By Chris De Herrera
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ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - General
By Chris De Herrera, Copyright 2005-2009
Version 1.28 Revised 4/4/2009
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Sections:
-
Installation
-
Initial Configuration
-
USB Issues
-
Guest Issues
-
Firewall and Proxy Issues
-
Outlook Errors
-
Synchronization Errors
-
Mobile
Information Server / Outlook Mobile Access
-
Exchange
ActiveSync Error Codes and Solutions
-
Missing
Calendar, Contacts or Tasks Items
-
Security Advisories
-
ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting
Guide - General
-
ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - Limitations
-
ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - 85010014
-
ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - Firewall, VPN, Proxy
-
ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - Logs & Services
-
ActiveSync 4.x
Troubleshooting Guide - Connection Flow
-
USB Advanced
Network Functionality
-
Microsoft ActiveSync 4.2 Troubleshooting
-
Using
ActiveSync 4.x and Visual Studio 2005 and the Emulator
-
Understanding ActiveSync or WMDC Partnerships
Troubleshooting/Tips
With the recent release of
Windows Mobile 5.0,
Microsoft has released
ActiveSync 4.0.
ActiveSync 4.0 continues to build on prior version of ActiveSync with some
significant changes for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices including support for
synchronizing Media, support for USB 2.0 devices, Internet Explorer
Favorites synchronization for Smartphone. These updates are only available
for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. Microsoft released
ActiveSync 4.1 to improve the user's experience with networks
(specifically VPNs, firewalls, and parental controls) and Outlook. This
article covers some common issues and solutions for users of ActiveSync 4.x.
I recommend that users of ActiveSync 4.0 upgrade to
ActiveSync 4.1 to see if their problem has been solved with the
upgrade. Also, Microsoft has just released
ActiveSync 4.2. The latest version of ActiveSync is 4.5
which supports through Windows Mobile 6.1. Microsoft also has a
ActiveSync 4.0 USB Connection Troubleshooting Guide which may be helpful
as well.
List of General Issues
- If you see an error from ActiveSync for 8XXXXXXX where X is any digit,
that error is actually from the Outlook APIs. I suggest that you
perform the following sequence and test synchronization between each step.
a. Run ScanPST to check the PST for errors.
b. Open Outlook and click on Help - Detect & Repair to fix Outlook.
This requires the Outlook CD.
c. Create a new folder in Outlook and move all the data of the type that
is not synchronizing to the new folder. Then move it back until you
find the item causing the error.
d. Create a new PST file (File - New - Outlook Data File) and move your
data into that PST. Then set that PST as the default PST in Outlook
(Tools - Email Accounts - Next. Then select the new PST as the default
email delivery location). Close the old PST in Outlook.
- If you see the support code 86000107, you may need to create another
PST file and migrate your data. See
Microsoft KB article 305544 for details on how to do this.
- If you install patches, service packs, Outlook or Windows Media Player
10 you may need to repair ActiveSync 4.x for it to work correctly. To
repair ActiveSync, click on Start – Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs
and select Microsoft ActiveSync 4.x. Then click on the Change button. The
wizard will walk you through the repair process. You will need to close
all your applications and reboot to complete the repair.
- If you are developing using Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 and a Windows
Mobile 5.0 device, you can debug using TCP/IP. A Microsoft blog
explains how "Debugging
on CE5.0 device without ActiveSync". Please note that these
procedures will not allow non-developers to sync via TCP/IP. Also,
the timeout of 3 minutes to connect may be frustrating for some
developers.
- If you have to uninstall ActiveSync 4.x and want to reinstall
ActiveSync 3.x, you need to use Add/Remove programs to uninstall
ActiveSync 4.x. Then you need to delete the files C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\RAPI.DLL
and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CEUTIL.DLL. Then you can install ActiveSync 3.x
normally. Please note that uninstalling ActiveSync 4.x will delete all
your partnerships.
- If you are connecting as a Guest connection only, try
reinstalling ActiveSync 4.x. Make sure you are using a local
administrator account on the PC..
