Database Users

Things that make my JasJar USELESS

If you read my posts you'll see that I'm truly a proponent of working thro issues before lambasting a new product, and in fact you'll see that most issues raised are perfectly solvable with PocketPlus 3's close button and a few more apps. However, I'm now down to a few unresolved issues, and quite frankly I HAVE to tell the world NOT to buy this device until these issues are solved - probably by HTC. The bottom line is that there are not yet enough users to provide the critical mass to solve these issues, and one desperaely checks all the JJ forums daily only to find so few new posts it looks like it'll be many many months before the device is usable. What makes matters worse is that HTC don't seem to give a damn - we don't see them on the forums helping us early adopters AT ALL, their own forums do not even have a JJ/universal section - and you get fewer replies on there than you do here! It's shocking!:
1) BT unreliable: Turns itself off. Even when on, a call can come in and you cannot answer. Highly unpredictable so U generally miss the call whilst driving using your knees to steer, battling to open the JJ with one hand, and pumping your BT button with the other. I've battled with Gtec and Jabra BT devices - this IS a JJ issue!
2) GPRS/UMTS not always-on: The whole principle of GPRS was always-on, and UMTS brought us always-on broadband. Instead we have a situation where every app that wants to go on-line establishes a connection, does its thing, and drops the carrier when finishes. The best way to explain is how dial-up used to feel; too much hassle to bother booking those movie tickets on-line, yet once you had always-on broadband you didn't EVER queue at the moveis again! Broadband and wireless has always been more about always-on than about the access. Anton Tomov's GPRS Keep Alive does not solve this on the JJ.
3) No decent PIM: This is a 3-function convergent device; phone, on-line and PIM. The built-in PIM is SO awfully BAD that it defies comprehension. Psion Series 3's were way better than this! Yes, 1998 P3's! On WM2003 devices one merely used PI, AF or PB - or any other apps for that matter. Now none work on the JJ! NONE! You heard me - not a single @#$#@%one! The PI dev/CEO blames the JJ blank screens on a ROM bug and is not prepared to put any more effort into it. AF guys are not even starting to promise beta dates yet - and when they do they'll probably battle with the JJ too. All other calendar apps are blank or unusably slow (ie 2 mins to populate the screen).
4) Notification queue management: We ARE getting dups again! Pocket Mechanic is the only app that removes the sddeamon dup, and it does not have a feature to scan and clean up at midnight. This is going to build up to be an issue over time; we'll hit alarm failures, memory and speed issues, and general applicaiton problems all as per our old XDA's. For non-techie geeks, this alone is a reason to run away screaming!
5) No backup: OMG OMG OMG! This is such an appauling situation, that it is beyond my comprehension that M$ didn't run out to rectify it within 1 day of releasing WM5 over FOUR months ago!!!!! Now we have a device that we CANNOT back up. 1 hard reset and you start over. If you're faint-hearted you're simply not going to test new apps. If ur and early-adopter, then get ready for some hard resets (I've done 3 to date). Non-techie-hardcore-geeks will NOT NOT NOT tolerate this. Not for a single nano-second!
I am not a developer/experts on the PPC, but I have been on the bleading edge for some time. I had a perfectly smooth XDA, then XDAII from the day each came out, and I have used forums like this to solve ALL my problems. I also put hours and hours into it. ie I am not a housewife complaining cos I can;t find a menu item - the above issues are serious and a challenge for anyone with less capability than Buzz.

1) Can't help you there
2) Get the GPRS Always on application that can be found here if you search
3) 2 words for you. Pocket Informant
4) Can't believe this is still an issue
5) Use Sprite backup (best) or use the Backup feature of ACTIVESYNC.

NO NO NO!!
2) Anton Tomov's "GPRS always on" does not work fo this
3) PI fails on JJ within 2 days; blank calendar views which Alex (PI CEO) says is a ROM bug. Honestly if PI worked I would forgive ALL the rest; When it does work PI in VGA is AWESOME.
4) Queue dups definite - but I do concede that it may be a result of PocketPlus301, aeRepeatAlarms, TotalOmmander, or spb GPRS monitor. Havn't had time 2 test 1x1
5) Sprite themselves say it does not work on wm5, and you can find out the hard way by trying to restore. Ditto for sunnysoft. I agree that AS managed contacts etc, BUT I want to backup a state so I can debug apps
<submitted from my JJ - ClubiMate forums do NOT work from a JJ!!>

3, 4 and 5 are Windows Mobile 5 issues, not i-mate issues, so it's a little unfair IMO to reject the JasJar based on just issues 1 and 2. All WM5 devices have these problems. Two of those issues might be solved in future device releases by inlcuding Pocket Informant and a backup util (once one compatible with WM5 is released - there is none yet), but for now, there's not much that can be done while we wait for solutions.
Also, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for MS to fix the duplicates issues. This has been a problem for a long time now. The JasJar is a great device, but we have to accept the fact that it will be a while before we can start using it (and other WM5 devices) to the level we had gotten used to with WM 2003 and 2003 SE.

You buy a new device AND a new OS.
A little patience please.
But the GPRS always on (MSN) is also urgent for me.
Huib

