Registering a Windows Phone Device for Debugging

Testing an application on a Windows Phone device is a lot more work than using the Windows Phone emulator, because it involves registering your device, physically connecting it to your computer via a USB cable, and running Zune software in the background on your workstation. Here are the steps you need to follow to set up a phone as your debugging platform.

First, you must apply for a Windows Phone Marketplace account at the Windows Phone developer portal.

1. If you don't yet have a Windows Phone account, go to http://developer.windowsphone.com/and sign up.

Microsoft will review your application and activate your account. If you have not yet installed Zune software, you can download the latest Zune software from www.zune.net/en-us/products/software/download/default.htm.

2. Once you're approved, click the Windows Start menu on your workstation and select All Programs =>Zune to start the Zune software, whose Welcome page is shown in Figure 1.

   Figure 1. Zune software

   

   NOTE

   The Windows Phone 7 device is based on the Zune, which is a Microsoft product and iPod competitor for playing video and audio. A Windows Phone uses Zune software to update a Windows Phone 7 system, and Zune must be running in order to deploy an application to a device. Also you can use Zune software to back up your device.

3. Connect your Windows Phone device to your developer workstation using a USB cable.

4. To confirm that your device is properly connected and recognized by the Zune software, click the phone icon at the bottom left corner of the Zune Welcome screen, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 2.

   Figure 2. Clicking the phone icon in Zune software

   

5. When you click the phone icon, the Zune software will display detailed information about your device, as shown in Figure 3.

   Figure 3. Windows Phone device detail page in Zune

   

Now you are ready to actually register your device.

6. Go to the Windows Start menu, select All Programs =>Windows Phone Developer Tools, and select Windows Phone Developer Registration, as shown in Figure 4.

   Figure 4. Windows Phone developer registration

   

A Windows Phone developer registration form will display, as shown in Figure 5.

7. Enter the ID and password that you used to register for a Windows Phone Marketplace account in Step 1.

   Figure 5. Windows Phone developer registration

   

To confirm that your phone is properly registered, go to http://developer.windowsphone.com/ and log in.

Once logged in, click Account and select DEVICE REGISTRATION from left side menu, as shown in Figure 6. You should see a list of the devices you have registered.

Figure 6. Device registration page

In the following section, you will learn tips and tricks to make your life easier when you begin to debug and test using a real device.

TIPS AND TRICKS: DEBUGGING ON A DEVICE Here are a few things that you should keep in mind to make your life easier and save you time when you're debugging an application on a live Windows Phone. When debugging it is best to disable screen time-out, especially if you are debugging through a complex program that takes a long time. On the Windows Phone device, go to Settings => Lock & Wallpaper and set the screen time-out to never. Remember to come back to reset the screen time-out to other than never so you don't waste your battery. When you try to debug in the Windows Phone 7 device, you will get the error message shown here. And when you click No, you will see an "Access Denied" message in your Error List window. This is because your device is locked due to time-out. To avoid this problem during the debugging, you would want to disable time-out on the device by following Step 1. To resolve this issue, simply unlock your device and restart in debug mode in Visual Studio. When the Zune application is not started, you will receive the error "Zune software is not launched. Retry after making sure that Zune software is launched" in the Visual Studio Error List Window.