vB Easy Archive - Dash Alarm question

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Dash Alarm question
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Posted by: abefroman

I setup my phone to wake me up at 6:40am. Over the weekend, I thought I changed it to 10:00am. That morning, the phone went off at 6:30 with an alarm reminder, 6:40, and 10:00. Is there anywhere to go in and clear out old alarms?

Posted by: T-Will

Good question. A bunch of other people (myself included) are having the same problem...

Posted by: h3535

I have been a pocketpc user since 2002, and alarm on ppc has always been a problem for me. I was hoping the smartphone platform would have a reliable alarm, well, looks like microsoft's hasn't got it fixed in smartphone either.

Posted by: deemota

Boy is this annoying the crap out of me. I just cant comprhend why MS cant fix something so simple.....

I cant even use the alarm on my Dash anymore. This thing goes off at all different times.

Posted by: LaughinBro

i agree. i hate this damn alarm

Posted by: TravelDude

YIKES, I use my current phone as my only alarm ALWAYS. Was planning to do with new dash, humm now what. Any 3rd party alarms to install on it that work better?

Posted by: T-Will

Well I turned off the alarm yesterday, then turned it back on before I went to bed, and so far I haven't gotten the 5:00a alarm yet. We'll see what other alarms go off (other than the 6:30a that's set.

Posted by: T-Will

Well I had 4 alarms go off today (my phone was in the car so I'm not sure what time they all went off) in addition to the 1 that went off at 5:30a...

Posted by: T-Will

And another went off at 10am...

Posted by: DialekT

another 10 am alarm for me too. WTF IS THIS ? My alarm is not even on..and mind you, it says 7:30 am if it were even on. lol this is crazy, but a very serious issue.

Posted by: Swivel

Everyone is having this issue. It was never an issue with my SDA, so it's device-specific to the Dash. Very annoying. However, I used Rivia's Gentimer application as my alarm on the SDA. It is a very solid application (Timers, Alarm, World Time, Stopwatch, etc.). I was a beta tester for Gentimer, and I'm awaiting the registration code for my Dash. I'm not sure what the price is for the application, but I'd say it's probably worth it given the situation.

Posted by: T-Will

Looks like a very cool looking program...I just wonder if these phantom alarms will clear out automatically?

http://www.smartphone.net/software_...eid=289&afsrc=1

Pocket PC also gets phantom alarms and there's an app that allows you to clear them, I can't remember at the moment what it's called though.

Posted by: good4me

so the dash has 1 alarm, but will randomly go off when ever it feels like it?

wonderful.

I had high hopes for this phone.

if that happens ill send it back and go for the pearl or the 719

Posted by: deemota

Quote:

Originally Posted by good4me

so the dash has 1 alarm, but will randomly go off when ever it feels like it?

YEP....

Posted by: T-Will

Let me know if these instructions work for you guys. I tried this last night but the alarm I had set for the morning failed to go off (luckily no other alarms have gone off either though), I think it just needed the soft reset after clearing the phantom alarms.

Phantom alarms can be cleaned up by following these instructions:

1. Load SKTools Smartphone Edition (Clean up and uninstaller utility)
2. Select View -> Maintenance -> Notifications Queue
3. Scroll to the bottom of the list and there should be multiple entries already checked for “Clock.exe”.
4. Select Action -> Delete marked
5. Do a soft reset (turn off then back on).

Posted by: Swivel

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

Let me know if these instructions work for you guys. I tried this last night but the alarm I had set for the morning failed to go off (luckily no other alarms have gone off either though), I think it just needed the soft reset after clearing the phantom alarms.

Phantom alarms can be cleaned up by following these instructions:

1. Load SKTools Smartphone Edition (Clean up and uninstaller utility)
2. Select View -> Maintenance -> Notifications Queue
3. Scroll to the bottom of the list and there should be multiple entries already checked for “Clock.exe”.
4. Select Action -> Delete marked
5. Do a soft reset (turn off then back on).

Worked for me, thanks. A slight pain, but this will work for me until December, when a new version of Gentimer that is compatible with the Dash is scheduled to be released.

Posted by: bobbyr

Thanks. Cleared up 27 of them here.

Posted by: deemota

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

Dude, you are a GOD!!!

Posted by: csrx

My phone will finally stop going off at 3:00AM!! Thanks

Posted by: wombat2010

nice to see that there is a way of clearing alarms. however, does that mean that, at least for the moment anyway, the dash's alarm feature should not be used, or else risk new phantom alarms appearing? Thanks.

