Author Topic: Applications Randomly Cycling On Sl-5500 (Read 7403 times)

sentinel · « **on:** November 23, 2005, 05:26:49 pm »

Hi,

I recently bought a second-hand Zaurus SL-5500, and seem to be having some strange problems.

Everything is OK when I use the touch-screen facilities, but when I am using the keyboard, I press a few keys, then for no reason the email and address programmes launch and start cycling manically between each other for a couple of minutes.

I can't quit them - I just have to let them run their course.

This makes it quite unusable.

The question is - has anybody experienced this before ?

I noticed there is an old ROM in the unit (2.14), so I wondered if Flashing the ROM may cure this (I'll need to buy another flash card first....)

Other possiblity is a hardware fault, but I want to rule everything else out first.

Rgds
Neil/

silencer51 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 24, 2005, 07:35:42 am »

I would suggest you get your hands on a CF card and flashing your Z to the latest 3.13 Sharp ROM... ;-)

sentinel · « **Reply #2 on:** November 24, 2005, 03:59:59 pm »

OK, I got a flash card, got the 3.13 ROM, and followed the instructions to flash (reset holding down c + d keys).

The lights turned green + orange for about 3 seconds, then went dead.

Judging from looking at other posts, the device is now screwed....

I can get a diagnostic menu, and that is it.

AAAGGGHHHHH.......

Is there anyway to salvage this now ?

brashley46 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 24, 2005, 09:50:08 pm »

Quote

OK, I got a flash card, got the 3.13 ROM, and followed the instructions to flash (reset holding down c + d keys).

The lights turned green + orange for about 3 seconds, then went dead.

Judging from looking at other posts, the device is now screwed....

I can get a diagnostic menu, and that is it.

AAAGGGHHHHH.......

Is there anyway to salvage this nowÂ ?
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=104860\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I take it you
a] had the power cable plugged in directly to the Z while you were flashing? (pull it out of the cradle, plug it into the base of the Z)
b] hit the reset button again after the LEDs went out?

If the answer is "no" to either, do over.
If the answer is "yes" to both, then I would imagine you're right, it is now a doorstop.

lardman · « **Reply #4 on:** November 25, 2005, 07:58:48 am »

Not sure about the doorstop prognosis.

Check the md5sum of the ospack file, check the formatting of the CF card, check the filename, etc.

Si

sentinel · « **Reply #5 on:** November 28, 2005, 08:12:36 am »

Thanks for the replies on this.

I'm currently awaiting a CF card-reader to be delivered, as I currently have no way of checking or get a new ROM onto a CF Card.

However, I'm starting to get paranoid that if I haven't trashed this already, I will do before very long.

One point that I want to check out is if there is any way to format the CF card from Mac OSX (10.4.3), as I don't have direct access to a Windows box.

Originally, I inserted the CF card into the Zaurus and transferred to OSPack file onto /mnt/cf via FTP from my Mac.

Is there any specific issues here that I should be aware of ?

Thanks
Neil.

sentinel · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2005, 04:06:33 am »

Hi,

Sorry to keep posting on this topic, but this whole process is really starting to do my head in.....

OK, I got a Flash Card (FAT16 formatted) / Card Reader, and tried copying several ROMS to the card, then flashing it as per the instructions (insert CF card, external power lead, hold down C+D, etc).

Again, the same thing happens - green + orange lights flash on for about two seconds, then go off again.

Now, I really think this device was probably defective from the moment I got my hands on it.

But there are a couple of last straws that I'll try and grab hold of.

Firstly, does the fact that I can still get into diagnostic mode have any significance, or offer any sign of hope ?

Secondly, if other files are on the flash card, could this cause problems. The reason I ask was I was copying the ROM onto the flash card from OSX, and generally 'hidden' files get copied over - I was mindful to go into the OSX Terminal and remove hidden files from the Flash Card. I'm just wondering if anyone knows from experience whether this is an issue. Maybe I'll post this to the Mac Forum, as it is probably more relevant there....

Thanks
Neil.

munshine · « **Reply #7 on:** December 02, 2005, 05:27:59 am »

Hi Sentinel,

I have a problem lookink like yours, though not exactly the same : I am unable to flash Sharp roms (Ospack), leds light on for 2 or 3 secs, then switch off.
But I still can flash OZ roms (zImage+initrd.bin).
I run diagnostic : flash and ram is OK. When testing CF, it shows messages that disappears quickly, so I cant know if there is an error. I will try to reformat this evening (I am at work) and inform you.

