Related
Hi
Just got this thing the other day (O2 XDA Mini S) and am pulling my hair out with ActiveSync. A google and a look round these forums convinces me I'm not alone.
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
I give in. Can anyone advise whether this some alternative to ActiveSync that I can use to back up my contacts list? I'd hate to have to do it all over again.
I have a memory card, so adding software from that is no problem if necessary.
Thanks
You can try the backup tool Sunnysoft
in advanced mode is an option Backup PIM databases
lansalot said:
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you just trying to sync with your pc over the usb link? You don't need Exchange Server for that - it sync's with Outlook directly. Have you set up what information you want to sync in ActiveSync's Tools->options?
Another possibility for not syncing is any firewall you are running - although, if it was that, you wouldn't even get Notes to sync.
John
yup
Thanks for that John, yep I've done all I can see that I need to do. Missing Exchange was about the only thing left I could think of. I think I might uninstall Outlook and reinstall it to see if that helps. Though I *hate* having to install that POS just so I can backup some settings !
Perhaps there's somewhere within the phone that will export the various settings somewhere. Or perhaps I should dig out VS2005 and attempt to write one myself. Backing up to storage card would be the best option I think, and from a look around the .net mobile CF, it would appear to be pretty well supported.
And I had to disable Zonealarm despite having all the appropriate configurations set up to allow it. I even put 169.254.x.x in the trusted zone, to no avail.
ActiveSync is a shocking piece of software - and I know from owning other phones that there's things like MobiExplorer and MobiManager that tends to work much better than the usual manufacturer-supplied stuff.
Chak, thanks for the lead with SunnySoft.
Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.
guttrhead said:
Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my case, pim.vol file is protected, so copying & replacing it after hard reset does not work. i have other workaround for backuping contacts (as my activesync with outlook simply does not work) - each contact via irda to computer. it saves contact as .vcf file that you can send to wizard back again after hard reset.
Try using total commander to get to the file.
I yust transfered the file via email inside my home WLan to the PC.....
Hey, is this a common problem for HTC devices or Windows mobile in general?
I just started searching because my calendar won't sync. (3 palm devices and 3 pda's later, I have 1,400+ contacts.)
Are there any workarounds that anyone knows?
I tried setting up the sync settings whilst the device was disconnected, but the calendar entry just disappears when I re-connect.
-Worried of Sheffield.
thanks
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
But it would be some chore with more than the couple dozen I had.
I'm reading up on the windowsmobile classes in dotnet, I reckon the answer would lie in there somewhere. Writing an app in VS to back things up to some funky open format would be the ideal, even if it does just drop a directory full of VCF files for example.
Once I'm sure VS2005 is installed and working correctly (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=41155), I'll throw some serious effort at it.
Re: thanks
lansalot said:
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
copying contacts to other handset is bit risky, because various producers are using various interpretation of .vcf file format. for instance, when i copy contact from siemens s65 to wizard, email field is always ripped off the contact and polish national characters are also absent. copying contacts to computer via irda is quite safe, however personal ringtones assigned to contact and voice dials are sacrified. all other data within a contact are still present, including contact picture.
A bit more info on the missing calendar link:-
I have one laptop using activesync V.4.1 this was where i first discovered the problem.
Just tried laptop #2 running a/sync v.3.7.1 which has an older copy of my appointments in outlook. Calendar doesn't sync to this either, so it must be something inside the MDA.
Tried to search microsoft support to find a solution, but no entries found. This seems to indicate that it is a HTC issue. I had a MDA Pro briefly sync-ed up which worked Ok. The problems are with my MDA compact running WM2003.
pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
then after hard reset it won't let you overwrite the new one but if you rename it to pim.vol.old it lets you do that. then you can overwrite it.
laich71 said:
pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
contact pictures are NOT saved in pim.vol. when i restore contacts via irda from .vcf files on my laptop, pictures are already there.
I know this thread has moved on a bit, but I've just got my calendar to sync. again and I'm soooo relieved!
Take a look at this forum to find out how:-
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync
Look at 'Cannot get calendar to sycnhronise' and the second reply.
Backing up the Contacts with Mail2Web Live Mail Service
I basically use the mail2web live mail service, and use its exchange server as the server source in Activesync. I only choose synching Contacts with this server (but you can choose others).
This way, all my contacts are always up to date in mail2web servers, and even if I need to hard reset, I can reget all of my contacts back very quickly.
Highly recommended...
Fast
please use the search PLEASE! ....search for PPCBckpContacts.exe
damn it!
