Mobile Device Center

[eyezonz]

My mobile device center recently just randomly stopped working, tried uninstallin and re installing no luck

my computer also wont even show that my phone is coneected to it

[InsaneJester17]

Have the same darn issue. Damn vista. I'll let you know if i get it going.

[eyezonz]

vista is friggin dumb i hate it has so many problems

[canospinach]

Originally Posted by eyezonz

My mobile device center recently just randomly stopped working, tried uninstallin and re installing no luck

my computer also wont even show that my phone is coneected to it

*****READ THOROUGHLY, THIS IS NOT HARD - and no OS reinstall needed!*****




I realize it can be easy to blame Vista, but the real cuplrit here is WMDC and its USB Drivers. I have verified the issue is USB related as handsets sync without issue via Bluetooth and Infared.

Here is a troubleshooting process:

1) unplug your handset, do a soft reset and reboot your PC. Unplug the USB cable from its existing USB socket and plug it into a different socket after the computer has rebooted, then attach the handset. Each socket will have its own driver install (we will talk more about this later). Also verify in the connection settings of WMDC that you have enabled USB connections.

2) Verify in your Power Management Settings you do not have selective USB/PCI suspend active. this is a power saving feature which may put certain USB devices to "Sleep" to save power and internal bandwidth.

3) GoTo: Start, Right-Click "My Computer" and choose "Manage". Once the Management Console opens choose "Device Manager" DM opens browse down to "Portable Devices" and loock for a "Pocket PC". If a handset is listed then Right-Click and "uninstall" (go ahead and click the box to delete the drivers too). If a handset is NOT listed then click on "Action" then "Scan for hardware changes". this will attempt a discovery of attached hardware and install any newfound devices.

While here in DM you also want to check your USB Controllers to ensure none are set to selectively suspend as needed (similiar to the power management settings).

4) uninstall/reinstall WMDC. Windows Mobile Device Center includes the packaged drivers needed to install the Pocket PC Device. As mentioned earlier you are advised to change USB sockets as well. Each time you plug a device into a different USB socket it will install the device as new. This is why some devices are labeled #2 or #3 when only 1 single device is attached. Plugging into a new socket will initiate a new discovery and install.

As i mentioned earlier this is not an issue with sync via Infared or Bluetooth, just USB. Keep in mind WMDC is not Vista, its a completely seperate product.


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WMDC recommended troubleshooting - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobi...eshooting.mspx

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My device is not able to connect. There are several cases that may prevent your device from connecting:


If Windows Live OneCare is installed on your machine, it may be blocking the device connectivity. Please click here for the steps to configure Windows Live OneCare to allow the device to connect.


The driver installation may not have completed successfully. If you think this may be the case, follow these steps:


Keep your device connected


From the desktop, go to Start > Start Search


Enter "Device Manager" or "devmgmt.msc" to launch the Device Manager window


Look under the "Network adapters" node for "Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter". If this is not present, skip to step 5. Otherwise, right-click "Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter" and choose to "Uninstall"


Look under the "Mobile Devices" node for "Microsoft USB Sync". If this is not present, skip to step 6. Otherwise, right-click "Microsoft USB Sync" and choose to "Uninstall"


Disconnect and reconnect your device. Your device driver will re-install and Windows Mobile Device Center will launch.
For more information on connectivity-related problems, see the ActiveSync USB Connection Troubleshooting Guide.


Windows Mobile Device Center doesn’t work on my 64-bit PC. If you have installed Windows Mobile Device Center on 64-bit Windows Vista and had previously installed and used Windows Mobile Device Center, you may need to manually re-install Windows Mobile Device Center a second time to successfully update it.


My device wasn’t connected during this installation. While it is not a strict requirement that you have a device connected during the installation process of Windows Mobile Device Center, we highly recommend that you do.


My device was connected while I was installing but Windows Mobile Device Center is not launching after installation. In some cases after an upgrade, you will need to disconnect and reconnect the device for Windows Mobile Device Center to launch.


I declined the licensing agreement (EULA) and now I can’t launch Windows Mobile Device Center. You will need to accept the EULA for Windows Mobile Device Center to run. To proceed, simply disconnect and reconnect your device to accept the EULA. The EULA can be read at any time through the Windows Mobile Center’s Help Menu.


I can’t save changes to my folder hierarchy in WMDC’s folder settings. Check to see if any of your folder names have quotes. If so, remove the quotes from the folder names and try again.


My external storage card on my device is not available when syncing with Windows Media Player. If you try to synchronize a Microsoft Windows Mobile 5-based device with AKU 2.3 or a later AKU with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11, only the internal storage on the device may be available as a synchronization target in Windows Media Player. A hotfix for this issue is available for download here.


I am getting disconnected while trying to sync large files to my device. If you are having problems syncing music, pictures, or other large files where the connection suddenly closes, you may be hitting a serial driver bug on the device. Unless you are using VPNs or specific firewalls, you may try switching your device into RNDIS mode to fix your large file sync problem. If your device has the “USB to PC” option, you may use this workaround:


On the device, go to Settings, Connections, and look for "USB to PC" option.


