Does the HTC Raphael have any kind of Safe Mode that you can boot into which would disable any auto-run programs and allow you to use the device in a "plain vanilla" mode?
My specific problem is that I've managed to install a program which apparently sets itself up to auto-run at startup, and which has effectively bricked my phone. The device isn't completely unresponsive. Using keyboard shortcuts I can run certain programs such as Opera or the mail client. Unfortunately, I can't get into the Remove Programs settings applet.
I also can't get it to sync with my PC, which would be another way to remove a program. When I plug the USB cable in, I get the "Choose a connection type" dialog, but the PC doesn't recognize that the device is plugged in. So that's a dead end.
I've done multiple soft resets, to no good effect. The phone hangs at the same place each time, which is before the Today screen appears BTW. I'm viewing a hard reset as a last resort, since I really don't want to spend the rest of the day reinstalling and reconfiguring applications and system settings.
Any ideas would be appreciated. I've been searching the forums and wiki for about an hour, but haven't found anything relevant except for something for a different HTC device. I've spent several hours trying different things that I've thought of with varying results, but the basic problem remains. And finally, while I'm new to this forum, I'm definitely not a noob. I've been a serious PocketPC user back to the days of the Casio E-100, and a mobile device user starting with the original Newton.
Thanks in advance.
Scott Trotter
i know the older versions of spb mobile shell had a safe mode, i havent use spb since my nike tho so i dont know if its still included
obviously as you cant install programs in your current state i suggest u try a hard reset
it was wkTask or ILauncher that had it. Check it out
What did you install? And how does it run at startup? Is it just a link in the windows/startup folder, or a reg entry? If you can launch a file explorer, reg editor, or sk tools, you should be able to disable it.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that the culprit is SPB Wireless Monitor. I had a discount coupon for SPB software that expired last night at midnight, so I installed a couple of trial version programs to check them out. Everything worked fine until I tried Wireless Monitor, which apparently bricked the phone. I say "apparently" because its possible that the problem is caused by some type of interaction between Wireless Monitor and something else. In any event, I'm not able to run anything on the phone that will help me diagnose or fix the problem...whatever it is.
I'll probably wait until tomorrow to see if anyone comes up with a reset-saving solution, then throw in the towel and do a hard reset. Probably take the opportunity to try a different ROM while I'm at it.
SPB Pocket plus brings a safe mode to every windows mobile device; it deactivates all autostart proggies & has helped me a lot of times. i have one more cab to install safe mode, but i dont know where its from, and i remember that it does not work so good as SPB Pocket plus does ...
hope it helps
Boris
In my own situation, I ended up having to hard reset and start from scratch. Oh well, such is life.
To wrap up, based on the responses above or the lack thereof, it appears that the following is true:
1) There is no "safe mode" capability in the Raphael, neither as a hardware feature, nor as an operating system feature.
2) There are some third-party software alternatives which offer this capability, but you need to have the foresight to have them installed so that they are available in an emergency situation.
Thanks for everyone's help.
Very much bolting the stable door etc etc but
Get a decent backup client and schedule it to backup every day (week, hour, month - depending on how often you change the data on the phone).
If you envisage more than a few hard reboots in a year (changing / testing roms, trying software you might decide you hate, or just a geek etc etc) spend a little time creating a UC setup (there are a few different versions / ways now so i wont prejudice by linking to any one).
I know its not a fix, and requires a little preperation, but for a few $$ and a handful of hours, its can save a whole load of grief later on.
borisku said:
SPB Pocket plus brings a safe mode to every windows mobile device; it deactivates all autostart proggies & has helped me a lot of times. i have one more cab to install safe mode, but i dont know where its from, and i remember that it does not work so good as SPB Pocket plus does ...
hope it helps
Boris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeeah spb pocket plus not mobile shell thats what i ment lol
Beeble said:
Very much bolting the stable door etc etc but
Get a decent backup client and schedule it to backup every day (week, hour, month - depending on how often you change the data on the phone).
If you envisage more than a few hard reboots in a year (changing / testing roms, trying software you might decide you hate, or just a geek etc etc) spend a little time creating a UC setup (there are a few different versions / ways now so i wont prejudice by linking to any one).
I know its not a fix, and requires a little preperation, but for a few $$ and a handful of hours, its can save a whole load of grief later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've given that lecture many, many times myself. Its embarrassing to be on the receiving end.
I'm surprised that the Safe Mode feature isn't in SPB Mobile Shell. After having it in Pocket Plus, and it being so useful, why take it out?
