O2 xda exec (HTC universal) will sync over wifi not over gprs to exchange

[Kei...@gmail.com]

Hi all,

Annoying problem with two new windows mobile 2005 devices. One a pocket
pc xda exec (htc universal) and one a smartphone (imate sp5).

Talking about the pocketpc here but they both give the same error when
I try and sync with exchange over gprs.

Result:
synchronization could not be compelted. try again later
support code: 0x8503001A

I can't find that support code anywhere on the microsoft site :/ The
verbose logs on the device don't show anything odd and the logs on the
exchange server aren't yielding any clues.

I've tried saying dont sync contacts or calendar etc.. all combinations
to rule out bad data but no luck.

What's even more odd is that a) it works over wifi and b) all my
windows mobile 2003 devices work absolutely fine with the same settings
:/

anyone any ideas? at the moment I have to say windows mobile 2005
syncing seems *very* flaky :/

[Rob Borek [MS MVP]]

I've had no problems. Have you tried giving them a soft reset? Are you
using any self-signed security certificates (ie those not issued by
one of the commercial companies, but by yourself or your corporation)?
Can you connect to the site using Pocket IE over GPRS?

--
Rob Borek
Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices
Want *ONE ON ONE* support? http://www.pocketpcone2one.com
Please place all replies into the newsgroup so that others can benefit.

[Chris De Herrera]

Hi,
Please make sure that the host name (fqdn) is the same for the internal
network as it is for the external network. That way the O2 XDA Exec can
find the Exchange server using the same name in both cases.

--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

<Kei...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131223005....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[Kei...@gmail.com]

Hi Rob,

I DO have a self signed cert on exchange but I knew that would be an
issue with WM5 and so at the moment I'm simply trying non-ssl syncing.

I CAN connect to owa with pocket IE over gprs
I can also sync WM5 over wifi, over usb cable into my desktop (and from
there to exchange)
WM2003 all works fine too.

the only thing that doesn't work is wm2005 syncing over gprs to exchange

[Kei...@gmail.com]

Shouldve have said, yep, I've tried a soft reset and indeed a hard reset

[Kei...@gmail.com]

Hi Chris thanks for the reply,

The fqdn is indeed the same internally and externally. Proper old
fashioned routed IP behind the name.

I'm struggling to see what else could be different between syncing over
wifi and syncing over gprs unless something changed on wm2005 that the
gprs providers don't allow through :/

[Chris De Herrera]

Hi,
Did you enter the FQDN as the name of the server when you setup
synchronization?

--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

<Kei...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131276266....@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[Kei...@gmail.com]

yep I've tried FQDN (that's what I've always used on wm2003)
Then I tried IP address etc. too... all of which gave the same error
message.

It does seem to reach the server, it says:-
synchronizing folders
synchronizing contacts 0/63

then throws up:

Result:
synchronization could not be compelted. try again later
support code: 0x8503001A

If I tell it not to sync contacts (in case of bad data) then it says
email 0/200 and does the same. Basically it won't sync any data.

Switch to wifi and everything works perfectly with all the same
settings.
Use win2003 ppc and again, perfectly even over gprs.

Is there anywhere I can find an explanation of that 0x8 support code?
Talk about using obscure error codes :/

[Rob Borek [MS MVP]]

There are no errors showing up on the server? Can you connect from
off-site wifi networks (ie your wifi network at home)?

[keithykeithyboy]

Hi,

I'm having the very same issue!!!

First of all I couldn't get OMA working at all, now that I've resolved
that, I get the same error code.

Does anyone know of any other sources to try and fix this problem?

Regards,

Keith

[Kei...@gmail.com]

>There are no errors showing up on the server? Can you connect from
>off-site wifi networks (ie your wifi network at home)?

Hi Rob,

No errors showing on the server and yes, can connect from offsite wifi
networks or from offsite cabled networks via usb attached to notebook.

We've setup exchange in a vmware box and are trying to see what works
and what doesnt.

So far,
exchange sp1 - works fine
exchange sp2 - works fine

Enable FBA - SSL - stops working (even syncing without ssl)
remove fba - still broken
remove ssl - still broken

but complicated by having to remove the partnership on the device at
every change on the server side or else results are unpredictable.

When you say you've had no problems syncing wm2005 to exchange... can I
ask is it sp2? Do you have fba or not?