Go into the “USB to PC” option


To enable RNDIS USB, check the “Enable advanced network functionality” checkbox and then, OK.

Note – if it’s already checked, do not uncheck or this workaround will not work for you.


Warm boot the device (push and hold the power button, hit the reset button, or pull the battery).


Power the device back on.


Once the device is booted up, dock and try again.

Note – RNDIS does have a bit more wait time when connecting. Please be patient for the device to connect.


If after you do the workaround and you cannot connect at all, then simply switch back to Serial USB to sync.
Sync does not start after partnership creation. Sometimes, if you do a clean install of Windows Mobile Device Center, the install does not finish adding and enabling the necessary firewall exceptions for Windows Mobile Device Center on your PC.


Go to Start > Run > firewall.cpl
Choose “Allow a Program through the Windows Firewall”
Check all entries that have “Windows Mobile” in the name

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If you have questions, detail them and send me a PM. i will try to personally help you.

[InsaneJester17]

My problem isn't that my phone won't sync with windows mobile device center (tho it doesn't...), my problem is WMDCwill not even open even after un-installing and re-installing. Blarg...

[canospinach]

Originally Posted by InsaneJester17

My problem isn't that my phone won't sync with windows mobile device center (tho it doesn't...), my problem is WMDCwill not even open even after un-installing and re-installing. Blarg...

Ok, we really need more info if your serious about fixing this. I am afraid "Blarg" is not descriptive enough

How do you mean WMDC wont open?
What happened when it stopped working?
What version of Vista are you running?
What version of WMDC are you running?
is the WMDC service running?
Does windows Sync center show any sync errors from the attempts to connect to your handset? (Sync Manager is seperate from WMDC, its used for offline files and all sorts of things).
Have you looked in the performance center and looked at the service and application error logs? What are they telling you?
Is the device recognized in Device Manager?
What happened when you went through my other process and tried another USB port?
Did you run a regcleaner tool after you uninstalled WMDC? prior to the reboot and reinstall.


There have been several driver updates released within the last couple of months. Make sure your running WMDC 6.1 on a NON-Beta, NON-Hacked version of Vista.

[InsaneJester17]

I'm at work so I'll answer what I can without the comp in front of me...

How do you mean WMDC wont open?
- I go to start, programs and find and click on the WMDC program and I get the hour glass type thing for like 5 seconds then nothing.

What happened when it stopped working?
- Im not sure, my last attempt at syncing was on 9/27 and it worked then. I tried to do it yestarday and it wont open the progeam.

What version of Vista are you running?
- Ultimate

What version of WMDC are you running?
- 6.1
is the WMDC service running?
- Didn't see it in the process manager but I'd have to double check.

Does windows Sync center show any sync errors from the attempts to connect to your handset? (Sync Manager is seperate from WMDC, its used for offline files and all sorts of things).
- Haven't checked this.

Have you looked in the performance center and looked at the service and application error logs? What are they telling you?
- Haven't checked this.

Is the device recognized in Device Manager?
- Yes, in Device manager it shows up as a negtwork device.

What happened when you went through my other process and tried another USB port?
- didnt try anything other than a different USB port as WMDC wont open.

Did you run a regcleaner tool after you uninstalled WMDC? prior to the reboot and reinstall.
- Nope

Hope this helps. Thanks alot!

[InsaneJester17]

Help? Please?

[canospinach]

Ok, thanks for your patience. As i mentioned in my msg its crazy around here due to the wildfires. We all got evacuated and are just now getting back to our houses.


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device is recognized by the pc - verified



#1 thing to do is the obvious, uninstall, run a reg-clean to remove the old registry entries, reboot, reinstall using Administrator account or elevated user credentials. Be sure to use a new USB socket, as i mentioned before this will prompt a new driver install.

#2 i need you to look in the task manager on the "services tab", clearly you looked but you look at "processes" which doesnt show what we want In Processes there will be 2 which need to be running:

Services:
RapiMgr
WcesComm

Processes:
WmdHost.exe
wmdc.exe

You are looking to make sure 2 services are running both with Process ID 3860. 1st service is "RapiMgr" the second is "WcesComm" if these services are not running the pc wont be able to run WMDC. i attached a small gif showing these services in action.

You can manually start the services or set them to autostart via the Mgmt Console.


If you havent gone through the entire set of questions i cannot guarantee we have not missed something. Let me know how you stand on these issues and we can take it from there.

[InsaneJester17]

Ok, I looked at the servies and both RapiMgr and WcesComm are both there.

But in Process: nether wmdhost.exe or wmdc.exe are there. wmdc.exe does appear for about 10 seconds when i try to open WMDC, but the goes away.

I also noticed that in the msconfig startup tab both windows defender and WMDC have % signs at the beginning of their command path. Is that normal?

Thanks loat and once again really sorry about whats going on in your area!