Wrong modification timestamps when writing files to SMB shares under Windows CE 5.0

If you have ever wondered why sometimes the modification timestamps of files written by a Windows CE 5.0 client to an SMB share on a remote server are in history or future, here is an explanation:

The SMB protocol provides the possibility to set the last write time by the client. But unfortunately, the time must be provided in local server time. But how could the client possibly know the local server time?

While establishing an SMB connection, the local server time and time zone is provided by the server. Windows CE 5.0 seems to determine the time difference between the server time zone and its own time zone on opening the connection. When writing to a file on the SMB share and closing it, the time difference appears to be used to calculate the server local time based on the client local time. But if the time zone is changed either on the client or on the server while the connection exists, the calculation will result in a wrong modification timestamp because the time difference is no longer valid.

As an SMB connection is automatically terminated after a specific time (10 minutes by default) when all resources have been closed, the problem might not be very obvious. If the SMB connection is re-established or after a reboot, the new time difference will result in valid modification timestamps again.

The behavior has been reported to Microsoft and we think there will be a QFE for this issue. So stay tuned and we will keep you informed...


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New URL to quickly access CE drivers & BSPs!

As you know information management is always a topic which needs a lot of attention. A problem with which the Microsoft Windows Embedded Team also has to cope with, due to the huge amount of information there is around Windows Embedded.

If you have ever searched MSDN looking for Windows Embedded CE BSPs and/or drivers then you will know what I mean.

Lucky enough, Microsoft now offers new windowsembedded.com vanity URLs so that you can quickly get to the search lists.

Add these to your favorites for quick and easy access:

www.WindowsEmbedded.com/Drivers
www.WindowsEmbedded.com/BSP

So long and thanks for all the fish!

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Windows Mobile App Dev Chat

Hi Folks,

do you have questions regarding Windows Mobile application development that you need answers to? So join the live chat with Microsoft employees, MVPs and experts in Windows Mobile application development and bring on the questions! This chat will cover the tools and technologies used to develop applications using the Windows Mobile operating system.

So don't forget to put the date in your schedule:
Title: Windows Mobile App Dev Chat
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 9:00 - 10:00 A.M. Pacific time
Link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/chats/default.aspx

Join it!!!
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NavReady and SideShow

Here's something I just came across while preparing a post about "Inside of NavReady".

After installing NavReady 2009 I went through the catalog items to see if all the goodies were there, such as MSN Direct Support, LS4D and SideShow support etc. I found everything except for SideShow! A closer look at the NavReady Documentation then gave me a hint:

"Windows SideShow for Windows CE 5.0 is a separate installed product. It must be downloaded and installed in order to be added to an existing installation of Windows CE 5.0."

I checked Microsofts Download site and found this:
Windows® SideShow™ Device Components for Windows® CE 5.0

After downloading and installing the SidesShow Device Components I was able to add SideShow components to my OS Design:

After installation you will also find the C# SideShow Console Sample under _WINCEROOT%\Public\Servers\SDK\Samples\SideShow\Console

So long and thanks for all the fish!

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Holger's Search Pattern

My workspace is perfectly prepared for CE driver development tasks.
There are a number of tools, e.g. my favorite text editor, diff tool and a powerful grep.
And one of the convenient things on my workspace is a good search pattern for "Find-In-Files".
I want to share this pattern with our readers:

*.c;*.cpp;*.cxx;*.h;*.hpp;*.hxx;
sources;dirs;*.cmn;*.def;
*.bib;*.reg;*.s;*.inc;*.mac;*.blt

Tschüß Holger
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How to port a driver to Windows Embedded CE 6.0

OK, so you have heard that the driver architecture changed from CE 5.0 to CE 6.0, but are you sure you know what to do? Wouldn't it be good to have a How to?

Well in that case I've got just the link for you. On Channel 9 you can find a detailed presentation on getting your Windows CE 5.0 driver to work under CE 6.0.
The presentation looks into memory management, marshalling, threading and security.

You can find it here: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/TravisHobrla/Porting-Drivers-to-Windows-CE-60/

If you're not aware of the differences between CE 5.0 and CE 6.0 then have a look at the article Differences between Windows CE 5.0 and Windows CE 6.0 on WindowsForDevices.com.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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MS Auto vs. Windows Automotive

As Microsoft has now also added Live Search for Devices (LS4D - one of the key features of Windows Embedded NavReady - which we will talk about in one of our next posts) to MS Auto and Windows Automotive I thought this would be a good opportunity to answer the question "What's the difference between MS Auto and Windows Automotive?" and to get rid of some of the confusion around these two platforms - oh yes and then there is Windows Mobile for Automotive and ...

