Help: My Palm will not do a hard reset.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Skon Of Vulcan" <skonofvulcan@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:10h7shj979kbfe2@corp.supernews.com:

> I tried a reset with just the reset hole and also a hard
> reset holding down the power button. All that happens is it
> powers off, powers on, displays the Palm OS logo, and ends
> up at the screen that lets you choose to weather to delete
> all info or not.

For a hard reset, you must select the 'delete all info' option.
That's what a hard reset does. I hope you have a backup,
because that seems like your only option. When you get the
'delete all info' message, press the up button, and the hard
reset will complete, deleting everything and returning your
device to it's factory-delivered state.

--
Regards,

Stan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Skon Of Vulcan wrote:

> I need to do a hard reset on my Zodiac 2 (Palm OS 5) because of a driver
> for a SiPix Pocket Printer A6. Every thing was fine before I installed it,
> but after I installed the driver the scree goes to:
>
> "Critical Failure. The system is no longer responsive. Please reset
> by.........blah blah blah"
>
> I tried a reset with just the reset hole and also a hard reset holding
> down the power button. All that happens is it powers off, powers on,
> displays the Palm OS logo, and ends up at the screen that lets you choose
> to weather to delete all info or not. No matter what you choose it goes
> right back to the same "Critical Failure" message. Even if you don't make
> a choice after a few seconds it will reboot and do the same anyway. I can
> not even power it off. The only thing I can think to do is to just let the
> power run down but that means I can't use it for 25 to 30 hours. I'd like
> to have the use of it back now. Anyone have any other suggestions?
>
> Regards,
> -Skon
>

Some people have suggested taking the batteries out and back in again when a
hard reset fails. I have (fortunately) not tried it myself though.

--
Roy Schestowitz
schestowitz.com

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

> For a hard reset, you must select the 'delete all info' option.
> That's what a hard reset does. I hope you have a backup,
> because that seems like your only option. When you get the
> 'delete all info' message, press the up button, and the hard
> reset will complete, deleting everything and returning your
> device to it's factory-delivered state.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Stan

Stan,

I do get the to the "delete all info" screen and none of the options work.
I can click yes or no, either way it still just goes to the error message. I
even tried just waiting after it got to the "delete all info" screen and
after about 2 seconds it reboots and goes back to the same error message.
Fortunatly I had already set it to not power down on it's own so I could
test my theory that if I drained the battery that it would loose all the
data. It finaly ran down after somewhere between 20 & 30 hours. At that
point it would not power on at all.... so I pluged it in to power and
powered it up. It went right back to the same message "critical error", I
tried a hard reset about 10 more times and the same thing still happens.
Right after you get to the "delet all info" screen, no matter what you do it
goes back to the "critical error" message. That's as far as you can go. If
you or anyone else knows of a way to do some sort of "un-conditional" hard
reset that does not go to the "delete all info" screen, but just deletes
everything. Something that does it at the hardware level maybe? Something
that does it before the OS loads? At any power on now, weather it's by
thurning on via the power button or via a hard reset it just goes to the
error message right after you see the Palm logo.

Regards,

-Skon

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Roy S Schestowitz" <roy-at-schestowitz-dot-com@use-address-before-at.com>
wrote in message news:cf1qgu$27t0$2@godfrey.mcc.ac.uk...
> Skon Of Vulcan wrote:
>
>> I need to do a hard reset on my Zodiac 2 (Palm OS 5) because of a driver
>> for a SiPix Pocket Printer A6. Every thing was fine before I installed
>> it,
>> but after I installed the driver the scree goes to:
>>
>> "Critical Failure. The system is no longer responsive. Please reset
>> by.........blah blah blah"
>>
>> I tried a reset with just the reset hole and also a hard reset holding
>> down the power button. All that happens is it powers off, powers on,
>> displays the Palm OS logo, and ends up at the screen that lets you choose
>> to weather to delete all info or not. No matter what you choose it goes
>> right back to the same "Critical Failure" message. Even if you don't make
>> a choice after a few seconds it will reboot and do the same anyway. I can
>> not even power it off. The only thing I can think to do is to just let
>> the
>> power run down but that means I can't use it for 25 to 30 hours. I'd like
>> to have the use of it back now. Anyone have any other suggestions?
>>
>> Regards,
>> -Skon
>>
>
> Some people have suggested taking the batteries out and back in again when
> a
> hard reset fails. I have (fortunately) not tried it myself though.
>
> --
> Roy Schestowitz
> schestowitz.com

Roy,

Yep I think that will probably be my next step. Fortunatly I had already set
the system via a shortcut to not power down on it's own. So I let it run
down completly so it wouldn't power on with the power button or with any
kind of reset. I then connected it to power and 1st power one it went right
to the same error screen. I tried a hard reset again & the same. So takeing
out both the main battery and a backup button cell (if it has one) is
probably the only option at this point. You don't happen to know where I can
find a tear down of the Zodiac 2 on the internet do you?

Regards,

-Skon

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Skon Of Vulcan wrote:

> You don't happen to know where I can find a tear down of
> the Zodiac 2 on the internet do you?

The battery on the Tapwave Zodiac is a lithium one, and it isn't
removable without voiding your warranty (Meaning, you will need a
soldering kit to put it back afterwards).

What you might want to try is holding on the 'up' button while using the
stylus to perform the hard reset. I think that's what I had to do when
my Palm got stuck in a reset loop.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Dekaritae" <maur@mdi.ca> wrote in message
news:tqvRc.243$vn3.34@fe39.usenetserver.com...
> Skon Of Vulcan wrote:
>
>> You don't happen to know where I can find a tear down of
>> the Zodiac 2 on the internet do you?
>
> The battery on the Tapwave Zodiac is a lithium one, and it isn't removable
> without voiding your warranty (Meaning, you will need a soldering kit to
> put it back afterwards).
>
> What you might want to try is holding on the 'up' button while using the
> stylus to perform the hard reset. I think that's what I had to do when my
> Palm got stuck in a reset loop.

