Please Help! My C1000 Is Bricked!

[albertr]

@maxg:

I'm interested to hear more about your mods for C1K... In particullar, where you are getting +5v for WiFI module (assuming it's powered from usb bus)? Or if it's +3.3V, still where you can draw appox. 350-450mA? By the way, which WiFi module do you use?
Were you able to find/trace lines for BT UART or second USB host port inside the C1K?

Also, it would be nice to see some pictures to support "it IS quite simple" allegation...  

@duhbert:

On stock C1K with Sharp rom, the nand flash chip has the following partitions:

0x00000000-0x00700000 : "smf"
0x00700000-0x04100000 : "root"
0x04100000-0x08000000 : "home"

So, it looks like you trashed your root fs by formating it as ext2 fs. To get it back, you'll need to restore from a nand image. But unless you did something else too, updater should not be affected, since it lives in the first nand partition. So, it doesn't really explain why you can't boot it into updater's mode.
Did you try to hook up a serial cable to your C1K's I/O port and see if it spits any messages?
-albertr

[duhbert]

@duhbert:

On stock C1K with Sharp rom, the nand flash chip has the following partitions:

0x00000000-0x00700000 : "smf"
0x00700000-0x04100000 : "root"
0x04100000-0x08000000 : "home"

So, it looks like you trashed your root fs by formating it as ext2 fs. To get it back, you'll need to restore whole nand image. But unless you did something else too, updater should not be affected, since it lives on first nand partition. So, it doesn't really explain why you can't boot it into updater's mode.
Did you try to hook up a serial cable to your C1K's I/O port and see if it spits any messages?
-albertr
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=81454\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Thanks for your information!  So it seems it may have to do with my wrong settings.  But I remember that ext2 fs thing is the last thing I did to it before the blackout, so neither do I understand why it can't get into the service menu.  I have repeated the suggested procedures carefully for several days but still no results.  

Does C1k have any port other than the USB (and the IR) one?  How can I access that I/O port and see any messages?

What worries me most is it seems my C1k can't power up any more, either with AC or a full battery.

BTW i notice one (slightly) strange thing about my C1k: the On/Off button is a bit hard to use.  Sometimes I need to press it more than one time to get it to work.  Today I read another thread here also talking about the switch on C3k.  Would that be the same problem?

Thanks again!  Your help is much appreciated!

[albertr]

Not sure about power on/off button, but I would guess that the bootloader might expect to find jffs2 on second nand partition, while you have ext2 fs. Sharp's boot loader doesn't turn on LCD unless you boot into maintenance mode. If it can't load the kernel, LCD will stay powered down. But like I said before, it still doesn't explain why you can't boot into maintenance mode.

Also, power charging circuit would not probably work, so make sure that you charge your battery fully outside of Zaurus (i.e. with external charger).

The sharp's I/O port is a 16-pin connector located next to the usb otg connector. It's covered by a grey rubber cap, just be careful when removing the cap to not scratch the casing. You'll need a serial cable to see bootloader's messages. Not sure about default baud rate, try 9600-8N1 or 115200-8N1.
-albertr

[wiredog]

on/off button problem: It's a design flaw.

Sometimes, if you push it too hard, it sticks in the down position.  You then have to pry it out with a pushpin or similar.

[albertr]

I remember before the disaster happend to the C1000, I followed the info here to attempt to get out of the reboot lockup:

http://www.dushka.co.uk/icewing/articles/?Article=7

And I keyed this in:

Code: [Select]

mkfs.ext2 /dev/mtdblock1

mount -t ext2 -o sync /dev/mtdblock1 /home
cd /
tar xf /root/.home_default.tar
cd /home/system
tar xf /root/.var_default.tar
oncheck -clear

reboot
Did I do something awful here?  Thanks for your wisdom again.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=81241\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Ahh, sorry I misread your post first time, mtdblock1 seems to be the updater's partition,  mtdblock2 is root and mtdblock3 is home. That might explain why updater is dead.
-albertr

[maxg]

@maxg:
I'm interested to hear more about your mods for C1K... In particullar, where you are getting +5v for WiFI module (assuming it's powered from usb bus)? Or if it's +3.3V, still where you can draw appox. 350-450mA? By the way, which WiFi module do you use?
Were you able to find/trace lines for BT UART or second USB host port inside the C1K?

Also, it would be nice to see some pictures to support "it IS quite simple" allegation... 

Yes, I've got some pictures that I'll post somewhere if I find some time. Basically, there is enough room to put USB Hub, BT dongle & WiFi (3.3V ONLY! I used a Sagem ship found in Hong Kong), find power on the board, plus an external mini-A port and some LEDs. I'm stunned to see there is so much room space in the device. Almost everything is included in the PXA270, and all other circuits are for I/O mainly.

@duhbert

OK, so you have formatted mtdblock1 ... this is no good, but probably recoverable (I don't think a Zaurus could be completely "bricked" actually). I/O port is a good try, but you'll need another Unix box to read the output.
Between - you should send a little mail to the dumbass who suggests to format the updater partition on his webpage.

[albertr]

Umm, thanks for answering, but still - where do you get +3.3V inside the C1K to power up WiFi dongle? Which power domain of PXA chip is used? I quess you didn't power it up directly from the battery - that would be pointless to cut your battery life to some 2 hrs, wouldn't it?
-albertr

[Boris]

Yes, I've got some pictures that I'll post somewhere if I find some time. Basically, there is enough room to put USB Hub, BT dongle & WiFi (3.3V ONLY! I used a Sagem ship

Are enough space available in C3000 ?  I'm also interesting in putting WIFI inside, or even may be USB-Ethernet adapter (without the transformer and jack of course).

[duhbert]

Many thanks to all for your insights and remarks.  

Obviously I have messed up the precious and the problem I created is already far beyond my poor knowledge.    

I have just sent it away for repair and hopefully I am lucky enough to see it again.

BTW thanks maxg for your interesting proposal.  But I don't think tweaking the internal hardwares will do any good to me as an absolute newbie.