Fortunately Microsoft offers a Platform Guidance Datasheet showing the main differences between the two platforms.


As you can see Windows Automotive 5.0 is based on Windows Embedded CE 5.0 ( same as NavReady 2009 ) and offers the same full flexibility whereas Microsoft Auto 3.0 is based on Windows Embedded CE 6.0 and provides a standard hard- and software platform enabling OEMs and Tier1s to build solutions a lot faster.

Fiat's Blue&Me, by the way, which features Elektrobit's Navigation solution is based on Windows Mobile for Automotive which is the predecessor of MS Auto.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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R2 CTP (Community Technology Preview) Refresh Chat

Hi Folks,

you can join the live chat with the Embedded Windows product team on August 28th at 10am (PST).

On August 12th, 2008 Microsoft released a Community Technology Preview (CTP) Refresh of Windows® Embedded Standard, the next generation of Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded and this live chat will focus on these two CTPs.
With download of these CTPs you have a chance to win a Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000. On August 28th you can ask the experts and give your first feedback about these releases to MS.
So don't forget to put the date in your schedule and join it.

Title: R2 CTP (Community Technology Preview) Refresh Chat
Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008 10:00 - 11:00 A.M. Pacific time
Link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/chats/default.aspx
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We call it a Klassiker!

Hi folks,

here's a Sysgen error people (still) tend to come across:
NMAKE : fatal error U1073: don't know how to make 'E:\WINCE500\...\component.lib'

The cause for this is very often due to a missing Windows CE Update when changing configuration, i.e. from ARMV4I to x86. So if you do come across this error check the Updates you have registered on your computer. An easy way to do this is via ceqfecheck.exe which you will find in your Windows System32 Directory, e.g. C:\WINDOWS\system32\ceqfecheck\. You can't find it? Well don't worry, this tool is not part of the standard Windows CE Installation; it is installed via any QFE.



BTW: "We call it a Klassiker." is a quote from Franz Beckenbauer before the England-Germany football Worldcup qualification game on September 1, 2001 in Munich - which England won 5-1!

So long and thanks for all the fish.

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Download Windows Embedded Standard CTP

and enter for the chance to win a Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000.
The Windows Embedded Standard Team is giving away 10 of these mice to people who download the Windows Embedded Standard CTP Refresh by 29th August.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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Windows Embedded Glossary

Ever had problems trying to figure out some of those acronyms which people tend to throw around. I especially love those ones that contain another acronym. You can't think of one? Then how about OED - OEM Embedded Division.

The following list will hopefully help. I will add a link to this post and keep it up2date. So if you have anything I haven't listed, let me know and I will be glad to add it.

• ADP - Acceleration Development Program
  
• ALP - Additional Licensing Provisions
  
• AR - Authorised Replicator
  
• ARA - Additional Rights Agreement
  
• BSP - Board Support Package
  
• CCD - Connected Consumer Devices
  
• CD – Component Designer
  
• CE - Windows Embedded CE
  
• CED - Connected Enterprise Devices
  
• CF – Compact Flash
  
• CLA - Customer License Agreement
  
• COA – Certificate of Authenticity
  
• CTP – Community Technology Preview
  
• CVC - Customer Value Chain
  
• DBMGR – Database Manager
  
• DUA – Device Update Agent
  
• DWR - Design Win Registration
  
• EULA - End User License Agreement
• EXR - Embedded XAML Runtime
  
• EWF – Enhanced Write Filter
  
• FBA – First Boot Agent
• FES - For Embedded Systems (e.g. Windows 7 FES)
  
• FY - Financial Year ( MSFT: July to June )
  
• HORM – Hibernate Once, Resume Many
  
• IHV - Independent Hardware Vendor
  
• ISV - Independent Software Vendor
  
• JDP - Joint Development Program
  
• KITL - Kernel Independent Transport Layer
  
• MDD - Model Device Driver
  
• MSFT - Microsoft (NASDAQ)
  
• MSPP - Microsoft Partner Program
  
• OAL - OEM Adaptation Layer
  
• OED - OEM Embedded Devision
  
• OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer
  
• OPK - OEM Pre-installation Kit
  
• PDD - Platform Dependent Driver
  
• PID – Product ID
  
• PND - Personal Navigation Device
  
• POS – Point of Sale
  
• PQOAL - Production Quality OAL
  
• RB – Remote Boot
  
• RBS – Remote Boot Server
  
• RDP - Remote Desktop Protocol
  
• SKU - Standard Kit Unit
  
• SI - System Integrator
  
• STB - Set Top Box
  
• SV - Silicon Vendor
  
• TA – Target Analyzer
  
• TAP - Target Analyzer Probe
  
• TD – Target Designer
  
• TTT - Train The Trainer
  
• VAP - Value Added Partner
  
• VIGUID – Version Independent Globally Unique Identifier
  
• VoIP - Voice Over IP
  
• VSGUID - Version Specific Globally Unique Identifier
  
• WEB - Windows Embedded Business
  
• WECC - Windows Embedded Customer Community
  
• WEPOS – Windows Embedded for Point of Service. Now called PosReady.
  
