Service Pack 3 and ActiveSync 4.5 incompatibility

[James S Clark]

I have been experiencing problems with XP SP3 and ActiveSync 4.5, in as much
as a windows mobile 5 or 6 device can no longer reliably connect & re-connect
via USB & use ActiveSync to synchronise. Both PC & mobile device often
require a complete restart or uninstalling and reinstalling everything before
functionality returns. After this it stops working again after the device
has been disconnected for the is first or second time and the whole process
has to be done again before a connection can be established.

According to the MS website, ActiveSync 4.5 is only compatible with XP SP2
and earlier - I thought this was just an out of date message so I called MS
UK tech support to get the low-down. They told me that, wait for it,
ActiveSync is indeed NOT compatible with XP SP3!!! Since it wasn't a piad
support call i couldn't take the issue further with MS on the phone.

I am keen to learn if anyone else has encountered this problem and whether
it's really true that installing XP SP3 will wreck windows mobile
synchronisation functionality. I find it hard to believe it's true, but it
did come from horses mouth so to speak.

--
Regards,

James S Clark
Software Developer & Technician
The Coleman Group (UK)

 

[Kayman]

I have been experiencing problems with XP SP3 and ActiveSync 4.5, in as much
as a windows mobile 5 or 6 device can no longer reliably connect & re-connect
via USB & use ActiveSync to synchronise. Both PC & mobile device often
require a complete restart or uninstalling and reinstalling everything before
functionality returns. After this it stops working again after the device
has been disconnected for the is first or second time and the whole process
has to be done again before a connection can be established.

According to the MS website, ActiveSync 4.5 is only compatible with XP SP2
and earlier - I thought this was just an out of date message so I called MS
UK tech support to get the low-down. They told me that, wait for it,
ActiveSync is indeed NOT compatible with XP SP3!!! Since it wasn't a piad
support call i couldn't take the issue further with MS on the phone.

I am keen to learn if anyone else has encountered this problem and whether
it's really true that installing XP SP3 will wreck windows mobile
synchronisation functionality. I find it hard to believe it's true, but it
did come from horses mouth so to speak.

Disable the things that might be responsible for it not working (firewalls,
virtual private networking, etc.) There's nothing inherent in SP3 that
prevents a USB device from existing, so there must be something about the
setup of your machine that is responsible. The most-likely is something
networking-related, as that's what the device looks like to the PC: a
network adapter. You might also go to Device Manager and delete the Windows
Mobile device from the list of known devices and try connecting it "for the
first time", again.
[unquote]
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...984-9f5f-0e20528276a4&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=&p=1

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

I have been experiencing problems with XP SP3 and ActiveSync 4.5, in as much

as a windows mobile 5 or 6 device can no longer reliably connect & re-connect
via USB & use ActiveSync to synchronise. Both PC & mobile device often
require a complete restart or uninstalling and reinstalling everything before
functionality returns. After this it stops working again after the device
has been disconnected for the is first or second time and the whole process
has to be done again before a connection can be established.

According to the MS website, ActiveSync 4.5 is only compatible with XP SP2
and earlier - I thought this was just an out of date message so I called MS
UK tech support to get the low-down. They told me that, wait for it,
ActiveSync is indeed NOT compatible with XP SP3!!! Since it wasn't a piad
support call i couldn't take the issue further with MS on the phone.

I am keen to learn if anyone else has encountered this problem and whether
it's really true that installing XP SP3 will wreck windows mobile
synchronisation functionality. I find it hard to believe it's true, but it
did come from horses mouth so to speak.

From:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/activesync45.mspx

Note: Microsoft ActiveSync works only with Windows XP SP2 or earlier.
If you have Windows Vista, your synchronization settings will be
managed through the Windows Mobile Device Center. Windows Mobile
Device Center is available through the Windows Mobile Device Center
page.

You may just need to wait until Active Sync gets updated to work with
SP3.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[James S Clark]

At last - someone admitting there is a problem with SP3 and ActiveSync 4.5!

Looks I will have to wait, which is a shame considering I was intending to
roll out windows mobile devices across our enterprise (for stocktaking in a
retail environment). Looks like it's back to the drawing board because I'm
not holding my breath for MS to fix the AS/SP3 problem

Thanks anyway though.

--
Regards,

James S Clark
Software Developer & Technician
The Coleman Group (UK)

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

At last - someone admitting there is a problem with SP3 and ActiveSync 4.5!

Looks I will have to wait, which is a shame considering I was intending to
roll out windows mobile devices across our enterprise (for stocktaking in a
retail environment). Looks like it's back to the drawing board because I'm
not holding my breath for MS to fix the AS/SP3 problem

Thanks anyway though.

