Pocket PC - 'ActiveSync: 1 Unread Message' on the Today Screen
By
Raj Pillai, Copyright
2004-2005
Version 1.00 Created 17/05/2005
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Introduction:
The Today screen displays important information, such as today's
appointments and status icons for your device. The information type
displayed will entirely depend upon the items chosen to be displayed
(Tap Start -> Settings -> Today -> Item tab sheet). One of them
being the Inbox status.
The Inbox displays the information about the status of messages and
upon tapping it, opens up the Pocket Inbox application. In a normal
situation it would display the count of unread message as seen below.
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Screen 1
However, often users tend to experience the message
'ActiveSync: x Unread Message' even if there are no unread messages in the
Inbox. Sometimes the Inbox might not have a single message yet it
continues to display this status. Tapping the message yields no result.
It will simply open up the Inbox application.
What is causing the message to be
displayed?
To understand the cause, let look at what happens
inside when a mail is synchronized to your mobile device. The
message is first stored in the system database and a flag is set to show that
the message is unread. The moment the mail is opened the flag
status changes and the changes are reflected on your Today screen
accordingly. I have not been able to recreate this issue directly
but have noticed that if I were to delete the message from the system
database the status would still continue to display as 'ActiveSync: 1
Unread Message'.
So it appears that in some scenarios where a mail is getting deleted on
the Pocket PC does not seem to set the flag status correctly. Causing it to display the incorrect information.
How to solve this problem?
The most common response to solve this problem will be to delete and
recreate the partnership due to the nature in which ActiveSync
synchronizes your Inbox. For more information refer
ActiveSync and Inbox.
I would advice you to try the following method if all your other
attempts at solving the problem are unsuccessful. A hard
reset would definitely solve the problem but then that will need you to
reinstall all your program and involves a lot more time.
What you will need:
You will need a software which will display the system databases to you.
There are several available but in this example I am using a freeware
called
dbView. Please take extreme
caution if you are planning to tweak or delete the
records/databases. Ensure you have performed a *BACKUP*
before editing any entries. This way you can always revert back if
something goes wrong.
Note:
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The following procedure involves editing a few entries in the System
Database which is never supported by any manufacturer or Microsoft. |
All set? Lets search for your
"unread" message.
Follow the steps given below and you should be able to find the flag
entry which has not been updated:
- To start, make sure you don't have any mails in your Pocket Inbox.
Refer to Clearing the Mails from the
Pocket PC Inbox. Next, create a dummy mail with a unique
subject in the ActiveSync Draft folder. Tap and hold this mail and
move it to your Inbox from the Drafts folder. Make sure that this mail is set to as
unread. If it is read, tap and hold the mail and select "Mark as
Unread". This should cause a change in the information the Today
screen is displaying. It should show it as "ActiveSync: 2 Unread
Message".
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Screen 2 |
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Screen 3 |
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Screen 4 |
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Screen 5 |
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Screen 6 |
- Next access the DBView application and start looking for the dummy
message you created under the folders titled "fldrxxxxxxx" (x represents
a number). Each folder represents the folders that your e-mail
account has. So if you have configured several e-mail accounts on
your device the number of folders will be more. You might find
several folders but look out for the ones that contain only one entry
(Refer Screen 8).
If you find such a folder, select the entry and scroll horizontally and
look out for the Subject you had entered. The subject should be
stored under a field titled - "0x0037 (String)" - (Refer
Screen 9) If there is a
match, then note the folder number.
Note:
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The field titles might be different depending on the Pocket PC. Even if the field title is not the same, you can follow the information as a guideline and complete the steps. |
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Screen 7 |
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Screen 8 |
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Screen 9 |
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Search for a "pmailFolders" under the system databases and select it. This system
database will be at the end of the folder hierarchy. Now comes the
tricky part. Slide the horizontal scroll bar and look out for a
field "0x8003 (String) that contains "fldrxxxxxxx" entries. Under
this field look out for the folder number you had noted earlier.
In the example provided, the folder number noted is "fldr7001264".
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Screen 10 |
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Select the entry and scroll horizontally to the extreme right end.
The field title would be "0x3603 (UInt)". You might need to expand
the title heading. You will see numbers under this fields (Refer
Screen 11).
It should display the number that appears on your Today screen. In
our example look out for the number 2 since currently our Today screen
is showing 2 unread messages. To make an additional confirmation,
scroll horizontally until you find "0x3001(String)" field.
This should display Inbox for the selected record since the
mail item is in the Inbox (Refer Screen 12).
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Screen 11 |
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Screen 12 |
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So now that you have located the cause, proceed to delete this entry.
Select the entry and tap Tools -> Delete Record in DBView.
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Screen 13 |
- Next return to the folder number you had noted earlier and
delete the record from that folder as well. This will delete
the dummy mail you created. Your Today screen message will reflect the changes.
Next perform a soft reset.
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Screen 14 |
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You can proceed to change the settings for number of days in
ActiveSync for Inbox synchronization to get back your e-mail messages on
the Pocket PC with the correct status.
Conclusion:
The above steps should help isolate the problem and help you clear
the incorrect status. I have received several positive feedbacks
about using this approach to solve the problem.
Read other articles
by Raj Pillai
Discuss your Handheld PC, Palm-size PC or Pocket
PC needs at Pocket PC
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