PPC app troubleshooting help?

[Ben McGee]

Greetings - I'm using an Amrel DA5-M pocket PC running Windows Mobile 5.0, and I'm suffering the strangest problem. Please allow me to walk briefly through my troubleshooting steps.  Last week, using the PPC and my URSA-II, I collected a spectrum with a Na-I 1x1 detector, no problem (the software auto-detected the URSA just fine). Then, after collecting a few spectra, I began getting an error when I attempted to create a new detector (other than "generic," which I'd modified), which read, "Failed to create empty document."  Then, the software began opening a blank acquisition window no matter what detector was selected, skipping either of the "No URSA Found!" or "URSA #XXXX Found" pop-ups, and displaying "URSA #0" instead of the appropriate MCA ID number in the acquisition window. Unsurprisingly, nothing worked. I reinstalled, to no avail (deleting my old spectra in the process, alas).  Next, I emailed Chris Thomas at SEI, and as a potential fix, they sent along an update to URSA PPC software version 0.90 (I was on 0.72), which I installed by over-writing the older application file. Now, the PPC software fires up very well, but it won't find my URSA-II on any COM port I select (manual selection now required) -- I get messages either saying "No URSA Found!" or "Error: Invalid Handle" - with the latter showing up on what I expect my serial port to be (COM 1). Additionally, no matter what I do, I cannot get to an acquisition window - selecting "Offline" also yields the "Error: Invalid Handle" error pop-up, followed by, "Failed to create empty document."  (Hopefully this helps diagnose the problem, not add to the confusion!)  

So... At this point I seem to have hit a wall. I just had this thing collecting spectra last week, so I know it's possible(!), and I need to get it online again.  Any sense for what the problem might be?  I'm having a hard time determining if the issue is with the software, my PPC, or the URSA-II itself, but my inclination is that the issue is in the PPC software, but I need another thread to chase.  Is there a chance one of PPC software's component files has gone bad?  Any thoughts on this or something I might be able to modify from here that might be solicited from the group (or Paul, if you're around!) would be very, very, very much appreciated.  (I need this to work on my handheld instead of a laptop based on the mobile nature of the fieldwork!)

Thanks for your time and assistance!

Respectfully,

Ben McGee