Posted by: csrx

No, you just set it once. If you need to set a new time, clear the alarms before setting the new one.

Posted by: Sweet Spot

Thanks. It is no longer appearing in my notifications queue list. Does that mean it has permanently been fixed?

Posted by: T-Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Spot

Thanks. It is no longer appearing in my notifications queue list. Does that mean it has permanently been fixed?

If none are showing up then that means it may not go off. Make sure to do the soft reset and see if it shows up, or disable then re-enable the alarm.

Posted by: Pony99CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by good4me

so the dash has 1 alarm, but will randomly go off when ever it feels like it?

Not exactly. Based on what I've read, it sounds like your old alarms aren't cleared out. Computers don't do things "when they feel like it".

Here's my understanding of how alarms work on Windows Mobile (based on WM 2003; WM 5 may have changed things). When you set an alarm, it goes in the Notification Queue. After the alarm goes off, and you dismiss it, it should get removed from the Queue. If you snooze it, the alarm in the Queue should be updated with the new time.

Obviously, if you change the alarm, the existing item should either be updated in the Queue or it should be deleted and a new item should be added. That doesn't seem like it's being done properly.

At midnight every night, the device turns on and updates the Notification Queue. It does that to populate the Queue with recurring alarms. (Obviously, if you have a daily alarm set that you want repeated forever, you don't want 100 years worth of alarms in the Queue.

)

Again, I'm not sure if that's completely accurate, even for WM 2003, but that's what I've read over the years I've been using Windows Mobile devices.

When WM 2003 was first released, there was an issue with the Queue getting filled with items, causing the device to slow way down. After every soft reset, a couple of events were added to the Queue again. ScaryBear Software released CheckNotifications as freeware to remove duplicates from the Notification Queue. It sounds like SKTools Lite may do the same for WM 5 Smartphones, and it's free.

Steve

Posted by: sinbear

I do have another issue with the DASH too... Ring Tones for individuals...

It seems if you sync with Outlook, the imported contacts have the place to set a custom ring, but even if you do it, it doesn't work... you just get the normal ring tone you have set for those people...

However, if you put the contact on your sim card, then save it from there to a contact... custom ring tones work... Really sucks to have to go to all that trouble... plus then you have more than once contact for many people, unless you go back and delete original ones...

Anybody else? Or anyone know of a fix for this? THANKS!

Posted by: T-Will

If you want an unlimited number of custom alarms that go off when they're supposed to, use Gentimer!!! I've been using it for the past couple days and it's been perfectly reliable.

Posted by: Swivel is Back

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

If you want an unlimited number of custom alarms that go off when they're supposed to, use Gentimer!!! I've been using it for the past couple days and it's been perfectly reliable.

Yeah. Gentimer is a solid application.

Posted by: JunniorMdz

so their is no way to fixed this issue?

Posted by: T-Will

^^^ No permanent fix other than clearing the alarms with SKTools and using Gentimer.

Posted by: milespro

Does SKtools Lite have the ability to fix this? or the full version only?

Posted by: bigdaddyajay

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

Thanks this worked perfectly. Helped a ton. I'm surprised this isn't in the Dash FAQ

Posted by: aznvietboi87

does anyone know any alarm programs out there that are good and free?

Posted by: agent2099

I thought I was going to be free of this issue. I've had my Dash for a few weeks and the alarm has been working PERFECTLY every day.

Now this Sunday it woke me up at 5:45, which was yesterdays alarm that I disabled last night.

I wonder why it work fine initially and then all of a sudden the Dash starts to "save" alamars, where it hadn't before. Anyway I will download SKTools and see how that works.

I just sucks as I don't want to put more software on my Dash if not needed, I like to keep the OS as clean as possible.

Posted by: agent2099

Quote:

Originally Posted by milespro

Does SKtools Lite have the ability to fix this? or the full version only?

I just installed the Lite (freeware) version and it seems to have the capability.

Posted by: LeZouave

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinbear

I do have another issue with the DASH too... Ring Tones for individuals...

It seems if you sync with Outlook, the imported contacts have the place to set a custom ring, but even if you do it, it doesn't work... you just get the normal ring tone you have set for those people...

However, if you put the contact on your sim card, then save it from there to a contact... custom ring tones work... Really sucks to have to go to all that trouble... plus then you have more than once contact for many people, unless you go back and delete original ones...

Anybody else? Or anyone know of a fix for this? THANKS!

Maybe you should start a new thread about that so more people will see it...

Posted by: Ratherusevzw

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I just got off the phone this morning with TMobile tech support, they are sending me a new phone. They said they have never heard of this problem before. I will send them a link to this thread. What a hassle.