Related
Hi
I have a complex situation, that probably has a very simple answer. I am probably being paranoid, but hopefully someone knowledgeable about ActiveSync will be able to quickly sort me out.
My laptop was recently repaired, (with a replacement motherboard fitted). When I got it back, Windows XP & Office XP of course both asked to be re-activated.
Windows succeeded, however Office asks me to insert the Office CD to be able to activate. When I do this the activation notification disappears, but Office is left in Reduced Functionality mode (eg I never get to the phone Microsoft to activate bit!)
Unfortunately, my phone is now 6 weeks out of date with Syncing (also due to the laptop being in repair!). I haven't run an ActiveSync since I got the laptop back as I have been worried about running an ActiveSync whilst Outlook is in reduced functionality mode. I was concerned it might lose data (as most Outlook features become read only!), so I have kept them out of sync (and getting more so daily) until I know the best way to proceed.
So, I need to either fix Office re-activating, (which doesn't seem possible) OR to find out how to get ActiveSync to work, with an Office re-install from scratch, without losing or duplicating any of my data. I just don't know enough about ActiveSync to know if it will just work without a problem, or if I need to do things in a certain order.
The current thinking is that I will have to manually remove Office XP (as the uninstall process also doesn't work!), before reinstalling it again, and re-activating the new copy.
So lots of possible paths to the solution, but I'm not sure which order to proceed in.
I ultimately want Office re-activated and fully working again and want the phone fully synced and no lost or duplicate data in either the phone or Outlook.
So some direct questions:
Can the phone Sync with Outlook in Reduced Functionality mode? (or might I lose data?). It seems that if they are synced before I uninstall Outlook, then everything becomes a lot simpler.
Failing that....
What will happen if I forceably remove Office by a manual uninstall. When I re-install Office and put in the my PST files, will ActiveSync cope OK, just pick up where it left off, and happily cope with the data currently being out of Sync? (might I get missing or duplicate data?)
What would be the suggested method to achieve my end result with minimum grief and hassle? And which order should I take these steps?
Thanks for reading this far.
Details:
Windows XP; Office XP Pro (the Product key is valid, I just can't get the software to get far enough to the actual activation screen);
Activesync 4.1; XDA Mini-S;
Mike
If you have a backup program for your phone just make a backup to your memory card. You will now always have a copy of where you are today. Set your active sync in your phone (activesync, menu, options, select your computer, settings) to 'keep the item on your device' and sync away. The worst that could happen is you may have to restore your phone to where it was today when you made the backup. Most likely all will go well and you'll sync up normally. My outlook information on my computer was accidentally erased and fully restored this way. Made my day!
I've always treated active-sync as my backup of the phone, and I am quickly realising why this a foolish approach to have taken!
Your advice seems to be spot on and is what I will do. However, as I don't currently have a backup program for my phone, which would you recommend? I guess it needs to be something that I can install without Active-Sync?
I suspect that a backup to the memory card is a better plan than running an activesync with a new computer (temporarily) as a means of backup - is that right?
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Try putting the office cd in while the PC is booting, so that when it asks, it's already there, which it may or may not detect?
Also, you could do set-up an account on http://live.mail2web.com to sync your contacts, calendar etc too, but you will lose any mail on there. Hopefully this isn't something you are desperate to keep though?
When I to do a "detect & repair" of Office, it actually says "source not available", but it doesn't give that info when I try to re-activate with the CD. However it doesn't give me an option to find the source. I've tried leaving the CD in when booting up, but sadly it made no difference. Certainly if I can just get Office to re-activate without any un-installing then there are no other problems, however that is looking increasingly unlikely. I do have one suggestion to follow there, which is to remove various registry entries before doing another "detect & repair", which might sort itself out.
Failing that I am on a backup PDA, then mannual removal route.
I will look into http://live.mail2web.com and see what it can offer me by way of a backup.
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Final update.
Thanks everyone for your help. I have finally got it all sorted. It turns
out I probably WAS being overly paranoid (but better that, than losing all my
data because I didn't think first!).
What I did:
1) I got a trial copy of SPB Backup for my Phone. (you get 5 runs of the
program before you have to buy - but I will be buying it anyway as I am very
impressed with it). The big advantage of this program is that it can be
installed directly on the storage card which some others can't. It could even
be downloaded as a CAB file (directly in Pocket Internet Explorer) and
executed on the device directly without needing an ActiveSync install. This
was the clincher for me, as I needed to take a backup before running
ActiveSync.
