Neta 980 IR Port / Neta 980 Bugs

Hi,

I own a Neta 980. I purchased this unit off eBay from Futurecom Global (now 21st Sentry). For the Record this is a great CE device! I use it as a web tablet. I am able to use the Remote Desktop to work on this computer. The ICA client allows me to work with files at my workplace as well. With Mobipocket, it is a great "Star Trek" type bookreader. Finally, most of the CE 2000 files I've tried work reasonably well.

This unit is very similar to, and according to the FC folks, was manufactured by Viewsonic. I've noticed that it closely matches the appearance and specifications of the Viewsonic Viewpad 100 and Airpanel 100. It's so similar that I suspect that the ROM images may work from the Airpanel... (But, because I am afraid that I might kill my machine, I've never tried them! )

{If I had a replacement image in the correct format for the Neta then I might be tempted to try... The user guide tells how to upgrade the images by using the following 2 files (these files match the Viewsonic images files): eboot.nb0 and nk.bin. You load these files in the root directory of a CF card and restart the device then the unit will be updated, etc.}

A ROM update would be nice to address some of the bugs in the unit. Some I've found are:

1. I've not been a able to get any PCMCIA modem to work properly to date with the unit (I've tried a Hayes and Supra modem). The units are recognized - They won't dial properly.
2. The included Pocket On-Schedule would be great.. However, it is buggy and some of the key features don't work.. AND I can't get it to sync to my PC.
3. I can't do a Network Activesync (through my wireless network).
4. The IR port does NOT seem to work.

Note: All of these functions with the exception of Pocket On-Schedule work fine with my other handhelds.

Of the items listed, the one item that I would like to have working would be the IR Port. The Neta has a red lense on the side the appears to be an IR port. (I've never opened my unit up to confirm this.)

I haven't been able to get the IR to work at all. When I questioned FG people about it they stated simly that it did not work - hey they are good folks -- however, that's about all they know! Frank Weseloh of Wincesoft has the Neta listed a working on his Remote Control II software. Since I couldn't get it to work, I wonder if there may be more than one version of the Neta?!

My question:
On a typical Windows CE 4.1 device ,what specific items are needed in both the files and registry to get an IR device to work (as it would on a CE 2000 machine)?

Note: I am not desperate to do this. I am mostly curious.

Thanks for any input on this question (and any other comments about my Neta bugs

I find it interesting that they say "Cisco Aironet 350 Wireless Cards are supported ONLY"

Never heard of this tablet, but it does look like a nice unit for a decent price too.

I've had good luck with wireless cards. Some work better than others.

I am currently using a Belkin Fs06020 version 1.0 card (It works great with the Prism drivers on this site.)

My Orinoco Gold Card is flawless.

I've used a Intel Pro/ Wireless 2011 - it sometimes has trouble with DHCP (I have to manually refresh the unit settings each time I power the unit up or insert the card.)

The Neta is a good handheld table and Futurecom has provided good service (no real tech support). I had to have one in-warranty replacement (new unit!) when a weird problem with the Flash occurred.

The battery life is pretty good as well.

DG

hey.

first: no news about the other neta with the corrupted flash?

strange, some of the bugs (?) you list are present with other cenet devices.

i seem to recall cenet simpads have some problem with the ir port (or was it just snappy's unit?)

others cant do wlan sync, actually i havent tried yet, i should tonight, now i'm realyl curious.

about pocket on schedule, search for it here, someone solved the sync problem if i remember correctly.

about the ir port again, do you have no manual for the neta? you could immediately confirm this guess with it..

yes there are more netas, not just the 980.

Hi cmonex

Nope, I haven't heard anymore about the flash rom project. My own peek into the files didn't give me a warm and fuzzy feel.

I've never had any luck on the wlan activesync (I set it up like my other units with the correct references in the Network settings (WINS setting matching the host, etc.). I might be able to get it to work with some registry playing -- however, I am probably missing some support files as well. Maybe, someone's solved it already on another similar unit.

I believe that I tried the corrections on the Pocket on Schedule on my 1st machine and couldn't get them to work. I know that I tried a lot of combinations. I'll check the threads again for any ideas on the Pocket on Schedule.

I do have a manual with the neta. I doesn't have any information on the IR device. It does discuss modems and dial strings, etc. but as I said earlier, I never had luck getting my 2 cards to work....

Actually, I have a neta 985 at work. It is a weird x86 machine with a proprietary shell ("Viva" replacing the normal CE 4.1 net shell. It's made by Tatung. I do like the unit. With it's x86 processer and poorer battery life, it is not as good as the 980 (and it's not as cool either ) .

Let me know how your IR test goes.

Thanks

Ok,

I'll answer one of my "Bugs".

It is "Pocket on Schedule"

The Odessy site has a file in their support section as shown below:

http://www.odysseyinc.com/sales/onschedule/netonschedoemsetup.exe

I installed this file in the past and have had nothing but problems with it.

I guess my skill level has grown somewhat since the last time I tried it.