Posted by: odnerd

Heres a free alarm I posted awhile ago and no one seemed to care. Works decent though:
http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1049019

Posted by: T-Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdaddyajay

Thanks this worked perfectly. Helped a ton. I'm surprised this isn't in the Dash FAQ

It's been added we are unable to get the mods to post the update. We're working on a Wiki version that would allow real-time updates and not require anyone to upload versions.

Posted by: emes

Definitely it is software bud. Until they make upgrade or patch I use calendar as alarm. It works fine. SK tool looks fine but can not be sure 100%.

Posted by: T-Will

SK Tools works perfect for clearing the phantom alarms, and Gentimer works perfect if you want your alarms to always go off at the times you set.

Posted by: shames

I've tried all of the suggestions in this post and none of them work
I cleared the notification queue
and whenever i re-enable the alarm it goes off at random times again
i tried gentimer and still even gentimer goes off at random times
anyone figure out a way to get the alarm working?

Posted by: T-Will

Hmm...try a hard reset then install Gentimer and don't touch the built-in alarm at all. All I know is the SKTools cleared the queue and Gentimer has worked flawlessly for me.

Posted by: emes

Use sktool and clean all alarms. It works fine, but should do this every time when cancel alarm setting or turn alarm off. I use calendar insted. Set apontment, put name , say "wake up" or "alarm1", set time and set reminder "on" 1 min. You can use use outlook as well and make repetiteve alarms easy.

Posted by: emes

I tried gentimer but I dont like it. Ugly and not so user friendly.

Posted by: emes

Good point to use calendar as alarm is you can see setings on the screen all the time.

Posted by: shames

how do i do a hard reset?
i noticed the phantom alarms only go off whenever i enable the alarm to on
if i leave it to off and as you mentioned clear the notification queue and then set the alarms dont' go off at random times, but the alarm doesn't go off when it should either
will try the calendar method i suppose

Posted by: shames

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is really getting annoying
i tried using a program called CityTime Alarms which is a great program but the exact same problem occurs as did gentimer, and the stock alarm feature.
the alarm when enabled goes off at random times but not when it should go off
anyone have any ideas ??
i'mr eally desperate here
the calendar method didnt' really work well for me either
i need to set 3 alarms
mw - 720
t-1020
th/s - 850
any ideas?

Posted by: shames

hi one quick thing to add i also noticed that the time on my dash keeps resetting
hope someone can figure this out

Posted by: T-Will

Try using "Clear Storage" on the Start Menu to set your Dash back to it's default settings. YOU WILL LOSE ALL FILES AND SETTINGS!!!

If that doesn't work, then it sounds like you got one of the dud Dashes (since it's also not keeping time), and I'd recommend trading it in for another. When the Dash was released there was a group of them with quirky bugs, and it sounds like yours might be one.

Posted by: shames

hrm.. well i can't return the dash since i bought it on ebay from someone in the united states and i'm in canada
but ig uess i can try the clearing storage thing
it's either that or just live without using the alarm which sucks because i've used my phone for an alarm always

Posted by: emes

Is this problem depend of clock.exe file only? Is it possible use same file, clock.exe, from other OS, say Microsoft Win. Mobile 2003?

Posted by: shames

ok well i tried using city time alarms but it kept causing my phone to crash
i had to do some hard resets clearing the storage and after reloading all progs (sans city time alarm) the alarm actually worked normally!
but only once
after that it went back to it's random alarms
i keep clearing notifications and rebooting but it still goes off at random times
might try gentimer again but not sure
this reallys ucks lol

Posted by: shames

Ok well back to gentimer and still no luck
phantom alarms up the wazoo
i'm thinking of flashing the rom and seeing if that maybe changes it

running out of ideas

Posted by: T-Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by shames

Ok well back to gentimer and still no luck
phantom alarms up the wazoo
i'm thinking of flashing the rom and seeing if that maybe changes it

running out of ideas

Just wanted to double-check, you've used SKTools to clear the notification cache?

Posted by: dsigma6

SKTools does the trick, as most of us know. But I would avoid using the smartphone alarm and go with something like Oxios Alarms. It's the first piece of software I paid for, but at $5 it's ok. The thing that's not OK is having 1)the default alarm not working, and 2) having only 1 time that can be set (well, that you can see anyway!)

