C860 Dies Booting 1.1.0r197

[Meyer]

Although I was able to boot up and start X the first couple of times after installing r197 (and this problem did not manifest itself while X was running), now when the Z is booting the screen first dims and then a few seconds later goes blank and the Z unresponsive to all inputs until I remove the battery and reboot. The point of failure varies each time, but happens slightly before or after the login prompt comes up.

I have tried to diagnose the problem as described in the thread:

  https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=24496

However, I can find nothing problematic in /etc/inittab, and neither /var/log/dmesg nor /var/log/messages give any hint of a problem.

[InSearchOf]

It may be the an APM issue... plug your device in and then try to power it up and see if you can get it stable enough to stay on... if you notice your results are better once the device is plugged in it is a bug with APM or your battery is low...

Late

[Meyer]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Plugging in the Z does indeed allow it to completely boot and run normally. (The dimming effect still occurs, and the screen remains dim but readable while X is running.)

How would one go about diagnosing and fixing an APM bug? I have made no changes to the r197 software or configuration since downloading.

[InSearchOf]

Do this... "setfl 40" or "setfl +" until it gets to the brightness of your liking :-)

Late

[Meyer]

That's better.

Now, about the APM problem ...?

[InSearchOf]

I will have to check with one of the other devs that has a c860... or remember exactly what the problem was... :-)

Late

[Meyer]

OK. I'll stand by. Thanks for your help.

For reference, here's what apm tells me on the r197 system:

(in emergency mode (which boots with or without AC plugged in; this time booted without; battery known good and fully charged): )

   # apm -V
   apm version 3.2.1

   # apm -vm
   APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.13)
   Off-line, battery status high: 88%

(plug in AC:)

   #apm -vm
   APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.13)
   Off-line, battery charging: 88%

(a moment passes:)

   #apm -vm
   APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.13)
   On-line, battery charging: 88%

(reboot to r197:)

   # apm -V
   apm version 3.2.1

   # apm -vm
   APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.13)
   On-line, battery charging: 5%

(~30 minutes pass:)

   ... battery status critical: 5%

(~10 minutes more pass:)

   ... battery status high: 100%

(2 minutes later, it's back to "critical: 5%". Occasionally I can catch it momentarily back up at "high: 100%.)

Regardless of the battery reading, if I remove the AC cable the Zaurus dies without leaving any trace in /var/log/dmesg or /var/log/messages.

On a separate C860 (Sharp ROM) using the same battery as above:

   # apm -V
   apm version 2.4

   # apm -vm
   APM BIOS 1.2 (kernel driver 1.14)
   AC off-line, battery status high: 100%

[Meyer]

Follow-up: I could come up with nothing to get around the above APM problem. r197 would run fine as long as the Z was plugged into AC power, but would die when unplugged regardless of the battery charge level.

I decided to give 1.1.0beta1 a try, the last pdaXrom version for C860 listed as "stable". I had to do a NAND restore to uninstall U-Boot (which was a challenge in itself as U-Boot clobbers some of the "secret" key combinations necessary for triggering a restore (there are alternate key combinations that still worked, documented in the wiki)).

I now have beta1 up and running, which is nice ... except that I can't get my cell modem CF card to connect to my provider (Japan-only service bitWarp PDA), in spite of having followed an apparently tried-and-trued method posted by Japanese users.

My only hope is one user's post a couple of years ago indicating he'd had a problem similar to mine and the card just started working correctly after a few days for no apparent reason.

If time-voodoo doesn't work, I think I'll put a Sharp ROM back on just to make sure the Z and the modem card like each other in their "natural" state.