Just Got a Jornada 720-and about to toss it in the trash!

Hi,
I am a very new and very frustrated Jornada owner. I got mine from Ebay and it arrived today. I was very excited at first but now I am just frustrated and disappointed. I installed ActiveSync (it came with 3.7)and connected the unit..my computer found it and the partnership was created, it all went fine. But then when I went to reconnect to install something, it refused. ActiveSync just sits there and a window pops up on the Jornada saying "connecting to 'USB connection" and just sits there "Opening port". Tapping cancel does nothing..I have to soft reset. Why did it work the first time and then refuse? I have soft reset this thing a thousand times,uninstalled and reinstalled ActiveSync, rebooted my computer over and over, deleted the partnership, everything! Nothing works. Clicking "Get Connected" does nothing. It refuses to auto detect the device. Clicking next gets me the message "Your device was not detected". Is this thing a piece of garbage or what? I didn't change anything on my computer after the first sucessful connection. What is the problem? I only have a USB cable so don't tell me to try a serial connection. Please help...I was so looking forward to getting this!!

i had the same problem with AS 3.7 when i got my first J720. i had to always kill the activesync process in taskmanager then restart AS then i could connect. then AS 3.8 was released, i upgraded (uninstall 3.7, install 3.8) and never had this problem again. once it went totally wrong but then a simple reinstall helped.
good luck, it certainly isnt a piece of crap, the jornada 720 is an amazing thing you'll see

Hi,
Thanks for the speedy reply..I just finished downloading 3.8..I hope that will solve this issue. I really do like the Jornada, but this issue has me so frustrated! I am a gadget geek..started with a Palm IIIx, then a Handspring Visor Prism, then a Clie. One thing I hated about all of them was no keyboard..thumboards are ridiculous. The battery life of the Clie was atrocious too. I think the Jornada is a perfect device-if only I could get it to connect to my PC! Everything else works perfectly-I connected to my ISP with it, and IRC. Downloaded email no problem. I hope 3.8 solves the connection issue!

Nope. ActiveSync 3.8 didn't help one bit. Still no auto detect, and that stupid "Connecting to USB" window pops up on the Jornada and sits there and sits there. I have to soft reset to get out of it.
This particular unit appears to be garbage. The odd thing is if I look under "My Computer" the Jornada shows up as "Mobile Device" but ActiveSync is telling me no connection and that it can't find my device. I am at my wits end. I'll try a "Cold Boot"...there's nothing installed on it I don't have backed up so what's there to lose? If that still doesn't help this thing is going back to the guy who sold it to me and I am getting my $200 back. What a disappointment....


Sue

Yes... a hard reset might help. Odd... I've had very good luck with AS 3.8... in fact, almost more luck than with my Palm HotSync, which used to rock solid.

Good luck.

activesync won't work on my pc unless I shutdown my multi-card reader which is installed in a floppy drive bay.
I believe the bay draws too much power. It's not really a problem for me, I have a pc card adapter that will read all the varieties of card I have that fits in the jornada.It did take quite a bit of time and frustration to figure it out though.

Just putting this out there in case it helps...

Success!! The cold boot worked..it connected right away. Of course now I am afraid to disconnect! Thanks for the speedy replies and for putting up with my frustration. :-)

Sue

Sue,

Don't be so quick to blame the 720. I have a couple of questions

1. Are you connecting your 720 to a USB hub or a USB port on your desktop machine?
Connecting thru a hub can be troublesome.

2. Was there a different device plugged into the USB port you have tried?
Windows sometimes has problems properly enumerating multiple devices using a USB port.

3. Did you disabling any anti-virus software?
I recall Norton causing friends untold grief.

Hi,
It was through a regular port. Before I connected my Jornada for the first time, the port was used for my thumbdrive..but the unit connected fine. After I disconnected it the first time the port was empty until I tried to reconnect, thats when it stopped detecting my unit. I use AVG and it wasn't disabled, but it never occurred to me that it might cause an issue!

Sue

By regular port you mean a port on the front or back of your pc?

Have you rebooted the pc after installing AS38?

I think you said you deleted the partnership you had established on the first connection? Did you try a wifi AS operation before you deleted the partnership? Hmm, do you have a wifi card working in your 720?

Hi,
The port is on the back of my computer and yes I rebooted. :-)
No WiFi card yet. :-)

Sue

Ok, I still have some ideas

Are you using XP on your desktop? Other than AS is there anything important you would lose if you rolled back to the nearest restore point to yesterday (or before you installed anything new today?)

Hey don't feel left out. I've had trouble with several H/PCs and My PPC. I even installed AS 4.1 to try to get connected. It worked, sorta'. after reading this thread I turned off my internal flash card reader, its internal USB as well. VOILA!!!!!! That fixed it!

Welcome to Micro crap!

Another great mind has joined in Sue, if there's any hope the gathering crowd here will solve it.

My experience with AS is that is sometimes is a bit fidgety. I had quite a few anxious couple days trying to get it to work properly but was ultimately saved by using the Socket BT card. However, I still use the cradle at times. My suggestion is that you initiate the AS connection from the Jornada itself and this should be done right after connection to the cradle.

The HPCF CESD was a big help for me as well, but what I loved most about the Jornadas were they were almost as PC independent as my Psions. Most of the time the problem is perception, people tend to percieve that mobile devices need to be closely supported by a PC, which is not the case.