My ActiveSynch (latest version 4.5) halted when stored memory (50MB) maxed out. On the handset's File Explorer, there is a 40MB file that, based on the date and extension (.PIM), is undoubtedly the Pocket Outlook data file. Of course, with the storage maxed out, the phone is all but useless for anything except repeated prompts to delete files.
The handset has a 2GB SD Micro card (which ActiveSynch recognizes) but I cannot find any option or any documentation for synching Outlook to the storage card. Even though I could copy the .PIM file from the handset's root directory to the storage card (using File Explorer), I cannot delete it from the root directory, either using the handset's File Explorer or from the linked computer using the ActiveSynch Explore Device (the "sharing violation warning appears whether the handset is connected to the computer or not.
I suppose a hard reset is in my future, but unless I can figure out how to synch Outlook (contacts and calendar only; I don't synch any documents or Windows media files) with the storage card, i'll be back at square one. Can you can point me in the right direction?
You can change the location where the phonestores the data to SD card see here under file locations:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=WM5_Tweaks_Other
However, I stand to be corrected, but when you sync to PC I think it will continue to use the PIM file in main memory.
There is however an active sync add on called mobsync http://mobsync.en.softonic.com/pocket (freeware version) which can sync with files on the sd card - there might be some mileage in checking this out.
This would still leave you the problem of reducing the size of the PIM file in Main memory. This may be a case of entering via messaging etc and deleting entries. This has potential to go wrong so I would addvise (as is good practice anyway to do a full backup with something like spb backup first)
Mike
Thank you so much - this is the first response I have received other than mass delete Contacts on the PC to reduce the PIM.vol file size.
the suggested registry directory for changing file locations on the handheld:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows CE Services\FileSyncPath
does not exist in my registry; however, it does have a directory:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows CE Services\Services\Synchronization\All\MS.WinCE.Outlook\Contact
the Data associated with the Store key is:
<*Invalid*>
if I change the Data to:
\Storage Card
or
\Storage Card\Contacts
does Windows Mobile know to look for the contacts there?
Unfortunately, I think I have given you a bad steer on this one. It seems that the tweak on the general WM5 wiki page is not available for the Hermes. I am looking at this further but it looks as if the contacts in the PIM file must be available to the Hermes phone function at all times as they are required for phone services. In non phone models this would not be the case and the tweak may be available.
Am looking at this further, but it looks as though you may be stuck with reducing the file size by deleting contents as others have suggested
EDIT - additional info:
Extract from Windows Mobile Team Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2007/01/12/everything-you-want-to-know-about-sd.aspx
Why don't we do more with SD cards?
A frequent question is why we don't support putting more things on storage cards. For instance, we don't allow you to store your contacts, calendar entries, or email on storage cards. (We do allow you to store attachments there, though.) The general problem is that storage cards can, by their nature, be removed from the device. Some types of data don't lend themselves to being there one second and gone the next. Sync would get very confused if it saw 300 contacts on one sync, and then only saw 10 on the next. It would certainly be possible to work out some sort of interface to allow this, but it would be pretty complicated, both to code and to use.
Things that already have the concept of sometimes being there and sometimes not, like email attachments and temporary internet files, are easier to handle on an SD card.
As with any potential feature, allowing someone to put their contacts on a storage card would require that we not do some other feature. On prioritizing SD changes, we take a lot of factors into consideration, one of which is where we see internal flash going. We've already seen phones with multiple gigabytes of internal storage. As things like that become more common, the value of doing new things on storage cards goes down. There's still value in working on SD, it's just that it's not as valuable as other things are.
See also:
http://pocketpcmauritius.blogspot.com/2007/01/final-word-about-moving-pimvol.html
Mike
ActiveSynch - Outlook file too large
Thanks - this keeps me from spinning wheels on the storage card solution (or non-solution)
do you know of any 3d party synch applications allowing you to control or filter which Outlook contacts are synched? I have 11K+ contacts and can't do a mass delete just to get a file small enough to synch with the phone's tiny on-board memory
I understand your pain my friend. However, I cannot conceive of anyones Contacts and Calendar being 40 MB as they're basically text. I suspect that your Inbox is what's clogging the works. Curious how far back your email goes to on your device ... I carry 1 month on my PDA with my attachments on my SC myself.
nope, no email - just the contacts and calendar entries. I did stumble on a partial solution, however. The original data is stored in TimeMatters, which I had to synch with Outlook before re-synching with Pocket Outlook. TimeMatters has a synch utility with works directly with Pocket Outlook, which allows me to limit the scope of the calendar items. The resulting PIM file on the handheld is "only" 30MB, permitting enough breathing room to escape the "delete file" warnings
For all practical purposes, the "delete file" warnings are useless. The file search utility (for files over 64k in size) runs for a few minutes and comes up empty. Attempts to manually move larger files in (either with File Explorer on the handheld or on the PC) to the storage card are useless.
