T-Mobile MDA Saga... Part 3 of aahhhh...

Okay, as a software developer it pains me to have to give in and call tech support. ...but I did. And, well, I can happily say my MDA is working like a charm.

First, if you have just bought an MDA or are thinking about it... install the upgrade ROM [it wipes out all data... you've been warned!]. I haven't used it, but SpriteBackup claims to be able to move data between ROM upgrades http://www.spritesoftware.com/backup.php.

Summary: I couldn't sync, and the ROM upgrade fixed all my problems. URL : http://www.t-mobile.com/wmupgrade/

Detail : ActiveSync 4.1 would just sit and say "Connecting..." and then finally come back and say device not connected, but there were no errors. Somewhere in the guts of the ActiveSync network code, it was not working. Why they chose those model as the default rather than simple USB, I don't know. Anyway, I quickly got transfer up the support chain to someone that knew the magic buttons to press to force simple USB connectivity to install the ROM. Exactly, I need to patch, but I couldn't connect to patch, but I needed to patch to connect.

Hardcode Reset : If your MDA wont budge, try this: Enter Bootloader, - hold the "camera" (bottom right) and briefly press the reset button, don't release "camera" until you can see colour screen, connect USB cable, see "USB" on the bottom of the screen, and start to re-flash the ROM.