The exchange server I'm syncing to is a very basic setup indeed! I'm
struggling to imagine what I would have turned on that would make it
fail

[Kei...@gmail.com]

ok well after spending all night with several exchange servers trying
all the options, a colleague sorted it out.

By applying different options and watching the difference between a
working server and a non-working one, he isolated the settings in
metabase.xml which when changed, caused this annoying support code.

It was activesync compression enabled via FBA in the first instance...
so turn compression onto say high on fba, then sync.... worked over
everything except GPRS (on UK networks O2 and Orange at least, which
were the only ones we could test with).

Turning both static and dynamic compression to FALSE immediately fixed
the issue.

It leaves the question why doesn't compression work? could it be a UK
GPRS network issue perhaps.... don't know yet.

Anyway it all makes sense since compression was something that we know
ms messed with for wm2005 and will start becoming more important with
the always on http connection for push email.

So not perhaps fixed, but at least patched for the time being.

Thanks all for the help.... not an easy one to diagnose locally never
mind remotely

[Mauricio Freitas [MVP]]

<Kei...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131403489.7...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I am running WM5 (multiple devices) and SP2 without a problem.

Are you sure your GPRS configuration allows HTTPS connections?

--
Mauricio Freitas
www.geekzone.co.nz
Microsoft MVP Mobile Devices

[Keith Hall]

Mauricio Freitas [MVP] wrote:
> I am running WM5 (multiple devices) and SP2 without a problem.
>
> Are you sure your GPRS configuration allows HTTPS connections?

Hi, I'm the one (another Keith!) who's tracked this issue down with
Keith's help..

This is not related to HTTPS.

Try this to see if it breaks your setup:

Enable FBA with High Compression. Restart IIS (start->run->iisreset)

Try connecting again, you may get 0x85010014 if you require ssl. Turn
off FBA and restart IIS again. If High Compression remains enabled in
IIS then (at least in the UK) WM5 server activesync fails with the
0x8503001A error.

I have full details to resolve this issue once it occurs.

Regards,

Keith.

[Kei...@gmail.com]

Whats the best way for us to report this issue to Microsoft?

Keith Hall has a detailed log of what happens and when, how to fix etc.
and knowing Microsoft are focussed on push email, wm2005 messaging and
security package etc., it would be good to let them know about this.

[Chris De Herrera]

Hi,
You can contact your Pocket PC's OEM and ask them to file the information
with Microsoft.

Also, if you send it to me, I can forward it to Microsoft as well. I cannot
guarantee any results.

The one thing I can do is make sure the issue is documented in the
troubleshooting guide I have on Pocket PC FAQ.

--
Chris De Herrera
http://www.pocketpcfaq.com
http://www.tabletpctalk.com
http://www.pocketpctalk.com
http://www.mobilitytalk.com

<Kei...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131463169.9...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[Keith Hall]

Workaround - Problems with Exchange server Activesync and Windows
Mobile 5.

Facts:

Windows Mobile 5.0 ActiveSync connection to Exchange 2003 via Orange or
O2 GPRS network in the UK (may also be seen on other networks)
Error code 0x8503001A appears during sync and sync fails
Exchange SP2 applied
Sync works fine locally using Wifi or remotely via cradle/usb/internet
link
Windows Mobile 2003 works fine in all cases
Forms Based Authentication has been enabled at some point, with http
compression.

After many hours of troubleshooting, I have found a workaround to the
0x8503001A sync problem that many people are experiencing.

The answer is that HTTP compression is enabled for Activesync in the
IIS Metabase when SP2 is installed, and in conjunction with a
(presumed) bug in Exchange where the IIS Metabase configuration is not
restored to previous settings after turning off FBA High compression,
causes the above problem.

These instructions will restore Activesync functionality for those
experiencing the issue.

First make a backup of the MetaBase:

Open IIS Manager
Right click on server->All Tasks->Backup/Restore Configuration...
Click Create Backup
Give the backup a name (e.g. 'Backup before fix')
Click OK, Close

Then enable direct Metabase Edit

Open IIS Manager
Right click on server and go to Properties
Check "Enable Direct Metabase Edit"
Click OK

Load notepad and open C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\INETSRV\METABASE.XML

Look for <IIsWebVirtualDir Location
="/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync" and just below it, you
will see:

DoDynamicCompression="TRUE"
DoStaticCompression="TRUE"

Change both of these to FALSE (NB there are more of these throughout
the METABASE.XML file, be sure only to change these two)

Save the Metabase.xml file back and restart IIS: Start->Run->IISRESET

Enjoy!