Using most of the phone's on board memory apparently slows it to a crawl. The delay between pressing a button or typing a letter is like a Windows PC running on virtual memory; the rotating colored pie is becoming as ubiquitous as the PC hourglass
I have tried resetting, upgrading to the latest (4/2007) ROM, quitting active programs, and.. lots of rotating colored pie. Maybe the phone just needs to get used to all my contacts
How many contacts have you got - just so others can say whether your file size is normal or strangely large for some reason?
Mike
Yes, good ol' Lexus Nexus... I'm familar with configuring the scope on TM7. I've always had to sync my PDA's from TM to Outlook, then Outlook to Pocket Outlook, not familar with their direct sync program. Am also not sure exactly how much info TM ties into the Contacts when it comes out of TM but I suspect it could be large considering the Events, ToDo's, Matters, etc that it associates with... btw, what version of TM are you using?
With the Crackberries I install the individual TM apps to the device so it never goes into their Outlook but instead is OTA with the Enterprise Server (BES)
You might need to call Lexus Nexus (oh what fun to wait for a call back if one doesn't have a support contract with them ) and ask for their advise.
mikechannon said:
How many contacts have you got - just so others can say whether your file size is normal or strangely large for some reason?
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
11K. not all are needed on the phone but there is no way to filter
Dr Puttingham said:
Yes, good ol' Lexus Nexus... I'm familar with configuring the scope on TM7. I've always had to sync my PDA's from TM to Outlook, then Outlook to Pocket Outlook, not familar with their direct sync program. Am also not sure exactly how much info TM ties into the Contacts when it comes out of TM but I suspect it could be large considering the Events, ToDo's, Matters, etc that it associates with... btw, what version of TM are you using?
With the Crackberries I install the individual TM apps to the device so it never goes into their Outlook but instead is OTA with the Enterprise Server (BES)
You might need to call Lexus Nexus (oh what fun to wait for a call back if one doesn't have a support contract with them ) and ask for their advise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good news:
TM8E contains an applet to synch directly with Pocket Outlook, which generates a much smaller PIM file on the handheld.
bad news:
the direct synch is very (very, *very*) fussy and time consuming. TM will appear to crash and Task Manager will show that TM is "not responding"
good news:
After about 20 minutes, TM kicks back in and shows thousands of contacts
synchronizing to the handheld (there is a preview dialogue box; when you approve, a status bar slowly grinds to the right as each contact scrolls up and is listed as synchronizing)
bad news:
only a few of the contacts are actually on the phone.
good news:
this really reduces the size of the PIM file and resolves the performance issues listed in my earlier post
bad news:
as much fun as it is waiting for the Lexus Nexus callback (if you get impatient, get on a conference call or go to the bathroom), they are less than helpful on synching issues. In all fairness there are so many 3d party variables
---
The synch does not bring a Contact's related Events, ToDo's, Matters, etc although of course you can also synch Events & ToDo's (not Matters like you can the on Blackberry and Palm OS). I strictly limit the scope of the Events & ToDo's so that only 100 or so (the next 3 month's worth) synch. Unfortunately, there is no way to filter limit the scope of the Contacts.
I could limit the fields to phone numbers and emails, but the Treos handled all of my Contacts with address and memo fields included. Searching on the Treo was almost instantaneous - no rotating colored pie as the OS churns through the search. The Treo (650) just wasn't a very good phone. Nothing's perfect, I suppose
After "re-installing" my laptop I launched ActiveSync the first time and telled him to synchronize with my Touch HD. But AS said: There allready exists a parthernsip on the mobile device - first go and delete it.
Ok... I started AS on my phone, opened the options dialogue and I deleted the partnership with my laptop. That was a mistake - because with the parthnership every contact was deleted.
Wow, nice feature, Microsoft!
So... i know i have a half year old backup, but is it possible to undelete the current contacts? Perhaps there is a file on my phone, where they all are stored?
every hint is helpful, thanks a lot in advance!
//E
puuh.. ok - i found the file "pim.vol". Obviously it contains every contact but they are marked as "invisible" respectivly "deleted". So, how can i reveal them, make them visible?
Yes, I saw that issue when trying to remove association between my PC and my HD. I used ActiveSync to import contacts from PC, but when it's done, why can't I mantain the contacts if I remove the association? Can't understand.
