Suggestions for General Use

X50V and iPAQ hx4700 users: Keep a decent amount of memory available in the main memory.

• Your PDA includes plenty of memory for fast, efficient functioning--but it isn't all in the main memory. Programs need extra space in the main memory to run. Thus, if you install large additional programs (such as Skype) or programs with large databases (such as GPS maps), install them to a memory card instead of the main memory. With the WM6 systems, this is easy--it'll ask you where you want to install it during installation. With the WM2003SE systems, it's almost that simple..Use the Windows installer to install programs from your desktop or notebook computer. Note that the installer may first want to install something to your PC--let it. Then it'll verify the connection to your mobile device and ask you if you want to install to the default directory. Click "NO." It'll then pop up a menu asking where you want to install the program to. Choose the Built-in Storage or a memory card. If you're not installing from a Windows computer, copy the CAB file to your memory card, then use cabinstl_en.exe to install the program to the memory card (if cabinstl_en.exe isn't already in the Backup Files folder on your SD card, google and download it. You can install tens of gigabytes of programs and files to your PDA--just don't try to install it all to the main memory.
        Over-filling the main memory could cause some programs to run slowly, to misbehave, or to crash.

Before buying a memory card, check to be sure it's compatible with your device; before using any card, format it properly

• SDHC cards will run ONLY on Axims running Windows Mobile 6 (they can also use regular SD cards and all CF cards). All English-OS systems sold since March `08 use WM6. The Japanese and older English systems (based on WM2003SE) can use Compact Flash (CF) and regular SD cards only (SD up to 4 GB is OK).
• Windows computers slightly misformat SD cards--data written to them sometimes becomes invisible to the PDA (because digital cameras and mp3 players use the cards in a simpler way, the problem often doesn't show up on them, only on PDAs). For some reason, many cards come from the factory with the defective Windows format rather than the official, standard SD format. To avoid problems, I recommend reformatting any card you buy before using it. You can do it in a Mac, a digital camera, or on the PDA itself using a program like FlashFormat (under $12 and a dream, it even fixes cards that appear to be broken). 4 GB cards will have to formatted as FAT32.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Where's my JLT system?
Cause: ????
Solution: See these instuctions for using Kuroneko's website to track your package.

Problem: Any kind of general weirdness.
Cause: Cosmic ray hit a transistor in a RAM chip, software malfunction, voltage fluctuation, electronic charisma, random chance.
Solution: Every so often any computer that's running all the time, as PDAs generally are (they just go to sleep when you turn them off, they don't actually shut down and start up fresh again) can run into weird problems from random corruptions that creep into the OS and running programs. Such things don't happen often and are often unique, but they're almost always easy to fix. 98% can be fixed by a soft reset. Simply use the stylus to press the recessed reset button (on the back of the Axim and the bottom of the iPAQ).　　Soft reset is easy and safe, so if you have any problem at all, you should try a soft reset first. If that doesn't fix the problem, see if anything in the other troubleshooting hints helps. If not, a hard reset washes away every possible problem short of damaged hardware. After doing that, you'll need to restore the system from the backup file on your SD card before you can use the dictionaries again. See these instuctions for how to do a hard reset and restore from a backup file. Hard reset will erase any files in main memory and any changes made since the last time you made a backup, so it's a good idea to look through the documentation and the rest of the troubleshooting guide before resorting to this.

Problem: After a crash, hard reset, or complete battery drain (PDA not charged for weeks or months), you see a wierd screen and can't get past it.
Cause: Crash, hard reset, or loss of power.
Solution: See these instuctions for setting the PDA up again.

Problem: After a crash, hard reset, or complete battery drain, you set the system up again, but EB Pocket no longer appears in the program menu--no way to access the dictionaries.
Cause: Crash, hard reset, or loss of power wiped the system back to factory fresh, before I installed EB Pocket.
Solution: See these instuctions for restoring the iPAQ and these for restoring the Axim to the way it was when you first got it, or to the state it was in when you made a later backup.