Thumbs down for WM5 - give me back 2003

Am I the only one to fnd that WM5 is a complete waste of time and not worth upgradong for let alone buying. It is in fact a huge step back from 2003.
First of all the flaky Activesync 4 which has had minimal testing on anything approaching a real world PC. How could any developer worth anything have not tested this on a machine with half-decent secruity measures, especially moving the sync protocol to use the TCP/IP stack. TCP/IP -> firewall -doh! (not the laughable toy Windows Firewall either).
Onto the operating system itself, where do I start?
1. The new "improved" memory management???? where is the improvement. How can you class something an improvement when it slows everything down, makes usability more difficult.
2. The communications manager. ....why???? a dumb interface hiding access to needed functions, especially when you are setting up a wireless access, why put on a pointless window just to be able to "switch on" a function???
3.GPRS why hide functionality again? Why remove the connect option from the icon on the top bar. Why do I have to start an internet explorer session just to connect to GPRS?
4.Messaging. Why remove the send/receive button? now we have to press menu then navigate to the send/receive function. So much easier to use...I think not... and why is Outlook email the default, we are not all corporate clones yet
5.Contacts. Where are all the customisation funtions, why can't i arrange the display to suit me. Why can't i select more than one contact at a time, which bright spark of an MS designer (whose only experience of the real world is the trip to the coffee machine) thought it was a good idea to only select one contact at a time....
6. Uninstall programmes, doesn't work properly, stupid error message about not being able to uninstall completley, then bits being left over even in soft reset, making a hard reset inevitable. double doh!!!
7.Installation failures, for example installing MS own voice command, warns not to install on anything but main memory but then when that is selected comes up with a classic null error message, and takes up over 50% of the program memory anyway.
For those of us who haven't got time to sit and devise brilliant technical workarounds, for us who have to deal with an irate user group having this approximation of an upgrade forced upon them. WM5 is a complete waste of space.
:evil: :twisted: :x

First, I totally agree with you about ActiveSync 4 - at best the testing and quality control was simply shoddy but not different from a lot of other sw these days.
@1 I like the new memory management even though it contributes to decreased performance. To have everything stored in a non-volatile storage and then execute out of ram is a much better architecture IMHO.
@2 I disagree. The advertised direction of WM5 was toward less use of the stylus which the buttons assigned to things like the Conn Mgr improve. My beef is that there is no GPRS control in Conn Mgr - can't turn it on, can't turn it off. I would like to never have to use the stylus - never!!!
@3 Totally agree!
@4 Before I had to use the stylus - now I don't - much better for me.
@5 Agree.
@6. I didn't find the uninstall to work much better in WM 2003. One almost has to do a soft reset before uninstalling and then I always check afterwards with Resco Explorer for stuff still left around.
@7. I have found that a lot of install errors are with legacy software not upgraded to WM5. In fact, almost all the errors and soft resets on my KJAM have been caused by old software not ready for WM5.
I do wish that before MS puts out a release of any software that they force the developer(s) to live it it for a week or two. Sometimes I think that they do indeed consider the real world as a short walk from their office to the coffee machine. Maybe WM 5.1, 2 or 3 will be better.
Frank

The saying goes "never buy the first iteration of a major release", and it's true. There's teething troubles that should have been caught in testing, but for me the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, specifically stylus-free use, and persistent storage.
We all have different requirements, hence the device won't be right for anyone. I'd imagine that an inevitable service pack will fix some of your complaints, but others really won't be addressed.
As for dealing with an irate user group, well, I wouldn't roll out a device like this to a user group unless I was confident in it. If you work for a network, I guess you've got no choice.
It used to be that early adopters of this sort of thing were geeks/technophiles at heart, but now a phone is a fashion accessory they're getting into everyone's hands quickly... The good news is that pressure should force manufacturers to get fixes quickly.
As for the wish that MS wanting developers to eat their own dog food, well, they do... However, the demographic of an MS developer or even business manager is a bit different to the audience for the device. I would still imagine that a hell of a lot of "focus groups" etc have been involved in designing the OS etc.
I guess sales advisors in the phone retailers should be aware of the potential pitfalls and be advising people as to whether the device really is for them or not. I've had huge problems with AS4.0/1 and my firewall, but I know that I'm on my own and that phoning t-mobile would be as much fun and use as kicking myself hard in the crotch.

I think the AS4 issue is going to be the single largest issue posing a challenge in the uptake of newer devices in the enterprise area. Large companies will not compromise on their existing security profiles just because MS can't get its newest product to coexist with even their own firewall... What a joke!

Activesync 4.1 is much better than AS4.0. I have been using build 4807 shortly after getting my K-JAM, and its much improved over the original 4.0. I updated to the beta build 4807 about a day after getting my KJAM (and installing 4.0) and its heaps better.

fmcgirt said:
My beef is that there is no GPRS control in Conn Mgr - can't turn it on, can't turn it off. I would like to never have to use the stylus - never!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The red phone button will kill a GPRS session if you just hold it down for a few seconds..
Dox

Dox said:
fmcgirt said:
My beef is that there is no GPRS control in Conn Mgr - can't turn it on, can't turn it off. I would like to never have to use the stylus - never!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The red phone button will kill a GPRS session if you just hold it down for a few seconds..
Dox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know about turning it off - but you need to run something like Messaging or PIE to turn it on - and some of my internet apps will no longer cause a GPRS startup so I have to run something else first - insane!!!
Frank

I feel your frustrations. I don't get it either. Microsoft seems to market their stuff to guys with a lot of time on their hands to troubleshoot problems. I always feel like a beta tester...within about 10 minutes of using something, I usually find some kind of glitch, bug, or problem like the Activesync bugs.
Wouldn't this be obvious to a big company who spends a lot of effort on R&D?

inbox7 said:
I feel your frustrations. I don't get it either. Microsoft seems to market their stuff to guys with a lot of time on their hands to troubleshoot problems. I always feel like a beta tester...within about 10 minutes of using something, I usually find some kind of glitch, bug, or problem like the Activesync bugs.
Wouldn't this be obvious to a big company who spends a lot of effort on R&D?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe they have so much effort in R&D and so little in Testing and QC because they have learned there are many of us that will buy new, shoddy stuff and spend the time to help get the bugs out that they don't have to bother - just get it out there and all of us dummies will gobble it up..
I am with you in feeling like the beta (or even alpha) tester - it doesn't take that much effort to discover bugs, glitches, inadequate user interface features, sync problems, etc., usually an hour or two with a new device is more than enough for me.
Maybe our expectations about converged devices are way too high. I know I compare the phone part to my old cell phones and without exception think: "Why did they leave out that feature?" or "Why doesn't this work?", "Why is the RF so lousy?", etc. And do exactly the same thing with the PDA part. I really don't think we will ever see a converged device that is as good as two very good separate devices - at least with the present set of OS developers and hardware manufacturers. Their mindset simply won't allow it.
But for me, I like my KJAM very much and even though I hate some of its problems and dumb implmentations, I would never go back to seperate devices. I think my frustrations are more with my feeling that with a little more effort things could be a lot better. And with the prices we pay I think we deserve that effort.
Frank