I downloaded and installed it. The installed version as usual did not work. I took a look in my "C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync\Pocket On-Schedule" directory on my PC. There were 3 Arm-based cab files (as well as MIPS and X86 versions).

The filenames in the directory are: h2kOnsched.WCE400_XXXV4.CAB (where XXXx is ARMx MIPSx etc.)

I copied the 3 ARM CABS to my Neta and chose the first one, "h2kOnsched.WCE400_ARMV4.CAB", and installed it.

Low and behold, after installation, everything worked!

I now have this great program working at last. (I haven't checked everything, but it is working and my contacts, tasks, mail, etc are sync'ing.)

I guest the native installer chose to stick me with the wrong version of the program.

If you have a Neta 980 go to the Odessey site and get the update (you may be able to use the link above). After running the setup program you need to copy the file shown above to your unit and click to install it. I would reset my machine(s) and do a sync. You will get a pleasant surprise!

it isn't the IR, it is the wlan sync my cenet machines all have the IR port working fine.

neta 985... hmm is it / its cpu any faster?

The neta 985 seems to be slightly faster in overall performance when compared to my neta 980. I haven't really been able to benchmark it with any common programs due to the nature of the x86 and the Vivo shell. However, the internet access seems to be faster in loading sites. It might be a pretty good linux machine if one could find enough documentation on the hardware. We are interested in using it as a data collection machine with its Citrix client.

How did your WLAN syncing go?

I am poking around the registries of both my Jornada 720 and Neta to see if I can spot any missing keys or pointers to files etc. that may allow both the WLAN syncing and IR transfers. As usual -- no luck so far.

DG

Oh, Forgot:

The 985 has a National SC 3200 CPU Processor (up to 266 MHz).

Compared to my 206 MHz Strongarm 980.

DG

thanks for the information, i was suspecting browsing would be faster with an x86

wlan: thanks for reminding me! i'll go and try it now!

ok, tried it on two of my cenet devices.

sigmarion 3 (cenet 4.1): worked fine after applying the reghack: http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/c/0014.asp

900c (cenet 4.2): would not try and give me a list where i could choose network connection for activesync link - it kept trying to connect via usb. then i found out why. the shortcut for activesync links to repllog.exe which is in fact pc link, not activesync. sigmarion links to async.asy. i could not find this file on my nec... do you have it on your neta? (in \Windows)

edit: i looked into this more closely, and maybe it can be hacked on to cenet devices that do not have wlan sync ability by default...

Hi CmoneX,

I checked for async.asy. It is not present on the Neta. I found copies on my Jornada and Pocket PC. There is an async shortcut in the \Windows directory of the Jornada. The Start menu shortcut links to async.asy on the Jornada (as it does on the Neta as well.

I looked at my Jornada async.asy with a hexeditor. It only had character 31 (ascii code for "1" ) . Not a whole lot to work with.

Now for my adventure -- it works! (
I make no apologies for the stuff to follow. I messed with the forbidden! I screwed with the registry. Children, DO NOT Try this at home. If all of this is confusing I can save my Jornada Keys and async.asy and upload them to anyone who wants to try this....)

I copied async.asy from my Jornada to my Neta.
Using a registry editor (Total Commander's)
I added a key to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
.asy (default value was Activesync)
Next, I added the Key:
Activesync (with a default value of "Activesync" )
I added Sub keys within Activesync (Folders using Total Commander)
DefaultIcon (default value = "\Windows\repllog.exe, -101"
another Sub Key or folder under Activesync:
Shell
under Shell I added another Sub Key:
Open
and finally I added the last Sub Key:
Command (default value = "\Windows\repllog.exe /remote"

The best template is in the Jornada registry (I just copied them )!

I clicked on the async.asy in the windows directory. I got a standard activesync selector with a Network on the drop down.

I clicked - It synced!

That's just insane!!!

I set a link to it. A side note - I kept my original Connect to PC shortcut as this connection does not recognize my USB. A little more tweaking may be in order! (Also, the DefaultIcon does not pull the Repllog.exe icon properly - perhaps -101 is not correct for my unit (Again, this is no big deal...)



DG

yeah the registry route is what i did. but i didn't have time to finish it - i didn't get to the shell part man, very good job on this! i'll check if it works on my 900c.

btw, try 100 instead of 101. my sigmarion uses 100.

I'll try the -100 for my Icon.

Well, 50% of my Bug list is now fixed! (Cmonex), your describing your syncing setup helped me with the Wireless sync. Thanks!

I still haven't got anywhere with my IR problem. I'll look at it, again, tonight.

One thing I would like to see (it may be out there but..) is a search function in our registry editors. It would make it easy to find keywords. The CE registry is not a complicated as an XP or 98 registry; It can still be a pain to find information.

Y'all probably know where one is, don't ya?

DG

with this speed, you'll have the remainign two solved soon



sure... PHM regeditor.

as their site has been down for a while, http://izemize.fw.hu/regedit.Jup_ARM.CAB