Problem syncing Samsung SCH-i760 with Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista
If you’ve been following this blog, you know I like my my new Windows Vista computer and my new Windows Mobile phone.
Alas, they don’t like each other.
The phone came with a USB cable and software for syncing files, etc. between it and a PC. This is one of the reasons I got a smartphone, and also so I could find new uses like installing new programs, syncing calendars, and general tinkering with a mobile device platform.
I had heard that Vista came with a new Windows Mobile Device Center, so I wasn’t so surprised when the link to install the ActiveSync software on the CD supplied with the phone was disabled. I figure Vista already had the software it needed, and it would just be plug-and-play.
Unfortunately not; and it was several hours and a few scary “blue screens” before everything was working.
When I connected the phone to the computer, the computer seemed to recognize a new device was connected at first. But, it didn’t open the Device Center, and when I opened the Device Center from the Start Menu (is it still called the Start Menu in Vista–it doesn’t say “start”?) it said “waiting to connected,” and didn’t find my phone.
After a quick Google I was able to download a new version of the Device Center from Microsoft, but installation didn’t go so well, apparently because I was logged on as a non-Administrator. Eventually, it just got hung at a screen that said “0 seconds” remaining. If I left it long enough, the computer would go to sleep and not wake up: the light on the computer stayed blue, but the monitor stayed asleep (orange), so I had to hold down the computer power button to force it off. Not something I want to do.
After logging in as administrator, I installed the device center, but when plugging in the phone got an error about a “malfunction” in the USB device. This is a pretty serious accusation – my new phone is broken, and it’s not just a software issue? Unlikely.
At this point I installed the ActiveSync software on my Windows XP laptop, where it just “worked.”
Somehow all of this caused an even more critical problem with my computer because it wouldn’t shut down or restart cleanly, hanging on the “Shutting Down” screen and eventually crashing with a blue screen. A blue screen crash, on my new Vista computer. The honeymoon is over. 🙂
So, I decided to run System Restore. I tried a couple restore points and the operation timed out. Eventually, I had to run the system restore from safe mode. Apparently this is a sort of best practice, but not some I was aware of.
Finally, I found some good information at pdaphonehome.com forums. The end result was that I needed to uncheck “advanced network functionality” (in phone settings), perform a “hard reset” on device (although I’m not sure I really did this, because it didn’t go back to factory settings) and then I connected the phone again. The interesting thing is that this time, when the computer popped up a balloon “installing device driver” (as it has the very first time I installed it) is found a driver named “Samsung MITs USB Sync†instead of some sort of “RNDIS” driver.
So, I suspect there is some problem with this RNDIS driver with Vista; however I don’t think I need whatever advanced functionality this driver has for what I’m trying to do.
Syncing a PDA with a computer is a really typical use case for non-technical users, who don’t have time to deal with these issues; and it’s a use case that’s been around for years. It’s too bad they haven’t got all the bugs ironed out.