k_kirk said:
I think the AS4 issue is going to be the single largest issue posing a challenge in the uptake of newer devices in the enterprise area. Large companies will not compromise on their existing security profiles just because MS can't get its newest product to coexist with even their own firewall... What a joke!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This could not be more wrong. From direct experience of corporate network protection, WM 5's dependence on AS 4 is a Good Thing (which is why MS state it is a concession to Enterprise pressure). The move to use the standard IP stack means the network manager can regain control of who has access to his network and who doesn't. It puts an end to people connecting their PPC to their work PC and syncing over all the crap they have stored in their home PC, deliberately or otherwise. That includes virus infected files in My Documents, porn, and pirated software/music/video. Or just personal information that in hindsight they rather we didn't see. Millions is invested in protecting corporate networks and this has been long been comprimised by PDA users (on all platforms) "innocently" syncing their personal devices. It's not just one sided - it protects the user against accidentally loading something onto the corporate network that could instantly lead to dismissal under most corporate network usage/abuse policies.
There's no unforeseen "bug", or technical reason why AS4 doesn't work with a firewalled PC. It just needs the appropriate policies setting by the firewall administrator (be that personal or corporate). That's how it should be.

I got tired of the random misbehavior of ActiveSync 4.1 (Official Version) via USB and decided to try a Bluetooth connection using the instructions under the Help Menu. No problems setting it up, connecting or syncing so I think BT is the way to go for me from now on.
Frank
EDIT - Still having problems!!! Faster connecting but still slow "Looking for Changes", hanging, etc. Soft reset sometimes required.

Ineedtoys said:
k_kirk said:
I think the AS4 issue is going to be the single largest issue posing a challenge in the uptake of newer devices in the enterprise area. Large companies will not compromise on their existing security profiles just because MS can't get its newest product to coexist with even their own firewall... What a joke!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This could not be more wrong. From direct experience of corporate network protection, WM 5's dependence on AS 4 is a Good Thing (which is why MS state it is a concession to Enterprise pressure). The move to use the standard IP stack means the network manager can regain control of who has access to his network and who doesn't. It puts an end to people connecting their PPC to their work PC and syncing over all the crap they have stored in their home PC, deliberately or otherwise. That includes virus infected files in My Documents, porn, and pirated software/music/video. Or just personal information that in hindsight they rather we didn't see. Millions is invested in protecting corporate networks and this has been long been comprimised by PDA users (on all platforms) "innocently" syncing their personal devices. It's not just one sided - it protects the user against accidentally loading something onto the corporate network that could instantly lead to dismissal under most corporate network usage/abuse policies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although it's annoying, as I can't affect the firewall policy on my work PC, I have to concede it does offer a way to close a big hole in corporate security...
Ineedtoys said:
There's no unforeseen "bug", or technical reason why AS4 doesn't work with a firewalled PC. It just needs the appropriate policies setting by the firewall administrator (be that personal or corporate). That's how it should be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't agree with that though. It should be the case, but in my case (on my own PC), with all the correct policies in place, AS4.1 still refuses to connect until I actually unload the firewall completely. If I set the f/w to "Allow All", it still won't sync. The logs show no packets being rejected, so it should work. The comments on the MS ActiveSync help pages suggesting users may have problems with VPN clients and other applications that slot themselves into the protocol stack suggests that one or both parties are using coding techniques/functions that aren't as robust as they could be and have left, in my case at least, something that looks like a "bug". When it does work smoothly, and I can petition our IT people to amend the corporate policies and maybe open up AS over SSL for my GPRS connection, it'll save them having to shell out for as many Blackberries for people who've already paid for their own devices...
Dox.

There's no unforeseen "bug", or technical reason why AS4 doesn't work with a firewalled PC. It just needs the appropriate policies setting by the firewall administrator (be that personal or corporate). That's how it should be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love that to be right, but it's really appearing that it isn't. Sygate Security Agent just doesn't seem to be compatible. When set to "pass all traffic", it doesn't work, and when I manually configure around every blocked piece of traffic, it still doesn't work.
Weird...
If you have any suggestions for what else I can do to get this working then I'd really be grateful for them.

I got my MDA Vario on 5th November. It's my first PPC/WM device ever, after owning a Palm T3 for two years and Psion 3c and Revo before that.
For me, ActiveSync 4.0 (supplied with the Vario) has worked smoothly and flawlessly right out of the box over USB and BT connections. I've now upgraded to the new official 4.1 release and that is just as reliable. I'm syncing with my personal laptop running Win XP Pro SP2 and all MS Windows updates.
I have the standard Windows firewall enabled, NOD32 AV and MS Antispyware Beta for my system protection. As I use a NAT router with SPI I think I have enough protection to not need any further/alternative firewalls running.
I haven't added much software to the Vario, just....
SPB GPRS Monitor supplied with the Vario;
Mapopolis mapping and route planning;
Ghisler Total Commander;
Eidos Tomb Raider.
It is all working just fine

I think it's generally well accepted that AS works fine as long as you're not running anything strange (and by strange, I mean "non-Microsoft" ) on the firewall front. Unfortunately some of us are

Chiark, fair enough, I understand that. But I question why people feel the need to run alternative firewalls. I understand they stop "phone home" type contacts, which a NAT router won't, nor Windows firewall, but I feel it is enough to be protected from external attacks and to let my AV and anti-spyware take care of the trojans and worms.
But each to his own, I suppose.

Windows Firewall is not popular with a lot of corporations... My company has decided on Sygate Secure Agent and has deployed it to over 30,000 employees. They're not going to change as a result of an incompatability with AS4!
The point is that MS needs to be working hard to correct this fault, and address the issues in the above posts.

Most annoying Universal Faults/Bugs --> Post Yours!