- If you are using Windows XP and install the
patch
KB902400 (MS05-51) you may experience a problem with ActiveSync 4.x
logging in to use COM. This is caused by the %windir%\registration
security being changed from the default. The folder security must be
set to allow Administrators and System Full Control and
Everyone Read. See
Microsoft KB 909444 article for details.
- If you are using ActiveSync 4.0 and another e-mail client besides
Outlook and you do not want to see the prompt to change Outlook to the
default e-mail client when you sync, install
ActiveSync 4.1.
- If you are using 802.11b or 802.11g with WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
encryption on your PC, you may be able to sync your device with your PC
however 802.11g connection may be disconnected. Other users have
been able to reconnect after rebooting their PC without their device
connected. A workaround would be to use WEP (Wired Equivalent
Privacy) and MAC address filtering in lieu of WPA. In some cases
upgrading the 802.11g card driver resolves the problem. This is
known to work with Intel's 2200BG driver and Intel PROSet/Wireless version
9.x or 10.x including 10.1.0.3.
- If you delete the partnership in ActiveSync on your PC you should
delete the partnership on your mobile device(s). To delete the
partnership on your PC, open ActiveSync and click on File - Delete
Partnership. On the Pocket PC, open ActiveSync. Then click on
the Menu button. Then select the Options menu item. Then arrow
down to the Windows PC. Then click on the Delete button. On the
Smartphone, open ActiveSync and then press the Menu button then select the
Options menu item. Then arrow down to the Windows PC. Then
press the Menu button and select Delete.
- If you want to sync your Pocket PC or Smartphone with 2 PCs with
Outlook and the 2 PCs are both synchronizing with different Exchange
servers, you need to use a registry editor on the mobile device and set
the following key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ActiveSync\EnableNonLocalCrossPollination]
= (DWORD) 1
Please note that modifying the registry on your mobile device or PC is
not supported by Microsoft or your OEM.
- If you synchronize your calendar and change the setting to sync more
than 2 weeks to sync all and then change it back to sync 2 weeks, you will
see duplicated calendar events for the events longer than 2 weeks.
The recommend approach is to not reduce the amount of time you select for
synchronizing your calendar.
- If you have SSH Sentinel installed this can prevent you from
synchronizing. If you uninstall SSH Sentinel you will be able to
sync.
- Some users have reported a problem synchronizing with Outlook 2000.
Installing Outlook 2002 allowed them to synchronize. Since Outlook
2002 is shipped with Windows Mobile 5.0 devices I recommend installing
Outlook 2002 unless you have Outlook 2003 installed. Windows Mobile
5.0 devices have more fields that Outlook 2000 so users may experience
some data loss if they perform a hard reset of their device.
- If you are unable to sync or your connection to ActiveSync is dropped
after you begin to sync and you use
Verizon Wireless E-Mail or Vodaphone Mail, you need to stop them from
downloading your e-mail. This can be done by turning off the
wireless connection, changing the schedule synchronization to manual or
uninstalling the software. When these applications attempt to access
the wireless network, they force ActiveSync to terminate. Other
applications that automatically connect to the internet may cause similar
behavior for users.
- If you are using Symantec Antivirus, you may need to turn off the
"File System Auto Protect" and "Internet Worm Protection".
- If after you connect via ActiveSync, your network connection is ended,
try unchecking the option for File and Network Sharing in the RNDIS
adapter for the Windows Mobile 5.0 Device. The Windows Mobile 5.0
Device must be connected to the PC via USB to make this setting change.
See USB Advanced Network
Functionality.
- If ActiveSync does not complete when you attempt to install it, this
may be caused by a program that has replaced the MAPI32.DLL file on your
PC. You can use C:\Windows\System32\FIXMAPI.EXE (Windows 2000, XP
and Server 2003) to resolve the problem. See
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;ko;820865
- If ActiveSync does not connect on your Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC
try checking the amount of free ram using Start - Settings - System -
Memory. ActiveSync requires approximately 6 MB of free ram.
You can end programs by clicking on the Running Programs tab, select the
application with the stylus and click on the Stop or Stop All button.
