5500 suspect CF card format wrong, also battery dead

[pseudosci]

I have a 5500, a SanDisk 128 CF that I just got.  Z has been dead for 6 gloomy months, want to revive it.  Talked to Sharp but I\'m convinced that with help I can get it going without reincarnation.  Have read most posts to this forum and followed many clues.  Where I\'m at in flashing Ospack = \"...the superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2 filesystem...give root password for maintenance.\"  This happens directly after the flash, without any intervention on my part beyond c+d+reset. I tried dosfsck -a and mkdosfs -a, but I\'m not using the commands correctly (or wisely?).

XP says my CF is FAT16, but likely lies, all lies though arguably I simply bought it and stuck it in the cf reader (probably just the chance XP needed to ruin it)

The shell prompt I\'m at gives me hope - (Repair FS) # #

Somewhere in these forums I ran across instruction as to formatting vfat16, but can\'t find it now and didn\'t think I could do it then as I don\'t have a linux box/cf reader to do the reformat.  Now I\'m thinking that the Z has enough brain left to format the card itself, if only I knew how to tell it to...  Does anyone know what lines I need to type to try to format vfat16 from the Z itself?  I don\'t know much about Linux.

Also, I should point out that I made a battery rig-up of 4 1.2v lithium AA\'s & a little capacitor, and I had been using that pretty exclusively as the Z\'s power supply for awhile - hoping I didn\'t burn out the Z\'s retina or something.

Thank you for reviewing my request

John

[lardman]

Have you tried doing another hard reset?

I\'ve seen this message when not performing the hard reset after flashing.

The instructions for formatting a CF card are in the HowTos, though they are for Linux (and specifically a Z).

The standard Sharp ROM doesn\'t come with fdisk & mkfs.* so you probably won\'t be able to get it working unless you can install them somehow.

You could try flashing OZ3.2, at least that way you\'ll get a different startup screen which will tell you whether or not the card format\'s okay.


Si

[pseudosci]

I have tried performing a hard reset after the screen text stops, but the zaurus shuts down and doesn\'t reboot, and won\'t turn back on.  Only another rom flashing will bring it back.  I could try hitting the reset when the sharp logo first comes up after the flashing, but I\'ve not done that yet.  I have read through the FAQ and dozens of postings, but no answer yet.  I tried flashing with a blank CF card to see if it made a difference and it did, the two led\'s only flashed briefly.  Putting Ospack back on the card and flashing brings me again back to the prompt    (Repair FS) /# #   .   I don\'t know just what that means though I\'ve seen other reference to it.  Strange that it always states the same boot sequence, INIT: Version 2.78 booting, though I\'m trying to load a different ROM version - it\'s almost as though an old rom is not getting cleared out.  This version 2.78 doesn\'t seem to have fdisk and mkfs, I get not founds when I try it.  I tried OZ 3.2 and it didn\'t do anything, but I\'ve done some things like resetting without the battery in, long resets so I will try 3.2 again, thanks

[pseudosci]

Thanks for that idea, flashed 3.2 and all I got is an amber light.  Flashed back to Ospack and back where I started.  I am looking for a 2.78 ROM to try next.

[Greg2]

Also, I should point out that I made a battery rig-up of 4 1.2v lithium AA\'s & a little capacitor, and I had been using that pretty exclusively as the Z\'s power supply for awhile -

The Sharp update instructions say- \'do not remove the battery\'.
How are you using your rig-up to flash the rom? I have never flashed without the battery installed and I\'m not sure it can be done (someone correct me if it can) on the 5xxx.

If this is not the problem then I would reformat the CF-card with your winXP card-reader  (Fat-16) and try again with new Ospack file.

Greg

[pseudosci]

I\'m not using the battery pack as of getting the CF card (never had one before).  I have the battery in when I\'m flashing.   I\'ve reformatted with the sandisk card reader several times now, if I can\'t figure it out today it\'s off to Sharp and hope they can flash it. it will go through a 3 minute flash with OZ and Ospack methods, but all the OZ attempts seem to do nothing.  Maybe it\'s just burnt.

[lardman]

Thanks for that idea, flashed 3.2 and all I got is an amber light.

The battery light. Do you mean that it flashed okay - both lights came on for 5min, then just the amber light, or that it didn\'t work at all and just the amber light came on?

I presume you then did a hard reset. No init screen (which would look different from the Sharp one if it worked)?


Si

[pseudosci]

had a green and amber led for about 3 minutes, then all out.  hard reset, got the amber, replaced cover and switched to normal.  Tried on/off button, no luck.  Tried 1.37 sharp rom , only flashed for a sec with green/amber on then off.  Now I\'m flashing 5500v31c Sharp rom again, to see if I can get back to a command prompt of some kind.  Then I can research and try out some linux commands to see if there\'s any other way to confirm that the CF card is being read.  I never got an init screen with the OZ rom.

[pseudosci]

now none of the sharp roms will flash, just led\'s for a sec then nothing.  Trying oz 3.2 is now in the process of flashing with good lights. lights went out, did full reset, shut cover and switched to normal, tried on/off - nothing.  Time to send it to Sharp I guess.

[lardman]

Strange. I really can\'t suggest anything.

I\'d have said that perhaps the battery is knackered, but you actually got it to turn on so I can\'t see this being the reason.

Perhaps someone else has a suggestion?


Si

[pseudosci]

tried theKompany rom, same as last try.  I\'ll send it out, save my energy for using it if/when they get it going.  Thanks for the input -

[pseudosci]

tried theKompany rom, same as last try.  I\'ll send it out, save my energy for using it if/when they get it going.  Thanks for the input.  I think the battery is actually dead since I can\'t get any lights without being connected to AC.  I don\'t think the CF is being read properly, but Sharp says they will flash the rom for free if I cover the shipping.  I suppose if it can be done, they can do it.

[gerald_clark]

Mine won\'t flash unless I also have the AC adapter plugged in.

[pseudosci]

Talked to Sharp today, they have my Z and they are considering it in warranty, will cover the cost of repair, and even send me back the $3.50 return postage that I included. They said it would go from the bench right back to me in a week.  Cool!  Thank you Sharp!

[pseudosci]

Got my Z 5500 back!  Good job Sharp, it works.  As it happens JavaChess, Rubic, rocketelite won't install properly any longer, I can live with that.  I've still got Strategic Assault to waste time with.  ROM is 3.10 now, what I wanted to try.  Sharp addressed the return shipment package to "buddy Old Pal John Dadmun" - could that be because I've called them about it every day for 2 weeks?  The 3.10 ROM click-to-action seems faster than the earlier Sharp ROM's but it might just be me.  I'm not ready to open the battery door right now to find out, but I think they've replaced my battery as well.

Now it's down to work, getting the Z to speak with my Stamp2SX.  When I get there I'll post somewhere on the ZUG.  I'm surprised there isn't more experimentation going on with the Z and robotics as Linux is popular OS for this.