Here's mine
Model: MDA Pro
ROM/Radio/ExtRom: 1.12.42WWE | 1.00.02 | 1.12.126WWE
Design Flaws
No external display. Many cheapie prepay phones have this, why didn't the universal get one?
Usability Issues
When closed and Off, phone does not actually ring until 3rd ring. Leaving just 3 rings to answer it. Most calls hence go to voicemail due to not enough time left to answer.
When closed, and someone rings, the external start/end call buttons dont light up so I cant see which one is green(answer call) and which one is red(end call). 50% of the time I press the wrong one sending the caller to voicemail!
No simple, built in way to close rather than 'minimise' applications
Built in contacts app and calendar still unusable. MS: please just give up and buy Web IS !!
Software Bugs
Sometimes 2 of the wifi icons dissapear from the 'connections' tab under settings requiring a soft reset.
Wifi often fails to connect, needs switching off and then back on again, then it sees AP.
Loses the mobile network signal occasionally, for no reason (i.e even in 4 bar signal areas)
I'll add more as I remember them. But HTC/MS are getting better, the hardware and initial ROMs of the MDA Pro are worlds ahead of those on my XDA IIs (which was totally unusable initially).
Having a low battery means that device switches on every 5 mins to tell you about the low battery thus causing lower battery. Tell me once and then goto sleep! Or tell me once for 10%, once for 5% etc
If software causes the unit to switch on (in order to issue a notification) the same software should switch it off again after, i.e dont wait for the default 'not being used' timeout.
Nigel

Grrrrr
Ok .. I have an M5000 on orange, I have owned it for almost a week. My Rom/Radio gubbins are whatever Orange lock it at. My biggest complaints are:
1) Service Plans - There doesn’t seem to be a network in the UK that offers a service plan (more data, less voice) suited for the device. A trick was missed here I think!
2) My manual talks of GPRS counters and graphs.. My phone does not have any such features. All the more relevant given my 1st point and that the price per MB is horrendous on most networks.
3) Tolerance - My unit needs a reset at least twice a day. Sometimes because it can’t find GPRS coverage, sometimes coz it’s just slow. Back in the day when i purchased my 1st IPAQ I had to reset that a few times a day. I have been off in UIQ land for the past few years and I am surprised that this far into product evolution you die hard windows mobile/PPC fans have been putting up with the same crap for years. You are perfect customers and a tolerant bunch ;-).
4) Incoming call delay – I read that this is fixed in later roms. I tried to install a JASJAR rom and failed. My phone is locked. Blastit !
5) Windows Mobile Media Player 10 – a pointless piece of software, how do I delete it
6) Speed – In between reboots my unit is inconsistently slow. I have tried all of the points suggested in this forum aside from the rom updates (I cant do that).
7) Email – The email client is dire. I use IMAPS and SSL SMTP. Everything is find on mail accounts with low numbers of messages in ( < 100 ). The wheels fall off very quickly if you ask the client to download mail from a mbox with a few thousand messages in and lots of folders. So far I have lots a mail account twice and left it saying “updating folders” for 3 hours while connected via wifi.
8) Email Again – Like I said .. I use IMAPS and SSL SMTP. I use self signed certs. The 1st time I created my mail accounts and connected the unit asked me if I wanted to proceed with the self signed cert shenanigans. After that I was not asked. When I look for the certs in the certificates app they are not there. Where are they?

>1) Service Plans - There doesn’t seem to be a network in the UK that offers a service plan (more data, less voice) suited for the device. A trick was missed here I think!
Agreed, t-mobile with web-n-walk are the closest, but poor 3G coverage and no possibility to upgrade bundled data from 40MB (other than £1/MB Pay-as-you-go) + unused data not carried over to next month are the main issues.
>2) My manual talks of GPRS counters and graphs.. My phone does not have any such features. All the more relevant given my 1st point and that the price per MB is horrendous on most networks.
You should have found an application called 'spb GPRS Monitor' on the CD?? install this after having got the machine connected via activesync and you'll have the missing part of the puzzle. This is somet else that should be included within the OS -- MS please buy spb !
>4) Incoming call delay – I read that this is fixed in later roms. I tried to install a JASJAR rom and failed. My phone is locked. Blastit !
Indeed, phone should have never gotten to market with this major bug.
>7) Email – The email client is dire. I use IMAPS and SSL SMTP. Everything is find on mail accounts with low numbers of messages in ( < 100 ). The wheels fall off very quickly if you ask the client to download mail from a mbox with a few thousand messages in and lots of folders. So far I have lots a mail account twice and left it saying “updating folders” for 3 hours while connected via wifi.
Webis mail is an improvement, but still not great. My main issue with imap is the inability to set a specific imap root folder. My mail is served from my linux box at home, and there is stuff other than mail in my user directory - I dont want it finding all this stuff (at all!) Yeah, I know you can tell it to sync only specific folders, but initially it tries to sync the lot. I gave up with imap and use pop3 now. Perhaps push email availability will fix this.
Nigel

@veletron
O2 has a tariff called Data 36 for around £16.50 per month for 36MB and voice calls are on a pay as you go basis (max 25p per minute).

I agree with most item you guys mentioned especially about the phone's ringing late than the actual incoming call. If I carry JJ, on that particular day I would miss most of my calls due to that.
Here is the bug I consider annoying and hopefully they get fixed soon:
1. The Caller ID sent to the BT headset (still number instead of contact name). Have not heard anything yet till now. Dunno until when they're going to fix this.
2. When used in PDA/tablet mode, there is no hardware button for both of the softkeys that are being introduced in WM5. Pretty annoying. Other hardware buttons on the side are mostly dedicated buttons. I have to sacrifice the record button and assign it to click the OK.
3. If you have not found this one out yet. please try it with your JJ/Universal. With a SD card inside the slot, use one finger, pull it out by moving the edge slowly (without pushing it in to release it). The SD card will come out!
I was pretty :`( with this, but when the SD card inside the slot, even I shake the JJ it will not come out. At least we have to be extra careful with this.

jah said:
@veletron
O2 has a tariff called Data 36 for around £16.50 per month for 36MB and voice calls are on a pay as you go basis (max 25p per minute).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly... 36Mb is pretty poor, A few hours of streaming monkey radio, some GRIB files, email and web pages etc.. and I am stuffed....
I have had to jump through hoops just to get something half decent. I ended up with a 400MB a month add on but only after I signed up on a business tariff as a sole trader.
The guys at expansys were selling the JJ with an orange all you can eat (1GB per month) data card sim in it. While he told me voice calls would work he could not confirm that that would always be the case, when I spoke with orange they told me it would never work.