I tried looking in the knowledge base but didn't see anything.
Anything in the event viewer that you might be able to share? One
other thing that slipped my mind, do you have the Intel Chipset
Software installed already, assuming you have an Intel based PC? It's
worth a shot:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/fil...XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!

Grab the INF Update Utility - Zip Format version, run it, see if it
helps any. Let me know.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

See
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3637769&SiteID=17

Does the behavior persist if you uninstall SP3?

How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249

If you fully adhere to the caveats in
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx
and then reinstall SP3, does the behavior persist?

 

[James S Clark]

This also occurs on a brand new PC (no extra software installed, just
windows) with XP Pro SP3 pre-installed from the OEM disk from which there is
no way to uninstall the service pack.

I am doing some more tests to try to pin down exactly what is happening
because I really need this to work.

--
Regards,

James S Clark
Software Developer & Technician
The Coleman Group (UK)

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

This also occurs on a brand new PC (no extra software installed, just

windows) with XP Pro SP3 pre-installed from the OEM disk from which there is
no way to uninstall the service pack.

I am doing some more tests to try to pin down exactly what is happening
because I really need this to work.

James,

Did you catch my earlier post on the Intel Chipset Software
Installation utility?

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[James S Clark]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it's an AMD chipset. I don't suppose
there's an AMD equivalent is there?

--
Regards,

James S Clark
Software Developer & Technician
The Coleman Group (UK)

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it's an AMD chipset. I don't suppose

there's an AMD equivalent is there?

Possibly. What motherboard and / or model computer is this?

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

If you google for "xp sp3 and activesync" you'll see that you are not

alone. there is indeed an issue that MS has not yet fixed.

this issue is NOT mentioned at all in the "what to do before sp3" writeup
by MS; shame shame shame MS (again).

I'm glad you brought it up, as I had not heard about this and was about to
finaly update my GF's machine to sp3, but she's a big Mobile 6 user. You
saved me a scolding, thanks!

Yes, this has been underreported but I have Googled a few pages where
folks say they are running on SP3 and able to use ActiveSync
successfully. Sadly, no more details other than the "it's working for
me" response. Hopefully more info as it comes.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

And yet here you'll see that not everyone has seen this problem:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3637769&SiteID=17

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for
Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3), until 14 Apr-09. Chat and
e-mail support is available only in the United States and Canada.

• US:
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&prid=11273&gprid=522131

• CA:
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-ca&prid=11273&gprid=522131

• UK:
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-gb&prid=11273&gprid=522131

• AU:
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-au&prid=11273&gprid=522131

• Other: http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=1173 | select
Windows XP | select Windows XP Service Pack 3

 

[James S Clark]

It's an ASUS T3 M2NC51PV with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ CPU rated
at 2.61Ghz.

Obviuosly I've contacted our supplier - they've replicated the problem and
contacted ASUS but apparently ASUS say it's a software problem and won't
help. Great.

It's frustrating because plenty of people out there with a variety of
hardware have experienced this problem but there's also plenty who haven't so
it's very difficult to pin down even to a USB driver issue, a particular
motherboard chipset or windows environment etc. My tests continue.

--
Regards,

James S Clark
Software Developer & Technician
The Coleman Group (UK)

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

It's an ASUS T3 M2NC51PV with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ CPU rated

at 2.61Ghz.

Obviuosly I've contacted our supplier - they've replicated the problem and
contacted ASUS but apparently ASUS say it's a software problem and won't
help. Great.

It's frustrating because plenty of people out there with a variety of
hardware have experienced this problem but there's also plenty who haven't so
it's very difficult to pin down even to a USB driver issue, a particular
motherboard chipset or windows environment etc. My tests continue.

Ok, this is a slightly older generation AMD system. I was hoping it
might have been one of those FX series chipsets made by AMD but not.
Well, if is in fact a USB driver issue, two post-SP3 USB updates were
released that, while not specific to this issue, might be worth trying
out for kicks and grins. But first, let's make sure the chipset
drivers are up to date. Are you running the V6.14.11.6218 drivers
already? If not, update them from the Asus web site here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=T3-M2NC51PV&SLanguage=en-us

If not already done, you might also update the BIOS to the current
version in case there is some USB issue related to the BIOS. That's
available here:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=T3-M2NC51PV&SLanguage=en-us

Now, I mentioned two post-SP3 updates for USB. If you want to give
those a shot, you can get them at the following links. They are free.
At the top of the page, there's a link titled "View and request hotfix
downloads", click it, accept the agreement, and then fill in the form.
You'll be sent a link to the file along with a password to extract it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945436
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949033

Let me know how it goes.

- Thee Chicago Wolf