Posted by: shames

yes i've tried the sktools alarm clear notification thing
it doesn't show any more notification entries but the alarm still doesn't work
even with any program
at this point i don't think any piece of individual software will fix it
i think it's more a problem with the dash itself
maybe the rom needs to be updated or something
but i'm open tos uggestions
i don't want to pay for the oxios alarm when there's still the chance the phantom bugs can happen
any other suggestions?
gentimer doesn't work
and neither does city time alarm

Posted by: dsigma6

are you sure the notification area was cleared in SKTools? Try delete all, then delete individually. Sometimes nothing happens when you select delete.

Posted by: Mohit

Ok, I have this alarm bug but I may have figured out how to solve it.

If you dismiss the alarm, it will not go off randomly once you have set another time for the alarm. And you have to soft reset your phone after you have dismissed it.

i.e.

I set my M-F alarm for 5:45 AM
My Sat-Sun 8:30 AM

Once my alarm goes off at 5:45, I notice there are two alarms that come up on the screen. I can either snooze it or dismiss. I make sure to dismiss both that I see listed. Then usually I will soft reset my phone and I never get the 8:30 AM alarm.

Then again I could be just imagining all this in my sleep while trying to wake up and go to work.

Posted by: h16h

I love this effin phone, but this alarm crap is killin me, I like to keep my alarm volume LOUD on every profile just incase i have vibrate on and i pass out.
THis alarm has gone off LOUDLY in meetings, in class,

HTC HELP!!!

Posted by: homobile

I'm def spoiled by the multi-alarm functions on samsung and se.You'd think if non-smartphones have great alarm functions(able to set different alarms for different days)ms would be able to figure it out.I've been trying to work on my dash alarm issues forever.I've been thinking about third party apps,but haven't been able to decide which one to use.

Posted by: redwildebeast

try oxios alarms http://oxios.com/alarms/ works like a charm. if you like it pm me for details how to get it for free.

Posted by: emes

Hi
I seems fine. Please let me or let us secret, hot to get it free. Thanks a lot

Posted by: T-Will

I still recommend Gentimer...hasn't let me down yet (or gone off when it shouldn't have).

Posted by: chasmanian

I have Oxios. Paid for it too. I haven't had the alarm go off once. Not even when it SHOULD! The little icon on the home screen is there to let me know the alarm is set, but at 5:00 AM, no dice. I've tried to set it to different times. I've tried selecting and deselecting the alarms. Nada. Any ideas?

Posted by: odnerd

Try SnoozeAlarm. Its freeware and really good. Works every time. You can get it from my site: http://dashapps.googlepages.com/home

Posted by: donvito83

well i just got my dash and this alarm bug is pretty disappointing since i use my alarm everyday. i guess i'll just use my watch alarm or DL the freeware one posted on that googlepages site.

hopefully when we all get WM6 on our Dashes, this problem will be resolved.

Posted by: myjeepisbad

Here's an alternative I haven't seen posted yet that works a charm for me.

Fizz Traveller

I got it back when I got my SDA, carried it over to my Dash integrated it into my homescreen instead of Fizz Weather, and have since started using it as the alarm.

I had the same problems with the Dash alarm, Gentimer, and Oxios. I switched to Fizz and it's flawless, even with multiple alarms running.

Just my 2 cents.

Posted by: ras4119

i had this SAME problem..and my phone would go off @ 8:30 EVERY morning no matter what my alarm said that it was set for. I tried everything i could think of. Then i had an internet with my first dash and replaced it so now i have a replacement phone and i havent had the problem yet..knock on wood!

Posted by: T-Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by ras4119

i had this SAME problem..and my phone would go off @ 8:30 EVERY morning no matter what my alarm said that it was set for. I tried everything i could think of. Then i had an internet with my first dash and replaced it so now i have a replacement phone and i havent had the problem yet..knock on wood!

As far as I've heard, all Dash's have this problem, the only way to fix it is to load a third-party alarm program.

Posted by: emes

Hi
I have asociated picture with one contact (..Save to contact.)and works fine, only problem picture is very small. OK, but when I try to change picture I can not do it. When I select "Save to contact" I can not find previos contact, it is not on list??? Enybody knows how to edit contact with picture? Thanks

Posted by: myjeepisbad

Quote:

Originally Posted by emes

Hi
I have asociated picture with one contact (..Save to contact.)and works fine, only problem picture is very small. OK, but when I try to change picture I can not do it. When I select "Save to contact" I can not find previos contact, it is not on list??? Enybody knows how to edit contact with picture? Thanks

I think you replied to the wrong thread buddy.

Posted by: gogonano

Does anyone know if Mobile 6 resolves this alarm issue?

Posted by: T-Will

No it doesn't. Use a third-party application...any of them out there are 100 times better since they allow multiple alarms while MS's implementation doesn't.

