Help! C3000 Paperweight

[andreab]

My C3000 arrived from Dynamism a few days ago, and all I can say is WOW!  What a nice piece of kit.  Even the fact that the addressbook and USB weren't working didn't bother me.  Now, three days later my Z is the nicest looking paperweight on the block!  

As I said, USB wasn't working.  Windows listed a drive letter for the Zaurus, but couldn't see what was on the drive.  The Z would popup error dialogs saying Error AlertUSBStorage whenever I tried to access it in Windows.  A consistent if not all that helpful error message.

After some poking around, I ran the NVRAM checksum tests, which indicated a bad checksum in all the tests, specifically in /hdd2.  I ran the NVRAM full test just as I realized I didn't have a ROM image to flash back, and that's all she wrote.  My Z is now completely unresponsive.  Plugging in the adapter doesn't even light up the power LED.

Anyone have any ideas on how to revive my Z?

Andy

[Teletubbie]

Hi,
If you wait some days, Trisoft will provide Europe with the SL-C3000. Usually Trisoft converts the Japanese Models into english and then make a NAND Backup and put it online for download.
In your case I would ask dynamism or maybe you write an email to http://www.trisoft.de/en_index.html
They helped a lot of times in german community.
Good luck,
Sam

[andreab]

Thanks Sam,

I did run across trisoft's web site and found it extremely helpful.  They had an English manual they put together for the SL-C860 which was very enlightening, I wish one had come with my SL-C3000!  Reading their manual makes me realize that my Z will probably be heading back to Japan for a re-flash, since I can't even get the maintenance menus up.

I'm curious, has anyone out there figured out how to interface with the port on the back of the SLC-3000 or any of its predecessors?  I figure that must be how the Z is flashed at the factory, and it'd be nice to know how to do this without relying on Sharp.  How about it, any hardware hackers or embedded device guys out there up to the challenge of figuring this out, or have any pointers to get me started?

Andy

[BigAl]

I'd imagine the C3000 would have some kind of JTAG interface on it somewhere, like most other PDAs. You could use that to reflash it, although you'd need a JTAG adaptor and some software that would support writing to whatever flash memory configuration the C3000 has. www.handhelds.org has some info on using JTAG with other PDAs, although that site seems to be down at the moment.

[jfv]

Isn't the point of buying from Dynamism, and paying more, the fact that they provide customer support in cases like this? Sounds to me that all you have to do is call them up and get them to fix or replace your unit.

Felipe

[andreab]

BigAl,  I was thinking along the same lines and was able to find a lot of info on JTAG, very interesting stuff.  I've always wanted to get into hardware at that level, and someday soon I will, but not today!

Felipe, you're quite right, that's exactly why I did buy from Dynamism.  I didn't think I'd hear from them until Monday, but someone in support is there today and was able to help me boot into the diag menu..   it took several attempts at holding D and M while inserting the battery and pressing the power button, but it did come up eventually!

Thanks all for your help!

Andy

[delirium]

As I said, USB wasn't working.  Windows listed a drive letter for the Zaurus, but couldn't see what was on the drive.  The Z would popup error dialogs saying Error AlertUSBStorage whenever I tried to access it in Windows.  A consistent if not all that helpful error message.

After some poking around, I ran the NVRAM checksum tests, which indicated a bad checksum in all the tests, specifically in /hdd2.  I ran the NVRAM full test just as I realized I didn't have a ROM image to flash back, and that's all she wrote.  My Z is now completely unresponsive.  Plugging in the adapter doesn't even light up the power LED.

Anyone have any ideas on how to revive my Z?

Andy

This is exactly the same as what happened to my C3K when I got my device from a local retailer in Taiwan.

I installed the script file from   the website shortly after I got my device. It ran well without any trouble in English and Japanese recognition. I encountered the same thing as I plug the device into the USB port of my laptop (Windows XP pro SP1, USB2.0). The C3K pop up the same message said: Error AlertUSBStorage. I can see the drive letter at my laptop but can't access the contents. Something happened when I entered the service menu and ran memory check. The LCD din't light-up anymore, even when I plug in the AC power. And later the AC power LED didn't light-up anymore.

I sent back my device to my local retailer. He found that it was the problem of the battery after some procedure of try-and-error. Now everything goes well at my C3K after he changed a new battery for me.  

Unfortunately, the problem of USB mass storage failure still exist. Not to mention the synchronization with the PC. I install the Japanese version of intelliSync from the bundled CD. It can synchronize awhile and then came to an abrupt stop when I ran the program. The same things happened when I ran the same procedure at another laptop.  

I don't know what things happened, but I suggest that you change a new battery. Maybe it can work again. Though the problems of USB storage and synchronization still exist.

[andreab]

Update - Thanks to Dynamism's support my Z is back to life.  Though it looked completely dead, the D+M menu did finally come up after many repetitions of removing the battery, putting it back, closing the battery door, plugging in the AC and _then_ holding D+M while turning on.  At one point it took me more than an hour to get it right, so if you're in the same boat, a good measure of patience is a must!

Delirium, there's another post pinned in this group that talks about some SL-C3000 problems and solutions, including the USB problem...  I haven't tried it but it sounds pretty straightforward.

Andy

[TRIsoft]

Hi Community,

yes, we will make our conversion set and the manual
for the SL-C3000 also public available as we did for the
previous models.

Due to the fact that the SL-C3000 has some new features
that need extended testing (even translating the japanese
won't help much in some cases   ) you should expect the
manual and more information at the end of this week
(Dec. 3rd 2004).

You US people are too fast for us ! Why don't you wait
until we finished the manual and localization  

///TRIsoft

Marc Stephan

[Zaurus_Support]

Update - Thanks to Dynamism's support my Z is back to life.  Though it looked completely dead, the D+M menu did finally come up after many repetitions of removing the battery, putting it back, closing the battery door, plugging in the AC and _then_ holding D+M while turning on.  At one point it took me more than an hour to get it right, so if you're in the same boat, a good measure of patience is a must!

We recommend trying it this way:
1)Pull battery cover and press reset button.
2)Replace cover (makes sure the switch is in the locked position)
3)Hold down D and M and press ON (Turning the unit upside down helps keep your fingers on the D and M keys).
4)Plug in the unit.

[TRIsoft]

Hi all,

general procedure to get into the Diag on all SL-C series:

- external power off
- remove battery
- HOLD "D" + "M" keys
- battery in
- flip battery switch

The trick is, that the keys are pressed at the time when the
Zaurus gets power. No vodoo or hourless tries neccessary.

Battery flip and D+M during normal power on only works if
it is SHARP Rom and the machine is in stable condition.
That's the only reason, why we describe both ways in our
manuals.

Manual for SL-C7xx/860 series : Download english manual (PDF)

Manual for SL-C3000 : Coming this week :-)

///TRIsoft

Marc Stephan