Audible notifications gone on Dell Axim X59v running WM 2003 SE with

Have had this device since they came out (3 or 4 years ago???). Have
always used audible notifications for calendar, alarms, and screen taps.

Have tuned them on and of via (1) the speaker volume icon in the task
bar and/or Start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications.

Any ideas as to why this has happened?

Does anyone know if Dell still services their PDAs? If not, do any of
the computer super stores, or even neighborhood computer stores, work on
them?

TIA

Norm

normc
Wed Apr 16 23:40:29 PDT 2008

normc wrote:
> Have had this device since they came out (3 or 4 years ago???). Have
> always used audible notifications for calendar, alarms, and screen taps.
>
> Have tuned them on and of via (1) the speaker volume icon in the task
> bar and/or Start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications.
>
> Any ideas as to why this has happened?
>
> Does anyone know if Dell still services their PDAs? If not, do any of
> the computer super stores, or even neighborhood computer stores, work on
> them?
>
> TIA
>
> Norm

More info: It isn't the speaker. I can listen to music. I just
discovered that I can't even get a test tone out of
start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications/Play Sounds. So perhaps
the sound generator has failed. Any way to know if this is a hardware
ir software problem. I haven't tried a hard reset yet.

Sven
Thu Apr 17 07:20:16 PDT 2008

I'd do a backup and try that hard reset. Could just be something corrupted
in the registry. I was going to mention the common problem of the headphone
jack internal switch sticking, but if you get some sounds, that's not it.

--
Sven
MVP Mobile Devices
"normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:xhCNj.1424$FF6.598@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
> normc wrote:
>> Have had this device since they came out (3 or 4 years ago???). Have
>> always used audible notifications for calendar, alarms, and screen taps.
>>
>> Have tuned them on and of via (1) the speaker volume icon in the task bar
>> and/or Start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications.
>>
>> Any ideas as to why this has happened?
>>
>> Does anyone know if Dell still services their PDAs? If not, do any of
>> the computer super stores, or even neighborhood computer stores, work on
>> them?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Norm
>
> More info: It isn't the speaker. I can listen to music. I just
> discovered that I can't even get a test tone out of
> start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications/Play Sounds. So perhaps
> the sound generator has failed. Any way to know if this is a hardware ir
> software problem. I haven't tried a hard reset yet.

normc
Thu Apr 17 14:01:58 PDT 2008

Sven wrote:
> I'd do a backup and try that hard reset. Could just be something
> corrupted in the registry. I was going to mention the common problem of
> the headphone jack internal switch sticking, but if you get some sounds,
> that's not it.
>

Thanks. Did as you suggested. Still no alarms.

Any other ideas?

TIA

Norm

Sven
Fri Apr 18 07:49:15 PDT 2008

Hmm, no. PocketPCTechs does service these things. They are quite reputable.
I've had work done by them as have others I know with excellent results.

http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main.asp?area=home

--
Sven
MVP Mobile Devices
"normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:aVONj.1469$FF6.1386@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net...
> Sven wrote:
>> I'd do a backup and try that hard reset. Could just be something
>> corrupted in the registry. I was going to mention the common problem of
>> the headphone jack internal switch sticking, but if you get some sounds,
>> that's not it.
>>
>
> Thanks. Did as you suggested. Still no alarms.
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> TIA
>
> Norm

normc
Sat Apr 19 00:34:18 PDT 2008

Sven wrote:
> Hmm, no. PocketPCTechs does service these things. They are quite
> reputable. I've had work done by them as have others I know with
> excellent results.
>
> http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main.asp?area=home
>

Thanks.

Todd
Sat Apr 19 12:52:03 PDT 2008


"normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:_fhOj.7445$GE1.7335@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...

>> Hmm, no. PocketPCTechs does service these things. They are quite
>> reputable. I've had work done by them as have others I know with
>> excellent results.
>>
>> http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main.asp?area=home
>>
>
> Thanks.

Are you POSITIVE you actually performed a hard reset? (I know these are
silly questions, but you'd be surprised...!) Also, I assume you tested the
alarms after the reset but BEFORE you added any software to the device?
(Particularly SPB, especially if you use the Repeating Alarms function.)

