Mobile device set up settings and troubleshooting
Richard Bergl
Setting up new tablets/mobile devices
Windows Mobile:
- Charge device and have fully charged before you begin set-up
- In Start>Settings>System>Backlight
o Under the battery power tab, check the "Turn-off backlight if device is not used for" and "Turn on backlight when a button is pressed or the screen is tapped"
o Set time (3 minutes is a good default)
o Under the brightness tab, check "Use light sensor to adjust the brightness" OR set brightness on battery power manually (set lower if in low light situation like forest and higher if in bright areas).
o Click “ok”
- In Start>Settings>System>GPS
o Under the Access tab, check Manage GPS Automatically. Note: if you experience problems with Cybertracker connecting to the GPS (GPS screen never says “Acquiring” and instead goes to “Off”), try unchecking this option.
o Under the A-GPS tab (if present) uncheck Enable GPS
- In Start>Settings>Power>Advanced tab
o Check “On battery power” and set "Turn off screen if device not used for" value to 5 minutes
o Uncheck “On external power”
o click "Ok"
o For Trimble Juno T41 using an external battery pack only:
§ Under Ext Battery, select External Battery Mode for maximum battery life
- In Start>Settings>Connections>Wireless Manager
o Set Wi-fi and Bluetooth to off OR tap WLAN, then tap “all” and turn wireless and Bluetooth off
o Press “X” or Done
Android:
*Note: Android devices vary in the details of where different setting are located, but this is a rough guide
- In Apps>Settings>Wireless and Networks
o Turn off Wifi and Bluetooth in Apps>Settings
- In Apps>Settings>Personal>Security
o Check OK for downloading information from unknown sources
o Turn screen lock to None (if appropriate)
- In Apps>Settings>Device>Display
o Select sleep after 5 minutes
o Under Brightness, check “Automatic brightness” if available. Otherwise set a value appropriate for your site (set lower if in low light situation like forest and higher if in bright areas)
o Uncheck auto-rotate screen
- In Apps>Settings>Personal>Location access
o Make sure Allow access to location is turned on
o Set location to be use GPS/device only
- In Apps>Settings>System>Data and Time
o Uncheck automatic date and time and set manually to local time and date using appropriate time zone
Note: If you remove battery, mobile device may revert to old settings, be sure to confirm the above settings before using the device
Adding CyberTracker to mobile devices
- If you need to install CyberTracker, then see notes from Module 9 of the SMART handbook
Setting up CyberTracker within SMART
- Under Field Data>Cybertracker>Properties>General tab:
o Check Large Scroll Bars
o Check Show GPS
o Check Kiosk Mode (if you want the device locked to only run SMART/Cybertracker)
o Check Can Pause (if you want users to be able to pause the tracklog)
o Check Reset Screen on Next
o Set Pin (example: 1234) if you are using Kiosk Mode and be sure to remember your pin
o Set storage time (a good default is 30, but this will depend on how often data are downloaded and checked)
- Under Field Data>Cybertracker>Properties>GPS:
o Set sighting accuracy, Fix Count and Track accuracy to 10 (these are good defaults, but can be adjusted if necessary)
o Set Track Timer (track log) to the value appropriate for your situation
o Make sure Use Time from GPS is checked
o Set GMT/UTC offset to the appropriate value for your location
o Set coordinate format and UTM zone as appropriate for your site
o Set GPS Skip Timeout to longer than 3 seconds (probably 120). This is the amount of time that a user must wait before GPS acquisition can be skipped. If GPS is skipped, SMART will automatically assign 0,0 as the coordinates
o Make sure both Manual GPS entry on Skip options are unchecked
o Ensure that Allow Skip of Manual GPS Entry is checked
- To Create a Field Map in CyberTracker for SMART
o Open Cybertracker
o Go to File>New database
o Go to View>Reports
o Click the New View button. Select Map. Click OK
o Click the Edit View button. Select the Image tab. Under File, choose a geojpeg of your desired field map (created in ArcGIS or similar). Note that this must be a georeferenced jpeg, not a simple image file. Click OK
o The new map should be displayed in the window. If not, click the world symbol on the map toolbar (upper left corner of the Map View window) to zoom to full extent.