For me the most annoying thing is that the Jasjar in about 20% of the cases freezes upon arrival of a new SMS. You know this makes the thing so very unreliable. You never know when the unit has froozen and find out only when you need to use the unit again. Then you start wondering that don't know how many people tried to contact you while the Jasjar was lying frozen, unnoticed.
Kind Regards

I have no complaints at all, i have it exactly as i want it, now Lakeridge have sorted the screen switch time to be instant on wisbar i am happy, I have the following installed
Wisbar Advance 2 (newest release)
Pocket Informant (newest WM5 Release)
Pocket Breeze
Dinarsoft HandyMenu & Launcher & Switcher
Expea2 Theme
Blank Black Wallpaper
The Show and Hide Bottom Bar App (Assigned to a custom Wisbar Icon)
PSShutxp
FlexWallet 2006
CodeWallet Pro 5
Resco Keyboard Pro 4.34
Resco Explorer 2005 v5.20
I have 27.74MB Storage & 17.77MB Program Memory Free
It has taken 5 Hard resets, and much hair pulling and waiting for new releases, but my JasJar is now stable as hell!
Now if only someone could figure out how to display animated gifs as caller ID's i would be as happy as a P.I.S!!!! at last
Richard

jah said:
@veletron
O2 has a tariff called Data 36 for around £16.50 per month for 36MB and voice calls are on a pay as you go basis (max 25p per minute).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, I am aware of this. I was gonna go with o2 on data 200 originally, but they buggered up my order, charged me for the device but never sent it, performed a total of 15 credit checks, screwed my credit history, and then started sending me final demands for data200 even though the contract had already been cancelled. Took 4 weeks to get credit record straightened out, and £139.99 for xda refunded, and a further 2 weeks to get them to realise that I had returned the sim within the usual 14 days.
Ruddy Nightmare, after that I dont consider any O2 products to be worth a mention!! I am a long time contract customer, and they were not even interested in keeping the business by way of money off sweetners!
Besides.... 40MB+200 anynet mins still costs much much more on O2 than on t-mobile ;-)
Nigel

My Universal is losing email accounts. I think memory is not safe in WM5!
See
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=202617&highlight=mail+accounts#202617

Have seen much of that discussed above on my new T-Mobile MDA Pro, however in addition to the overly long call delay, with extremely heavy use over the past month I have observed the following two rather disconcerting "critical" bugs:
- occasionally, the GSM system loses the network despite the network being present and displays a "no service" exclaimation mark next to the service twig. No problem here, except that it does not recover from this state even if the network comes back, or if the location (ie. cell) is changed. For example, this happened in central London today, and after 4 hours of monitoring, it was still lost to the world...
- very occasionally, I've seen my little green service light flashing happily with the clamshell closed, appearing to indicate all was well. However, upon powering up the MDA Pro, I've discovered it had crashed, requiring a reset.
This is serious, because in both cases, my MDA Pro had irrecoverably gone out of network service for a considerable time, during which time any incoming calls had been lost.
In short, I cannot depend upon this device for voice, although I'm happy to live with these issues for data only. So it's a mini laptop... and I still have to get/carry another phone and SIM.
Bosseye

Have seen much of that discussed above on my new T-Mobile MDA Pro, however in addition to the overly long call delay, with extremely heavy use over the past month I have observed the following two rather disconcerting "critical" bugs:
- occasionally, the GSM system loses the network despite the network being present and displays a "no service" exclaimation mark next to the service twig. No problem here, except that it does not recover from this state even if the network comes back, or if the location (ie. cell) is changed. For example, this happened in central London today, and after 4 hours of monitoring, it was still lost to the world...
- very occasionally, I've seen my little green service light flashing happily with the clamshell closed, appearing to indicate all was well. However, upon powering up the MDA Pro, I've discovered it had crashed, requiring a reset.
This is serious, because in both cases, my MDA Pro had irrecoverably gone out of network service for a considerable time, during which time any incoming calls had been lost.
In short, I cannot depend upon this device for voice, although I'm happy to live with these issues for data only. So it's a mini laptop... and I still have to get/carry another phone and SIM.
Bosseye

bosseye said:
This is serious, because in both cases, my MDA Pro had irrecoverably gone out of network service for a considerable time, during which time any incoming calls had been lost.
In short, I cannot depend upon this device for voice, although I'm happy to live with these issues for data only. So it's a mini laptop... and I still have to get/carry another phone and SIM.
Bosseye
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, the Universal is not really a phone its is a PDA/mini tablet. There are lots of people, however, here and at Howard Forums who think the Universal is as good as SE/Nokia phones.
When I had my first Vodafone was about 15 pages long. Hundreds of GPRS/UMTS connections and disconnections. Does not sound right to me! Sure is something funny with the JasJar radio.

bosseye said:
- occasionally, the GSM system loses the network despite the network being present and displays a "no service" exclaimation mark next to the service twig.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I have seen this also, hopefully a future radio revision will sort it out. I have noticed that even with this (!) mark, the phone *IS* still in service. Some 3rd party progs dont check for a network connection before they try and send data, these still work even with the (!) WiFi is disabled so its not that. I see the same also with wifi, it says 'connecting' but it is in fact connected!!
Basically, the built in stuff is using an API to query the phone about its connection state, and its getting back a 'false'. Stuff that does not bother to query does not get the 'false' and thus works.
Its a pain in the @rse, I think that the display icon displays its state based on the same API call, so perhaps the whole lot is linked together. The status of the device is not being updated correctly.
Oh... it will also ring at times when it is displaying the (!)...
All supposition of course!
Mine will usually come back, if it does not then switching from auto to gsm or umts and then back kicks it into gear. I.e a soft reset is not usually required.
Mine is an MDA Pro flashed with the O2 original ROM.
Nigel

On my O2 Exec, I find that the backlight often isn't working when I switch it on. I have to go into the Settings, select Backlight, and then uncheck and recheck one of the settings there.
I had the same problem with the Ipaq I used to have, although it seemed to happen less regularly.

