zaurus 5500 won't charge batteries ??

[dansawyer]

All,

I have two Zauri. One will not charge a battery when plugged in. I have tried switching batteries, etc. with no results. One charges both batteries; one will not charge any battery.

I have looked at the D+P menu and there is a battery option. The flash settings are different on the two systems. The bad one has values for the positions. The good one has dashes. When in this menu the bad Zaraus will charge so it is probably not H/W.

Does anyone have documentation for the settings for the DP menu? Does anyone know how to reset these parameters?

Thanks, Dan

[tux]

 The same thing happened to one of my 5500s!

But even worse: the Zaurus wouldn't turn on. In desperation I went through the reflashing process. The Zaurus revived and the battery now charges on the 'resurrected Z.

Hope this is of some help to you.

[dansawyer]

Thank you. This Zaurus runs fine except for the charging issue. I believe this to be a maintenance menu issue. Do you know of any maintenance information??

Thanks, Dan

[dansawyer]

Just to make sure I re-flashed. That did not fix it. I also went into the DP menu; there are several battery options. One is the turn on the charger; that works. This is either a config issue or a corrupt u-code issue in one of the ROMs. Any help in how to verify those would be appreciated.

Dan

[Teletubbie]

Dan,
I am not an expert on Sharp code based things, but some guys talking about flashing Sharprom deals with the sharpcode (somehow the code for example that detects initrd.bin and zImage when you flash). This could be the reason why sharp uses another flashing concept. There you just have one file named OSPACK.
Maybe you try this, flashing the newest OSPACK (should be sharprom 3.13??).
This could reset the things. I am not sure about that and I wouldnt flash for myself, so try it on your risk. (There are  a lot of people flashing Sharprom)
Cheers,
Sam

[dansawyer]

Thank you I am willing to try that. I don't have a windows machine. The file is 41 megs and requires WIn. Do you happen to know id older releases support zImage format??

Thanks,
Dan

[Teletubbie]

Hi Dan,
get the v3 package. There is File named OSPACK. It is about 16 Meg and you need a > 32 MB CF for that. Put just the file on the CF and Flash.
This should be the right file:
http://www.myzaurus.com/lic5500v31c.asp
Cheers,
Sam

[dansawyer]

Sam,

I found it and installed it. It didn't fix the problem; but it may offer a clue. While connected to external DC the battery app shows the battery as full charge. When external DC is removed it shows 20% charge.

Dan

[Teletubbie]

Did you used battery packs or other DC adapter then the original sharp one with the Zaurus?
Good Luck,
Sam

[dansawyer]

Yes,

I swapped the battery from the second Z and have tried a couple of chargers. Nothing changes. The Z sees the battery as 'charged' and tunes off the charger.

Dan

[Teletubbie]

Dan,
If you use other DC than the original Sharp one, you can cause damage on the charging electronic in the Zaurus. There are a lot of posts here on ZUG about bricked Z by using battery packages, Car adapters and other DC adapters.
I hope you didnt bricked the Z and dont want to make you worried.
I had once a problem with the battery. It charrged in 20 minutes. I runned the battery empty and it charged normal after that.
Good Luck,
Sam

[dansawyer]

Sam,

No, it is not bricked. In menu mode the charger turns on. When the charger is first plugged in the charger engages for 3 to 5 seconds. This is a battery sense or s/w microcode issue.

The battery is good. I charged it in the 2nd Z and it played mp3 for over 2 1/2 hours.

If I could 'reset' the u-code flash settings I would bet this would work.

Dan

[jalex]

I just bought a Z 5500 off of ebay.  It reacts a little strange to the AC adapter so I checked it out.  I am gettnig 5 V but 3.6 A off the adapter, despite the fact that it says 5V 2A.  it's a Phihong PSC10A-050 model.  

From the battery terminals, when the AC adapter is plugged in, I was getting just over 1.2 V.  The battery slowly drains whether plugged in or not.  I tried the AC adapter in the cradle and without and the same results.  

A friend lent me his battery and I was able to bring the Z alive.  I was unable to use C-D-reset to flash though - probably because the charger isn't detected like normal.

Anyway, the seller claims it was working fine, but I have trouble believing that the power issue existed only after shipping.  The box and packing was good.  The battery was completely dead on arrival.  

Diag mode ( D-P-reset ) works and I can see things.  Testing the CF gave some errors, though, but SD did too and I was able to use the SD, so errors might not be a big deal.  memory test and the rest went fine.  

The voltage check showed the battery at 4.1 v when I first put it in.

I think the battery drained because I cannot get it back on again.  I am frustrated, because when I test it with the Zaurus AC adapter tomorrow, which my friend will lend me, I will be really sad that it is the Z.

Anyone want a Z for parts or have any ideas?

[dansawyer]

It sounds like we may have a simular problem. This Z works; except for not charging. It sounds as though we have both tried to sort through the D-P diag menu. On the battery section what did you find for the settings?

On the 'broken' one someone had set the voltages. On the good one they were blank. It would seem that reseting that flash would be a next step.

I have tried to reset it by re-flashing. That did nothing. I would like to clear it.

Dan