Posted by: civic702

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

As far as I've heard, all Dash's have this problem, the only way to fix it is to load a third-party alarm program.

hi peoples. i was looking into getting a dash will i have the same issues with the alarm bug even IF i dont use the dash alarm??? or do i still need to load a third party? i am actually getting the same bug on my mda but i might end up doing a hard reset once i decide i go towards the dash route.

Posted by: redwildebeast

if you NEVER turn the alarm on it should be fine

Posted by: civic702

^^^ hope so and just rely on a good ol' alarm clock.

Posted by: Ratherusevzw

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratherusevzw

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I just got off the phone this morning with TMobile tech support, they are sending me a new phone. They said they have never heard of this problem before. I will send them a link to this thread. What a hassle.

OK, so they sent me a new phone and it worked for about 3 months. Then BAM, like a freight train in the middle of the night, on a weekend, it happens again. To top it all off, after DST the phantom alarms are going off an hour later than they used to, and half my appointments are an hour off now too. What a piece of junk.

Posted by: civic702

^^^ did you end up using the alarm normally or not use it and only use the calendar for appointments.

Posted by: bouyakasha

Hi,

I'm trying to follow the directions to clear the notification tools via SKTools. However, when I scroll down on the 'notifications' list in the SKTools program on my dash, it says that because it's in 'DEMO mode' that it will only give me six entries per list. And, I cannot find an entry for "Clock.exe"

Because I can't find these entries, I cannot delete the alarms and I'm now getting woken up 4 times every morning. PLEASE, anyone with any information on how to get around this, post here.

Thank you.

Posted by: djgizmo

What other entries do you see in that notifications list? If you can delete one of them, clock will appear. you'll have to keep going back in there till all the clock entries are gone.

Posted by: bouyakasha

Quote:

Originally Posted by djgizmo

What other entries do you see in that notifications list? If you can delete one of them, clock will appear. you'll have to keep going back in there till all the clock entries are gone.

Thanks for responding - I'm just a little afraid of deleting something that's important, should I just go for it anyway?

Posted by: Pony99CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by bouyakasha

I'm trying to follow the directions to clear the notification tools via SKTools. However, when I scroll down on the 'notifications' list in the SKTools program on my dash, it says that because it's in 'DEMO mode' that it will only give me six entries per list. And, I cannot find an entry for "Clock.exe"

It sounds like you downloaded the demo of the full SK Tools. You need to download SK Tools Lite (assuming you have a Smartphone). That allows seeing the entire notification queue.

Steve

Posted by: WebRIPPER

I wrote small free program, that fixes alarm problems with Windows Mobile. download, run and tell if it helps. (backup fist)

Posted by: rydr1

^seems like a good app.

i dont have that problem at this time if not i would try it.

Posted by: ryanymagahis

Well, I've tried T-Will's and Werippers solutions, but everytime I'm about to download the application, it says that it cannot be viewed on this device (the dash in this case). Any solutions or anything I'm not doing right? I just go the phone in middle of january 2008 I believe

Posted by: WebRIPPER

You have to install .net compact framework 2.0 in order to run this program

Posted by: T-Will

Your Dash might need to be software unlocked too.

Posted by: Fuzzbox

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

SK Tools works perfect for clearing the phantom alarms, and Gentimer works perfect if you want your alarms to always go off at the times you set.

That's funny, I can't get Gentimer to work for me at all.

Basically, I install it, use it once or twice to test the alarm, and then an hour later it stops working, and my alarm never goes off. In fact, I usually can't even OPEN gentimer without rebooting the Dash.

So far, I have yet to find a easy-to-use, reliable alarm program for my Dash. A real shame.

-jason

Posted by: T-Will

Is your Dash application unlocked?

Posted by: Fuzzbox

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Will

Is your Dash application unlocked?

yep, fully unlocked. if it wasn't, the program wouldn't work at all, right?

-jasom

Posted by: T-Will

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzzbox

yep, fully unlocked. if it wasn't, the program wouldn't work at all, right?

-jasom

At this point I'd probably hard reset my Dash (if you want to spend time reinstalling everything).

Posted by: hgallegos915

You know.. the only solution i found was to TURN off my phone and LEAVE it off.. stupid alarm is annoying, my schedule changed... so now i work afternoons.. so im very nicely asleep.. then the stupid crap wakes me up at 4:45 AM ARGH! so yeah.. turning the ohone off works :/

Posted by: hgallegos915

that sktools whatever its called seems to have cleared it.. lets see for how long.