Bricked C760?, Will not start, no diag. menu, dead? Options

[naytheet]

I've got a C760 that's about 3.5 years old now and last week it just stopped working altogether. One minute it was working fine, then I closed the lid, opened it back up maybe 30 minutes later and it wouldn't turn on. Thinking it might be the battery, I hooked it up to AC power and let it sit for a while, but it still shows no signs of life (except the charge light comes on when on AC power).

I've tried holding down OK when powering on, tried to get to the diagnostic menu using D-M keys (and even Fn-D-M), but nothing ever happens. I thought maybe the battery was completely dead (original battery), so I ordered a new one, but it shows the same behavior with the new battery.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is the C760 Recovery Kit that I believe is supposed to help with bricked units. Before I take that step, does anyone have any thoughts on other things to try? Of course, I'll probably use this as an excuse to upgrade to a C3200, but it would be nice to get the C760 working at least one last time to get some files off of it. Thanks for any advice!

[speculatrix]

could it be a wonky battery compartment switch?

[naytheet]

The battery switch seems to be working fine. What kind of behavior would a wonky switch display so that I could tell if that's the problem?

Last night I tried the C760 Recovery Kit, but it didn't work either. I think it's completely bricked. No keyboard combination has any effect on startup at all. Maybe something critical came disconnected inside? I have no idea what could've gone wrong. Like I said, it was working fine one minute and completely dead the next. I hadn't recently altered any software or dropped it or anything like that.

Oh well, a good excuse for an upgrade anyway, I guess. Also, a good reminder to backup frequently, even if everything seems to be working fine.

[grog]

Try taking the battery out for at least 24 hours. That helped me once .

[speculatrix]

The battery switch seems to be working fine.  What kind of behavior would a wonky switch display so that I could tell if that's the problem?

if the switch wasn't working properly, it would mean you could NOT turn the Z on even if the battery were charged.

--edit, missed off the NOT, oops!

[ztep]

The battery switch seems to be working fine.  What kind of behavior would a wonky switch display so that I could tell if that's the problem?

It is posible that you have broken the charging circuit. If the battery is empty and you try to charge it inside the Zaurus but the charging circuit is fried, the battery doesn't charge and you cannot switch the zaurus on.

Can you test your zaurus with other battery? Can you use other zaurus to charge your battery?

There is several threads on the forums about the charging circuit. If this is the problem, the good news is that it can be resolved.

[naytheet]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try removing the battery for a day and see if that helps.

I ordered up a C3200 yesterday, so when that arrives, I'll be able to use its battery to see if the C760's charging circuit might be the culprit.

[InSearchOf]

Thanks for the tips!  I'll try removing the battery for a day and see if that helps.

I ordered up a C3200 yesterday, so when that arrives, I'll be able to use its battery to see if the C760's charging circuit might be the culprit.

Man... I wish I could just have a "maybe" broken Z and then say... "eh... I'll just buy another one"

Late

[grog]

Man...  I wish I could just have a "maybe" broken Z and then say... "eh... I'll just buy another one"

I'm right there with ya'!!!!!

[rmesek]

I've got a C760 that's about 3.5 years old now and last week it just stopped working altogether.  One minute it was working fine, then I closed the lid, opened it back up maybe 30 minutes later and it wouldn't turn on.  Thinking it might be the battery, I hooked it up to AC power and let it sit for a while, but it still shows no signs of life (except the charge light comes on when on AC power).

  I've tried holding down OK when powering on, tried to get to the diagnostic menu using D-M keys (and even Fn-D-M), but nothing ever happens.  I thought maybe the battery was completely dead (original battery), so I ordered a new one, but it shows the same behavior with the new battery.

  The only thing I haven't tried yet is the C760 Recovery Kit that I believe is supposed to help with bricked units.  Before I take that step, does anyone have any thoughts on other things to try?  Of course, I'll probably use this as an excuse to upgrade to a C3200, but it would be nice to get the C760 working at least one last time to get some files off of it.  Thanks for any advice!

