I have botched an upgrade to OpenBSD 4.2.
As it happens, I need to use my service menu to fix things.

I noticed when I bought this c3000 off of eBay that if I did not hold down D+B on powering up that this menu appears. It is totally unresponsive at this 1-4 menu in Japanese. I mean, no key works. I cannot select 1 2 3 or 4. I assume this is not normal as I read that at this menu you must select a number. But at that point I cannot do anything but reboot by taking out the battery and unplugging then replugging. Has anyone experienced this? All replys are welcome. I am bricked :-(
I miss my Zaurus a lot. Please help.

i don't know if the key works but the touchscreen should. did you try ?

I think you should use FN+D+M instead of D+B. Oh, and don't despair, in the end most of us once had the feeling we bricked our Zaurus, and most of us were able to restore it.

PS: Please do not cross-post.

As cortez said, you really should not worry. The Z actually has 2 NAND chips, one is the 128MB flash (/dev/mtd1) we use for OS and the other is a 8MB (/dev/mtd0) chip that is only used by the diagnostic menu and the original bootloader. As long as you don't touch the contents of /dev/mtd0, your Z will be practically unbrickable. AFAIK the 8MB chip is read only so i don't think that you can write or delete something. And again, as cortez said, use the FN + D + M. to access the diagnostic menu, from there, you can do a flash restore which will reset your Z to factory defaults.

And i'll say it again, it is really hard to brick your Z via software methods. If you really want to brick your Z, use coffee as cortez did.

Oh please don't mention that, it still hurts

heh... no hard feelings, i was just kidding. The "I bricked my Z" posts are quite numerous, maybe we should make a sticky or something that would show people how hard it really is to brick a Z.

Cool. I'll try this fn+d+m method tonight. Thanks a bunch.

I am trying to do the fn+d+m method.

Here is what I did.
Try #1
1) flipped battery switch to unlocked position
2) removed battery cover and battery
3)unplugged Unit
4) held down fn+d+m
5) plugged unit back in
Results: Nothing happened

Try #2
same as try number one, except that I tried pressing the power button after step 5
Results: Nothing happened


Try #3
1) flipped battery switch to unlocked position
2) removed battery cover and battery
3a)unplugged Unit
3b)flipped battery cover switch back to locked position
4) held down fn+d+m
5) plugged unit back in
Results: after plugging unit back in the yellow charger led was blinking. Otherwise nothing happened

Try #4
same as try #3, except that I tried pressing the power button after step 5

Try #5
1) flipped battery switch to unlocked position
2) removed battery cover and battery
3a)unplugged Unit
4a) held down fn+d+m
4b)replaced battery,cover and switch to locked position
5) plugged unit back in
Results: after plugging unit back in the yellow charger led was on steady. I waited while holding fn+d+m,nothing happened. So,while still holding the keys I pressed the power button.
The screen came on for the first time since trying this method. I waited still holding the keys. After the sharp splash screen, and a visible blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen, The screen went to black color and resd:

probing cn0 com0 com1 com2
disk: hd0
>> OpoenBSD/zaurus BOOT 2.08
open(hd0a://etc/boot.conf): can't read disk label
boot>
booting hd0a:/bsd: open hd0a:/bsd: can't read disk label
failed(93). will try /bsd
boot>
booting hd0a:/bsd: open hd0a:/bsd: can't read disk label
failed(93). will try /bsd
turning timeout off.
boot> *flashing cursor*


Am I missing something? Did I perform this operation correctly?

I just checked. For me the diagnose menus appear after:

1. Remove power adapter
2. Remove battery and leave cover open
3. Press FN + D + M and keep it pressed while doing step 4
4. Attach power adapter cable

Thanks Cortez. Looks like mine won't access the menu. Strange. I'm not giving up. When I get the time I'm going to get mid evil on this thing.Maybe I can, I don't know. One day I'm coding happily on my Zaurus, the next its gone. Poof.

perhaps you should try to flash another distro, angtrom or pdaxii13 for example
then go back to openbsd later (or try debian on your c3000 !!!!

make sure you have disconnected all power from the Z before trying, including usb, and leave power off for a good minute to make sure nothing's resident in RAM, and then hold the special key combination down before applying power etc.

When I do this to access the service menu, I do the same exactly as quoted above, but I need to keep holding (FN + D + M) for about 1-2 additional seconds after I plug in my AC adapter. Then the screen lights up.
This is the same for both of my Zaurii, SL-C3100 and SL-C3200

EDIT
After reading Dromede's post (below this one) I forgot to mention that (FN + D + M) is not always necessary.
It is my understanding from reading forum posts that (D + M) should work on most Zaurii.
U-Boot replaces this area of flash (erases the (D + M) access menu).
On the other hand, (FN + D + M) is permanent and is Read Only, and cannot be erased.
(FN + D + M) menu has BLACK lettering.
(D + M) menu has RED lettering.

try repeating number 1 but don't press the fn button. just pull out the battery, press&hold D+M, wait for a few seconds and then reinsert the battery, the menu should come right up. i think that FN + D + M combination is only needed if you have uboot installed.

Did exactly as you said. I get nothing. If the menu cannot be erased then perhaps there is something wrong with my keyboard. But, when I still can use my keyboard when openbsd trys to boot. All keys work.

Did as you describe. No joy. Thanks for your help! I'm going to keep trying. I've been googling. Nothing is working so far. I am wondering if I buy a new microdrive if that would help. Still reading.

puffy i suggest you read this carefully, it might help:
http://www.trisoft.de/pdf/c3000qse.pdf

Thank you.

Yes I did. Thanks.

Wish I could. I'd run anything if I could. Debian, or really any linux distro, is cool. But I prefer stable to an extreme aka OpenBSD.