Calendar\Task alarms dissapear, no Notification with Alarm
the WM "Notification Que" Issue
After 3 weeks of usage of my Qtek9000:
- all the Calendar notifications dissapeared (no text, no sound);
- the Alarms did have sound and vibra, but no text and Notification softbutton on the screen;
- alarms sounds could appear on their selfs on a random time and no Text on the screen.
I've searched the forum and it learned out that it is a Notification Que Issue.
It looks that upon a time, that que is being oversized or some mess (duplicates?) happened in it.
So, after that the "Notification Que" Issue appears.
cross-posted: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=236733#236733

After trying to use my XDA Exec as my main device I had to finally just use it for PIM, eBooks & web (with Opera) and I used a Moto v3X as my main mobile/cell phone as the call quality of the Exec is poor relative to other standard 3G phones and I don't like the delay in altering you to an incoming call. But even as a eBook reader mini tablet I suffered because of the poor battery life and the need to reboot every two days. So I have now gone back to using my Nokia 9500 and I feel so much less stress now! I can't wait for the 3G Nokia Communicator.

Anyone got a fix for this?
lost wifi wep keys every time i soft reset? - keep on having to eneter the bloody wep key!!!!

Hi All,
I am using O2 XDA Exec. here is the system info:
ROM Version: 1.13.82 WWE
ROM date: 11/30/05
Radio version: 1.04.02
Protocol version 42.37.P8
ExtROM version: 1.13.188 WWE
Since my last ROM update from O2 the machine is extremely fast. I got of O2 and installed corporate one and never looked back. I laways have 28MB program and 28MB storage and no hacks involved. I have 512 MB SD card (getting smaller need bigger one).
Incoming calls: always answers the after the first ring.
pressing the phone button brings the dialer up in a split second.
I have buletooh car kit and always connect with my Exec for at least 1 hour at a time twice day without dropping a single connection ever.
WiFi extremly robust and never had problem connecting to mine or a paid one and it is beautiful used with SKYPE to make cheap phoen calls abroad.
I hardly need to reset the machine unless an application behaves badly. I just dont install unnecessary applications, or pretty ones (it is a matter of taste this one)
There is no proper close for application, it would be nice but hardly an issue to me (only a couple of taps away), actually some application I want them running.
Never had problems with call connections, and I travel between London and Swindon everyday.
As for Battery, when not using the display I switch it off (I can still get calls).
I leave a USB cable at work for recharging and a a car charger in the car. I also bought a spare battery. I am never out of battery (ofr my kind of usage).
All applications are standard and I use them heavily, appointments, alarms, contacts (2550 names of all the company employees), emails, word, and especially presentation (power point) and they do the job adequately.
I donwloaded and tried (with intention to buy) many application that might replace the standard ones but I always unable to justify spending the money as they don't do anything special (prettier maybe).
the only application I have is
WiFiFoFum for scanning wireless networks.
SBP GPRS Monitor (O2 gives me 100K a month free - wehehehe)
Adobe Reader 2.0
Microsoft Reader
PocketTV
CodeWallet Pro 5.0
Inesoft Cash organizer 05 Premium
Skookum for RSS news
and of course SKYPE 2.0
and with mobile google and a list of mobile websites in my Internet Explorer favourites and skookum I can get all the news and info that I need.
What I don't like;
no front screen to see who is calling without opening the device (this would have been a killer to me).
A-GPS or even a full blown GPS would have been very nice indeed.
I bought themachine 4 months ago from O2 high street; now hwyI don' thave these bugs people talk about, is there different versions of bad batches? I am not the only one I met quite few people who also get surprised when we read the bugs. Strange; could it be the way people use the device?
Thanks

SO MANY PROBLEMS......BUT MY MAIN ONES ARE
PHONE DROPPING CALLS WHEN DRIVING..UPGRADED TO LASTEST ROM STILL DOING IT ........I REALLY WISH I COULD FIX THIS...DOES ANY ONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM?
CASE MARKS...
STUTTERING RING TONES
ANSWER DELAYS
I THINK HTC SHOULD DO THE RIGHT THING AND RECALL THE LOT OF THEM MY OLD XDA 2 WAS A GREAT PHONE....THIS IS A PIECE OF CRAP.

Does Universal have bad hardware or software? should I buy?

:?:
I am just about to purchase a new PDA. I am deciding between the Wizard (o2 xda mini s) and Universal (o2 xda exec).
The universal seems to have everything I want, but I am scared by the posts here.
So I have one basic question for you guys:
Do you think:
1. There are basic hardware problems which can't be resolved until there is a new version
2. It is just a buggy software/firmware issue, and this will be fixed by the current and future firmware upgrades ?
If it is 2, I will not mind buying it ?
thx

Only a personal viewpoint, but my view is that most of the problems are being caused by software that claims to support WM5.0 - but the reality is that although they do support it, not all software is as robust as it should be. I have installed and uninstalled a whole range of applications (purchased and trial versions) - and found that many cause lock-ups etc. After trial and error I have settled on a PIM (Pocket Informant) and a closer/launcher (GSPocketMagic) that work reliably, do not cause my Universal to lock up and do not seem to have any effect on system speed. Others I have tried may cause lock-ups or at least really slow the system performance down significantly. Not sure if others have found the same - just what I have found by trial and error. Hope it helps

that is a very interesting point. I was very influenced by this article:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35177
Also it seems if you read aximsite re: dell x51v, that Wm5 is not as compatable with wm2003se software as people think.
What also seems to be adding to the issues is that the service providers (o2, orange, etc.) are NOT aware of this and are installing applications as standard (e.g. battery meter) which actually cause lags in answering phone calls as they are not correctly for Wm5.
I guess the question is now, does the jasajr work fine when all bad the sowftare is uninstalled, and is it possible to uninstall monitoring software that service providers have installed ?