Does anybody know if there is a doc, or some information about diagnostic actions : which can be destructive, and how interpret results?

Thanks

sentinel · « **Reply #8 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:55:14 am »

I also tried to flash the OpenZaurus ROMS, and these would not work as well.

I haven't fiddled with the diagnostic settings, as I really don't know what I'm altering or what I'm doing with them.

lardman · « **Reply #9 on:** December 02, 2005, 09:58:39 am »

Flashing can be a delicate process which faill to work for not apparent reason.

I'm ssuming the md5ums are correct (files aren't corrupted), and that their names are correct (sometimes random extensions get tacked on to the zImage as it should have no extension).

Next thing is to remove & recreate the partition (make it fat16, type 6 iirc), and if that doesn't work, get a different CF card as some just won't work.

I doubt there's anything wrong with your Zaurus.

Si

munshine · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2005, 12:30:29 pm »

I tried to flash after deleting partition on my 128M Cf, recreating partition, format it in FAT 16 (type 6). Then with another CF.
Again, same diagnostic: It doesn't start flashing. Both leds only lights for 2 sec.
But I am still able to flash OZ. Why? Is it because of the different names, or because of the mapping. I tend for the second reason.
I think Ospack covers all the flash adress space, and for an unknown reason, my zaurus can't write on the whole flash, but it can write on the area covered by the OZ files.
Am I right?
If yes, is there a flash application that can runs on OZ, and that can flash an Ospack file?

Greg2 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2005, 02:29:36 pm »

If you guys/gals that are having problems are sure that your Ospack file is good on your CF-card...

Some users on the old dev-net experiencing the same symptoms use to make sure that the battery was charged then remove it and leave the Z unpluged overnight (or several hours) and try in the morning to flash with the normal procedure (replace battery etc.), and had 'some' luck with this.

I suppose this completely clears the memory for flashing?

Greg

munshine · « **Reply #12 on:** December 05, 2005, 01:22:27 am »

I followed your suggestion, and now it's worse :
- It's still impossible to flash Ospack
- OZ Flashing goes complete, but when booting, it fails to start Opie, with either 3.5.2, 3.5.3 or 3.5.4rc

Any idea ?

sentinel · « **Reply #13 on:** December 05, 2005, 03:42:55 am »

OK, I managed to get to the bottom of some of my issues - well, sort of...

I was unable to flash anything on a new 256MB CF card that I bought. However, my father came to visit, and had several compact flash cards to use with his digital camera. I tried one of his 64MB cards, and was able to flash various ROMS with this card - however, I was unable to flash any of the OSPACKs (it kept coming up with errors about a bad superblock), but was able to flash OpenZaurus / TKC ROMs without any problem.

Strangely, I tried to format both my own and his CF cards in his digital camera. While the Z picks up my own card for storage, it can't flash from it - only from the 64MB card. Therefore, I kept hold of this card.

However, the issue that I originally posted about started happening again, no matter which ROM I flashed with. I've currently got the TKC Rom installed, and again, when I use the keyboard, other applications start launching and cycling between each other, and if I am using a Terminal and attempt to use the keyboard, all sorts of crap starts spewing down the screen, issuing garbarge commands, etc.

There is no problem if I use the on-screen keyboard - however, this is torture when using a program such as Vim for text-editing. One of the big advantages of the Z is the ability to use a keyboard.

Therefore, I suspect that I have been sold (either intentionally or unintentionally) a defective Zaurus, as this is not normal, and can't seem to find any posts / info about anything similar....

AAAaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....................

Anyway, thanks for all the advice I've been offered on this matter.

Rgds
Neil.

jfv · « **Reply #14 on:** December 05, 2005, 08:47:54 am »

Sounds like you have some crosswires between the keyboad and the application keys. One thing you can try is use the "Application Key" program (in the Settings tab) to disable the application keys from launching anything and then seeing if the keyboard still works.

Meanwhile if you want to edit files maybe you need to set up so you can telnet or ssh into the Zaurus and do the editing from your computer.

Felipe

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Author Topic: Applications Randomly Cycling On Sl-5500 (Read 7403 times)