Frankly, I really have a hard time believing your problem is hardware if it
plays music. I'm not an engineer, but I don't think Windows Mobile devices
have any kind of tone generator- all of the system sounds- even the "dings,"
"beeps," and "boops" are simply recorded .wav files preloaded on the device-
not the output of an on-board tone generator. If the device will play a
.wav file in WMP, that probably eliminates the hardware as a culprit. Can
you record a "note" and play it back, for example? Is it playing .wmv and
.mp3 but not .wav?

It almost sounds like your Notifications Queue is buggered up, but a hard
reset would've cleared that. Spb Pocket Plus warns you that it's Repeating
Alarms feature can cause problems on WM2003 devices (which would also clear
up with a hard reset, though.) Before sending it off ofr repair on binning
it, I'd probably remove all the batteries (main and backup) overnight to
ensure no vestige of user-installed software is left and give it a try first
thing next day with absolutely nothing installed on it but what it has
pre-loaded after a hard reset. Then, if it works, try testing it as you add
apps to find out which one "breaks" it again...

Good Luck!

normc
Sat Apr 19 18:51:25 PDT 2008

Todd Allcock wrote:
>
> "normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:_fhOj.7445$GE1.7335@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com...
>
>>> Hmm, no. PocketPCTechs does service these things. They are quite
>>> reputable. I've had work done by them as have others I know with
>>> excellent results.
>>>
>>> http://www.pocketpctechs.com/main.asp?area=home
>>>
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Are you POSITIVE you actually performed a hard reset? (I know these are
> silly questions, but you'd be surprised...!) Also, I assume you tested
> the alarms after the reset but BEFORE you added any software to the
> device? (Particularly SPB, especially if you use the Repeating Alarms
> function.)
>
> Frankly, I really have a hard time believing your problem is hardware if
> it plays music. I'm not an engineer, but I don't think Windows Mobile
> devices have any kind of tone generator- all of the system sounds- even
> the "dings," "beeps," and "boops" are simply recorded .wav files
> preloaded on the device- not the output of an on-board tone generator.
> If the device will play a .wav file in WMP, that probably eliminates the
> hardware as a culprit. Can you record a "note" and play it back, for
> example? Is it playing .wmv and .mp3 but not .wav?
>
> It almost sounds like your Notifications Queue is buggered up, but a
> hard reset would've cleared that. Spb Pocket Plus warns you that it's
> Repeating Alarms feature can cause problems on WM2003 devices (which
> would also clear up with a hard reset, though.) Before sending it off
> ofr repair on binning it, I'd probably remove all the batteries (main
> and backup) overnight to ensure no vestige of user-installed software is
> left and give it a try first thing next day with absolutely nothing
> installed on it but what it has pre-loaded after a hard reset. Then, if
> it works, try testing it as you add apps to find out which one "breaks"
> it again...
>
> Good Luck!
>
Thanks a mint. With your suggestions and the new thoughts your
suggestions generated locally, I've pretty much determined that it is a
speaker wire. I AM an engineer <g>, but an old one (73).

Everything audio (alarms, taps, music, etc,) can be heard thru the
earphones, but not thru the speaker. I'm sure that the guy who puts my
computers together can fix it.

You mentioned Spb Pocket Plus. I doubt I will ever buy another version.
Their last update was terrible. And I DID use the repeating alarms,
but no more.

Thanks again.

Norm

Todd
Sun Apr 20 16:06:05 PDT 2008


"normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:xkxOj.1375$26.1298@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net...

> Thanks a mint. With your suggestions and the new thoughts your
> suggestions generated locally, I've pretty much determined that it is a
> speaker wire. I AM an engineer <g>, but an old one (73).
>
> Everything audio (alarms, taps, music, etc,) can be heard thru the
> earphones, but not thru the speaker. I'm sure that the guy who puts my
> computers together can fix it.

Sorry- I misunderstood- whne you said the device could still play music, I
assumed you meant the music played over the speaker.