Deleted as mis read the line of "re-installed" laptop.
Soz.
i guess it could be a good idea to move this thread to the general Q&A board, cause thats not really a blackstone related problem.
Also have the exact same issue,
used phone on my spare laptop and was asked to delete a setting,
Now I've lost about 220 contacts. - Any fixes?
I think there is no fix. Just dont do it again. Always have a backup somewhere. Now it is quite convenient to skip outlook altogether and active sync directly to gmail and gcalander.
perhaps there is a solution.
As I found out, the pim.vol is just a database called "EDB" that MS uses for mobile devices. Till now the file format is "closed" but there exists the so called "POOM" - an API to read informations from the EDB.
So... I guess there is someone out there who already coded a Interface to read the pim.vol.... and we have to find him...
This interests me because I tend to delete contacts quite often!
Just Run PPC PIM backup- it creates a backup of PIM on a daily basis. This way you can delete contacts,messages, appointments and so on as much as you like.
Hi,
Very confused about what happened during a ROM upgrade..
I went from 1.43 to 1.48, immediately following which I did a hard reset (perhaps not strictly necessary however commonly believed to be best practise when flashing ROMs).
HD2 started up, did it's initialization customisations, asked for my provider etc. I then went through and configured my connection with my Exchange Server and all my data sync'd up - all normal so far.
So now I had a fresh install, just with my Exchange data on (contacts / calendar / email etc). Definitely a clean install (just to emphasis the point!) as obviously my app shortcuts weren't there from the home screen, my weather cities of choice weren't there but instead the default, etc etc etc. All as expected.
BUT..
I flicked to the People (contacts) section of Sense (the second tab by default) and to my surprise there were the six faces of the people I had configured previously!! They were in the wrong order (no logic to the new order) but yup they were there!! VERY STRANGE!!
The only thing I can think of is either a) such configuration is stored on the storage card (which obviously isn't wiped during ROM upgrade) or b) it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Any comments??! Even if just to confirm? Or am I going completely mad!!
Same here - very random - my photos and music have been juggled around too...
SimonW500 said:
Hi,
it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.
Thanks for the quick reply and confirmation - good to know I'm not going mad!
So can someone explain how this is done? ie. kept on storage card / sync'd back to Exchange / AN Other?
I'm particularly concerned if it is sync'd back to Exchange, as until now I often try quite a few Windows Mobile devices and enter in my Exchange details etc on the assumption that nothing that particular device does is actually kept once I wipe the phone.
Audio Oblivion said:
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow - another amazing quick response!!
Excellent - thanks for the info - well spotted! Now despite my above comment I can live with this more than happily, actually see it as a useful feature!
Thanks again.
Moving People around?
Following on from the above (loosely!)..
Is there an easy way to move the ordering of these shortcuts around?
Being the picky individual that I am (!) I have them in a certain order, which effectively means that even though the right people are 'remembered' I still have to delete and create them all again to put them in the right order.
Thanks again..
Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..
Kridek said:
Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..
People
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.
Pure data
Pure data is great, but once there are uc(user customisation) compliant Leo roms, there will be available, a beautiful way of reconstructing about 80% of all settings, applications and shortcuts. It restores all one's customisation in pristine order, with only the new rom's updated functions.
SimonW500 said:
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xaddict said:
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.
Activesync issues
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
p.s. I'm not sure I want to flash roms the way I did on my HD,
but when I was doing it, activesync gave me a lot of problems.
SimonW500 said:
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xaddict said:
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - very true! For this reason I try to take a copy of all my contacts within Outlook at least once a month; both protects me from any wayward devices as well as any modifications I may make and then regret (change of numbers, deletions etc!).
I love this feature
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.
lucid said:
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I upgraded from HD to HD2, as soon as i sync with exchange i got my favs back in the correct order with all my emails , text messages etc etc.
So I just got my Atrix from ATT, coming from WinMo 6.5 (Tilt2), and am a bit lost.
There used to be guides and such for people upgrading, but I've hopped on the train so late I'm having trouble finding a good one!
So feel free to point me towards better resources or useful threads on here especially from the perspective of WinMo to modern Android.
But for now, first question: what is the best way sync Outlook and my new phone?? I've got Outlook 2010 and have been building an address book in it since my MPx220! I know I could export/import a .csv but am far more interested in actual sync, with contacts and calendar at the minimum. Preferably free, but if not OK (as long as it works). So far I've tried MyPhoneExplorer but it can't see the phone via USB. Trying www.soocial.com now, looks interesting...
Is it ever gonna finish inspecting my 16GB card? Can't find a progress indicator anywhere...