I have a similar problem to yours with my sl6000. When I turn on my 6000, the display stays black. This happened after a week of low battery warnings even though I had it on the charger, and after I dropped it. I tried taking the battery out for a while and reinserting it; hard resetting it with reset while holding the OK button; holding Q and T while resetting. I tried removing the battery overnight, then pressing D and B and plugging in the power; also, holding Fn, D, and M while pressing reset. The charging light comes on and something beeps when I did a hard reset. The display seems to change to a different shade of black when I try to trun it on but nothing that I can use.

Did I do damage to the screen when I dropped it or is it a used-up battery? I had its Piel Frama case on when dropped and I've dropped it before without a problem. If it's the screen, what can I do to repair it? If it's just the battery, I can replace it.

Is there a sl6000 Recovery Kit? What is it? If it's the battery circuit, how would I know so I could try to repair it?

[speculatrix]

Man...  I wish I could just have a "maybe" broken Z and then say... "eh... I'll just buy another one"

I'm right there with ya'!!!!!

I think you underestimate how lost you are when you have no working zaurus. Also, with manufacturing about to end, prices will probably begin to rise, and you might have to wait quite a while.

The way I see it, if you think you might "have" to buy one anyway, the sooner you get it, the sooner you'll enjoy it!

[speculatrix]

I have a similar problem to yours with my sl6000. When I turn on my 6000, the display stays black. This happened after a week of low battery warnings even though I had it on the charger, and after I dropped it. I tried taking the battery

if you hold the 6000 up to a strong light and try different viewing angles, do you see anything? if the backlight is dead, the image is very faint - my 6000 had this fault.
it's possibly a wonky lcd cable, there are two. there's dismantling photos on my website. the lcd connectors are not exactly industrial strength!

[rmesek]

I have a similar problem to yours with my sl6000. When I turn on my 6000, the display stays black. This happened after a week of low battery warnings even though I had it on the charger, and after I dropped it. I tried taking the battery

if you hold the 6000 up to a strong light and try different viewing angles, do you see anything? if the backlight is dead, the image is very faint - my 6000 had this fault.
it's possibly a wonky lcd cable, there are two. there's dismantling photos on my website. the lcd connectors are not exactly industrial strength!

Can this be fixed? Can I fix it? Where can I get it fixed? I see the photos on your website but don't see the LCD connectors.

[BarryW]

I have a similar problem to yours with my sl6000. When I turn on my 6000, the display stays black. This happened after a week of low battery warnings even though I had it on the charger, and after I dropped it. I tried taking the battery

if you hold the 6000 up to a strong light and try different viewing angles, do you see anything? if the backlight is dead, the image is very faint - my 6000 had this fault.
it's possibly a wonky lcd cable, there are two. there's dismantling photos on my website. the lcd connectors are not exactly industrial strength!

Can this be fixed? Can I fix it? Where can I get it fixed? I see the photos on your website but don't see the LCD connectors.

They are the two ribbon cables on the last picture in the motherboard section. The smaller of the two is the touch screen cable, the other brown one is for the lcd.

[rmesek]

I have a similar problem to yours with my sl6000. When I turn on my 6000, the display stays black. This happened after a week of low battery warnings even though I had it on the charger, and after I dropped it. I tried taking the battery

if you hold the 6000 up to a strong light and try different viewing angles, do you see anything? if the backlight is dead, the image is very faint - my 6000 had this fault.
it's possibly a wonky lcd cable, there are two. there's dismantling photos on my website. the lcd connectors are not exactly industrial strength!

Can this be fixed? Can I fix it? Where can I get it fixed? I see the photos on your website but don't see the LCD connectors.

They are the two ribbon cables on the last picture in the motherboard section. The smaller of the two is the touch screen cable, the other brown one is for the lcd.

I see the small striped copper colored ribbon cable for the LCD. So this is probably the cause of the problem? I do see something changed when I turn the 6000 on so I think something is going on inside but I just can't see it. I called Sharp and they want $60 just to look at it which includes $50 towards labor. It sounds like if the LCD cable needs replacement, it wouldn't cost much more than $50 to fix it.

I just remembered another problem which may be related and that is that I needed to recalibrate the display every day before this happened. So it may be the touch screen cable that's the problem as well! Does this sound reasonable?

If it's just the cables, I'll send it to sharp to repair. I don't feel competent to attempt it myself. If they want much more than $50, I'll consider buying a new 6000. I'm using my old 5500 but miss the 6000 a lot!