If ALL audio works through the headphones and NO audio works through the
speaker, it could be a broken wire to the speaker, but more likely it's
Sven's first diagnosis- a "stuck" headphone jack. The switch to choose
between headphones and speaker is a little strip of metal that is "forced"
into headphone mode by the phyiscal pressure of the inserted headphone plug.
Sometimes that little strip loses it's springiness and stays in the
headphone position even when the plug is removed. Occasionally repeatedly
plugging/unplugging the headphones will unstick it, sometimes playing "lock
pick" with a small jeweler's screwdriver or paperclip can unstick it, but
generally it's time for a new jack- something your computer guy can probably
handle. (The kind of stuff _I_ could've probably handled two decades ago
when I had steadier hands and better eyes! ;-)

Good luck!



> You mentioned Spb Pocket Plus. I doubt I will ever buy another version.
> Their last update was terrible. And I DID use the repeating alarms, but
> no more.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Norm

john
Mon Apr 21 04:31:05 PDT 2008

get a copy of either Pocket Mechanic or MemMaid, then clean out your
Notification queue.
that's your problem...

"normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
news:jRBNj.8571$V14.386@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
> Have had this device since they came out (3 or 4 years ago???). Have
> always used audible notifications for calendar, alarms, and screen taps.
>
> Have tuned them on and of via (1) the speaker volume icon in the task bar
> and/or Start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications.
>
> Any ideas as to why this has happened?
>
> Does anyone know if Dell still services their PDAs? If not, do any of the
> computer super stores, or even neighborhood computer stores, work on them?
>
> TIA
>
> Norm
>

normc
Mon Apr 21 04:51:27 PDT 2008

That did it!!!! I stuck my phone plug in half-way and wiggled it around
a little. Voila, it was clicking before I had the plug out.

I usually have to hear something new at least 3 times. This time it
only took 2 times <g>.

Thanks to all


Todd Allcock wrote:
>
> "normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:xkxOj.1375$26.1298@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net...
>
>> Thanks a mint. With your suggestions and the new thoughts your
>> suggestions generated locally, I've pretty much determined that it is
>> a speaker wire. I AM an engineer <g>, but an old one (73).
>>
>> Everything audio (alarms, taps, music, etc,) can be heard thru the
>> earphones, but not thru the speaker. I'm sure that the guy who puts
>> my computers together can fix it.
>
> Sorry- I misunderstood- whne you said the device could still play music,
> I assumed you meant the music played over the speaker.
>
> If ALL audio works through the headphones and NO audio works through the
> speaker, it could be a broken wire to the speaker, but more likely it's
> Sven's first diagnosis- a "stuck" headphone jack. The switch to choose
> between headphones and speaker is a little strip of metal that is
> "forced" into headphone mode by the phyiscal pressure of the inserted
> headphone plug. Sometimes that little strip loses it's springiness and
> stays in the headphone position even when the plug is removed.
> Occasionally repeatedly plugging/unplugging the headphones will unstick
> it, sometimes playing "lock pick" with a small jeweler's screwdriver or
> paperclip can unstick it, but generally it's time for a new jack-
> something your computer guy can probably handle. (The kind of stuff _I_
> could've probably handled two decades ago when I had steadier hands and
> better eyes! ;-)
>
> Good luck!
>
>
>
>> You mentioned Spb Pocket Plus. I doubt I will ever buy another
>> version. Their last update was terrible. And I DID use the repeating
>> alarms, but no more.
>>
>> Thanks again.
>>
>> Norm
>

normc
Mon Apr 21 14:22:54 PDT 2008

Thanks. As I noted in an earlier post, I use MemMaid.

john wrote:
> get a copy of either Pocket Mechanic or MemMaid, then clean out your
> Notification queue.
> that's your problem...
>
> "normc" <norm-c@socal.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:jRBNj.8571$V14.386@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
>> Have had this device since they came out (3 or 4 years ago???). Have
>> always used audible notifications for calendar, alarms, and screen taps.
>>
>> Have tuned them on and of via (1) the speaker volume icon in the task bar
>> and/or Start/Settings/Personal/Sounds & Notifications.
>>
>> Any ideas as to why this has happened?
>>
>> Does anyone know if Dell still services their PDAs? If not, do any of the
>> computer super stores, or even neighborhood computer stores, work on them?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Norm