Zaurus C1000 Will Not Charge

[speculatrix]

if you think the internal charge circuitry is b0rked, maybe an external charger would be the way forward? Or, to find a nearby owner and see if a fully charged battery will work?

[garmiste]

if you think the internal charge circuitry is b0rked, maybe an external charger would be the way forward?

I'd be glad to go with an external charger, but it doesn't appear that the Zaurus will even work with a charged battery. I mentioned in an earlier post that I took the battery to a battery shop. They charged it for me and said it should at least have enough power to turn the Z on. They thought the battery was fine. Unfortunately the Z doesn't seem to think the battery is strong enough. This is all really strange.

1) A charged battery alone will not power up the unit.
2) Plugging in the charger will only get me to the Zaurus shell and the service menu. The "OK menu" (can't remember what it's called) will not work.
3) I can only get the unit to boot by typing "reboot" in the shell. As soon as power is removed or it's turned off I can't turn it on again.
4) If I boot the unit from the shell it works fine as long as I don't unplug it. I suppose I could get a long extension cord to reach around town.
5) I can't get any of my information out of it. I went back to the original Japanese NAND and I don't know how to load the old Cacko OS I was using without getting to the 'OK' menu.

AAARGH!!!

[speculatrix]

when you say you restored the original NAND, do you mean one you downloaded, or a previous backup?

[garmiste]

when you say you restored the original NAND, do you mean one you downloaded, or a previous backup?

I actually downloaded the Japanese NAND from trisoft. From what I understand this is the one installed at the factory.

[sdjf]

I vaguely recall someone saying that there is another battery besides the primary one we think of, that at some point would also need replacing. That's on an sl5500, but I wonder if there's something like that in your model.

sdjf

[speculatrix]

I vaguely recall someone saying that there is another battery besides the primary one we think of, that at some point would also need replacing. That's on an sl5500, but I wonder if there's something like that in your model.

sdjf

no, I don't think the 7xx, 8xx, 1000 or 3xxx  clamshells ever had a backup battery. I know the 6000 does.

[sdjf]

I am surprised no one has asked if you have ever dropped or hit your C1000, although I also didn't think of it before.  If any of the sottering points have come loose, that could cause problems.

I'm also surprised no one suggested using the "apm" command to check status.  I have been using it and the results have been totally whacky, but you are using a newer kernel.

Another way to get information is to do "cat /proc/apm".

sdjf

[HRH_H_Crab]

Don't really have much to add to the thread except to say it looks like I am in the same boat.
I have a c3200 but I cannot get it to charge.
I have messed around with all kinds of stuff including the voltage settings, but it wasnt working before I did that so I doubt I have made it worse.
I may have applied a charger with the incorrect polarity too!
My initial advice to other owners is to be very very careful what you plug in to it! ;P

No real idea where to go from here I guess.
I suppose my first step may be to buy an external charger and a new battery. I have a funny hunch that that would get it working as it was working while the "final" battery charge ran out.

Anyway, gl to other sufferers, I shall keep an eye on this thread to see if any other useful info appears.