I know it's not helping but just wanted to say that I'm exactly in the same boat with you. I used Windows Mobile since around 2004 (with mpx 220, tilt, and tilt2) and I'm kind of clueless about this whole android thing
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
fincan said:
Oh and I could not find a way to directly sync my outlook contacts with atrix either. Also, if you go with the .csv route, it does not sync some fields, for example Work2 phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Def. try www.soocial.com It's free (as long as you're less than 250 contacts) and it's *ongoing* Sync like we're used to.
Goofy thing is, Google is said to make a calendar sync (outlook --> google), why don't they have their own for contacts??
Well, so far I'm a touch underwhelmed. Coming from the WinMo world I'm used to many things being customizable, often in the program, if not maybe in the registry or easily swapped out for other software.
I'm noticing a lot of dumb choices and a lot of things that don't give me obvious options.
Let's call it a Universal Inbox but it won't have your Gmail! There's a way around, you setup instead as regular IMAP email and use that app or end up using both email apps... grr! Better 3rd party alternative?
No 'file as' in contacts or ability to customize much of anything about how it looks, what it shows...
Friggin 'security lock timer' setting is disabled when using fingerprint!
Oh, and scanning my SD card *never finished*! After a couple hours (during which I couldn't install anything from the marketplace--though it gave me NO error to let me know why it was ignoring me pressing install!) I yanked the card. Maybe if I clear it out first?
Of course it's much (MUCH) better than my POS Tilt2, but I'm not quite convinced it's worth it, yet.
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I came from windows also. Companion Link is the only software to give you a true live sync between outlook and google calender and contacts that I have found. It wasn't free but I don't remember how much. It syncs your desktop outlook to your online google account which is automatically synced to your device.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
For the contacts things you can always setup your gmail account as an exchange account in outlook and sync it that way, but then again it would be the same as syncing with gmail itself.
As for an outlook sync that isn't third party, there is no way to do it other than having an exchange account.
I found and downloaded a program called My Phone Explorer, it says it can sync outlook contacts & calendars if you install it's companion software to your PC. I did not have a chance to try it out yet, I'll update this thread once I try it.
Also, did you guys find out how to set custom ring tones? Like copying wav, mp3, ogg etc. files from my old phone to this and make them show up on the ringtone selections?
sdlopez83 said:
Your card scanning issue is not normal. IT STINKS! Something from the school of the united nations
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
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It had been in my Tilt 2 and had about 10gig of various files, some WM6.5 stuff (.cabs, apps, etc) and media. I formatted it and put back in the phone (couldn't do anything with it while it was scanning) and it was fine.
Marketplace didn't actually do anything when I hit install until the card was happy.
So far I'm pretty impressed with Android but not so much with this phone. The combination of not-latest OS with updates being locked to ATT/Moto's discretion worries me as the Tilt2 I'm coming from was absolutely crippled by the crap ATT OS version available (though at least it wasn't impossible to flash it!).
My other big problem is that while this phone is supposedly lightning fast, but how does that make any difference in actual use, since this dual-core CPU and nVidia chipset are a small part of a big and diverse market, for which the Nexus S and all the similar Samsungs set the baseline? Example, I noticed I can't play at decent framerate a 720p h.264 media file (.torrent downloaded Top Gear, 1.5GB on class 6 microSD), even in QQview--which can't seem to access the SD card directly (it only sees the ~11GB internal which is called SDcard), by the way. So what good does this extra speed do if there are no apps to take advantage of it? And how many others are going to have troubles accessing my new 32GB microSD because they only see the internal?
I'm also fairly annoyed by the lack of customization in the settings. At worst every damn thing in WinMo was customizable via registry. I usually find a setting each day in Android which I should have easy control over but don't. Example: notifications being the same volume for texts/emails as BS systems sounds I haven't figured any way to turn off... again a missing setting that's almost there: I noticed within text messaging and email I can set specific sounds (including silent) but for the overall system one there's no silent option (which would be overridden by the selected ones above)... Maybe there's some apps that do some of what I want, but having to pay or sideload are both kinda foreign concepts to me, especially for small system hacks!
But on the other hand it's very responsive, does seem to play 720p Xvid torrent downloads OK (though I haven't watched one all the way through), and the voice features are great.
One other annoyance is that while BT links to my car automagically it doesn't link to my Panasonic handsets at home unless I turn BT off and back on for some reason...
So given how much I paid (premiere, non-contract) I'm leaning towards return. Wish the damn ATT-bands Nexus S was out!!
but, more importantly did you get the critic references?