------------

Further information... In Metabase.xml, SP2 changes the above settings
from FALSE to TRUE for ActiveSync. Presumably Compression is disabled
overall until you enable FBA with Compression. The following line in
the METABASE.XML file acts as an overall ON/OFF switch for compression
and also has the effect of providing a workaround (at the expense of
losing http compression elsewhere, e.g. for OWA):

Look for the line HcNoCompressionForHttp10="FALSE"
Change FALSE to TRUE (the setting before enabling FBA with compression)

If you don't want OWA/FBA with any compression, I would safely assume
you want to change the above line.

In fact, I would suggest that the Compression setting under Forms Based
Authentication should be independently settable (not as a sub-option to
FBA!)

There is a bug in all versions of Exchange which means once that
compression is enabled, disabling via the FBA screen doesn't reverse
the changes completely (as an SP2 install on a system that NEVER had
FBA/compression enabled, will still function correctly).

The question for Microsoft is, how are compressed HTML packets getting
corrupted by the mobile networks - obviously some NAT/Transparent Proxy
in the way, but it's a weird one... And needs fixing (as well as the
"disabling compression doesn't actually do it" bug)!

Regards,

Keith.

[Daryan]

This all sounds extremely familiar!!! I too switched on FBA and SSL and
then switched them off. I am now getting the 85010014 error
continuously, even after following the steps in this thread regarding
editing the metabase. Any thoughts?

One other thing - the sync fails using USB syncing as well as GPRS

[Joe]

I had same Error code 0x8503001A on a Sprint Windows 5.0 Phone and
Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2. I followed the directions and worked
like a charm!

Regards,

Joe

[jrm...@gmail.com]

Same here thanks for the help!

[Andrew Newell]

With o2 (don't know about Orange) data is optimized as standard over the
Mobile Web GPRS connection. Is it possible that both lots of compression are
conflictiong? If you use bypass as the username and password as the password
for your GPRS connection this will bypass the optimization. aybe this will
solve the issue. I do not have the equipment to test but it is just a thought.
--
Regards,

Andrew Newell

[M.@discussions.microsoft.com Dirk M.]

This should solve the problem.

Ce problème s’applique uniquement aux utilisateurs Windows Mobile 5 qui
veulent synchroniser avec un Exchange 2003 (qui a été mise à jour par le SP2)
et ce via GPRS.. car via Wifi, il n’y a aucun problème.

Le code erreur est 0x8503001A et est du à un problème de compression. La
compression dynamique ainsi que statique étaient désactivées avant
l’application du SP2, mais le SP2 active ça et voilà notre problème !!

Peut-être encore un bug de WM5 d'après ce que j'ai compris, WM5 gère mal la
compression HTTP..

Alors pour contourner le problème, voici la solution :

Tout d’abord, faire un backup de la Metabase
Ouvrir IIS Manager
Cliquez droit sur Server->All Tasks->Backup/Restore Configuration
Cliquez « Create backup »
Entrez un nom style « Backup avant fix »
Cliquez OK, fermez

Ensuite activer la possibilité d’éditer la Metabase pendant qu’IIS tourne :
Ouvrir IIS Manager
Cliquez droit sur Server et choisissez « Properties »
Activez « Enable Direct Metabase Edit »
Cliquez ok

Ouvrir avec Notepad le fichier suivant

C:WINDOWS;SYSTEM32;INETSRV;METABASE.XML

Cherchez <IIsWebVirtualDir
Location="/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync">
et juste en dessous vous verrez:

DoDynamicCompression="TRUE"
DoStaticCompression="TRUE"

Changez ces deux parameters en FALSE (attention de ne changer que ces deux
là, car il y en a d’autres dans ce fichier)

Sauvez le fichier Metabase.xml et redémarrez IIS :
Démarer->executer->IISRESET

Bon amusement
Dirk

[Andrew Newell]

Hi Keith,

We have now tried this with server compression on and o2 GPRS Web
compression off. This worked with no issues. The problem seems to occur when
both lots of compression are on; they must be conflicting. So it works when
you turn either off and leave the other on.

GPRS traffic is compressed as standard when using the mobile.o2.co.uk APN on
the o2 network. To turn it off use 'bypass' as your username and 'password'
as your password in the connection settings for the connection to the APN.

I am fairly sure Orange compress data when using there GPRS connection but I
am not sure how to disable.
--
Regards,

Andrew Newell