Category: Treo 700w

So I returned home, and the temp files were still deleting.  Taking a chance, I stopped the File Explorer, and simply renamed the Temp directory to Temp2, and created a new Temp directory.  That was actually quick.  I un-selected everything I could to sync, and did an AvtiveSync.  It took a bit, but it sync’d.  I started the updater, and after a moment or two, it told me I already had the update installed.  So I called Palm again.  Kudos to Palm support–second ring, an actual tech support person answered and we tried to fix it.  We deleted temp files, soft reset and rebooted, reinstalled the updater, still no dice.  After 45 min, I had to go to a 6th B-Day party, still with no phone.  The install hung right at the end of copying files, and never began the Updating step.

We came home, and I tried it again.  Deleted the few files in my new Temp directory, deleted the TreoUpd123 folder, removed the PalmUpd program, rebooted everything, re-installed the updater, changed the VERS file to 1.12, and let it go.  Removing the PalmUpd program is something we did the first time I called support, but not the second.  Finally, everything worked perfectly, and my phone is back online.  Not to mention ActiveSync is a lot quicker since I cleaned up the error I was getting.  Direct Push e-mail is awesome, and MS seems to have fixed a few things with the POP/IMAP e-mail as well.  Frustrating for a bit, but it’s all better now.

The third page of the installer site (http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo700wupdater/verizon.html) has some troubleshooting which talks about some of the problems I had.

Technorati: Treo 700w

The Treo Updater has been re-posted.  You can find it at:

http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo700wupdater/verizon.html

If you’re trying to call my cell phone, you need to e-mail me instead. 
It’s going to be another day or so.

When I got home last night, the Treo Updater was still stuck.  I called
Palm, and on the first or second ring, a real support person answered–pretty
cool.  I don’t know if I dialed in at a magic moment, but I was expecting a
long hold.

We killed the update process, soft reset the phone, checked some settings,
and found that the update had partially installed.  Not such a good
thing.  We cleaned out a PalmUpd123 folder, removed a Palm Update program,
and soft reset the phone.

Then the fun really began.  I had been getting some ActiveSync error,
but all my information was updating fine, so I ignored them.  As it turns
out, the updater is extremely finicky, and you need to have a perfect ActiveSync
in order to get the updater installed.  The tech support guy had me look in
a temp directory for some files that may be piling up.  This directory
normally contains a few files; mine had almost 5000.  It takes 30 min or so
to delete a couple hundred or so generated during installation (this is that
“cleaning up” step).  I was obviously going to be waiting for some time
once I started the delete process.  I stopped the process this morning
after 11 hours, and there were 1800 still to go.  So I started deleting
again and left the phone plugged into the charger.  I imagine it’ll be
ready when I get home tonight.  24 hours to clean out the temp
directory–ugly!

These temp files are often the result of ActiveSync problems, probably the
problems causing the error I was ignoring.  I had my phone set to sync
mail, calendar and contacts from my company’s Exchange server, and calendar and
contacts on my home PC.  Palm tech support informed me that you shouldn’t
be able to sync calendar and contacts in both places.  Someone forgot to
tell my phone, and I’ve been sync-ing both for some time now.

My next steps are to finish deleting all those temp files, turn off the PC
sync for calendar and contacts, soft reset (just because), perform a good
ActiveSync, and then try the updater again.

I’m going to hope that future iterations of Windows Mobile do a better job of
managing these temp files, because this is a real nuisance.

I am sans-Treo today.  I know better than to do these things in the
morning, but one of my co-workers didn’t have a problem upgrading, and I just
couldn’t resist the lure of direct push e-mail.  What a mistake!

The upgrade process went well for the Treonauts (http://blog.treonauts.com/2006/04/treo_700w_updat.html),
so I was hopeful.  I started the installation, and the update screen
claimed it was a 30 min process.  The preparation step went quickly, and
then the actual update started.  I fed the dogs, showered, walked the dogs,
packed lunch, made breakfast, kissed wifey a few times, and after 75 minutes, I
was still at the beginning of the upgrade step.  I placed a quick call to
Verizon, who said that you can expect about an hour total (about 30 min for the
upgrade, and about 30 min for the cleanup).  When I told them it had been
75 minutes on the upgrade step, the said that was a problem, and tried to patch
me through to Palm.  Palm was conveniently closed, not comnig to work until
6 am Pacific.  Since it was 7:45 Eastern (4:45 am Pacific), I headed off to
work.  I left the update process running, hoping 8 or 9 hours might be
enough.  We’ll see when I get home.