2) Took backups of the phone with SPB and of the PST files from Outlook.
3) Tried an ActiveSync with Outlook in reduced functionality mode. It worked
mostly fine. Came up with some "support code 1" errors for a handful of
contacts, but nothing major. So it appears that ActiveSync mostly works fine
with reduced functionality mode (hence I was probably being paranoid for not
trying this sooner!).
4) With the phone & Outlook now back up to date, there was less of an issue
as to what happened next. However I decided to see which bit of the various
instructions solved my problem. I did this by trying them bit by bit, and
testing with re-activation, re-install, detect & repair etc at every stage.
By process of elimination, I found out that removing the program files folder
made no difference, as did deleting the two Office reg key branches. The
crucial part was the Windows Installer Cleanup. So I restored all the reg and
program files back as they were before the tests, and ONLY ran the Windows
Installer Cleanup program.
5) I was then able to re-install Office over the top of itself, and I was
pleased to note that by keeping the files and reg keys all my settings were
retained.
6) Office happily Activated by the Internet. Hurray!
7) Connected to "Microsoft Update" to get SP3 and all subsequent updates &
patches for Office (re-installing over itself loses all the updates
previously installed)
8) Checked my email accounts, rules, etc and ActiveSync are still working
correctly. Which they are!
So, it seems that if I'd had the guts to go for it, I could have JUST done
the Windows Installer Cleanup trick keeping everything else intact ready to
sync. OR equally I could have just run ActiveSync to get the up to date and
them blown Office all away for a complete re-install. As it happens I am VERY
pleased with the route I took and the end outcome. It is far better than my
expectations of the hassles I would face. The hardest part was gathering all
the information to make me happy enough to proceed... oh and finding the
guts! The actual re-install was totally painless.
Anyway, I hope my findings of using JUST Windows Installer Cleanup, help
someone else who wants to try keeping their settings in the future.
I also hope my findings that ActiveSync mostly works in reduced
functionality mode, also helps others.
Anyway, so thank you to everyone who patiently shared their knowledge with
me. Without you all I would have gone into a flat-spin and struggled to get
my head round it all.
Thanks again
For no apparent reason, Activesync (4.5 5096) of Outlook on my TC (standard ROM see below) has stopped working. Outlook email/contacts/diary not getting synced.
After plugging USB in a message says 'Sync cannot be connected succesfully...try again... and run troubleshooting..'. But Activesync/Help/Troubleshooting/Reporting says there is nothing wrong! Indeed, I can still explore TC and card, sync other software (e.g. Media Player, TomTom Home, eWallet etc).
But I can't get in to the ActiveSync/Options menu to check out the relationship. Have soft reset TC, turned off PC firewalls etc, but nothing helps. Little puzzled because it all worked fine for the past 2 months and I wasn't even playing around when it decided not to work!
Any ideas please?
Thanks,
CI
Touch Cruise
ROM vers: 1.25.405.1 WWE
ROM date: 12/11/07
Radion vers: 1.58.21.23
Protocol vers: 25.65.30.04H
had the same problem some time ago. changed the cable and everything was fine.you could also try uninstalling and reinstalling activesync.
Jackster
Thanks. Cable was OK, but uninstall/reinstall of activesync worked. indeed speeded up activesync and fixed a lot of other minor secondary problems while it was at it would recommend it for all every now and then. strikes me that activesync is one of the those bolt-on bits of MS obeseware that needs regular maintenance?
USB Device not recognized
To mark the anniversary of me posting my original message, all of a suddden and for no apparent reason, Activesync has stopped working again. Bizarre
This time its a little different, I don't get anything except a pop message on PC saying 'USB device not recognized: One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance click on this message'. Which of course I di and it didn't help!
So, I've tried
- un-installing/re-installing Activesync 4.5
- rebooting PC and TC umpteen times
- changed USB port/cable
- tick/untick Settings/Connections/USB-to-PC/Enable Advanced network functionality
- putting the kettle on
Nothing is working (Although the cup of tea was nice
Would really appreciate some help please
Thanks
CI
Help! Really desperate on this one. I have been trying to think why this should suddenly happen. Two things possible:
- During my last succesful sync I received and answered a call. Would this damage registers or something?
- I accidently pulled the mini-USB headphone cable a bit while listening toi music. But the sound is still perfectly OK, and I receive power charge via USB even though it won't connect/sync. And like I said, I've swapped cables/ports.