Dekaritae,

Thanks for the suggestion for hlding down the up button. I tried that & the
down, left, right, & all orientations of the analog controler. None of these
combinations worked. Still the same problem. I finaly got a reply back from
Tapwave: "Try doing a hard reset" They didn't even read my entire message
to see what the problem was. The 2nd sentence of the message said that I had
already tried soft, hard, and function resets. And none of them worked. The
system just doesn't give any other responce except for the yes/no option on
a hard reset and no matter what it goes back to the error message.

Regards,
-Skon

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Skon Of Vulcan" <skonofvulcan@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:10hbkn7oifqmha9@corp.supernews.com:

> If you or anyone else knows of a way to
> do some sort of "un-conditional" hard reset that does not
> go to the "delete all info" screen, but just deletes
> everything. Something that does it at the hardware level
> maybe? Something that does it before the OS loads? At any
> power on now, weather it's by thurning on via the power
> button or via a hard reset it just goes to the error
> message right after you see the Palm logo.

I know nothing about Tapwave products, but it sounds like the
buttons just aren't working. Either that or Tapwave didn't
implement the PalmOS correctly. I've never heard of this
problem, so I have no other suggestions.

--
Regards,

Stan

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Stan Gosnell" <me@work> wrote in message
news:Xns953FC8E76DA7Dstanghalpc@204.52.135.40...
> "Skon Of Vulcan" <skonofvulcan@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:10hbkn7oifqmha9@corp.supernews.com:
>
>> If you or anyone else knows of a way to
>> do some sort of "un-conditional" hard reset that does not
>> go to the "delete all info" screen, but just deletes
>> everything. Something that does it at the hardware level
>> maybe? Something that does it before the OS loads? At any
>> power on now, weather it's by thurning on via the power
>> button or via a hard reset it just goes to the error
>> message right after you see the Palm logo.
>
> I know nothing about Tapwave products, but it sounds like the
> buttons just aren't working. Either that or Tapwave didn't
> implement the PalmOS correctly. I've never heard of this
> problem, so I have no other suggestions.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Stan

Stan,

I don't think it's the buttons because when it's at the yes/no screen
durring a hard reset it responds as soon as you press a button and goes to
the "critical failure" screen. If you don't press a button it goes there
anyway but only after 2 or 3 seconds. Tapwaves only responce so far has been
"Try a hard reset" even though my message to them outlined that I did try it
(2nd sentance of letter) and it does not fix the problem. They didn't even
read my message all the way through. Boy I sure hope this is not the way
they handle all of there tech support cases.

Regards,
-Skon

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Skon Of Vulcan wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestion for hlding down the up button. I tried that & the
> down, left, right, & all orientations of the analog controler. None of these
> combinations worked. Still the same problem. I finaly got a reply back from
> Tapwave: "Try doing a hard reset" They didn't even read my entire message
> to see what the problem was. The 2nd sentence of the message said that I had
> already tried soft, hard, and function resets. And none of them worked. The
> system just doesn't give any other responce except for the yes/no option on
> a hard reset and no matter what it goes back to the error message.

Have you tried Syncing the Zodiac? Does the sync screen come up, or does
it stay at that error? I recall there being a small application you can
install that will force a memory erase on hard reset.

Alternatively, you could try flashing the ROM of your Zodiac, even to
the same revision you have now. That always erases the memory, and will
fix any problems that aren't hardware-related.

I'm not sure what OS revision the Zodiac uses, or if it would work with
a PalmOS4 ROM, as that's all I have. You could ask on a few other
*.palmpilot groups and see if anyone has the correct ROM.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Dekaritae" <maur@mdi.ca> wrote in message
news:7kORc.1885$vn3.1127@fe39.usenetserver.com...
> Skon Of Vulcan wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the suggestion for hlding down the up button. I tried that &
>> the down, left, right, & all orientations of the analog controler. None
>> of these combinations worked. Still the same problem. I finaly got a
>> reply back from Tapwave: "Try doing a hard reset" They didn't even read
>> my entire message to see what the problem was. The 2nd sentence of the
>> message said that I had already tried soft, hard, and function resets.
>> And none of them worked. The system just doesn't give any other responce
>> except for the yes/no option on a hard reset and no matter what it goes
>> back to the error message.
>
> Have you tried Syncing the Zodiac? Does the sync screen come up, or does
> it stay at that error? I recall there being a small application you can
> install that will force a memory erase on hard reset.
>
> Alternatively, you could try flashing the ROM of your Zodiac, even to the
> same revision you have now. That always erases the memory, and will fix
> any problems that aren't hardware-related.
>
> I'm not sure what OS revision the Zodiac uses, or if it would work with a
> PalmOS4 ROM, as that's all I have. You could ask on a few other
> *.palmpilot groups and see if anyone has the correct ROM.

I did try a sync and it didn't respond. Can you point me to where I can get
a flashing application and instructions? The Zodiac uses OS 5.2.1T That
sounds like it would work. I assume based on what you said that it forces
the eprom's to be overwriten via the USB sync cable. TIA!

Regards,
-Skon

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

This is the solution provided by Tapwave. They are replacing my Zodiac 2.
None of the posible ways of erasing all data worked. Hard reset, soft reset,
etc & leaving it on untill the battery died and waiting a week didn't solve
the problem caused by the SiPix IR printer driver. Sure is weird that a
driver could kill a piece of hardware!?

Regards,

-Skon