| Author |
FMA -aaargh! Won't work no matter what I do! |
Hal
Joined: Sep 16, 2004
Posts: 14
PM |
OK, after hearing how great this program is ("Float's mobile agent" or "FMA") I decided to give it a try. But no matter what I do I'm not getting anywhere (although I've made a little progress)...
I'm running Windows ME with an IrDA (infra-red) adapter plugged into the USB port. The adapter itself works great -I've used it extensively with other mobile phone software, editing themes, sending images and sounds back and forth etc., so the problem seems to be with FMA itself.
The phones are Sony Ericsson's T-310 and Z-600.
Now, with FMA I've downloaded the latest version (0.1.1.16).
At first I couldn't get any sort of communication with the phone. I told FMA to use the "native IrDA port" ("Tools"-"options"-"General" menu), and is being recognized there (when pressing the "Lokup device" button), but the rest of the program surely doesn't recognize the phone. Then some suggested trying one of the COM ports which really doesn't make any sense, but with nothing to lose I gave it a go.
I found out that by setting FMA to COM-3, the program actually does give me a "Connected successfully to OK phone" (when holding (but not pressing any buttons) the mouse over the small mobile phone icon in the Windows tray on the bottom right hand side of the desktop).
Then, when I open up FMA itself and press the "Connect" button I immediately get a progress bar showing how all sorts of data from the phone is being fetched. Looking good!!!!
But unfortunately no data at all is transferred. I open up the various mailboxes in FMA: nothing.
Nothing in the address book either.
Then I move the phone away from the IrDA device (so there's no more connection). I hover the mouse over the mobile phone icon in the Windows tray: surprise!! It still says "FMA -connected to OK phone!". So something is wrong here.
That's when i decided to follow advice read somewhere here: to de-install FMA, then reinstall it again. So I did that. Now, in addition to misbehaving as explained here I also get an error message saying: "Failed to create key MobileAgent.listMsg_Header.columns".
I've installed FMA with the default "Full installation", but also tried installing it with "Compact installation".
So I'm stuck!!
Can anyone help please? 
So I'm pretty frustrated | |
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ESTOR
Joined: Apr 20, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Singapore
PM |
Are you sure you have pressed the right button to actually request transfer of the contacts? Transfer is not automatic. |
marlonxp
Joined: Dec 11, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Somewhere
PM, WWW
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You have to sync phonebook messages ect
wap.marlonhall.com |
Krubach
Joined: Dec 05, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Sunny Portugal! :)
PM |
Probably for the IR to work you had to install some USB drivers for it, right?
Those drivers, almost certainly created some virtual COM ports for IR use (if you go to System Properties->Device Manager->Ports you'll probably be able to see what COM ports is assigned to the IR USB device).
So just tell fMA to use that COM port.
Using "native" IR, will not work because your MoBo has no IR device connected to that port.
Plus, check if the port is available for use since one of those other mobile phone software you mentioned may be using it, the port, exclusively.
Let us know how it went...
P.S.-I just guessing here. I don't know what USB IR device is and what MoBo is...
_________________
God made a contract with IT professionals:
God won't fix computers, and IT professionals won't make miracles.
[ This Message was edited by: Krubach on 2004-10-01 17:22 ] |
Hal
Joined: Sep 16, 2004
Posts: 14
PM |
OK, I finally managed to "clean" up my Windows system. I found a "registry cleaner/fixer" type of program on the net which I used to do that with.
Then I re-installed FMA (0.1.1.16), choosing the "minimal" installation. It now seems to work without any error messages, and I'm ready to give it another try...
Regarding the USB IrDA adapter; yes, it came with drivers which are installed. Regarding your suggestion, Krubach.. I don't know if I'm looking in the same place as you mentioned, but I've gone to the "System" control panel, then taken a look at the list of available hardware (hard drives, printer, scanner etc.).
The USB IrDA adapter is found under the category "Infrared devices", where it's named "infrared communications device". There's no additional information there which is of interest.
Then, I move on to the "Ports (COM and LPT)" section. It does indeed mention the IrDA adapter there, as follows:
"Virtual infrared port (LPT)" and "Virtual infrared port (COM)".
That's all. It doesn't mention *which* LPT and COM ports it's connected to.
In FMA there are 4 COM ports to choose from. I've tried them all. Ports 1,2 and 4 give me the result that nothing happens. When I choose COM-3 everything *seems* to work properly, but even though the progress Window in FMA says that this and that is downloaded from the phone, nothing actually is. And shouldn't the phone itself actually display something on its screen as well? Nothing happens on my phone. The screen saver just runs as usual.
Is there a discussion board/support forum for FMA anywhere? Any chance to get in touch with the person behind it? |
ungern
Joined: Jul 06, 2004
Posts: 22
PM |
Ehh, of course there is a forum for FMA!! Just check their site....  |
Krubach
Joined: Dec 05, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Sunny Portugal! :)
PM |
@Hal
That's strange. But let me remind you what i said in my previous post:
«Plus, check if the port is available for use since one of those other mobile phone software you mentioned may be using it, the port, exclusively. »
[addsig] |
ESTOR
Joined: Apr 20, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Singapore
PM |
Quote:
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On 2004-10-04 09:26:51, Hal wrote:
"Virtual infrared port (LPT)" and "Virtual infrared port (COM)".
That's all. It doesn't mention *which* LPT and COM ports it's connected to.
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This is a problem with the original version of Windows 2000 but you are running Win ME. So I don't know.
For Win 2000 see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 252795 , or a 3rd party program IRCOMM http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~kiszka/IrCOMM2k/English/ |
Hal
Joined: Sep 16, 2004
Posts: 14
PM |
Quote:
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On 2004-10-04 22:16:07, ESTOR wrote:
Aparently only for Windows 2000 and XP. I downloaded the file, tried to run it, complaining about a missing "msport.dll" file. I had a quick look through the readme file, and it says that it's for Windows 2000 and XP.
So no luck there 
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Hal
Joined: Sep 16, 2004
Posts: 14
PM |
Quote:
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On 2004-10-04 12:06:20, Krubach wrote:
@Hal
That's strange. But let me remind you what i said in my previous post:
«Plus, check if the port is available for use since one of those other mobile phone software you mentioned may be using it, the port, exclusively. »
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No, they all have options for "infra red" which I've ticked off in their settings.
And I've been using FMA on its own -there are no other mobile phone related programs running while FMA is in use.
But the Infra-ref adapter itself is of course recognized by its driver when an infra-red device (i.e. my phone) is placed near the infra-red adapter, and an icon comes up in the Windows "tray", indicating that a connection is being made. | |
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Access the forum with a mobile phone via esato.mobi
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Posted: 2004-10-01 16:02