o Use the map navigation tools (zoom and pan) on the map toolbar so that the area you want for your field map takes up the entire window.
o Click the Edit View button. Select the Advanced tab. Under Field Map there are three settings that determine the size and resolution of the field map (seen under Advanced, Field Map). These settings will vary depending on your image and the processing speed of the handheld device. I have found that for moderate size images 4000 field map width/height, and 1 for field map desired compression factor work well, but it is worth experimenting to see if the resolution of the image is sufficient on the handheld device and if map navigation on the device (zooming, drawing, etc.) is too slow due to large file size. Once setting have been adjusted, click OK.
o On the map toolbar click Field Map. Select a file name and location (probably your SMART folder) to save the field map. Click Save. This will create a .ecw file (a type of compressed georeferenced image file) that can be added as the field map in SMART.
o To add the map to SMART, so that it will be downloaded to the handheld devices go to Field Data>Cybertracker>Properties>Field Map, select the ecw file you have created.
Trouble shooting with downloading data
- Ensure tablet is turned on and unlocked before downloading
- Connect tablet to computer with USB cable; make sure SMART is running but that the CyberTracker program (not the plug in but the actual program) is closed
- Sometimes data gets ‘orphaned’ on download from CT devices to SMART desktop. If its telling you there are no patrols on import (when you know there are) – check for the ctx file in Documents>Cybertracker>System>Orphans on your computer. Then use the Import File option to get it in SMART/CT import interface.
Notes on Multi Leg Patrols
- If you are planning a multi-leg patrol, then you should start the patrol with two devices. Record data in one device for the initial patrol leg (where all members are together; per leg A on page 65 in the training manual). Upon splitting the patrol into multiple legs (leg B and leg C per page 65 in the training manual), a device will be carried by each patrol team. Both teams will need to begin a new patrol in order to enter the relevant patrol data for the new patrol legs. Upon completion of the patrol, patrols should be imported into SMART as multiple legs from the same patrol.
Notes on Multi Day Patrols
- When collecting data with Cybertracker you will treat each day as a separate patrol, even on multi-day patrols. Field teams will end the patrol at the completion of the first day’s patrolling, then begin a new patrol at the beginning of the next day. When importing data into SMART, you will first import Day 1 of the patrol, then add each subsequent day of the patrol as a new leg of that patrol.
Notes on Using Mobile Devices
- With track log and GPS points need to verify that have signal for track – look at triangle
o Triangle means that GPS track log is working and black triangle is when a point is being collected
o Triangle with slash through it means you aren’t getting a signal
- If not getting GPS signal, skip GPS point option will appear at the bottom of the screen, after some time delay (This can be set in CyberTracker Default Properties – GPS tab under Skip Button Timeout (this is number of seconds to time out)
- Data should be downloaded as often as is possible to mitigate against loss of data through damage or loss of device. However most devices can store many weeks of data, depending largely on how many photos are taken during regular data collection.
- Data is deleted from the device once it is downloaded.
- Test units in the field to see how long batteries will last with current GPS setting
o Change how frequently track points are taken if needed (Under CyberTracker Default Properties – GPS tab – Track Timer) – more time between points will lead to longer battery life but less accurate track log
- Note that when using Kiosk Mode, you can’t turn off the devices while CyberTracker is on (will have to log out of Cyber Tracker using the pin to turn device off)
Note – whenever you update either Cybertracker or SMART, you will need to re-export the configurable model to the device to ensure the changes take effect. Ensure that all patrols are imported before doing this.
