NEC MobilePro 780 Portable Computer Users Guide

							  
Getting Started  1-11 
CONNECTING TO YOUR PC VIA SERIAL 
The MobilePro is designed to be a companion PC. Most 
users want to synchronize the MobilePro 780 with a host 
PC. The latest work done on either the MobilePro or the 
host PC automatically appears on both machines, once the 
synchronization process occurs. 
The following section provides an overview of the syn-
chronization process, using the serial port, followed by de-
tailed instructions for each stage of the process. 
Follow these procedures to configure your MobilePro for 
synchronization using the serial port. 
!Verify the accuracy of the PC Connection default 
 settings on your MobilePro. 
!Ensure the availability of the serial port on your host 
PC. 
!Connect the PC Connect (serial) cable to your host PC 
and to your MobilePro. 
!Install Microsoft ActiveSync on your host PC. 
!Create a partnership between your host PC and your 
MobilePro. 
!Verify that the desired synchronization services are 
configured. 
Verifying PC Connection Settings 
Your MobilePro ships with PC Connection default 
settings. Follow these steps to verify the accuracy of the 
PC connection settings. 
1. Tap Start, Settings, Control Panel, Communications. 
2. Select the PC Connection tab. 
3. Verify the following settings.  
						

							  
1-12 Getting Started 
!“Allow connection with desktop computer when de-
vice is attached” is checked. 
!“Connect using Serial Port @ 115K” displays. 
(Change this setting to 115K, if necessary. If syn-
chronization is unsuccessful, revert to the default of 
19200.) 
Proceed to the next section to check the availability of the 
serial port on your host PC. 
Ensuring the Availability of the Serial Port 
The serial port on your host PC must be available for syn-
chronization with your NEC MobilePro. Follow these steps 
to ensure the availability of the serial port. 
1. Access the setup utility on your host PC to verify that 
the port is enabled. 
2. Check the device manager on your host PC to identify 
potential conflicts for the serial port. In the Windows 
environment: 
!Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel. 
!Double click the System icon and select the Device 
Manager tab. 
!Check the Ports listing to determine if any conflicts 
exist (another device is assigned to or is using the 
serial port). The port may be flagged with an excla-
mation point, for example, if any conflicts exist. 
!If another device is assigned to or is using the serial 
port, you must reassign the device to free up the se-
rial port for MobilePro synchronization. 
Proceed to the next section to connect the PC connect 
cable.  
						

							  
Getting Started  1-13 
Connecting the PC Connect Cable 
Before installing Microsoft ActiveSync, follow these in-
structions to connect the PC Connect (serial) cable that 
ships with your MobilePro to both your MobilePro and to 
your host PC. 
1. Locate and open the serial port cover on the back of 
your MobilePro. 
2. Align and attach the PC Connect cable to the serial port 
on the MobilePro. (If your cable is labeled, insert the 
cable with the word Up visible on the top. If your cable 
has an arrow near the connector, insert the cable with 
the arrow visible on top.) 
                     Connecting the PC Connect cable 
3. 
Connect the other end of the cable to the 9-pin serial 
port on your host PC. If your host PC has a 25-pin se-
rial port, use an adapter (available in most computer 
stores). 
Proceed to the next section to install Microsoft Active-
Sync. 
  
						

							  
1-14 Getting Started 
 Note: Before connecting the PC Connect cable 
to the serial port on your desktop, be sure that the 
serial port is enabled in the desktop’s BIOS setup 
and that no conflicts exist for the port. For details, 
see a previous section in this chapter, “Ensuring the 
Availability of the Serial Port.” 
 