I've Googled this a lot and most people fix by fiddling with stuff I have already done and praying!
Please. Anyone got any ideas before I too start praying!
Thanks
1. No, it should not. Never heard it did.
2. AFAIK, not reason as long as it charges trough USB port.
Try to delete device from Active Sync while device is not connected. You might need to restart PC.
You'll have to set options again when device is recognised.
This is what I have to do often.
Also, check device name on device itself, it tends to change from time to time for no apparent reason (at least to me). If it changes, it causes following problems to me:
1. Active Sync troubles
2. BT connection to car audio stops working.
Hope some of this will help...
BTW... you have WM 6.0 on it? If so, don't upgrade to WM 6.1... IMHO, WM 6.0 is faster than 6.1 and has less problems with Active Sync...
Bodisson,
Thanks for suggestions. Alas, none work
It looks like I am going to have to hard reset and/or burn new ROM. For those of us who don't do this regularly, this can be a nerve racking experience. However, I was perhaps sweating too much about it for a couple of reasons:
- it seems very few people have anything good to say about WM6.1. Until now I have been pretty happy with WM6.0 and have had 14 months of virtually trouble-free use, so maybe I'll just stick with that. I'm not a power-user, so the vast array of cooked ROMs is rather bewildering. Unless one is rock solid and aimed at non-power end-users?
- I thought installing a new ROM without Activesync was impossible, but I see someone has worked a way to do it via the SDHC card. Well done XDA
So, unless anyone has some further ideas I will just hard reset to WM6.0 and hope for the best. I have this terrible feeling though that my mini-USB port is damaged and I'll get the same bubble of doom even after hard reset.
Thanks
Either do a hard reset back to factory (and hope you can re sync all your stuff with the PC),
OR
Re flash the rom to C Shekar's "b" rom. It really is very good, and transforms the phone. In fact, it is so good that I have finally stopped fiddling with my phone! (and I'm a born fiddler!)
It is very good, and works immediately, but you might need to spend time tweaking it - the must is to install the correct radio.
I've done quite a lot of rom upgrading, so am quite comfortable now with the process. If you want to do it and need a hand, let me know.
Have you tried to verify your firewall? Last time I had some Sync problems was just after updating my firewall that changed settings to default, blocking the Polaris-PC communication.
Have tried disabling all firewalls with no luck.
I've hit a brick wall on this one, but am fearful it will be hard to get device back to working order again if I do hard-reset and still can't sync
Suggestions very welcome
Thanks
New_Wizard said:
Have you tried to verify your firewall? Last time I had some Sync problems was just after updating my firewall that changed settings to default, blocking the Polaris-PC communication.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I feel for you on this one!
If you don't want to flash to a new rom (or, re flash to your old one), there is a solution but it involves removing and renaming your Outlook.pst file ... the procedure (which is on this site somewhere) seemed fraught with danger, to me, so i preferred to re flash when i had a similar problem.
Before re flashing, if you decide to, you backup your data using PIMBackup - only your contacts and maybe phone call list, not anything specific to the phone's operating system or software.
Re flash, then restore the data.
Then, Active Sync will see the phone as a completely new system.
I have WM6 running on a HTC Trinity (the Orange SPV M700 variant) has been wonderful for over a month now, last night I reset it cause I hadn't in ages and it was getting all bunged up and slow, when it came back everything just stopped working.
Touchflo, HTCHome, all the stuff i had running on startup instantly blasted errors at me, and all the applications i have installed wont run, including .cab installers..
The error is:
"The File [File name] cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate, or one of its components cannot be found. If the problem persists, try reinstalling or restoring the file."
I'm not one of these idiots who just panicks and complains about a problem, i've searched google a lot, found that its probably the 'security configuration' and found a program that should be able to change it, only, it can't connect to it properly through activesync, i assume because of the same thing. I would just wipe it clean, even re-flash the ROM if i had too, but I want to back everything up first with something like PPCPimBackup which has worked wonders in the past, only, I can't run the executable...
If it really comes down to it i will just manually backup my contacts list and suffer the other losses, but i'm sure there is some genious on these forums who has a magic sollution..
Always keep in mind, it's called a Pocket PC, because it's just like a PC. So from here on out, be sure to reset daily, it's quick and can help over a long run. As far as it not running now (don't know if you have fixed it yet) but try another reset, sometimes when there are too many startup apps, it can cause some chaos and certain apps won't run. Or try uninstalling the apps not working and reinstalling after a reset, after the uninstall.
