PDA Device
From TrackerProducts Wiki
Setting up the PDA Device
The Symbol MC50 can be a very easy device to install. It can also be very complicated if the instructions are not followed in exact order. If possible, we recommend you reading the entire guide before trying any of the install steps.
Prerequisites / Good Things to Know
- Before attempting the install of the M50 unit or any supported software, you need to make sure that you have the ability to install software on your computer. There are an increasing number of IT departments that are limiting your ability to install software by enabling more restrictive permissions on your computer. You may want to check with your IT folks first to make sure that you will be able to install software and devices. If there are any restrictive permissions, it will prevent proper installation. We recommend that you have administrative permissions to your desktop or have your IT folks install the MC50 device for you.
- Do not plug in the MC50 device to your computer until all software has been installed and you are instructed to plug in the device.
Putting the Device Together
In most cases we will ship more than just this PDA device. If you ordered a Zebra printer along with the scanner it will come in one big box. You need to separate the two devices and the parts that are associated with them. The MC50 unit will ship with the following items:
(Box A) MC50 PDA device w/ Protector Case and Secure handling strap
(Box B) USB cradle
(Bag C) Power Cable
(Box D) MC50 PDA Battery
(Box E) Power Cable Converter
- Take all of the items out of the box and arrange so that you have access to each.
- Remove the battery (Box D) from the protective container.
- Remove the MC50 PDA Device (Box A) from the shipping container. You will also need to remove from the plastic bag.
- Place the battery in the back of the PDA device. The battery will need to be inserted at an angle with the left side going in first. You will then drop the right side in and click into place.
(Note: The curved part of the battery is pointing to the bottom) - Remove the power cable from the plastic bag (Bag C) and plug into an available wall outlet.
- Remove the power converter (Box E). Plug the power cable (Bag C) into the power converter (Box E)
- Plug the power converter into the back of the USB cradle device. This will supply power to the PDA device when docked. DO NOT PLUG THE USB PORT INTO YOUR COMPUTER AT THIS POINT.
- On the back side of the PDA, right above the battery, there is a small dip switch that will have a red dot in it. The red dot indicates that the unit is locked for shipping. You will want to take the stylus out of the PDA unit and move the dip switch in the opposite direction. This will allow you to turn on the PDA device.
- Before proceeding to the next step, you will need to charge the PDA device for 24 hours. To charge the device you will simply need to plug the PDA device into the cradle. If the power is plugged in properly and the PDA device is correctly cradled, you will see an orange light on the front of the PDA device. This light indicates that the unit is charging. The light may turn to green before the 24 hours has lapsed, but you will want to charge for a full 24 hours.
Do NOT plug the USB cable into your computer at this point.
Download all the necessary software
Go to ftp://ftp.trackerproducts.com and download the following files (or click the file names below). Make sure you remember where these files are being saved on your system, you will need them in a few minutes ;-)
MicrosoftActiveSync45.msi Only for Windows 2000 and XP Computers. Go to next file if you have Vista.
Vista-MobileCenter-32bit-x86.exe If you have Windows Vista use this file instead of the ActiveSync.
DotNetFX.exe This file may not be required for install. Most likely your computer already has the most current version of MS Dot Net. You can skip this file and come back if the PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi file requires a current version of Dot Net.
WindowsMobileDSTUpdate.msi (NOT NECESSARY FOR SYMBOL MC5590 DEVICE)
PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi
Windows Mobile Device Setup (For Windows VISTA users)
Windows Vista does not need & will not allow the MS Active Sync product. Vista comes with a utility already built in that will allow the computer to communicate with the PDA device. As soon as you hook the PDA up to the computer Vista should recognize the device and ask if you want to setup a partnership with the unit. You will of course want to agree and walk through the process of setting up the partnership. We recommend that you go with the default options and do NOT have your Outlook calendar synchronize with the device unless you know what you are doing and you do want that.
Install Microsoft Active Sync (Only for Windows 2000 and XP Computers)
This section is not designed to cover the nuances of the Active Sync install. We recommend that you go with the default options that are provided during the install.
(Technical Note) Make sure you are logged in to your computer with an account capable of installing software. If you are not sure that your account has this permission see your network administrator.
- Navigate to the directory on your computer where you downloaded the necessary install files.
- Double click the ActiveSync45.msi file to begin the install. [Note: If you already have Active Sync on your computer you will be prompted to update that software. Go ahead and perform the update if required.
- Complete the install from here.
- You may be asked to reboot your computer after install. If so, go ahead and restart.
Cradling your PDA for the first time (For all Windows Operating Systems)
This section shows screen shots from the Microsoft Active Sync partnership setup. The Vista mobile device setup will not look exactly like these screens but it should be very close.
After the install of the Active Sync software, we are going to need to cradle the PDA for the first time and go through the process of setting up a partnership.
- Turn on the PDA device. On the front of the PDA device in the top right corner is a grey power button. Click that button and the unit should boot up.
- If this is the first time the PDA has been turned on, you will be prompted to calibrate the touch screen. Simply follow the prompts until it has completed. Once you have completed the calibration you will be taken to the main screen of the product.
- Go ahead and plug in the USB cable for the cradle into an available USB port.
- Once the PDA is booted and the cradle is plugged in, you can place the PDA on the cradle. The PDA should easily slide into the cradle and lock into the available connector device. You will see a LED at the top of the PDA if you have a good connection.
