Attached device not working or not recognized

3 Nov 2010

An attached device may not be working or not be properly recognized by the rugged handheld computer for several reasons such as the following.

Software Drivers and Applications

Make sure all required software drivers and applications are installed and configured properly for use with the attached device. Lists of common devices which often have pre-installed software drivers and applications are provided at the following web pages.

COM Port Number Assignment

Default serial COM port number assignments and potential conflicts are listed at the following web page.

Default COM port number assignments

A common conflict on Archer Field PC units running the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system is that an attached device (like the Hemisphere XF101 or GlobalSAT GPS CF adapter) may be pushed from COM2 to COM3 such as after unchecking the "Advanced Network Functionality" checkbox under Start > Settings > Connections tab > USB to PC icon.

Access after System Boots or Resumes

The operating system often requires up to 15 seconds after system boots or resuming from a suspended state to complete loading all device drivers. Trying to access a device early may cause issues such as is described at the following web page.

ESRI Arcpad crashes on resume

Power to Attached Device

How to and potential issues with powering an attached device through the handheld computer are described at the following web page.

Power Devices through Ports or Card Slots

A common issue with serial devices is not being wired correctly for being powered through the COM1 RS-232 pin 4 DTR line and the associated application software not being written or configured correctly to enable this power supply by setting DTR to high.

Hardware Interface Issues

Hardware interface issues can often be avoided and/or resolved using some of the following tools and services described at each linked web page.

Archer GPS CF Devices

Most often a CF card device does not work or is not recognized (such as the red LED light on the side of the GlobalSAT BC-337 GPS CF card adapter is not lit (as it should always be when the Archer is on)) when it has not been properly installed following each and every step of the Archer Extended Cap Installation Guide. This document comes printed in the package with an extended cap when purchased separately, or is available on our website at the following address.

Accessory and Maintenance Guides

If not, then the CF card header (pins or guide rails/arms) inside the Archer may have been damaged. You may be able to visually look into the CF card slot to see if any of the 50 pins are bent or broken, though some damage may not be visible. A repair order will need to be submitted following the instructions and filling out the form at:

Repair Policies

Otherwise, you could try some standard software troubleshooting steps such as performing a Reset (press and hold Power Button for 5 seconds), Hard Reset (press and hold Power Button for 20 seconds), remove battery pack and wall charger for 20 minutes, Clean Registry, and/or Clean Boot as explained in the manual and our online knowledge base.

The GPS CF card device may have a red or yellow LED on the side that can indicate operation. Usually when this light is on and bright, the card device is functioning (but not always when there is damage in the CF card slot). A blinking light often indicates that a GPS fix has been obtained while a software program is accessing the COM port of the device (usually COM2 or COM3). You may need to simply set the correct baud rate, parity, stop bit, or data bit setting used by serial devices such as GPS receivers.