Activesync & emulator just won't connect

Rick,

Would you consider using the new emulator - I've completely redone ActiveSync connectivity so it is more predictable.

You can download the standalone emulator from the link below and use it with VS.NET.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/windowsmobile/downloads/emulatorpreview/default.aspx

Thanks,

Vladimir

Well Vladimir, I don't know how things went for Rick, but you have saved me from several days of frustration trying to get the standard VS2003 emulators to work with ActiveSync. Your emulator worked beautifully first try. Thanks for the great work!
Ray
New York City

Hi Rick,

I am happy to hear I have a couple of satisfied customers (at least with the ActiveSync connectivity :) ).

The ARM emulator is expected to be slower then the X86 emulator, because of the Just-In-Time compilation costs and more expensive virtual to physical memory mapping. The goal for this release was to have acceptable performance and rock solid stability, but we have performance as target for next release (most likely you'll be able to download standalone emulators as soon as work is done). For VS2005 I added a couple of features like global saved states and a new transport to keep performance at a better level. For VS.NET you can manually take advantage to these features.

Global saved states (gives you instant on capability):

1) Start the emulator with the following command template:

DeviceEmulator.exe <bin image path> /VMID {GUID} /defaultsave <extra options>

Example:

DeviceEmulator.exe \os\images\new\ppc.bin /VMID {7D192096-E
437-48d1-9BBE-B8DDF58FEE01} /defaultsave /skin \os\skins\PocketPC.xml

2) Wait for it to boot fully and go to File\Save State and Exit
3) Copy the generated saved state file from the local cache into the global cache:

copy "\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Device Emulator\{GUID}.dess" "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Device Emulator"

For my example the command line is:

copy "\Documents and Settings\vladf\Application Data\Microsoft\Device Emulator\{7D192096-E437-48D1-9BBE-B8DDF58FEE01}.dess" "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Device Emulator"

4) Test drive it to verify the global saved state is being used:

DeviceEmulator.exe <image path> /VMID {GUID} /defaultsave

It is important to keep the image path and the GUID the same otherwise the emulator will cold boot instead of using the global saved state.

For my example we have:

DeviceEmulator.exe \os\images\new\ppc.bin /VMID {7D192096-E437-48d1-9BBE-B8DDF58FEE01} /defaultsave

Note that with a global saved state you can change almost all other options (change skins, folder sharing, network settings) without rebooting the emulator. You can create a batch file to make using the global saved state easier:

DeviceEmulator.exe <image path> /VMID {GUID} /defaultsave %*

There are a couple options that will cause a cold boot - changing memory size (/memsize), changing LCD size (using different size skin with /skin or /video), adding a console (/c) or changing the UART bindings (/u0,/u1,/u2)

If you restore from global saved state and choose to "Save State", the state will be saved to the local cache and you'll keep restoring from local cache until you select "Clear Saved State" or manually delete the *.dess file. The local saved states are not reconfigurable. The global cache can only be cleared by hand in the standalone install.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Vladimir

The ARM emulator that comes with VS2005 requires more cpu power than the emulator that came with VS2003. This comes from the fact that it emulates ARM instructions instead of having recompiled code. What are the specifications (cpu, ram, notebook, etc) of your workstation? What is the configuration of your network on this machine?
If you are using ActiveSync, make sure you use the "Pocket PC Device' or "SmartPhone Device" target. If you don't, VS will try to bypass ActiveSync and connect via the Network. To make sure you use ActiveSync, go in the emulator options while it is running and disable the Ne2000 card emulation.
What type of project are you using? Managed apps do require more time to deploy at first because of the need to send the .NET Compact Framework files to the device.

I have been unable to connect to the Pocket PC 2003 VGA emulator in VS2005. When I read about your standalone emulator, I got excited, but the web page says it is not to be used with VS2005. Is that correct? I would sure like to begin debugging my project.

If you or anyone else can help me get the VGA emulator working with VS2005 in any connection method, I would sure appreciate it.