY liked my visor, but the support isn't there...yet.

I'm guessing I just had some bad luck...

Good luck to the rest of you.

quote:

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Originally posted by Marshall Klein:
.....I think Handspring needs to investigate this issue and advise its users on a simpler solution then playing with the registry and uninstall/reinstall the Palm software.[/B]

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Handspring is sending me a new Visor & Cradle. My wife uses a Visor Solo and only synced it once with my computer. I attempted to sync her Solo this afternoon and her would NOT sync so I did a soft reset and then it worked. I think the problem is with the Cradel or with the USB software Handspring has provided for the OS 3 operating system. If my new Visor has the same problems, I think I will need to give up on the Visor for now and return it since Tech Support can not resolve this issue without some sort of patch to the OS 3 operating system.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Squires:
No argument there. The degree to which such a critical issue has been met with silence and complicated info is amazing. I'm told also that some hot sync problems may in effect be a motherboard issue, for which there is no solution but return and repair.

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I too have been having problems with the USB Cradle and hotsynch.

I am synching at work and at home, using a travel cable at home and the cradle at work. Seems that I ALWAYS need to do a soft reset (via paperclip) to get the unit to synch via the cradle.

I think we need to keep pestering Handspring until we get a response as to why this is a problem. With all the posts here, there's no doubt that it is not an isolated problem. I'd guess something with the USB drivers from Handspring and Micro$oft not playing nice...



[This message has been edited by Cymbrogi (edited 01-22-2000).]

Well, mine lasted almost 4 weeks before it stopped hotsynching. I really appreciate this site as a reference for ideas, though I tried a soft reset and it didn't work.

I have a serial cradle at home and a USB at work. The USB's been fine so far, but the serial's dead.

Is there an equivalent to scandisk and defrag for the visor to clean up it's memory? Or something akin to cleaning up temp files on it?

If any of you guys've traded in your visor's for new ones, by all means tell us how long it took, etc..

Any info'd be appreciated, thanks!

nnanto,

Try reducing the speed of your serial connection from "As fast as possible" to 38400. Worked for me.

Just got my VisorDX on Friday after waiting over a month. I have made several attempts to hotsync using the USB cradle - nothing has worked. Keep getting the "connection could not be established" message. I'm running Windows 95 on a 200Mhz AMD system and have never used the USB PCI card before now. Here's a list of what I've tried:
- holding the visor firmly on cradle
(pressing the hotsync button on the cradle will turn on the visor so the connection between the two appears to be working)
- soft reset, semi-soft reset, hard reset with system reboot
- checked the connection to the USB card
- switched to the other USB port
- changing speed settings on hotsync manager
- reinstalling palm desktop software
- checked to make sure Win95 is detecting the USB card through Device Manager - it says it is.
- ran a Win95 USB driver patch called OSR21dbg to see if maybe it's the driver
- throwing the visor against the wall (just kiddin', although I've given it some serious consideration)

This leads me to believe one or more of the follwing:
- the USB PCI card is bad
- something is screwy with the USB driver
- I have a bad cradle
- I have a bad visor

I haven't tried to contact support yet. I figured I'd get a quicker response here. My questions are: Is there some solution I may have overlooked? Which of the above culprits is the most likely? Judging from all the posts I tend to think either a bad cradle or visor, but I'd like to here what others think. Thanks.

Windows 95 USB support does not properly handle the Visor. Nobody on this site has been able to get it to work. Plus other USB peripherals (eg. USB Zip) often don't work either. If you're thinking of upgrading to Win2000, just note that as of today there is no USB driver for the Visor yet. Windows 98 is the only option.

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Eugene Hsieh
Editor, VisorCentral FAQ

Thanks for the info, I spent most of today looking for a patch, only to realize that there wasn't any. I guess I can shell eitherout the money for a serial cradle ($29) or buy Windows 98 ($89). Is the USB connection worth the extra cost? Its seems pretty unreliable.

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Originally posted by robZZZ:
I guess I can shell eitherout the money for a serial cradle ($29) or buy Windows 98 ($89). Is the USB connection worth the extra cost? Its seems pretty unreliable.

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