Windows Mobile Device Center OOBE- just shoot me
I have been happy to be able to sync my Windows Mobile (WM) device over-the-air (OTA) with my Exchange Server without needing to connect the WM device to my Vista computer. My past experiences with syncing via ActiveSync have been abysmal to say the least and I have avoided it for a long time. Last night I wanted to install the EverNote Technical Preview for WM and I figured, incorrectly it turns out, that I would need to sync that via the Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC) to use it properly. The WMDC is the newer, better version of ActiveSync that runs under Windows Vista. I thought it over and figured that since Vista has been out for a good while and that the WMDC has been upgraded from 6.0 to 6.1 that the out of box experience (OOBE) would have to be better than past efforts. Silly me, just shoot me.
The first thing I did was connect the WM device (HTC Advantage) to my Vista notebook (HP 2710p) via USB cable. Vista immediately started its "installing device driver" which took over five minutes while it installed something strange. I can’t recall the device driver name but it was something to do with Windows Mobile Remote Access something or other. After the device driver install completed, which it said completed normally, I waited for the WMDC to fire up thinking surely it was part of Vista now. Silly me, just shoot me.
The disk drive kept thrashing as if something was going to happen but it never did. I had to go online and download the WMDC, which before this process was over I would be calling the Weapons of Mass Destruction Center. This download was small but the install process, which was run with the Advantage connected, took well over 30 minutes. During this install process another device driver was installed, where an icon with a Bluetooth logo indicated that "unknown device" installed correctly. This first part of the install was called a device driver upgrade which is weird since nothing had been installed before to upgrade After a long while the WMDC install proper fired up and went for a while until it reached a successful conclusion. I figured the WMDC would then fire up automatically since the WM device was connected. Silly me, just shoot me.
Nothing would fire up the WMDC and I disconnected/ reconnected the HTC several times. With nothing working I remembered that we mentioned a year ago that the beta of OneCare would interfere with the beta of Vista and steps had to be taken. I didn’t for a minute believe that the now golden OneCare would interfere with the golden Vista. Silly me, just shoot me.
Googling for "WMDC problem" led me to a Microsoft KB article that says that the OneCare firewall can block the WMDC and if that happened the following steps should be taken. You have to change the OneCare firewall settings to allow ActiveSync/ WMDC connections and add a port manually to make sure the setting really takes. Now, I’m thinking to myself that I’m using Microsoft Vista, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Microsoft OneCare so they should be able to figure out what they need to do to work without my interventions. Silly me, just shoot me.
Ripping this hole in the firewall did the trick and when I fired up WMDC it started and after a few minutes of "connecting" I even got a window with a picture of the Advantage to prove it was really connected:
At this point I was surely going to see some real progress. Silly me, just shoot me.
Remember I sync everything OTA with my Exchange Server and the only item that it should be syncing is my Mobile Favorites from IE. I hovered the cursor over the sync window and see that it is slowly syncing 586 items in the Mobile Favorites. It did this for over 20 minutes and then the progress bar, which had reached a 2/3 level, started over. A quick hover of the cursor told me that it had indeed started over and had now synced 3 of 286 items. This took another 20 minutes and it finally indicated that all the favorites had been synced. Another 10 minutes of doing who knows what and the the initial sync completed successfully and all was finally right in the world. Silly me, just shoot me.
I got busy playing with other stuff and decided an hour later to connect the HTC and see how long a real sync would take. Connecting the HTC should have made the WMDC fire up automatically but it didn’t so I manually fired it up. Instead of seeing a nice "Connected" indicator in WMDC I see only a red X icon and the word "Error". No *&^*& that’s all it said. I disconnected the HTC and plugged it in again and this time after two full minutes the indicator showed that I was connected. I waited a while and saw the syncing progress bar start up and end shortly thereafter with a "Sync Error". That’s all it said and remember this is just the second time it’s tried to sync so nothing has happened between when it did the first one and now. Sync Error. Silly me, just shoot me.
I can’t believe that this whole experience is still as bad now as it was when all of this software was in beta stages. Didn’t anyone learn ANYTHING from the beta process that would fix this? How can someone who is not familiar with this technology handle this whole god-awful experience? This isn’t an OOBE, it’s an OOME (out of mind experience). I’m not silly but MS shot me anyway..
If you (by accident, usually, since it is the default setting) enabled “Advanced Networking” functionality via USB, this can cause any number of issues.
