Lost Data - is there any way to restore data?

[leszek]

Hello,

My battery died and I had to reboot my system. After reboot I cannot find my text files.

Is there any way to retrive these files?

There must be some way to restore these files!

System: Zurus SL-5500 (no flash memory)


Desperate user,
Leszek

[stupkid]

Some information that might help:

  Zaurus Model?
  Rom type and Version?
  Did you perform any kind of backup recently?
  Where were the files saved?

Thanks.

[zenyatta]

If part of your RAM is set up as a file system, and the files have been saved to that file system, they are irreversibly lost. If they were saved elsewhere they should be simply inaccessible (i.e. a card is not mounted properly or something).

z.

[leszek]

how to get to the promp?

maybe that way would be better to check if the files still exisit

[leszek]

i guess my files were saved as part of my RAM that is set up as a file system as difault I guess...

Zaurus is piece of crap !!!
They should let people know how bad is there product.

It is for kids to play not for the serious use!!!
I cannot believe that the PDA can loose data after reboot?

[lardman]

Zaurus is piece of crap !!!
They should let people know how bad is there product.

A bit unnecessary, especially when it's not actually the fault of the Z as far as I can tell.

I cannot believe that the PDA can loose data after reboot?

It doesn't. However it does lose the internal memory when both the main and backup battery go flat. This is the cause of your troubles, not the fact that you rebooted. You'll find this behaviour with lots of other pdas - the Psions, early PocketPC machines (before they went to a writable flashROM setup), etc.

If you want a more robust ROM (i.e. you won't lose anything if the power fails completely) then try one of those which allows read/write access to the flashROM; OZ for example.


Simon

[leszek]

You're wright.

ROM is the problem.

Is there a flash memory plug in for SL-5500?

And can the files be saved easily through the OS to this memory?

[zenyatta]

You have two options:

1. Save into the 16MB FlashROM area where your operating system - also called ROM - is located. Your operating system does not take up all the space and there are about 2MB left.

2. Save to a CompactFlash, SecureDigital or MMC memory card.

Option 1 is _not_ possible with the standard Sharp ROM (that comes in a brand new Zaurus). You have to replace your ROM with another one which allows writing to the FlashROM area. Replacing a ROM is detailed in several HowTos both here at ZUG and at OE.org.

For Option 2, you obviously need a memory card. These days they are very inexpensive and they make your Zaurus much more useful. For example, I have a 512MB CompactFlash card where I carry about 8 hours of music to listen to. Buying a memory card is a very good idea.

In any case, you will need to tell the system to save the file to a non-RAM location. In most applications, this can be done when you are saving a document. Otherwise, you can go to the Documents tab, press one of the document icons and _hold_ the stylus down until a Properties window shows up. There you can change the location of the file - you will get a menu listing all available locations.

[bluedevils]

I'm not trying to flame or anything, but I just backed up my ol' 5500 to PC often.  The occasional loss of power was only a minor annoyance because of it.  TKC also has a good backup utility for backing up to a flash card.