Sprint PCS - Windows Mobile 5 WModem program

Author

Windows Mobile 5 WModem program

Todd W

2006-11-13, 10:33 pm

Hi.

I have a PPC 6700 from Sprint. More than any other feature of the phone, I
use the WModem utility with USB connection type.

For the first 6 months I owned the phone, it worked flawlessly.

But now I'm having a regular problem when I plug the usb cable in to the
laptop.

Quite often I'll plug in the usb cable and the computer will act as if
nothing at all has been plugged in. Just as often I'll plug in the USB cable
and I'll see a "Unrecognized USB Device" message pop up in my task bar.

To get it working I can unplug the USB cable and turn the phone's network
connection off and back on again.

But often I have to repeat this procedure two or three times.

So, it works, but the procedure I am forced to use to get the computer on
the network is quite annoying.

The original procedure I used was:

1. connect USB cable to phone
2. Start -> Programs -> Wireless Modem -> Start (on the phone)
3. connect USB cable to laptop
4. Start -> Connect To -> PPC6700SP -> Dial

This worked fine for me probably several hundred times. Now if step 3 dosent
give the familiar connection sound, I have to unhook the cable from the
computer and sometimes even shut down the phone's network connection,
repeating several times, before I can proceed to step four.

The problems seemed to coincide with a PRL update, but it wasnt immediate. I
can't say that the first time using DUN after the PRL update the problems
started. I can say there were no problems before the PRL update.

I updated the PPC with the updates at
http://www.utstar.com/pcd/Downloads.aspx and it went fine. It installed a
few new apps like a unzip utility, a better comm manager, and a "lock
device" feature, but it didnt fix the problems I'm having with the WModem
application.

I've been lurking in both of these newsgroups for a while, so I guess
everyone's DUN is working fine? Any pointers on how to begin troubleshooting
this?

Apologies for the long post but this is the best way I've come up with to
describe the problem.

Thanks,

Todd W.

dafydd

2006-11-14, 7:33 am

I want to prface this by saying "I am not a PC or PPC expert." Ok, now
that is out of the way, It sounds to me as if this is more of a PC
related issue than a PPC related issue. From what you have described,
the phone is doing everything that it is supposed to do, but the PC is
not recognizing the phone immediately and sometimes not at all. Do you
have more than 1 usb port that you plug it into or is it always the
same? If you have more than 1, but always use the same one, try using
a different port. Do you have other usb devices that you can plug into
the port you usually plug the phone into to see if the pc recognizes
them immediately? These would be some things I would try, to eliminate
any possibilties OTHER than the phone. Maybe even trying a differnt
USB cable. After you've tried these, if you still are having the
problem, and you're sure it has to be the phone, I'd call UT Starcom
for troubleshooting help.

The PRL update should have nothing to do with this issue, as all that
does, is determine which towers are going to be used while roaming.

Todd W wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I have a PPC 6700 from Sprint. More than any other feature of the phone, I
> use the WModem utility with USB connection type.
>
> For the first 6 months I owned the phone, it worked flawlessly.
>
> But now I'm having a regular problem when I plug the usb cable in to the
> laptop.
>
> Quite often I'll plug in the usb cable and the computer will act as if
> nothing at all has been plugged in. Just as often I'll plug in the USB cable
> and I'll see a "Unrecognized USB Device" message pop up in my task bar.
>
> To get it working I can unplug the USB cable and turn the phone's network
> connection off and back on again.
>
> But often I have to repeat this procedure two or three times.
>
> So, it works, but the procedure I am forced to use to get the computer on
> the network is quite annoying.
>
> The original procedure I used was:
>
> 1. connect USB cable to phone
> 2. Start -> Programs -> Wireless Modem -> Start (on the phone)
> 3. connect USB cable to laptop
> 4. Start -> Connect To -> PPC6700SP -> Dial
>
> This worked fine for me probably several hundred times. Now if step 3 dosent
> give the familiar connection sound, I have to unhook the cable from the
> computer and sometimes even shut down the phone's network connection,
> repeating several times, before I can proceed to step four.
>
> The problems seemed to coincide with a PRL update, but it wasnt immediate. I
> can't say that the first time using DUN after the PRL update the problems
> started. I can say there were no problems before the PRL update.
>
> I updated the PPC with the updates at
> http://www.utstar.com/pcd/Downloads.aspx and it went fine. It installed a
> few new apps like a unzip utility, a better comm manager, and a "lock
> device" feature, but it didnt fix the problems I'm having with the WModem
> application.
>
> I've been lurking in both of these newsgroups for a while, so I guess
> everyone's DUN is working fine? Any pointers on how to begin troubleshooting
> this?
>
> Apologies for the long post but this is the best way I've come up with to
> describe the problem.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd W.

Joel Kolstad

2006-11-14, 12:33 pm

Todd,

I don't have a solution for you, but I can verify that on my PPC 6700 it's not
too-horribly-uncommon to get that "Unrecognized USB device" message. I
normally soft-reset the '6700 and it then works on the next connection.

It is annoying.

Your case sounds severe enough that -- just maybe -- the USB connector has a
bad solder joint and doesn't provide good electrical connectivity?

Todd W

2006-11-20, 10:33 pm

"Todd W" <trwww@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:Gj96h.6939$6t.1057@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com...
> Hi.
>
> I have a PPC 6700 from Sprint. More than any other feature of the phone, I
> use the WModem utility with USB connection type.
>
> For the first 6 months I owned the phone, it worked flawlessly.
>
> But now I'm having a regular problem when I plug the usb cable in to the
> laptop.
>
> Quite often I'll plug in the usb cable and the computer will act as if
> nothing at all has been plugged in. Just as often I'll plug in the USB
> cable and I'll see a "Unrecognized USB Device" message pop up in my task
> bar.
>
> To get it working I can unplug the USB cable and turn the phone's network
> connection off and back on again. So, it works, but the procedure I am
> forced to use to get the computer on the network is quite annoying.
>
> The original procedure I used was:
>
> 1. connect USB cable to phone
> 2. Start -> Programs -> Wireless Modem -> Start (on the phone)
> 3. connect USB cable to laptop
> 4. Start -> Connect To -> PPC6700SP -> Dial

I seemed to find a procedure that always works. Basically, I connect the
phone and start WModem before I log in to or turn on the laptop. Works every
time. Seems like theres a bug in the hotplug functionality in either the
laptop or the ppc.

Here is my new procedure:

1. log off account (or turn off machine)
2. connect USB cable to phone
3. Start -> Programs -> Wireless Modem -> Start (on the phone)
4. connect USB cable to laptop
5. log in to account (or turn on machine)
6. Start -> Connect To -> PPC6700SP -> Dial

Thanks for all your advice, it made me realize there may be a more reliable
procedure.

Todd W.

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