Problem with WinXP

[peggyvtaylor]

I have had a 5500 for about 6 months and I cannot use the sync feature because everytime I try to load the driver, it slows my computer to molasses speed and somehow prevents me from accessing the internet.  I use WinXP.  I have to do a system restore to get the desktop to function again.  No one at the help desk is able to help me.  Without the sync function, this gadget is only half what it should be.  Any thoughts?  BTW, I am not techie.

[lardman]

I\'ve had no troubles with WinXP.

Which ROM are you using? When you say load the driver, do you mean actually installing it, or that when Windows loads the driver (when you connect your Z for example) it slows down?


Simon

[peggyvtaylor]

I have had trouble synching and when I call the Sharp helpline, they have me install the driver manually.  Apparently, it doesn\'t load automatically for some reason.  As soon as I load the driver, everything goes bad and I have to do a system restore to get it back.  They told me that they would have someone call me but they never did.  I don\'t use Outlook so I can only use the Qtopia (I guess) for synching.  I don\'t know what ROM.  Whatever came with it.  I think I may have bought more technology than I am capable of mastering.  This has been very frustrating.  When I read the message boards hoping to find an answer, I usually have no idea what everyone is talking about.  I want to use it wireless but I can\'t even get it to work by USB so I don\'t want to go and buy a CF card and find that I am still unable to load the software and use it for synching.

[lardman]

Okay, well I\'ll se what I can do to help, but bear with me as I\'ve not used a Sharp ROM for a year or so.

There should be a system information applet on the Settings tab/page on your Z. If you look through that it should tell you what your ROM is.

Do you have a terminal installed? Probably not, but if you do then \'uname -r\' will tell us which kernel version you are using which will be useful if you can\'t find out the ROM version.

Now, what exactly is the original problem? I presume that you originally installed the drivers from the CD? Are these still installed (you may not know - on the PC take a look in Control Panel ] Add/Remove Software and see whether you have anything Sharp related in there)?

Let me know what you find and we\'ll go from there.


Si

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Simon.  I really appreciate your assistance.  According to my system info, I have Linux Kernel Version 2.4.6-rmk1-np2-embedix, ROM version 2.12.  I don\'t see any other info on ROM.  I don\'t know what you mean by \"terminal.\"  I haven\'t installed anything on the Zaurus.

Yes, I installed the drivers with the CD but the synch didn\'t work.  The Help Technician had me check some places -- I think it was called Device Manager?  It showed my driver wasn\'t working or wasn\'t in there or something like that so he had me do some things to reinstall it and it immediately screwed up my computer - twice.   I can try it again to get the exact sequence as long as I can do system restore.  I have confirmed that there is nothing related to Sharp in Control Panel-Add/Remove.  

[lardman]

No promises here, but let\'s try to start from scratch and see what might be the problem.

Okay, there are two things which might stop you from being able to sync, most simply is that all of the drivers are working but for some reason the network connection is not working (firewall, wrong IP address, etc.). The more complicated problem is that the drivers are not working properly.

I\'d recommend that you uninstall your sync software now, then pop in the CD and follow the standard instructions to install it again. This will give us a blank slate, and should re-install the drivers.

Make sure you are an Administrator (or logged in as Administrator) when you do the installation (if you have XP Home I think you are automatically an administrator, but I\'m not sure).


Once this is done, attach your Z and try the following:

(FYI, when I plug my Z in my computer makes a noise and I get a little icon (with the description \'Safely Remove Hardware\') in the system tray (this is where the clock is on the taskbar).)


Start Menu ] Run ] cmd.exe

In the cmd.exe window type \'ipconfig\'. If your Z is attached and the network is working between your comnputer and your Z then you will see something similar to this:

============================================================================

C:Documents and Settingsenpsgp]ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.129.200
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

============================================================================

In device manager (Control Panel ] System ] Hardware tab ] Device Manager) you should also now have the following entry:

Network Adaptors ] SL Series (NDIS 5). Assuming you have this, double click on the SL Series (NDIS 5) entry and a properties window will pop up. Look in the middle where it says Device Status, it should say something along the lines of \'This device is working properly.\'.

If it isn\'t, make a note of what it does say (error codes, etc.).

Now there\'s another possibility where only one of the drivers (there are 2) is loaded, I don\'t know what should be displayed in Device Manager in this case (but someone with a 3.10 ROM using the USB link should be able to tell us, please).


As an aside, to check that the drivers are installed have a look in your c:windowssystem32drivers directory (note that you might have installed Windows somewhere else, if so change the \'windows\' bit to whatever it is on your computer).

I have the following 4 files buried in there:

slz1unic.sys
slz1cr.sys
slz1wh.sys
slz1nd5.sys

Let me know what you find (or don\'t ;-)).


Si

[lardman]

It might be worth updating your drivers and sync software (you\'re using a rather old ROM).

You can get some new and updated files from here: http://www.sharp.co.uk/zaurus/support/support.htm

SetupQ.exe is probably all you need (though the page says to download the SetupZ.exe file too, ignore this for the time being). It contains the Qtopia sync software and the drivers (I think). If the drivers aren\'t in there for some reason than you\'ll need the big one (SL5500UpdateCD.zip), or I can just email you the bits you need.


Si

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Simon. I will try these instructions this weekend!  You are so helpful!  I really appreciate it.  I\'ll let you know what happens.

[peggyvtaylor]

Simon, I finally got around to following your instructions and so far everything seems to be working perfectly!  Thank you so much!  I haven\'t yet updated the drivers and sync software as you suggested.  I\'m a little nervous of doing anything when it\'s working now.  But I may try that too.  You are a prince!