There is an elapsed time counter on the update screen, but it doesn’t roll
the hours.  After 66 minutes, the clock read only 6 minutes had
elapsed.

Direct push e-mail is now available for Treo 700w users–the MSFP has been
released!  w00t!

There’s also an updated Picsel PDF viewer.  Maybe this one works. 
And, that little bug where the internet connection os closed after POP mail is
retrieved is apparently fixed.  E-mail from Palm below; additional info at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/business/5/default.mspx.

Palm(R)

***********************************************************************

Treo(TM) 700w smartphone users with Verizon Wireless service:

An important new update for your Treo 700w smartphone is now available.

This update offers Palm and Microsoft enhancements as well as Microsoft’s
latest feature pack, including:

Microsoft(R)’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP)

– Direct Push Technology for automatic wireless synchronization of

email, calendar, contacts, and now, tasks*

– Wireless access to your company’s Global Address List*

– Enhanced business security features

Memory modifications

– Updated memory management

Email enhancements

– More support for push email solutions, such as WirelessSync and
GoodLink(TM)

– Enhanced email synchronization capabilities, such as the ability to

maintain an “always on” data connection after POP or IMAP email

synchronization and the ability to auto-synchronize all email accounts

based on user settings*

And More

– Latest version of the Picsel PDF viewer, now available for download
at

http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/picsel/index.html

– Wireless Manager provides updated interface for turning wireless
radios

on or off

– Updates to the Pictures and Videos application

To access the software update and installation instructions visit
Customer

Support: http://www.palm.com/700wupdate

You can also download the new Treo 700w User Guide.

http://www.palm.com/us/support/handbooks/treo/treo700wvzw_ug.pdf

Get the most from your Treo 700w smartphone — download this important
update today! Consult your company IT department on software upgrades if
appropriate.

———————————————————————-

* Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) upgrade required for Direct
Push Technology and Global Address List lookup. Mobile email and web within
wireless coverage area only. Requires data services from a mobile service
provider at an additional cost. ISP and/or VPN may also be required.

 

via Betanews:

The Treo 700w comes with a VPN client, but my company uses a Cisco 3000 VPN concentrator, and the bundled VPN client doesn’t work with this.  I am trying a demo of the VPN client from Anthasoft, and it’s working like a charm.  Installation was a snap—copy a certificate manager CAB to the device and install it, then install the VPN client from the desktop and sync.  Somehow, the user guide didn’t make it into the distro, but if you e-mail them, they’ll send it to you.

Once I got the user guide, setup was easy, and I connected to my company’s VPN in only a couple of minutes.  I then fired up the terminal services client which comes on the Treo, and I was able to log on and administrate a couple of server.  In a pinch, this combo will work great, but I can’t see too many people working full time on a 2”x2” screen.

Now playing: The Raconteurs – Steady, As She Goes

The Treo 700w series phones are equipped with Bluetooth, which allows one to use wireless headsets, but also potentially opens up some vulnerabilities.  Informit recently published an article discussing vulnerabilities with Bluetooth devices:

The other major problem with current Bluetooth devices is that some sensitive functionality is exposed to unauthenticated users. When designing a Bluetooth-enabled device, system designers may want to provide certain pieces of functionality to non-trusted users. Unfortunately, sometimes more functionality is exposed than is intended, and attackers can read and/or write information to which they shouldn’t have access. These types of vulnerabilities are device-specific; for instance, cell phones from one manufacture may be vulnerable while those from another are not.

Read the full article at http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=442341.  If you use Bluetooth connections with your Treo, check with Palm to make sure the various vulnerabilities have been patched (remember that new ones may be found also).  If you don’t use Bluetooth, turn it off.

My buddy Nathan comes through with this today–www.minixm.com.  This is XM Radio’s
official lightweight stream site, meant for devices like the Treo 700w. 
Access the site through your Pocket IE, and choose your channel.  When the
stream begins, Windows Media Player will start and handle the playback. 
You can get the “now playing” in either WMP or PIE.  The sound quality
isn’t fantastic, but good enough, especially for the news programs.

Bad news for Treo 650 users–the XM stream requires support for Windows Media
Player 9 or better, which apparently isn’t available for the Palm OS. 
Trying to open the stream crashed Bob’s 650.