I have an HP iPAQ 4150 with a 512 MB memory card. Whenever the machine
has been switched off for more than about 15 seconds, it needs a hard
reset in order to get it to work.

I've checked the status of both batteries and both are full, so I don't
think its a battery problem, unless the backup battery is dead, but this
is not indicated on the display.

I've removed the memory card and have the same problem, so it is not that.

If the unit is switched on after being off for more than about 15
seconds, sometimes the display will come on, without back light, but the
status bar which normally takes about 10 seconds to go from nothing to
100% will either

a) Never move at all.
b) Move to complete (far right), but it does not spring into life.

A hard reset will get it working each time.

Is there any obvious cause of this? Can it be economically repaired - I
am in England?

--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Dave (from the UK) wrote:
> I have an HP iPAQ 4150 with a 512 MB memory card. Whenever the machine
> has been switched off for more than about 15 seconds, it needs a hard
> reset in order to get it to work.

Three things I forgot to add and the result of a test which is VERY odd.

1) ROM revision (firmware version) is 1.10.03 ENG. Dated 07/16/04.

I updated to this about a year ago. Is there any point trying to flash
with this same version again, although that might be risky given its state.

2) Asset viewer shows:
Flash Chip Type MD3831-D32 made by M-Systems.


3) I've tried removing the battery and replacing it. I've not tried
removing it for several hours, which some places suggest is useful.

4) I've since done a test which gives very odd results.

a) I removed the SD-RAM card
b) Formatted the iPAQ file store.
c) Switch on and the Personal Information (PIM databases) information is
restored. So my contacts are all there in the contact list, despite a
hard reset, removal of the SD-card and formatting of the iPAQ filestore.

Where the hell is it getting the information to restore the data from?
The Filestore shows 0.07 of Seems very odd.



--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Hello,

To me, it sounds like something has gone astray in the device. It is hard
to say if it is economical to repair as my definition of "economical" may be
different than yours. :-) That said, given the age of the device, I would
guess it will be rather expense to repair.

Regards,

--
Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!
http://www.clintonfitch.com

A Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine "Best Site"!
"Dave (from the UK)" <see-my-signature@southminster-branch-line.org.uk>
wrote in message news:44f14d38@212.67.96.135...
>I have an HP iPAQ 4150 with a 512 MB memory card. Whenever the machine has
>been switched off for more than about 15 seconds, it needs a hard reset in
>order to get it to work.
>
> I've checked the status of both batteries and both are full, so I don't
> think its a battery problem, unless the backup battery is dead, but this
> is not indicated on the display.
>
> I've removed the memory card and have the same problem, so it is not that.
>
> If the unit is switched on after being off for more than about 15 seconds,
> sometimes the display will come on, without back light, but the status bar
> which normally takes about 10 seconds to go from nothing to 100% will
> either
>
> a) Never move at all.
> b) Move to complete (far right), but it does not spring into life.
>
> A hard reset will get it working each time.
>
> Is there any obvious cause of this? Can it be economically repaired - I am
> in England?
>
> --
> Dave (from the UK)
>
> Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
> It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
> Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.
>
> http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
> Hello,
>
> To me, it sounds like something has gone astray in the device. It is hard
> to say if it is economical to repair as my definition of "economical" may be
> different than yours. :-) That said, given the age of the device, I would
> guess it will be rather expense to repair.
>
> Regards,
>
Thanks.

I *may* have cured it. I disabled the auto power off, stuck on WiFi, put
it by a window (to give a bit of cooling air) and run the battery flat.
I then removed the battery and left it out 5 hours or so.

When I plugged the battery back in, it showed the main (LiIon) battery
had some charge (17% IIRC), but the backup (NiMH) battery was completely
flat.

I put the battery in about 20 mins ago, and found it seems to be OK.
I've left it off for a minute or so and it was fine. It's now on charge
and seems to be charging OK.

So far, on the odd few times I've switched it off, it has come back to
life again.

Prior to it needing a hard reset every time power was off for more than
10 s, it often required hard resets every 10 mins or so. I have not
tested that yet. I'll charge the battery overnight (its 0014 here now),
and test in the morning.

--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. Keep posting on the progress -
I'm glad you seemed to have found a cure!

Regards,

--
Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!
http://www.clintonfitch.com

A Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine "Best Site"!
"Dave (from the UK)" <see-my-signature@southminster-branch-line.org.uk>
wrote in message news:44f2278c@212.67.96.135...
> Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> To me, it sounds like something has gone astray in the device. It is
>> hard to say if it is economical to repair as my definition of
>> "economical" may be different than yours. :-) That said, given the age
>> of the device, I would guess it will be rather expense to repair.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
> Thanks.
>
> I *may* have cured it. I disabled the auto power off, stuck on WiFi, put
> it by a window (to give a bit of cooling air) and run the battery flat. I
> then removed the battery and left it out 5 hours or so.
>
> When I plugged the battery back in, it showed the main (LiIon) battery had
> some charge (17% IIRC), but the backup (NiMH) battery was completely flat.
>
> I put the battery in about 20 mins ago, and found it seems to be OK. I've
> left it off for a minute or so and it was fine. It's now on charge and
> seems to be charging OK.
>
> So far, on the odd few times I've switched it off, it has come back to
> life again.
>
> Prior to it needing a hard reset every time power was off for more than 10
> s, it often required hard resets every 10 mins or so. I have not tested
> that yet. I'll charge the battery overnight (its 0014 here now), and test
> in the morning.
>
> --
> Dave (from the UK)
>
> Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
> It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
> Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.
>
> http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
> It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. Keep posting on the progress -
> I'm glad you seemed to have found a cure!
>
> Regards,
>

It seems to be OK. I switched it off about 1 am this morning, left it
with the battery in, but not being charged.

This morning (about 8 hours later) it powered up fine. I've just checked
again (a couple of hours since it was last on) and again it seems fine.
The backup battery is now showing 100%, and the main battery 38%. Those
figures are not in consistent to what I would have expected, since it
was not fully charged when I switched it off.

Fingers crossed, but so far it is back to normal. Given previously any
period off of >15 seconds required a hard reset, now it can be left
overnight without needing a hard reset to get it to work.

As to what caused it, its anyones guess. I assume that there was some
corrupted data in the memory which was being retained there by the
backup battery. By depleting that battery and removing the main one,
I've removed whatever was corrupted. Of course, that is only a guess,
but its the most logical I can think of.

--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
> It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. Keep posting on the progress -
> I'm glad you seemed to have found a cure!
>
> Regards,
>

Its now a couple of days after I fully discharged both batteries (see
earlier post for how). The PDA is now back to its old self, and has not
required a hard reset since.

--
Dave (from the UK)

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Great to hear that!

REgards,

--
Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!
http://www.clintonfitch.com

A Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine "Best Site"!
"Dave (from the UK)" <see-my-signature@southminster-branch-line.org.uk>
wrote in message news:44f4db1d@212.67.96.135...
> Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
>> It'll be interesting to see how it holds up. Keep posting on the
>> progress - I'm glad you seemed to have found a cure!
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>
> Its now a couple of days after I fully discharged both batteries (see
> earlier post for how). The PDA is now back to its old self, and has not
> required a hard reset since.
>
> --
> Dave (from the UK)
>
> Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
> It is always of the form: month-year@southminster-branch-line.org.uk
> Hitting reply will work for a few months only - later set it manually.
>
> http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)