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-- USB Win98 Hotsync problem (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=2539)

Hi,

I got my BVDx yesterday. I loaded the desktop software on my Win 98 machine. USB port is enabled/no conflicts/working properly (according to sysinfo). USB Local and Serial are checked in Hotsync Manager. I placed the 'virgin' visor in the cradle and pressed the hotsync button. The connect dialog came up on my visor but about 30 seconds later I got an 'unnable to establish connection' message and the sync timed out.

Fortunately I had also ordered a serial cradle so I shut down my machine, plugged it in, started up and tried syncing with the serial cradle and it works fabulously.

How can I go about further diagnosing where the problem with the USB cradle lies? I have followed all the directions given by previous messages here and on HS troubleshooting page.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on testing the USB port or the cradle. Some one in a previous thread mentioned a Registry edit. Can someone provide more info?

Thanks.

Larry

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"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

[This message has been edited by Larry Diener (edited 03-10-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Larry Diener (edited 03-10-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Larry Diener (edited 03-10-2000).]

Turns out this is probably an installation issue on my machine. My registry has no entries under hkey_local_machine/enum for USB. There should be a key there. System info says everthing is functioning normally but it won't hotsync!

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"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

While I didn't have the install problem right out of the box I do continue to have usb hot-sync problems that can only be solved by a soft-reset. I use my serial cradle at work and my usb one at home and everytime I go to use the usb cradle AFTER I have used the serial cradle the hot-sync fails. It's gotten to the point where I just reset before I sync with the usb cradle. I'll have to check my registry entries to see what's there.

Joe,

You're not using EvPlugBase by any chance, are you? I was having to soft reset to do Win98/USB HotSyncs, and EvPlugBase turned out to be the culprit. See the software incompatibility section for details.

Glad to hear someone else is having this problem! I have the same problem: hotsync via the USB cradle (installed @ home) works intermittently. I am also syncing via a serial cradle at work (as WinNT does not support USB. Aaargh!)

Does the soft reset method work consistently? Larry, did you end up with any more information about the system registry issue?

For me USB doesn't work at all. The constant soft resets and occasional attempted hard resets are something the unit is forcing at me but is not related (in my case) to the USB sync problem. I've never been able to sync with USB but I suspect that it's my computer's (Win98) fault and not Handspring's. I'm still looking for more info on the registry issue. If some one would be wlling to send me a registry fragment (regedit, export current branch) off-line for hkey-local-machine/enum/usb I'd really appreciate it so I can see approximately what's missing from my setup.

Thanks,

Larry

quote:

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Does the soft reset method work consistently? Larry, did you end up with any more information about the system registry issue?

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OK here's the latest. I reinstalled Win98. It now has a registry key for the USB port Hooray! I also had to reinstall the Palm desktop software. I had ordered a replacement USB cradle on Tech support's recommendation (I received a SERIAL replacement cradle yesterday) in case it was the problem. But the cradle appears to be working just fine.

USB Hotsync now works fine.

The random resets problem is still a problem but that's another thread...
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"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

[This message has been edited by Larry Diener (edited 03-15-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Larry Diener (edited 03-16-2000).]

Well, I did a soft reset on mine and the USB hotsync worked like a charm. Like you, Larry, I'm not 100% sure that there isn't something up with Win98 (even though I installed the USB drivers right off the Win98 disk), but it works now so I won't worry about it until it happens again. Hopefully next time a soft reset will again do the trick.