USR Pilot digitzer problem

[PocketPowerPC]

I just got an old Pilot for my collection, but there are some problems with it.

First off, the screen doesn't accept taps unless I squeeze the top left. Since this seems to be where the digitzer is, I'm guessing it's busted.

Also, I'm stuck on the digitzer calibration. It asks me to tap in the top left, bottom right, then the middle. It keeps repeating the same thing over and over and over again. How do I get out of it?

[Telyx]

For the first problem, remove the back from the Pilot (there is a screw under the sticker on the back of the handheld, and there may also be one in the battery compartment) and re-seat the ribbon cable from the digitizer to the board. That may cure the problem--or it may not, but it's an easy attempt.

For the second problem, if re-seating the cable doesn't help, remove the memory card compartment cover and make sure the card is properly seated in its slot. If that doesn't help, see if you can find a card on eBay or elsewhere--they're replaceable, and should be pretty cheap if you can find one. The card has both the ROM and the RAM for the Pilot.

(If you can find a "Palm III" 2MB upgrade card, get it. It has Flash ROM and an IR port, along with Palm OS 3.0--and it does work with first-generation Pilots.)

[PocketPowerPC]

I'll try that when I get home tonight. It has a card in it already, but I cannot tell what it is since I can't get out of the digitizer setup loop. I have to give Palm credit: the 1000 is a really easy device to open up.

As for eBay, that's not an option since I don't live in the US :(

I bought it off auction here and actually the seller didn't list the device as broken. I'm contacting him now to see what I can do.

[PocketPowerPC]

As luck would have it, the seller went ahead and sent me another one - this one works! :)

Thanks for your help!

Now - where can I get a copy of Palm Desktop that'll work with this Pilot? :confused:

[PocketPowerPC]

Nevermind - got it to sync with my ThinkPad ;)

[Telyx]

Cool. I think I still have the floppies with the original Palm Desktop at home somewhere, so if that didn't work, I could make a zip file.

I liked what US Robotics/Palm did in those old days. The original Pilot 1000 had 128k of RAM and the 5000 had 512k; the 1mb "Professional" upgrade card would work in either handheld. Then Palm made the PalmPilot Personal (512k) and Professional (1mb), and the original 1mb upgrade card would work in those too (though it was pointless in the Professional). And yes, using the original 1mb upgrade card in the PalmPilot Personal meant reverting to OS 1.0.6, and the backlight wouldn't work (it was software controlled), but it ran faster than with the 512k OS 2.x card. (Palm also made a new "Professional" 1mb upgrade card with OS 2. That card, of course, worked in the Pilot 1000 and 5000 as well as the Personal and Professional.)

Finally, when Palm introduced the Palm III, they also introduced a "Palm III" 2mb card for the older devices--and it would work with all four, letting owners of those devices have Palm III capabilities for $129.99, instead of having to buy the new device for $299. The "Palm III" upgrade card had OS 3, Flash ROM, and an IR port and it included a new memory card cover with a slight wedge shape and a window for the IR.

Now, of course, to get new features or OS upgrades, you have to buy a new handheld.

[PocketPowerPC]

Cool. I think I still have the floppies with the original Palm Desktop at home somewhere, so if that didn't work, I could make a zip file.
I have 2 copies of the software now, all on floppies. Thanks for the offer anyway ;)

One set of floppies is still sealed in its plastic wrapping so I'm going to leave them. Both packages have all the original inserts, like warantee cards, order form for the Mac kit and the Cross stylus catalogue.

I managed to find the Mac version of the software too, but it crashed under OS 9 :rolleyes:

... and the backlight wouldn't work (it was software controlled), ...

Which models had backlights? Not all of them, right?

My chances of finding an upgrade card here in Japan are slim to none :(

Now, of course, to get new features or OS upgrades, you have to buy a new handheld.

Yeah, I saw that mentioned on Palm's website. It said that for example, Palm OS 5 took advantage of the 5-way controller, which older Palms lacked. OS 5 runs on my Clie NZ-90 just fine ...

[Telyx]

Among the first Pilots/Palms, only the Pilot 1000 and 5000 didn't have a backlight. Their displays seemed a little more readable in low light than the displays on the PalmPilot Personal or Professional (with their backlight off).

[PocketPowerPC]

Well, I tried pulling the card out of the broken 1000 and putting it in the working one. Surprise! The card has Palm OS 2 on it with 2mb of memory :) It now says Palm OS Professional, so it appears to be one of those cards you mentioned.

Better than OS 1 with only 128k of memory, no? :)

[Telyx]

2MB? Palm's "Professional" upgrade card with OS 2 had 1MB. The "Palm III" 2MB card had OS 3.0, an IR transceiver, and the wedge-shaped memory card cover. I wonder if you got a TRG card... great that it works, and yes, 2MB is a ton compared to 128K! I remember wondering how the heck I was going to fill 2MB of RAM in my upgraded Personal. And then ePocrates was released...

[PocketPowerPC]

Whatever I got, I'm happy :)

I broke the wires to the speaker the other day, so I went and soldered them back.

I don't have an IR thingy which is unfortunate because I use IrDA a lot. Instead of syncing to install apps I find it much faster to just IR them over.

Original Pilots, parts and upgrades are really hard to find over here in Japan :^/