Data loss when changing battery

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

Paul <paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> wrote:
>I have owned a Palm m100 for three years. The last three times that I
>changed the batteries, I lost the data stored in the handheld and had to

As long as you aren't inadvertently pressing buttons while changing
batteries, you need to replace the capacitor that keeps your PDA alive
during battery changes (or replace the PDA).

IMHO, 3 years is a pretty good run, but I'm hard on my Palms...

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

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

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 07:22:51 +0100, Paul
<paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> wrote:

>I have owned a Palm m100 for three years. The last three times that I
>changed the batteries, I lost the data stored in the handheld and had to
>restore it from my PC. There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
>good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
>life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.
>
>Paul

Forgive me for hanging my baggage on your post, but you are lucky...
my new hp2215 (wince) would lose all it's data every time I changed
the battery... right out of the box! Hp said it was unuasual but
refused to replace the unit without first having me agree to accept a
re-furb unit. I dumped the hp and am using my trustworthy TRGpro.

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

Paul <paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
01yxc.44817$wd7.33797@front-1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> I have owned a Palm m100 for three years. The last three times that I
> changed the batteries, I lost the data stored in the handheld and had to
> restore it from my PC. There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
> good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
> life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.
>
> Paul


This is a quite common behaviour for m100 devices.
Replace the dynacap capacitor DSK-3R3H224-HL ( 3.3V .22F )made by Elna.

http://www.vivoshop.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=40_4...

Best regards

Jörg Boesler

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

Jörg Boesler wrote:
<snip>
>
> This is a quite common behaviour for m100 devices.
> Replace the dynacap capacitor DSK-3R3H224-HL ( 3.3V .22F )made by Elna.
>
> http://www.vivoshop.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=40_4...
>

Thanks for that reply. I've never taken my Palm apart yet, but this
sounds like a soldering iron job.

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

Paul <paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> wrote:
>Thanks for that reply. I've never taken my Palm apart yet, but this
>sounds like a soldering iron job.

It is a *small* soldering job. But it's not all that hard to live with the
defect if you don't want to fix it. That's of course assuming the defective cap
is open and not shorted or leaky. If your battery life is still in the
neighborhood of 20 to 30 hours or more (I generally got at least 30 on my m100)
then your cap is probably open (effectively out of the circuit). So your only
problem is data loss at battery change. Palm Desktop should completely restore
your memory after losing your data, and with only 2M of memory it shouldn't even
take that long, maybe 5 to 10 minutes at the most. Not a big deal if you only
have to do it once a month or so. At least not compared to some of the other
problems you hear here...  

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

"Jörg Boesler" a écrit :

> Paul <paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
> 01yxc.44817$wd7.33797@front-1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> > I have owned a Palm m100 for three years. The last three times that I
> > changed the batteries, I lost the data stored in the handheld and had to
> > restore it from my PC. There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
> > good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
> > life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.
> >
> > Paul
>
> This is a quite common behaviour for m100 devices.
> Replace the dynacap capacitor DSK-3R3H224-HL ( 3.3V .22F )made by Elna.
>
> http://www.vivoshop.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=40_4...

Is there some Web site describing the operation, preferably with pictures, as
I would like to perfom it on a m105. I have a friend who loses all his data
every time he changes batteries, and he sometimes notes not everything gets
perfectly restored (let alone the fact that he has to be near his PC when
changing batteries).


--
Luc Le Blanc

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

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:17:40 +0100, Paul wrote:

> Just one thing: I did change the hard drive on which my palm data was
> stored. Could investigate this or wait until the upgrade and a new
> ATA100 or 133 hard drive.

That may be relevant if the drive and IDE channel are suboptimally
configured. It should be using DMA and not PIO mode for data
transfer, and the correct IDE-controller drivers for your
motherboard (assuming you're not using a plug-in controller) - don't
rely on the default Windows driver.

Also, if you're using a second IDE drive, it should be connected to
the same IDE channel as the primary hard drive if there's a slow
device (such as a CD drive) on the secondary IDE channel. This in
itself wouldn't cause hotsync errors, unless it resulted in using
PIO mode.

(going back to an earlier msg)
> There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
> good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
> life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.