On the mobile device, go to Start > Settings > Connections > USB to PC, and turn off this functionality. Chances are good that your experience will improve.
I use OneCare 2.0 and have no issues with syncing via ActiveSync 4.5 using this configuration, so I would expect no less on Vista.
I will take a look when I get home today. BTW, if it’s the default then it’s not by accident, it’s part of the OOBE which sucks.
I think there are two big problems with the WMDC OOBE (as you call it):
1. Why is WMDC a separate download? It would be a lot easier and a lot less confusing for the user if it was just installed with Vista.
2. The initial installation process is confusing, composed of too many separate, undocumented steps and doesn’t provide enough feedback to assure the user that it has installed correctly.
I’ve installed WMDC three times now and it’s always like taking a leap of faith. The first time I tried it (last year) it took me a long time to get it working properly but these days it seems more stable once you get over the initial installation hurdle. However, because of these initial problems, I never have as much faith in WMDC as I did in ActiveSync (which always worked perfectly for me with plenty of devices over the last three or four years).
You OOBE is fast turning into an Out Of Body Experience!!
See what karma does to Fiends?
Heh-heh-heh…
Well, it could be worse, I guess. You could have had to use that entire setup to sync your KINDLE! Now you know WHY amazon wanted to bypass the PC!!
I agree that Amazon’s bypassing of the PC is a Very Good Thing.
I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. WMDC has been working flawlessly for me since its first release. I’ve not had syncing problem one. I agree the process to get this install and running (2 dloads) is less than stellar or easy. And of course there is a problem if it works for some and doesn’t for others.
Ewwwww, Another reason to stay with XP Professional – ActiveSync.
TeeHee
..wiley
NW Harris County
Why not use Mark Space missing sync for windows mobile on your macbook pro? Iv’e used this for quite a while now, makes life a lot easier, it’s like a typical mac program, it just works!
By the way, The HTC is supporrted
Richard, I agree that the Mark Space solution on the Mac is much better than the Windows solution. What is better than the Mac solution is OTA syncing between WM and the Exchange Server and that’s what I use most. I will stop connecting the Advantage to the Vista box forthwith and go back to the sweet Exchange Server syncing.
“Now, I’m thinking to myself that I’m using Microsoft Vista, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Microsoft OneCare so they should be able to figure out what they need to do to work without my interventions.” — Yeah, I thought that with Windows XP, Windows Mobile, Windows Media Player, and ActiveSync, but never could get media to sync to the SD card in my Pocket PC without soft resets.
>>>I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. WMDC has been working flawlessly for me since its first release. I’ve not had syncing problem one.
You do realize that everyone HATES hearing that — in every forum where such a comment is posted — don’t you?
It makes me wonder if you really exist. Or if there is a company out there that specializes in posting “I’ve never had problems” posts…
James, just remember: It’s not a bug (as Microsoft does not have bugs), it’s an undocumented feature!
Sumocat: I have never been able to get any version of Windows using any version of Active Sync to let me copy things to the memory cards in my iPAQs and Jornadas. I simply put what I want on the card directly from the PC and then insert said card into the PDA.
Silly me, just shoot me!
Woadan
Mike Cane: “It makes me wonder if you really exist.” — Trust me, Warner Crocker not only exists, but at times it seems he exists in multiple places. (I believe Marc Orchant also made that observation.)
Woadan: I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. >P
>>>Trust me, Warner Crocker not only exists, but at times it seems he exists in multiple places.
I’d like to see his monitor setup!!
And then you synced your iPod touch with your MacBook Pro and remembered why you switched
Existence can be viewed as an existential question. As apparently can syncing for some using Windows Mobile Device Center or ActiveSync.
Sorry, Mike, I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s bad experiences. I’ve followed jk’s bad experiences with ActiveSync for some time and keep shaking my head, tossing salt over my shoulder, rubbing rabbit’s feet, and lord knows what other mystic and existential rituals I can find, when it works for me.
I always knew Warner existed as he subscribes to the same philosophy that I do. Remember Descartes? “I ink, therefore I am.”
same crap in 2009, since I got a smartphone wm6
iphone sucks
android sucks
windows mobile sucks
palm sucks
blackberry really sucks
i resolve to purchasing used gear until the companies can release gear that includes features appropriate to the time and age we live in, not limiting what they give us