PDA iPAQ 214 WMDC - synch error 0x80004005 - ongoing

Jan 09, 2009

- I'm willing to see what I can dig up that may help you on this Outlook issue, I'll need more information to go on even though you may have already stated it. I need it on this thread so I can refer to it and it may take a few days to find a solution if you're willing to wait.

Are you trying to sync with a laptop or desktop and are you trying to use Bluetooth or Wireless or wired. Then what version of Office do you have an what OS are you using Vista or XP?

Thanks,
Worldvet

Jan 09, 2009

- Are you initiating the Sync from the IPaq or from Outlook or Vista's Active Sync tool?

Jan 19, 2009

- Hi,

I just want to follow up and see if you have run across a definitive answer to your problem. If you have would be so kind as to share that so I can use that should we ever see this problem again?

Thanks,
Worldvet

Jan 29, 2009

- Yes. Your situation is completely illogical. Not that you are doing anything wrong at all. You apparently do know exactly what you are doing.

The solution as I see it is to approach HP on this unit to find out if there is a firmware update and how to apply it. If there is no firmware update, I'd insist on a replacement. If they balk and a supervisor provides no help at all, contact the Better Business Bureau and lodge a complaint with them including your contacts here for assistance.

I would also contact watchdog@maximumpc.com only after you receive no assistance. This watchdog is Gordon Mah and I've communicated with him in the past the very long past and he does really good work as a computer assisted consumer advocate; that is anything driven by a CPU. First the BBB and then The Watchdog.

Sincerely,
Worldvet

Jan 31, 2009

- I'm glad to hear HP is responsive to your dilemma. My intuition tells me the replacement will work fine for you.

If you want to reserve judgment on changing your vote on my work with you until then that is fine with me. I've been down this long road several times with customers like you who do keep me informed.

There are these times when it seems to take forever to get a problem solved. Many of us will invest ourselves and our time with a customer such as yourself because we can work with you. You may be able to imagine that we encounter some very belligerent people and when we get to work with intelligent people its refreshing and rewarding.

Did HP send you a box and a label or are then having a service tech come by for it? If they are sending someone to collect it. Try to cover yourself with a receipt prepared in advance that the driver can sign and illustrate a chain of custody for your IPaq. I believe HP should have issued an RMA number to your case and you will want this on your receipt when you print it off and the driver signs it. Have two copies available if you need to offer or give one to the driver. I'd just hate to see you and your IPaq get lost in a black hole with no proof in your hands it was collected and when and by whom.

Thanks again for taking the time to keep me in the loop.

Regards,
Worldvet

Feb 01, 2009

- Thank you for the marks. I do apprecaite that. More than anything, I do want to see you in business as you should have been to start with.

From all I've read and understand about USB oriented devices, there should be no problem unless there was a specail cable to use from HP to port into USB communications and power. I do see this, or did in years gone by, with devices used by Retailers with computer assisted cash registers. These are so ubiquitous today we take them for granite. But, from the techs point of view they've been nightmares to make right and then we are at risk of the minimum wage employee goofing around and experimenting when bored.

The IEEE has stringently driven this technology to uniform standards. Windows Vista was a disappointment. The next Windows release, due out this May is still titled Windows7 and I have beta copies to get up to speed on this. So far, it looks like a version of Vista that works as described. But, Microsoft will make consumers like you pay again for what amounts to a program patch. That's how I see it anyway. When Microsoft does this with their Operating Systems the major vendors are an integral part of the development process. One of these is Hewlett Packard, and why I was so surprised to see you with a problem.

The conclusion was easy to draw into, but I/we have to go through some basics as this is remote support via email... not as good as it can be. But, the owners of FixYa are not ready to take the risk of have remote sessions with a user such as yourself so we can access inforation tools and draw conclusions more quickly and accurately. I do agree with the owners though, as we do get our share of wannabes here claiming to be an expert when all they know is how to dish out BS cleverly.

Anyway, glad to see HP is going the extra mile and taking the work on themselves instead of making you ship the product into them. This is a good sign and one that makes me tend to believe its a known problem. And, in spite of their receipt process you are better off generating and using your own receipt as well for obvious reasons; wel to me anyway... I've seen this gone bad too many times in the last 25years.

What you can expect is that your warranty will remain intact from the date of purchase for the stated life of the warranty. I always suggest you negotiate with them to extend your warranty to the date of receipt of a working product. They don't just hand these extensions out, but when you ask, you'd be surprised at how quick they are to agree. After all, if you went to the BBB online and argued this point you would win everytime and they know it.

Thanks for being a great client to work with and I'll be awaiting the final word from you. Oh, and do ask them when you have the chance, for assistance, live over the phone, as you setup the replacement product. Let's put some of this responsibility, for that too, on their shoulders. Yes?

Regards,
Worldvet

Feb 01, 2009

- "On the Phone" tech support has gone away with a few exceptions.

Dell has been lambasted for their call centers in India, so now they're offering (or will) Phone Tech Support with an American trained tech for $14.95. As pricing goes, that's not bad, but the whole idea of paying money to speak to an American is ridiculous.

I do a lot of work on HPs here on FixYa and in my community. Their web site is very well designed for the tech, not for the consumer unfortunately. They keep trying to improve on that but HP owners with problems really do need a tech to interact.HP is pretty good at returning emails, especially when I can cite my credentialsand teh fact that I've been registered with them since 1996. I have had problems, not unlike yours, but with laptops mostly where HP has come through in the end but the issue takes days and days to resolve, sometimes weeks.

Believe it or not FixYa has a strong reputation among the top five players. Sure, we get our share of poorly trained techs here or those with only 4-5 years of field experience, but the majority of us are semi retired in our late 50s who have been working with the personal computer since the very early 80s. And were Geeks before Geek was defined. We have seen technology come and go and are watching some of this right now. The pocket pc is mirgraing to the iPhone like platform as memory density increases in the solid state memory field increases. Its amazing what is around the corner. It will redefine 'storage' as we know it today.

Enjoy the game if you are a fan.

Feb 09, 2009

- It was a pleasure to stick with you on this problem and I too was surprised by the sudden response by HP. It led me to believe that it was a known issue. But, you really can not fault HP's customer support.

Glad to hear you're back in business and good to go.

And I agree, that finding two methods of backing up critical information like bookmarks, addresses and email is important. I have email I've archived since 1997. Using, of course, Outlook.

A final note: its nice when we see these things get resolved and the manufacturer goes that extra mile. Its a rare sight indeed.

Best of luck,
Worldvet

Feb 26, 2009

- Been off site while working a few projects.

I have a backup plan that allows me to burn to CD, copy to SD and also copy to a second computer that runs as a backup and gaming platform.

Basically, you cannot be too paranoid backing up data.

Worldvet