- If you are seeing slow synchronization of files or unable to complete
synchronization of files using ActiveSync 4.x, you may have a large number
of blank files in \Windows\Temp on your Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC.
After performing a soft reset
you should be able to safely delete these files. If you are using a
Treo 700w the temporary files issue is resolved by
upgrading to AKU2.
- Consider installing
ActiveSync 4.2. If you run into a problem with the installation
or use of ActiveSync 4.2, you can report it to Microsoft at
[email protected].
- If you are installing ActiveSync and see an error from InstallShield
that lists all the command line options, try clearing your TEMP directory.
See Installation displays
InstallShield window with Command Line Parameters.
- If you see the error 85020006 the error means
E_CONNMGR_NOPATHTODESTINATION. The possible cause is that the Pocket
PC or Smartphone cannot establish a valid connection to the desired
destination through the PC. Open ActiveSync on your PC and check the File
- Connection Settings dialog. Check to see if the option for "This
computer connects to:" is either Automatic/Internet or Work.
- If you are using ActiveSync 4.2 and have a problem with Desktop
Pass-through it may be caused by a Layered Service Provider (LSP) that use
the Windows TCP/IP stack. This has been known to occur with ISA
Server. The registry file
LSPValue.reg will reverse this setting. Microsoft and the Pocket
PC OEM does not support users that edit the registry.
- If you see the error "Cannot synchronize with the Outlook profile you
are using because a different profile was previously setup or the profile
is password-protected. Please open Outlook with the correct profile.
Support Code: 8503001F" You can change the default profile in
Outlook by following the instructions
Microsoft Outlook
- Force your Windows Mobile 5.0 device to open the Profile you want it to
use
- If you are having problems with partial synchronizations or missing
notes, try re-registering the OLE32.dll. This is done by clicking on
"Start" and then select "Run". Then in the box for the Run Command
and type: Regsvr32.exe %Windir%\System32\Ole32.dll
- If you install ActiveSync 4.5 over a prior version, you will have to
setup a new partnership. ActiveSync 4.5 removes the old version and
all partnerships from your PC. However you will have to delete the
partnership on your Windows Mobile device. Open ActiveSync on your
device. Then click on Menu - Options and click on the Delete button
for the partnership you want to delete. Any files you previously
synchronized to your PC will be preserved. Also, it will remember
your device name from your original partnership.
- If your Windows Mobile 5.0 device crashes when you try and sync, you
may need to perform a hard reset. This will require you to setup a
new partnership. Note: A hard reset will erase all your data!
- If you cannot see the ActiveSync window on your PC because it is too
large, you need to change the window size in the registry. On your
PC, click on Start - Run - Regedit. Then navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows CE Services. Then
modify the WCESMGR Windowplacement key to "0,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,0,0,0"
(without the quotes) Or you can load the
file here to reset
the value. Please note that editing the registry is not supported
by Microsoft.
- If you upgraded from ActiveSync 3.x to ActiveSync 4.x and cannot
connect it may be caused by the ActiveSync 3.x USB driver. Try
deleting the driver with the freeware
USBDeview application. You must be careful which drivers you
select when using this utility - use this at your own risk. This
process is not supported by Microsoft. Once the old driver is
removed, when you plug in your Windows Mobile device, Windows will
reinstall the ActiveSync 4.x driver.
-
If you have an existing partnership that used to work
when you connected via ActiveSync to your PC, you will need to delete
the existing partnership. Open ActiveSync and click on File -
Delete Partnership (or Mobile Device) to select the partnership and
delete it.
-
If you have an existing partnership on your device this
can cause you to connect as a Guest. Try launching ActiveSync on
the device and deleting the partnerships, If ActiveSync on your
device does not have an option to delete the partnerships, then you will
have to perform a hard reset. Make sure you have a backup of your
data on a flash card or via the Guest connection or you will lose your
data due to the hard reset.
If your problem is not resolved here, try Bev Howard's
Solving ActiveSync
Issues, the
Microsoft ActiveSync Troubleshooter or
Microsoft's Knowledge Base search on ActiveSync or
Microsoft's Knowledge Base search on Mobile Information Server.
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