I had that problem a year or two ago with a IIIx, but only when I
traveled with it, never at home. It turned out to be due to the
battery compartment lid not remaining in close contact with the
zippered case when traveling. The IIIx was normally kept in place
with a small square of Velcro on the upper part of the IIIx's back.
After adding a some Velcro lower down, as well as a double piece
(attached only to the case and touching, but not attached to the
battery compartment lid), the problem never again occurred. I guess
that jostling and poor design of the battery compartment allowed the
batteries to occasionlly lose contact with the low quality spring
contacts. Once the batteries actually fell completely out of the
IIIx.

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

BillB <rainbose@earthlink.newt> wrote:

>On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:17:40 +0100, Paul wrote:
>
>> There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
>> good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
>> life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.
>
> I had that problem a year or two ago with a IIIx, but only when I
>traveled with it, never at home. It turned out to be due to the
>battery compartment lid not remaining in close contact with the
>zippered case when traveling. The IIIx was normally kept in place
>with a small square of Velcro on the upper part of the IIIx's back.
>After adding a some Velcro lower down, as well as a double piece
>(attached only to the case and touching, but not attached to the
>battery compartment lid), the problem never again occurred. I guess
>that jostling and poor design of the battery compartment allowed the
>batteries to occasionlly lose contact with the low quality spring
>contacts. Once the batteries actually fell completely out of the
>IIIx.

I think the spring in the metal battery contacts weakens and doesn't hold the
batteries solidly after some time being compressed. I had this problem recently
with my m125. My fix was simple and solved the problem. I pried back the two
contacts on the right side and put a few pieces of paper behind each. Add as
many pieces of paper as needed until the batteries are firmly held in place
again.

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

Luc Le Blanc <lleblanc@cam.org> wrote:
>Is there some Web site describing the operation, preferably with pictures, as
>I would like to perfom it on a m105.

If you can't find site, it's not hard to do. You need a Torx 5 wrench to get the
back off. The cap that needs to be changed looks like a small coin battery on
legs. As I recall it's about a 220uF cap. If you can't find the exact part (I
couldn't at the time), you can use as small as 50uF. This will give you about a
minute to change the batteries instead of the usual 3 to 5 the old cap gave. I
used a Radio Shack tubular cap. It was tricky to get it to fit in the case, but
I did and it works. Good luck.

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

Luc Le Blanc <lleblanc@cam.org> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
40CA5265.4C739105@cam.org...
"Jörg Boesler" a écrit :

> Paul <paultwoonesix@blueyonder.couk> schrieb in im Newsbeitrag:
> 01yxc.44817$wd7.33797@front-1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> > I have owned a Palm m100 for three years. The last three times that I
> > changed the batteries, I lost the data stored in the handheld and had to
> > restore it from my PC. There was also an inexplicable data loss (with
> > good batteries) recently. Is the machine coming to the end of its useful
> > life? It did suffer a coffee spill a few days after I purchased it.
> >
> > Paul
>
> This is a quite common behaviour for m100 devices.
> Replace the dynacap capacitor DSK-3R3H224-HL ( 3.3V .22F )made by Elna.
>
> http://www.vivoshop.de/shop/product_info.php?cPath=40_4...

Is there some Web site describing the operation, preferably with pictures,
as
I would like to perfom it on a m105. I have a friend who loses all his data
every time he changes batteries, and he sometimes notes not everything gets
perfectly restored (let alone the fact that he has to be near his PC when
changing batteries).


--
Luc Le Blanc

Yes, there is. Take a look at :

http://www.klein-aber-fein.de/bildarchiv/2003-02-15/ind...

It in german, but the pic should give you an idea on how it works.

Good luck
( I´ve done it three times ( on three different units :-=) ) and
have never had any problems at all )

Best regrads

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

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 00:16:04 GMT, Aaron Jones wrote:

> I think the spring in the metal battery contacts weakens and doesn't hold the
> batteries solidly after some time being compressed. I had this problem recently
> with my m125. My fix was simple and solved the problem. I pried back the two
> contacts on the right side and put a few pieces of paper behind each. Add as
> many pieces of paper as needed until the batteries are firmly held in place
> again.

The springs in the IIIx don't seem to have been weakened. If
there's a problem with them it's that the one that's inappropriately
placed (bad design - the spring contacts the small "+" terminal
instead of the wide "-" base, which is what they traditionally
contact) is slightly misaligned, putting a slight sideways pressure
on the battery, encouraging it to move and lose contact.
Unfortunately, the alloy property that makes springs 'springy' makes
it difficult to bend them into proper shape.