• WEPP - Windows Embedded Partner Program
• WES - Windows Embedded Standard
  
• XPe - WindowsXP Embedded
  

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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Windows NavReady Update for July 2008 can be downloaded

Hi Folks,

me again :)
The first updates for Windows Embedded NavReady are available for download (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=10479d0c-43d2-4e31-9bc1-d813a987f830&DisplayLang=en).

Fixes made in this update:
Component: CONNMGR
080723_KB954747 - This update allows Connection Manager to establish/manage BT-DUN connection even when BT-HFP is not active on the device and work with external BT-HFP modules
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Windows CE QFEs for month of July 2008 arrived

Hi Folks,
the latest Windows CE updates have been recently released and are available for download. Some critical issues have been resolved so get them now!
More information for each update is provided in the Readme document available after the individual update(s) has been installed.

Windows CE 5.0 Platform Builder Monthly Update (July 2008)
Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fb405fd9-983c-4d3f-91eb-6b58cc504604&DisplayLang=en
Description: This is a set of updates for Windows CE Platform Builder released during the period of July 1 - July 31, 2008. These Microsoft Windows CE updates are fixes for Windows CE operating system problems you run into during the development and maintenance of your custom platform.
It contains important updates about FileSys (SD card mount failure may occur when FATFS driver checks FSInfo when mounting a store. TFAT corruption may occur if power is turned off during the NAND flash write operation) and adds support for .NET Compact Framework v3.5 to the platform builder.

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Monthly Update (July 2008)
Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=991a6ef3-7035-4d71-b424-1fb393af8a26&DisplayLang=en
Description: This is a set of updates for Windows CE Platform Builder released during the period of July 1 - July 31, 2008. These Microsoft Windows CE updates are fixes for Windows CE operating system problems you run into during the development and maintenance of your custom platform.

It contains some critical updates:
Component: CoreOS
080728_KB952264 - This update adds a check for NULL pointer to resolve some issues.

Component: NK
080718_KB955159 - When using the Soft RTC, the hardware clock can tick slightly faster than the software clock and result in unstable clock behavior.
080723_KB955698 - This update allows to limit resource calls on kernel threads only in PSL context.
080725_KB955467 - A DEBUGCHK in DEBUG KERNEL may cause a device to halt during bootup if USB hard disk attached.

Component: Shell
080702_KB953953 - This update addresses a memory leak.

and integration of SQL Compact 3.5 SP1 and .NET Compact Framework v3.5 in Platform Builder.
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Looking for a BSP?

If you're looking for a Board Support Package aka BSP for a specific version of CE you can search for the latest supported microprocessors here: Supported BSPs
The site also offers you the possibility to stay tuned about new and updated BSPs via rssfeed.

So long and thanks for all the fish!
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Windows Mobile to run on satellite phone

TerreStar Corporation announced plans to launch the slimmest satelite phone yet, designed by EB. The picture on the right shows you the "EB-TerreStar reference design".
The handset will offer "4G" HSPA (high speed packet access), push e-mail and your other favorite Windows Mobile features.
Besides satellite telephony as well as quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA cellular modes the handset will be boasting:

• Touchscreen display
• QWERTY keyboard
• Bluetooth
• WiFi
• GPS
• ...
  

So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Windows Mobile API Usage Tool

Hi Folks,

MS has released the Windows Mobile API Usage Tool. This tool performs static analysis of applications and binaries designed to run on Windows Mobile devices and reports on the usage of system APIs and other resources. The goal of the tool is to provide a report of system dependencies to the application developer, optionally including the deprecated APIs that the application may currently depend on.

It is a commandline tool, its name is wmaut.exe and the output is a SQL database file (*.sdf).
Take a look at the calling syntax below:
wmaut [options] [databaseFile.sdf] [index/Fileapplication/Filedirectory]

The following options are provided:

• /resume Restart a previous execution


• /overwrite Overwrite the given databaseFile


• /deprecated At conclusion, reports on usage of deprecated APIs


• /anonymize Anonymize name and path in given database


• /noarch Analyze pre-extracted files from given directory

If you're interested in this tool, it is available at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fc803c7b-e855-475a-b8f3-38c19a007d36&displaylang=en
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