[RESOLVED] New PDA shows connected but won't display web pages

[KatMac]

I got a new Palm T/X PDA. Great little asset for eliminating my gazillion post-its, but I can't get it to display web pages. I've tried evey trick I can think of. I suspect it's either a) Zone Alarm free or b) their "Blazer" browser. Doesn't seem to matter whether ZA Free is turned on or off. When I attempt to connect Palm Wi-Fi, status does show "Connected." But when I try to browse the web (any site) I get "Page cannot be displayed". I went to Border's the other day to test using their Wi-Fi. The little globe icon started spinning immediately when I tapped into Border's network. Unfortunately, I got as far as fee-based T-Mobile login page and had to stop, since I'm not signed up.

My home network is a desktop and laptop with Netgear WGT624 v.3 router. Laptop adapter card is Netgear WG511T My ISP is Comcast.

Netgear Router settings are:

• Channel: 11
• Mode: g and b
• Security: WEP
• Security Encryption: Automatic, 128 bit
• Using WEP key #1

Palm T/X Wi-Fi detects my home network with strongest signal (4 bars). Palm Wi-Fi settings are:

• Conserve Power: tried checked and unchecked
• Timeout: default
• SSID: same as router
• Security: WEP (same as router)
• Key Type: 104-bit hex with "4 keys" box checked. Manually entered Key 1, exactly as displayed on Netgear Wireless settings
• WEP Keys (26 Hex digits): Manually assigned, identical WEP Key (first key) and digits as router setting
• Access Point: have tried both Access Point and Ad Hoc
• IP Address: have tried manual and auto. Same as desktop/Comcast
• Subnet Mask: have tried manual and auto. Same as desktop/Comcast.
• IP Address Router: same as Netgear router address
• Preferred DNS: Manually and auto detect, same DNS as in Network Connections
• Alternate DNS: Manually put in the final address of my home network
• Use Short Preamble: checked and unchecked

I want to point the finger at ZA free. Oddly enough, there are no alerts coming from ZA on desktop that the Palm is trying to access. Shouldn't there be some kind of alert?

What I've tried:
I found this Wi-Fi checklist at the Palm forum and followed every step. Still no succes in getting web pages to display.

I've done some searching, and I found this M$ Article on configuring ActiveSync. Not to sound completely ignorant, but if I recall, Palms run on Palm OS and others run on M$ OS? (Palm calls it HotSync). I do have ActiveSync in C:\Programs, but the file "WCESMgr" that they say to add in step 3 is not in my ActiveSync folder. There are only two .DLL and one .CNV file are in that folder. I also found some ZA instructions at this link, but when I can't go through M$ steps for reasons mentioned above and when I plug in the Palm as mentioned at that link, ZA Free doesn't recognize it. At least I don't think it's picking it up. I see two entries for Loopback adapter that I don't recall seeing before. (Screenshot is in attached doc).

As you can see, I'm not familiar with PDA's in the least. I'm really close to getting online, but quite frustrated that the Palm shows "connected" but won't display pages.

I'm grateful for any help/suggestions.

~Kat

[SuperSparks]

I think you can rule out ZA here, if the problem still occurs when ZA is disabled then it definitely means that the problem lies elsewhere. Are you able to transfer any files over the wi-fi link?

[KatMac]

Thanks for looking at this SuperSparks.

Well, this is odd. When I connect Wi-Fi, and go and tap Web key under PDA apps, occasionally I get a spinning arrow around the globe icon (like I did at Border's Bookstore). At home I usually get no motion out of the icon, and after a 45 second or so delay get the "page cannot be displayed" message.

So just now I read your question. I decided to try a HotSync using Network via Wi-Fi rather than the USB cable. (My first time HotSyncing without the USB cable, I've always chosen HotSync with Local>Cradle/Cable and have no problems HotSyncing). First I used auto detect on Palm. Got message "No PCs were found on your LAN. Tap Other to enter your PC's name or IP address." Entered Desktop IP address manually, get Windows Warning icon and pop up message states Windows - System Error "There is an IP address conflict with another system or network.". Tried to set it up again, this time manually entering desktop computer name rather than IP address. Got same Windows Warning as noted above.

Each time I was trying HotSync via method above, Palm gives me a message "The connection between your device and the desktop could not be established. Please check your setup and try again.

[KatMac]

Well, I think the issue is resolved for now. I like to post what worked for benefit of anyone else having issues, but this probably won't be of much good. (This is one of those instances my old friend Doc would refer to as being in the "KatMac zone". )

Went out yesterday. Stopped at ODepot where I got the PDA, no luck with tech associate hooking up to their Wi-Fi network. He suggests I test at a little cafe down the street, they have free Wi-Fi. So I do, and promptly the PDA connects to the web. (Weird looking at the web on a Palm ) So I'm coming to the conclusion that perhaps it's not the desktop firewall or router that's the issue, perhaps it's something on my laptop that's causing issues with the PDA (perhaps Netgear software or ZA on laptop). I get home and my laptop has suddenly decided not to power up at all (figures). I open the battery compartment (why, I have no idea). I reseat the battery, try to power up again. Boots up finally. Although Netgear Adapter card is plugged in, whenever I try to launch the Netgear software on the laptop is says "No adapter found." (figures) I reseat the Adapter card several times on the laptop and Netgear software finally kicks in and connects laptop to desktop router. So I get out the PDA, launch Wi-Fi, waiting for laptop ZA to give me an alert or something and voila, PDA connects, just like that!

All those laptop oddities are probably not the least bit relevent, but maybe something tripped something else because as of this morning I can still connect the PDA to the web, no problem.

(Oh, and thank you, SS, for pointing out the sister site on PDAs. I've bookmarked it. I did check it out, and had gone through some troubleshooting steps they offered but with no success.)

So for now, all is well

[SuperSparks]

I'm very pleased that you got it all sorted out - I'm just sorry that I couldn't be more help. Thanks for posting back with the fix