home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!rutgers!modus!gear!cflav!flavio
- From: flavio@cflav.sublink.org (Flavio Casetta)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp48
- Subject: CMT ram cards, batteries and troubleshooting
- Message-ID: <qa0RqB1w164w@cflav.sublink.org>
- Date: 8 Sep 92 11:45:37 GMT
- Organization: Flavio Casetta, Reg'd HP ISV & OEM of handheld computers.
- Lines: 45
-
- Dear 48ers,
-
- here are my suggestions for CMT 128K RAM card users.
-
- I sold CMT RAM cards in the past two years and never experienced problems
- with them (until yesterday) when I tried unsuccesfully to turn my HP48 on.
-
- I supposed the battery was low because I never replaced it since the date of
- purchase (December 90). During this period the card was always plugged in.
-
- I bought a new battery.
- When I replaced the expired one with the newly bought, I got the unexpected
- message "LowBat(P2)".
-
- Hence I tried to check battery voltage, discovering that the expired cell
- still gave 3V.
- The newly purchased battery gave less than 0.05V. What a lucky purchase !
- I bought another cell (of a different manufacturer) and things went better.
-
- In conclusion:
-
- I don't know how the HP48 detects a low battery condition in a port, but
- I must suppose that the HP48 detects low voltage and not low intensity, at
- least when the card plugged in is a CMT.
-
- Do not wait for the message "LowBat(Px)". It is likely you will never see it.
-
- Buy a fresh battery ! Check the expiration date beforehand and possibly
- replace the battery by the reseller: if the battery is dead ask him
- for a new one.
-
- Save your valuable data somewhere (not just on RAM cards !).
- If the battery goes low, you will learn what a memory recovery is.
-
- Possibly store important data as backup objects. The checksum is there
- for signaling memory corruption.
-
- Hope it helps.
-
-
- __
- * flavio@cflav.sublink.org (Flavio Casetta)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- | The usual disclaimer does not apply | +59 440404 (Voice)
- | ForCALC's opinions are necessarily mines | +59 304490 (Fax)
-