!CAUTION 
Be sure to properly align the cable connectors and 
ports. Incorrect connection can damage the Mo-
bilePro and the computer. 
Installing Microsoft ActiveSync 
You must install Microsoft ActiveSync on your host PC to 
enable synchronization with your MobilePro. The Micro-
soft ActiveSync CD that ships with your MobilePro con-
tains the ActiveSync software designed for synchronization 
with Microsoft Office components. The following proce-
dure assumes Microsoft Outlook as the host PC synchroni-
zation component. 
Network Requirements 
If your host PC is connected to a network, configure one of 
the following before installing Microsoft ActiveSync: 
!Configure a WINS server on the host PCs network, or, 
!Configure the host PCs IP address on the MobilePro as 
follows: 
1. Tap Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double tap 
the network icon. 
2. Highlight NE2000 Compatible Ethernet Driver and 
select the Properties button.  
						

							  
Getting Started  1-15 
3. In the IP address tab, select (place a dot beside) 
Obtain an IP address via DCHP. 
4. Select the Name Servers tab and enter the host PCs 
IP address in the Primary WINS field. 
To identify the host PCs IP address, run an IP con-
fig utility. InWindows 98 and 95, run Win IP Con-
fig. In Windows NT, run IP Config. If you need 
assistance, see your network administrator. 
Installing ActiveSync 
Follow these steps to install Microsoft ActiveSync for syn-
chronization with Microsoft Outlook. The installation se-
quence may vary depending upon the Microsoft 
components installed on your host PC. 
 Note:  If your host PC uses the W indows NT 
operating system, you must install W indows NT 
Networking before installing Microsoft ActiveSync to 
your host PC. 
1. Insert the Microsoft ActiveSync CD in the CD-ROM 
reader of your host PC. 
!If auto insert is enabled on your host PC, the setup 
window appears. 
!If auto insert is not enabled, go to Start, Run, browse 
for the CD-ROM drive, and run the setup.exe file. 
2. Click Next to start the setup wizard. 
The Selection Installation folder appears. 
3. Click Next to accept the default installation folder or 
modify the folder destination and click Next. 
The Get Connected window appears.  
						

							  
1-16 Getting Started 
4. Read the instructions about connecting your device and 
click Next. 
The host PC verifies the availability of a COM port and 
polls the MobilePro for synchronization settings. The 
New Partnership window appears. 
Proceed to the next section to complete the installation. 
Creating a Partnership 
Once the host PC verifies the availability of a COM port 
and polls the MobilePro for synchronization settings, the 
New Partnership window appears. 
1. Click Next to display the Select Synchronization Set-
tings window. 
2. Select the desired synchronization settings and click 
Next. 
The Setup Complete window appears. 
3. Click Finish to complete the installation process. 
Verifying Synchronization Settings 
Look for the new Microsoft ActiveSync desktop icon on 
your host PC. Follow these steps to verify synchronization 
settings on the MobilePro. 
1. Double click the ActiveSync icon. 
2. Click Tools, Options and verify that the 
desired synchronization services are checked. Modify 
the selections as required. 
 Note: By default, synchronization of email 
messages is not checked. Be sure to select the 
checkbox for this service if you want to synchronize 
email between your MobilePro to your host PC.  
						

							  
Getting Started  1-17 
Once installed, Microsoft ActiveSync automatically 
synchronizes your MobilePro 780 with your host PCs 
Microsoft Outlook email, contacts, calendar, and task list 
each time you attach the PC Connect cable to the Mo-
bilePro 780 and the host PC. 
 Note:  W henever possible Microsoft Active-
Sync automatically translates files and email at-
tachments during synchronization. This allows you 
to use the MobilePro to view and work with files cre-
ated on your host PC with Microsoft W ord, Excel, 
and PowerPoint, among others. 
However, as noted in the readme.doc file on the Mi-
crosoft ActiveSync CD, PowerPoint files created or 
modified on the MobilePro are not translated for 
viewing or modification on your host PC. This limita-
tion does not apply to Pocket W ord or Pocket Excel 
files. 
CONNECTING TO YOUR PC VIA INFRARED 
If your host PC is not equipped with a serial port or the se-
rial port(s) is in use, use the infrared port to synchronize 
the NEC MobilePro with your host PC. 
The following section provides an overview of the syn-
chronization process, using the infrared port, followed by 
detailed instructions for each stage of the process. 
Follow these procedures to configure your MobilePro for 
synchronization using the infrared port. 
!Modify the PC Connection default settings on your 
MobilePro. 
!Set the infrared connection speed. 
!Enable the infrared port on your host PC.  
						