I just bought mine on Monday... great piece of kit!
If you are just going to use the software that came with it you shouldn't have any problems at all (i haven't anyway) all is working well.
I think as soon as WM2005 becomes more established and more developers cater for it the glitches will go, like NH said, it's more 3rd party software that's causing the problems

hey budo, which service provider did you buy from ?
how is surfing the internet using 3g (the real reason I want to buy it, as I will keep my normal mobile for phone calls)
rgds

My position is clear. WM5 itself has bugs and does things you don't expect. Here are just four examples of WM5 probelms which are nothing to do with third-party apps:
- If the Camera app is left on it heats-up the devices as it drains the battery
- On downloading email over GPRS/3G the Messaging app can freeze
- Media stored on the SD card when used by apps when the "suspend" option is used can cause the app to fail when you re-start your device
- WM5 can report it has insufficient memory even when it has 20MB of RAM free
- Memory leakage means you need to reset the device daily
- If you do reset it is possible to loose settings and data if this data has not been written back to the persistent storage from the real RAM

O2, and they give you 3 options for "install type" so if you want all the bells and whistles you can switch it on, or if you want just the basic software you can switch that on lol...
I have to sort my internet out for 3G, needs to be config for some reason.... but from what i have seen from GPRS it's top dog esp with sites that cater for mobile internet....

this is not good jah, i am put off again. although this could be fixed with a firmware update if htc provide that kind of thing. Anyone know their record on this for other devices ?

hey budo. If 3g is turned on, it should use it automatically for connection, even if it says gprs. that is normally how all my 3g phones have worked when 'bluetoothed' with a pda.

Colonel
I assume you have seen this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33871
I am not trying to put you off but just want to make sure you have a balanced perspective. I have an Exec and all I can say is that it is "high maintenance" like all M$ based systems

thanks, i'll read.
I'm not sure I totaly agree with you about M$ stuff. I had a dell x50v and currently have an orange m500, and they are perfectly reliable and low mainentance. It does seem however that the hardware people have rushed out wm5 systems without really doing their research and I am sure M$ is responsible for a load of bugs. Roll on WM5se ......

colonel said:
hey budo, which service provider did you buy from ?
how is surfing the internet using 3g (the real reason I want to buy it, as I will keep my normal mobile for phone calls)
rgds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sux. This pixel doubling issue means that you don;t get anywhwere near the estate you expected. U can switch to Oz VGA but that costs a 5 min reset either way - easier to get to a PC! The other issue is that the IE browser is SO bad that 3G surfing feels like GPRS - in fact I used to fire up my laptop just to check that I had a good 3G signal in the area and was indeed surfing on UMTS!! Issue is that browser renders slowly, and cache's so badly that it actually reloads the whole friggin page when u go 'back'. I could have my laptop working on a 3G card right alongside my JJ on 3G, type in xda-developers and press 'go', and my laptop would give me the screen in seconds, whilst my JJ would take a full minute!! We're taking over 10x slower. Also, many sites do not render in PIE - blank drop boxes etc. In SA that's movie booking gone, not a SINGLE TV guide site works, and altho my private bank works, my company bank does not. However, terminal services in VGA is awesome...

craigiecraigie4
I don't really have problem with 3G and PIE. I use T-mobile and o2 in the UK and the rendering etc is reasonable given that I did not expect laptop like performance on my Exec. The Exec in corp mode with GSPMagic+ is very quick.

Good reasons not to get Atom Life

After hearing the news of O2 Atom Life being planned for release, I, like most of the users out there who bought it was restlessly waiting for its release.
Sadly, after getting my hand on the device, I am faced with the following problems (WM5 and WM6).
1. Video Call - The vtcall application requires 10mb of free ram to start. When in use, it only uses about 2-3mb of ram (confirmed by O2 support). The problem is, the average free ram of most users is around 8-10mb. When receiving video call, vtcall fails to start up.
2. Slow performance while scribing - Writing using the stylus is misery with this device. Each strokes appeared slowly and you are unable to write naturely. Instead you have to write very slowly, letter by letter. The excuse given by O2 Support is because of it using the rom as temporary memory for the touch screen and also because of the rom size (1gb). I was told that it is so because they can't foresee what will be effected when they decided to put in 1gb of rom. For me, it seems like it has a design flaw. I wonder if I can return the product and get back my money as this is the main reason why I regret getting Atom Life.
1. Windows Live - All features of Windows Live will try to connect via 3G/GPRS even though the device is already connected to the internet via wifi. Anyway, can't blame this on O2 as it seems to be the problem with WM6 but if they did a good testing, they should have known this and as Microsoft to fix it.
2. O2 Calendar - When tapped, it always open the native Calendar application even though the default calendar application has been set to other application (Pocket Informant, Pocket Agenda, ect).
3. O2 Filler - The filler has problem calculating the free space left with certain today plugins like the native Calendar plugin and Spb Mobile Shell (with auto-hide enabled).
4. O2 Connect - It has only 3 items. Support, Collection Points and News. Where's the updates, tips and ect as stated in www.seeo2.com? The O2 Connect at the site is also worthless. The service is far worse than the O2 Connect service for O2 Xda II mini. Further more, the News item has problem. After refreshing it, about 80% of the time, the content is corrupted. Can only see the first news followed by damaged text display. Anyway, the today plugin can display the news correctly.
5. Camera Templates (Photo Frame mode) - The template is placed in the hidden partition of the rom and users are stuck with only 5 templates. Unlike O2 Xda II mini, users can place additional templates in the My Documents\Templates folder and they are automatically accessible in the camera. Upon contacting O2 support, they asked me to look for 3rd party software to solve it.
6. Notification Queue - The WLMSchedule has mutiple duplication. Need to remove them or the duplicated events will grow in number over time. Again, this is more to Microsoft but as stated above, O2 should have known about it.