- After your computer goes through the process of installing the scanner, your Active Sync software will recognize that the scanning device has been plugged in. It will prompt to setup a new partnership for the unit.
- Select the default option of standard partnership and click Next.
- Select the default option of Synchronize with this desktop computer and click Next.
- Select the default option of “Yes, I want to synchronize with this computer only”.
- Uncheck all of the boxes on this screen unless you want the PDA device to sync with your calendar. In most cases you will NOT want these boxes checked.
- Click Finish to begin your first synchronization process.
Install DotNetFX
This file may not be required for install. Most likely your computer already has the most current version of MS Dot Net. You can skip this file and come back if the PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi file requires a current version of Dot Net. If you are prompted to install a more current version of MS Don Net, please run this file and select all the default prompts. After install you will be able to proceed with the PDA software install.
Install Windows Mobile DST Update
Some time back there was a change in the dates that day light savings will take place. As of this writing, new Symbol MC50's are not equipped to handle the new time change. It is very important that your PDA record the correct time of every transaction. In order to have the correct time you need to apply a Microsoft patch to the PDA.
(Note: This problem will be most noticeable by an incorrect time shown on your PDA)
- Navigate to the directory on your computer where you downloaded the necessary install files.
- Double click the WindowsMobileDSTUpdate.msi file to begin the install.
- There is not much to this update, simply confirm everything that the install requests. You should not need to select anything other than the default statement.
- After the install has completed, un-cradle the PDA device, count to 3 and re-cradle the device. The time on the PDA should be the correct time.
Install Tracker PDA Software
The PDA should now be physically connected to the computer and properly communicating. At this point the Tracker PDA tools need to be installed.
- Navigate to the directory on your computer where you downloaded the necessary install files.
- Double click the PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi to begin the install of the PDA tools.
- Click the next button to begin the install (Note: If the install advises that you do not have the necessary .Net framework, you will need to stop the install and install the DotNetFX.exe that you downloaded at the beginning of this install document. Once you install the .Net Framework you can proceed with the install of the PDA tools)
- Click next at this screen
- Make sure to place a check in both Tracker PDA Tools and .Net Compact Framework 2.0
- The software must be installed to the application folder. Make sure you say 'NO' to the question of whether you want to install to the default folder and then select the application folder. The software will now begin the installation of the product. If your PDA is cradled, which it should be, you will see the following screen which indicates that the Tracker PDA software is being installed on the PDA device. After you select 'NO' to the default folder you can then click 'Yes' or 'OK' to any messages you see.
- Installation is now complete
Setting up the PDA Tools on the PDA Device
We now need to setup your PDA software to work with the Tracker system. If the PDA device is not turned on please turn it on now.
- Do not remove the PDA device from the cradle. You want to configure the PDA while it is still in the cradle. All configurations in this section will occur on the PDA device.
- Click the Start button in the top left hand corner and then select “Programs”.
- In the programs menu you should see an icon for the Tracker PDA tools (Titled: Evidence Tracker). Click on this icon.
- The procedure in step #3 will activate the software and prompt you to begin the setup of the device.
Please make sure that this information is filled in each box.
- Web Address (http://...): This box will contain the link to your Tracker site. For hosted clients, this link will be something to the effect of https://livedemosecure.evidencetracker.com:44433/ (Make sure the trailing / is included). Obviously you would not type this example link, you will want to type your site link. If you do not know your link, bring up your Tracker site and whatever link is displayed in the address line of Internet Explorer when you see the login screen is the actual link. Remember, your link that is provided by Tracker http://mycity.evidencetracker.com is NOT the final link. When typing this link in your browser it will redirect you to the secure site which is the link you need. For hosted sites this final link will ALWAYS begin with https://. Make sure you use the full link including the https. If you see a number at the end like :44433 make sure you use that. Some hosted sites may NOT see this number. PURCHASED customers will need to get this link from your IT person.
- Username: You will create your own username and password in the Tracker site. To set this username and password, login to your Tracker site, click the File drop down menu in the top left corner of the screen and go to Setup then PDA Credentials Setup. On this screen you will setup the desired username and password for all PDA's being used.
- Password: Enter the password you created in the previous section.
- Sync on ActiveSync Connection: This should be checked.
- Path to Sync Executable: Do not touch, this is correct information.
- Click the general tab at the bottom of the screen and configure these options
- Event File Path: Leave this alone
- Custom Values Path: Leave this alone
- GMT Offset: You will need to select your correct time zone;
EST = -5 CST = -6 MST= -7 PST= -8
- Click “Done” in the bottom left corner.
- After clicking done it should pop up and ask if you want to sync now? Click “Yes”.
- After you click yes it will go through a process of syncing the PDA with the hosted server. If there are any errors on this page you will need to call support. However, the most common error will be incorrectly entering the username and password information. If you get an error about logging into the server, go back and try to reenter the username and password.
- If all goes correctly, you will get a login screen like this.
Your device should now be properly setup and installed and prepared for use.
Install a new version of the PDA Software
Installing a new version of the PDA software is very easy. First, download the current copy of the PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi file. Once the file is on your local computer you will want to run (double click) that file so that it activates the installation. Upon install you will see the following screen.
Make sure you first uninstall (remove) the existing copy. Once that is removed run the PDASoftware-CurrentRelease.msi file again and this time it will walk you through the install of the PDA. See the top of this page for more details instructions on installing the PDA software.