Also, always a great idea to backup.
I would like to think i'm pretty good with computers, if this happened on my laptop or desktop I'd be able to find the registry values or find a program to change them for me to stop it blocking the apps from running.
Trouble is, I can't run the PPC version of RegEdit because it is blocking EVERY .exe, If it wasn't PPC i'd boot it up in safe mode, using all the default values, but there isn't on in WM6 by default (to my knowledge anyway)
I've reset many times and nothing changes, turned it off, even taken the battery out just in case it made a difference.
I think i'm going to have to do a hard reset and suffer the losses..
Sometimes a hard reset is the only solution.
Saw this in a signautre from NiteStalker, both hilarious and true, "If knowledge is counted in Hard Resets, I must be a genious!"
I need some troubleshooting advice and I hope someone here can help me. I have the Canadian version of the BlackJack2 (i616) which with it's current configuration (WM 6.1) has a bug. The bug is that the audio is effectively broken during incoming and outgoing calls. There are multiple dialogs about this on multiple forums including this one --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=439620.
Here is what we know:
- Some software can be installed and the phone is fine after reboot. This includes titles such as but not limited to: MS GPSID, Garmin Mobile XT, SPB Wallet, TCPMP, Skyfire etc.
- Some software when installed effectively breaks the audio. This includes titles such as but not limited to: SDA Unlocker, SPB Backup, SPB Wireless Monitor etc.
- After a "trouble" software is installed, the phone works UNTIL you reboot the phone. In other words you could effectively run the software and use the phone normally if you DON'T Reboot the phone. This is clearly not a sustainable solution..
- When the audio is broken, SOMETIMES a simple reboot will fix the issue. Sometimes you need to reboot the phone several times, reboot and remove pieces of the phone, reboot and hop on one leg, reboot and bang your head on your desk... What ALWAYS fixes the problem is a hard reset. So clearly something is amiss here since there is no real consistent solution without wiping the unit.
- Uninstalling the "trouble" software DOES NOT fix the problem. The damage is done as soon as the software installs the first time. So unfortunately you can't just uninstall the software and go about your day.
- Issue is preset only on the i616 with WM 6.1. That is the Canadian Samsung "Jack" and equal to the BlackJack 2 found at AT&T.
- Samsung will do nothing to help since the issue happens after installing a non-Samsung software... Of course..
- Rogers/Fido are giving us the run around as well.. "Go talk to Samsung, go play in the street.."
Here is what I've done so far:
- I'm able to duplicate the problem anytime since I know which softwares break the phone.
- I've given up trying to fix the problem by messing around removing battery, SIM, Micro SD, jumping around etc. because rebooting the phone after each scenario takes too much time and my head is sore from the banging.. I simply hard reset the unit each time.
- I've installed CERegEditor in an effort to perhaps compare the registry after a "trouble" software is installed/uninstalled. This has proven to be very time consuming and I feel that without some advice on what to look for this is a case of diminishing return.
Can anyone provide some next steps for troubleshooting this? Are there any ideas as to what to look for or try out? I'm open to anything.
Thanks!
Dave
Hoping you can help. I've become 'the phone guy' at my office (i'm already one of the 'desktop guy's'), and as such i have to help with our various Touch's, Diamond's, Touch Pro's, Touch Pro 2's, HD2's and even the occasional Treo (plus E71's, E72's and most of the Blackberry range).
Most of it i've figured out, having been around Winmo since the QTEK 9100, but there's one issue that has escaped me. Outlook/email/activesync, whatever you refer to it as on the device.
All our smartphone users (except the BB's) connect via an exchange connection. But i've found that if you hose up the setup (mis-spelling the server name, user name, domain, etc) without realising it and then try and connect, obviously you don't connect but when you find the error and correct it, the device still won't connect until you do a hard reset and set it up again.
In addition, our AD policy requires a password change every 60 days. Too often, even when the user knows how to update the password in WinMo Outlook, it gets hosed up, and we have to hard reset (again). 60 days is plenty of time for some users to have installed plenty of extra apps, so its always enjoyable to explain that we have to hard reset the phone....
Yes, normally i'd expect to 'right click' "*Outlook E-mail" and select 'Delete', but that's always greyed out.
So, how can you delete the outlook account settings without having to hard reset the phone?
Thanks.
Never mind, i found the answer.
Open Activesync on your smartphone and click Menu - Options. Selct your account and click Menu again and select Delete.
lol yip that was gonna be my advise to you lol, well done!