Problem: In the old English OS, input methods suddenly disappear or no longer function properly, requiring a soft reset to restore them. This does not apply to systems sold after March 2008.
Cause: Too many input methods competing for a share of system resources (not a problem in newer English OS systems)
Solution: Disable input methods you don't use

• First, in Pocket Word or EB Pocket, figure out which Input Methods you want to keep and which you can get rid of.  Then, use the program Pocket Tweak to shut down the ones you don't need (you can use the same program to start them up again later; they're not lost for good; if that link goes dead,. download from here). Transfer the Pocket Tweak CAB file to your memory card via a card reader or by using your sync software.  It doesn't matter where on your device or memory card you put it (as long as you can find it again).  Use your PDA's File Explorer program to find the file, tap it with the Stylus, and it will automatically install the program.  Then go to Settings, tap the "System" tab, look for Pocket Tweak, and tap that to start the program.  Then use the arrows at the bottom to get to the Input Panel menu and deselect the Input Methods you don't use.  Then do a soft reset.  This seems to fix the problem pretty reliably.  My one suggestion is that if you later decide to reactivate some of the methods, DON'T reactivate Transcriber--it conflicts with the Japanese methods and causes  more problems.

Problem: PDA won't connect through the cradle; error message says USB hardware or USB driver problem
Cause: Dust bunny or bad physical connection.
Solution: Clean contacts, push PDA firmly onto cradle to seat it better, try USB sync/charge cable instead

• One of the PDAs I bought wouldn't connect through the cradle (although it did charge OK). The error message said the USB connection wasn't functioning and I should check drivers, etc. I thought I'd gotten stuck with a brick. I finally found the answer through Google. Some guy had the same problem and traced it to a bent wire in his cradle. So I took a good look at the connections on the PDA and cradle and saw that my problem was even dumber--there was a dust bunny in the PDA's connector. I'd spent a good four hours poking around the instruction book and the internet and panicking, but it turned out to be something that took one small breath and a tenth of a second to fix.

Problem: In old English PDA, can't see Japanese as you type it or kanji to choose in some programs not specifically designed for Japanese input (Word, Excel, Notes, etc.)
This does not apply to systems sold after March 2008.Cause: ???
Solution: Tap book icon in IME pallet to bring up user dictionary, then immediately close the user dictionary. Why opening and then closing the user dictionary fixes the problem is a mystery--kudos to the valiant customer who figured out this solution.

Problem: On the iPAQ, low backup battery warning even though the system has been charged
Cause: (1) The battery cover was jarred, causing the backup battery to be switched out of the charging circuit; or (2) you've been swapping charged batteries into the iPAQ but not actually charging the iPAQ itself, meaining the internal backup battery hasn't had a chance to charge; (3) the internal backup battery won't accept a charge and needs to be replaced; or (4) the battery cover switch isn't working.
Solution: Make sure the battery cover latch is firmly in the locked position, do a soft reset. If it's due to a broken battery cover switch, go to Settings/Personal/Sounds and Notifications (the speaker icon), tap the second tab, Notifications, and from the pull-down menu choose Low Batt Warning, then deselect all the check boxes for it.

Problem: On the iPAQ, changing the battery causes a hard reset (OS needs to set up again, starting with screen calibration, and the dictionary software is missing when it gets going again).
Cause: (1) you've been swapping charged batteries into the iPAQ but not actually charging the iPAQ itself, meaining the internal backup battery hasn't had a chance to charge; or (2) the battery cover switch isn't working; or (3) the internal backup battery is dead and needs to be replaced (letting the main battery die completely many times will kill the backup).
Solution: Charge the iPAQ itself; if the battery cover switch is bad, backup your system to the SD card before changing batteries using the built-in iPAQ Backup program; then after putting in the fresh battery use the same program to restore the system from the backup you just made. Do the same if the backup battery is dead. The backup battery is easily replaceable.

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