Expert: Werner "Menneisyys" Ruotsalainen

I’ve just been asked the following question in my Mailer Roundup (also see this XDA-Dev thread for more info), which made me do some real experiments that may be of interest to some other readers too:

“Thanks for your roundup; it got me to try both npop and qmail. For your roundup update, I humbly suggest you look at data use. I was alerted to this issue when hit with GPRS roaming charges that were much higher than I experienced with Snappermail (a Palm only program).

Thanks again for your survey, which helped me tremendously. ”

So, here are the results of my looking into the problem (I’ve used the same tools as in my article Found the explanation for/solution to probably the nastiest Pocket Inbox bug!):

Read more!

The article (which, incidentally, got very positive feedback; see for example this) emphasizes the relocation can't be used with the Messaging Today plug-in enabled.

PPCT forum member sweb3028 has tested the relocation under SBSH PocketBreeze and found out it works with it. Also, some other alternate Today plug-ins like WAD may also be able to display the Messaging plug-in without resulting in a new Storage Card directory being created.

You may already have noticed that the built-in mailer client in Windows Mobile, Messaging (was also known as (Pocket) Inbox in pre-Windows Mobile 2003SE operating systems) automatically synchronizes the contents of the active POP3/IMAP mailbox with your last-used POP3/IMAP Messaging mailbox when you cradle/dock your Pocket PC.

This, in cases, may lead to unwanted consequences. Many POP3/IMAP servers prohibit multiple, parallel connections to the same mailbox. With servers like these, you'll always run into access problems if you try to access your mailboxes from your, say, desktop mailer client, while your PDA is cradled.

The reason for this is very simple. As has already been pointed out, when you cradle your Pocket PC, Messaging is invoked and it automatically synchronizes the contents of the last-used mailbox, keeping the connection open (that is, it doesn't log out of the mail server when it's done fetching mail).

The connection being kept open results in other clients' inability to log into the same mailbox while the PDA is cradled. Unfortunately, the error messages you'll receive in cases like this can be rather cryptic and help little in tracking down the problem; this is why so many Pocket PC users are suffering from the problem and posting questions about it to Pocket PC boards.

What's the solution?

Before cradling the PDA, I used to make sure the selected, active Messaging account is not the one(s) that prohibit(s) multi log-ins. This made it possible to continue accessing even my single-login mailboxes on my desktop PC, even with my PDA docked and synchronized.

Of course, this solution is pretty awkward as you will end up having to change your account every time before cradling your PPC. This is why I've continued investigating the file system, the WinCE databases and, finally, the Registry to find out what causes Messaging to be auto-invoked upon docking and how you can combat this.

The solution is, fortunately, very easy. Read on!

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Q: My SD card likes to rename itself to "SD Card2" after powering on/off if you choose to have your email attachments stored on it.

A: This is a well-known problem (also see this blog entry). The problem can be very easily fought by simply disabling the Messaging Today plug-in.

(Actually, this is another trick I've found out and described first in the history of Pocket PC. Please read this and this threads for more info.)

Q: When I delete a mail I've downloaded through POP3 in Pocket Inbox (a.k.a. Messaging in newer operating system versions), they get deleted from the mail server too the next time I make a connection to them. How can I "hide" uneeded, but not-to-be-deleted mail?

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