Troubleshooting Windows Mobile connections to PCs running Windows 7 and Windows 8
Windows 7 and 8 use the application “Windows Mobile Device Center” (WMDC) to communicate with handheld devices running the Windows Mobile/Windows Embedded Hand Held operating systems. Some users have experienced difficulty getting the devices to connect to WMDC/their computers. Below is a series of steps that may help in establishing a connection with Windows Mobile devices.
When attempting these fixes, make sure you are logged on to an account on the computer that has full administrative rights.
If you are not able to establish a connection with a Window Mobile handheld try the following steps. After each step try reconnecting the device to see if a connection can be established. Note that in some cases it may take 2 or three minutes for WMDC to begin communicating with the device.
1. Windows Updates
-If possible, make sure that your machine has all Windows updates (http://update.microsoft.com/). Even one missing update can cause issues.
2. Manually start WMDC
-Normally, WMDC should start automatically when a Windows Mobile handheld is connected. In rare cases this doesn’t happen, so try manually running WMDC (Start>All Programs>Windows Mobile Device Center) before connecting the handheld.
3. Device connection settings
On the handheld device: Start>Settings>Connections>USB to PC. Tick “Enable advanced network functionality”, or if it is already ticked, try unticking it.
4. Check WMDC Connection settings
-Run WMDC. Go to Settings>Connection Settings and ensure that “Allow USB connections” is ticked.
5. Check WMDC version
-Make sure that the latest WMDC is installed (version 6.1.6965 or later), and that you have the correct version (32 or 64 bit) for your computer.
-You can check if your computer is 32 or 62 bit by going to Start, then right-clicking on Computer and going to Properties. WMDC can be downloaded from:
- 32-bit version download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=46F72DF1-E46A-4A5F-A791-09F07AAA1914&displaylang=en - 64-bit version download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4F68EB56-7825-43B2-AC89-2030ED98ED95&displaylang=en
-If you need to uninstall WMDC, see instructions at the end of this document. To reinstall, just double click the install file. If you need to reinstall WMDC, follow the steps in 6, below.
6. Make sure the .NET Framework 3.5 is installed on your computer prior to installing WMDC
-Uninstall WMDC (see end of this document)
-Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet.
-Windows 7: go to Start>Control Panel>Programs and Features. Windows 8: Right-click the Start window, click All Apps, then under the Windows system list, click the control panel icon and go to Programs and Features.
-Select Turn Windows features on or off.
-Select the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 check box. 5. Click OK.
-Reinstall WMDC (see 4, above, for download links if needed).
7. Make sure that your virus scanner is not blocking connections.
-If you know how, check to see that your anti-virus software is not stopping or blocking the files wmdc.exe or wmdcbase.exe.
-Alternatively, turn off your anti-virus and then try connecting the handheld. If the device is able to connect with your anti-virus turned off, consider uninstalling and trying a different anti-virus software.
Make sure to turn your antivirus back on after you complete this step.
8. Uninstall/reinstall Windows Mobile drivers
-Connect the handheld to the computer
-Go to Control Panel>Device Manager
-Look under “Network adapters” for “Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter”. If this is not present, skip to the next step. If it is present, right-click “Microsoft Windows Mobile Remote Adapter” and choose “Uninstall”.
-Look under “Mobile Devices” for “Microsoft USB Sync”. If this is not present, skip to the next step. Otherwise, right-click “Microsoft USB Sync” and choose “Uninstall”.
- Disconnect and reconnect the handheld device. The device driver for the handheld will reinstall and Windows Mobile Device Center should launch.
-If the connection still fails, repeat these steps, but without reconnecting the device at the end. Uninstall and reinstall WMDC, then reconnect the device again.
*Uninstalling WMDC (Windows 7, but Windows 8 is generally the same)*
- Go to Control Panel.
- Click
Programs, and then click Programs and Features.
*Note if you are using Classic View in Control Panel, double-click Programs and Features.* - In the list of programs, click Windows Mobile Device Center, and then click Uninstall.
- In the Programs and Features dialog box, click yes.
- Repeat steps 1 through 4 to uninstall Windows Mobile Device Center Driver Update.