I'm using the original USB cradle to connect my Zaurus sl-5500 to my workplace Windows box. I use TCP/IB over USB so I can copy files to the Z, as well as sync Outlook. I started with the how-to, and got it working...

sl-5500: Sharp ROM v3.13, 192.168.129.201
Windows: win XP 2002 SP2, 192.168.129.1

The problem is this: sometimes when I plug the Z in, I only get the generic USB "box with green left arrow" thing on the tooltray and no connectivity. Sometimes I plug it in and get the churning yellow network tooltray icon and an "acquirimg network address" message in the win XP network status page. Sometimes it works, and I get the good network icon and a 10 Mbps connection established message.

It seems a bit more likely to work after freshly rebooting XP and/or Z.

I'd love to set whatever parameter that windows is always "acquiring" permanently, but anything I touch on the Windows side seems to make it not work.

How can I make this connect reliably? I'd like to sync each morning, but sometimes I have to tinker with it off and on all day!

if you ever get the aquiring network adress in windows XP it is most likly never going to work, its simmilar to the "repair" option. it sounds like a good idea but never works (however if you take down the interface and bring it back up it does work go figure)

so try doing clicking the connection and righ clicking then select disable then bring the interface back up.

if this dosent work see if there is a more recent rom or an equivelent distro (do they have cacko for that thing), it seems you need to be able to run the old apps so pdaXrom or OZ are out of the picture

Blitz,

Say, that works!

I was stumped at first. Here's what I saw:
- The "SL Series" network device goes away when the network connection is lost or not started, so you can't access it's enable/disable or settings. (...Kind of a catch 22, it has to be working in order to get it working, you see)
- I tried this: I created a shortcut to the Network Connections listing for this device (when it was working), and put it on the desktop.
- The next time I plugged in the Z, the network didn't start.
- I right-clicked the shortcut, selected Disable, right-clicked it again, selected Enable, and WOW, there comes the balloon and tool tray icon, congratulating me on the new 10 M network connection!

I will try to figure out setting that up in a batch file -- any hints?

General information:
I'm already using a batch file for synchronization, which
1) pings the Z,
2) runs Intellisync,
3) copies my sitescooper BBC news and local weather htmls to the Z's SD
4) copies my podcast ttb.org

If I now have the power to make this actually work EACH TIME, it would be just peachy!

cant help you there, i havent touched windows in about 2 years

but the repair thing is anoying, too many people expect it to fix your network connection for you, but i belive its hooked up to the crash_network() function so a simple disable and enable seems to fix most windows XP network problems

the command you might have to use for brining up the network interface should be ipconfig, try running it with tho h lag to get a help listing (to bad there arnt any man pages)

Some things to think about.

XP SP1 and up limits total USB bandwith used by any one device to stop BSOD (blue screen of death) There are ways to bugger this up in regedit but its NOT RECOMENDED (but thats why we press the button isnt it? :0) )

USB2 ports will step down to USB1 and every now and again step back up again to try to maximise throughput unless you can dissable this "feature" in your driver in XP assuming your XP box is USB2 - the dissable / re-enable port may be the only way to reset the port depending on the driver.

You may find it works better using the tkc ROM v1 for the 5500 + Kernel patch for fast SD access (I never had much luck with the SHARP ROM and USB / Bluetooth but the SD patch is worh having in any case on a 5500)

Cragtyson, do you know how that would be set on the Sharp driver (or did you mean higher-level USB drivers), in WinXP SP2?


Why would a different ROM help with Win NT driver problems? (I'll quiz you more about ROMS offline, if you don't mind)

By the way, the driver disable / enable trick is a good one, and should be in the sl-5500 usb/tcpip to winXP toolbox. I've had to do this three days running, but at least I feel like I'm in some control of whether this thing works! I'm currently experimenting with leaving it disabled until I need it...

Here's my new 'final' configuration: I have added batch commands to disable and enable the interface each time I dock the zaurus. To duplicate this, you will need "DevCon.exe" from here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=311272

I didn't need a different Sharp ROM -- the intermittent tcp/ip over usb problems seem to be all on the Windows side. I've got the SL-5500 Sharp rom 3.13 connecting to Windows XP Pro SP2 via the Sharp stock cradle. Start by following the ZUG how-to.

Here's my new batch file:


Notes:
- The only way I could figure out how to refer to the "SL Series..." driver was by the wildcard "SL*".
- The two pings give the interface enough time to start
- each MOVE command is supposed to be all on one line, but they got wrapped to two each when I previewed this post.
- I inserted the pause at the end to keep the inferface open in case I want to use VNC or 'samba' before finishing.

This is the first time this Zaurus syncing has worked reliably in the last two years. If you are getting frustrated with the Windows connectivity, try it!