							  
1-18 Getting Started 
!Install Microsoft ActiveSync on your host PC. 
!Create a partnership between your host PC and your 
MobilePro. 
!Verify that the desired synchronization services are 
configured. 
Modifying PC Connection Settings 
Your MobilePro ships with PC Connection default 
settings. Follow these steps to modify the PC connection 
settings. 
1. Tap Start, Settings, Control Panel, Communications. 
2. Select the PC Connection tab. 
3. Select the Change tab, use the dropdown box to change 
the setting to Infrared port, and click OK. 
Proceed to the next section to set the infrared connection 
speed, if necessary. 
Setting the Infrared Connection Speed 
Your NEC MobilePro supports both SIR (115 Kbps) and 
FIR (4 Mbps) IR communications. Follow these steps to 
set the infrared connection speed. 
1. Tap Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double tap Mo-
bilePro Settings. 
2. Select the IrDA tab and select the appropriate infrared 
connection speed. The infrared connection speed on 
your NEC MobilePro must be compatible with the in-
frared connection speed on your host PC. 
3. Click OK and close the Control Panel. 
Proceed to the next section to enable the infrared port on 
your host PC.  
						

							  
Getting Started  1-19 
Enabling the Infrared Port 
The infrared port on your host PC must be available for 
synchronization with your NEC MobilePro. Follow these 
steps to enable the infrared port. 
1. Access the setup utility on your host PC to verify that 
the port is enabled. If required, select FIR support in 
Setup. 
2. Set up infrared software components on your host PC. 
In the Windows environment: 
!Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel. 
!If infrared is disabled, select the options tab and 
place a check in the box Enable infrared communi-
cations. 
!Place a check in the boxes, Search and provide 
status for devices in range, and Install software for 
Plug and Play devices within range. 
!Uncheck the box, Limit connection speed to. 
3. Click Apply and click OK. 
4. Check the device manager on your host PC to identify 
potential conflicts for the infrared port. 
!Double click the System icon and select the Device 
Manager tab. 
!Check the Ports listing to determine if any conflicts 
exist (another device is assigned to or is using the 
infrared port). The port may be flagged with an ex-
clamation point, for example, if any conflicts exist. 
!If another device is assigned to or is using the infra-
red port, you must reassign the device to free up the 
infrared port for MobilePro synchronization. 
5. Reboot your host PC.  
						

							  
1-20 Getting Started 
Once the system restarts, an infrared icon (gray vertical 
bar with a red bump) appears in the system taskbar. If 
there is an X to the right of the icon, infrared is not en-
abled. Repeat steps 1-4 to enable infrared. 
Installing Microsoft ActiveSync 
You must install Microsoft ActiveSync on your host PC to 
enable synchronization with your MobilePro. The Micro-
soft ActiveSync CD that ships with your MobilePro con-
tains the ActiveSync software designed for synchronization 
with Microsoft Office components. The following proce-
dure assumes Microsoft Outlook as the host PC synchroni-
zation component. 
Network Requirements 
If your host PC is connected to a network, configure one of 
the following before installing Microsoft ActiveSync: 
!Configure a WINS server on the host PCs network, or, 
!Configure the host PCs IP address on the MobilePro as 
follows: 
1. Tap Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double tap the 
network icon. 
2. Highlight NE2000 Compatible Ethernet Driver and se-
lect the Properties button. 
3. In the IP address tab, select (place a dot beside) Obtain 
an IP address via DCHP. 
4. Select the Name Servers tab and enter the host PCs IP 
address in the Primary WINS field. 
To identify the host PCs IP address, run an IP config 
utility. In Windows 98 and 95, run Win IP Config. In 
Windows NT, run IP Config. If you need assistance, see 
your network administrator.