I have experienced the same problem but the most irritating for me is the problem with Video calling. How I wish the 1G ROM can share memory with the exhausted RAM like before with Windows 2003.

thanks for the info....how about flame???it hv the same problem??

Here an update from O2:
Prob 1:
After several phone conversation with O2, it is decided that O2 can't do anything with this. The 10mb start-up requirement for VTCall is for performance sake (used for buffer). O2 confirmed that they are aware that Atom Life does not have enough main memory after (extensive use) before it is released to the market.
From my point of view, the designers should be sacked. If they knew about it, why not just increase the main memory to 128mb? Sigh, too many fools working at O2.

...
1. I don't know why but I consistently get 12-15MB of free RAM. Like right now, I have 16MB. I can only seem to get less than 10MB when I play Windows Media Player in the background.
2. I use transcriber and I agree that it's quite slow but compared to the old way of writing on my Palm then it's like light speed.
Now the other part
1 and 6. I don't blame a device (or the maker) for Microsoft bugs. I mean seriously, look how many people go out to get Vista even though it's full of bugs. I got my Atom Life with WM6 and never even touched Windows Live (and don't understand what you mean by WLMSchedule <-- ignorance is bliss ). If I don't like a built-in function, I'll try to get 3rd-party stuff for it or not use it at all.
2. I use SPB Diary and it works with Pocket Informant.
3. After a long process of finding out what is "O2 Filler", I finally figure out what it is. I don't install O2 Themes so it doesn't show up and my SPB Diary is pretty good at calculating the correct space.
4. You actually installed O2 Connect? I heard it was responsible for the random turning on of Wifi so I did not even install it. Got this after intensive research on internet.
5. Ok, this is a problem and the O2 people should do something about it.
So ya, I still blame the O2 people for not getting more RAM (more RAM is always better) and the terrible quality of their softwares. But overall, I love my Atom Life. Just wanna provide a more balanced viewpoint for those interested in buying the Atom Life.

Part 1: It's O2 fault as the VTCall application is choosen by O2 for video call.
Part 2: If you have used Magician before (O2 Xda II mini), you'll be amazed that the old device outperform O2 Atom Live. When you scribe on it, it feels like you are using a real pen.
Part 3 & 4: Heh he, I don't use it actually... just pointing out that O2 are not planning very well with the applications they are providing
Part 5: The great part is, the O2 support ask me to buy a 3rd part application for it... like it does exists. Made me think that the support team is stupid or living in a remote area somewhere in.... dunno where.
Part 6: You can disable the damn WM Live thing using Memmaid... but since I'm using Messenger and Hotmail... sigh...

I have had my Atom Life for about 3 months now. I upgraded it to the latest WM6 ROM found on the O2 web site. My previous device was an I-Mate Jam.
I don't use a lot of the advanced features in the Atom Life, because of my current Telco provider (T-Mobile USA). So, I'm only using Edge, not 3G or 3.5G. I'm also not using VTCall or the FM radio. I do use WiFi and this seems to work well, although not as convenient as being on a PC. I do use Skype on occasion (under WiFi) and that has worked well too. I have a stereo blutooth earphone by Motorola that works great. I'm checking email (POP3) and going to the Internet, no problem. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for launching application and that's probably the smartest buy I've ever made for my device. I almost never use the stylus for most standard operations, thanks to this great application. I also use Microsoft Voice Command. With this, no need to ever look at your screen or fumble with searching for contacts: making phone calls and launching applications are a cinch. I also have a bunch of other applications (various databases, MetrO, PDF reader), all working flawlessly. The camera is adequate. It's never going to replace a real camera, but for quick shots it's actually pretty decent. I don't use my PDA as a major input device. Therefore, I mostly use the build-in keyboard for typing things in and that's fine for me. I do travel extensively overseas and the Atom Life has worked flawlessly on any network it's been connected to.
The only major issue I have with the Atom Life. It doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail waiting for me. Technical support was useless. They basically told me: "sorry, we don't support the Atom Life in the US". I do get notification for missed calls and SMS, but not for voicemail. I have searched the Internet every which way and found no solution, except for a recommendation to change my Radio ROM (I have no clue on how to do this and I don't want to brick my phone). If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, let me know. I will be forever grateful!!
Otherwise, I am fairly pleased with the Atom life, as you may have guessed.

Radio Upgrading
frenchygeek said:
I have had my Atom Life for about 3 months now. I upgraded it to the latest WM6 ROM found on the O2 web site. My previous device was an I-Mate Jam.
I don't use a lot of the advanced features in the Atom Life, because of my current Telco provider (T-Mobile USA). So, I'm only using Edge, not 3G or 3.5G. I'm also not using VTCall or the FM radio. I do use WiFi and this seems to work well, although not as convenient as being on a PC. I do use Skype on occasion (under WiFi) and that has worked well too. I have a stereo blutooth earphone by Motorola that works great. I'm checking email (POP3) and going to the Internet, no problem. I bought Spb Mobile Shell for launching application and that's probably the smartest buy I've ever made for my device. I almost never use the stylus for most standard operations, thanks to this great application. I also use Microsoft Voice Command. With this, no need to ever look at your screen or fumble with searching for contacts: making phone calls and launching applications are a cinch. I also have a bunch of other applications (various databases, MetrO, PDF reader), all working flawlessly. The camera is adequate. It's never going to replace a real camera, but for quick shots it's actually pretty decent. I don't use my PDA as a major input device. Therefore, I mostly use the build-in keyboard for typing things in and that's fine for me. I do travel extensively overseas and the Atom Life has worked flawlessly on any network it's been connected to.
The only major issue I have with the Atom Life. It doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail waiting for me. Technical support was useless. They basically told me: "sorry, we don't support the Atom Life in the US". I do get notification for missed calls and SMS, but not for voicemail. I have searched the Internet every which way and found no solution, except for a recommendation to change my Radio ROM (I have no clue on how to do this and I don't want to brick my phone). If anyone has any ideas on how to solve this problem, let me know. I will be forever grateful!!
Otherwise, I am fairly pleased with the Atom life, as you may have guessed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find how to upgrade the radio from the link below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=549804&page=100