TX reset issues

[Sjweise]

About a week ago my TX spontaneously reset. This was actually a surprise since it had actually been pretty stable. (once I stopped using Versamail the TX seemed much happier...plus I have a combination of utilities that I think help out too). After it reset I lost my saved and unsaved preferences (all applications became unregistered, etc) I then restored (select restore) from back up with NVFS backup (which ALWAYS corrupts my bluetooth connections somehow) and all was good for maybe a day. Then I got stuck in a reset loop. I could not do a warm reset, it just kept looping. So I had to do a hard reset, which is nearly impossible I've found since my power button takes herculean strength to function properly. So then I was stuck. I had not done a hotsync for about a week. My NVFS backup was actually about 2 months old. I have not been able to do a cable hotsync for months now (something up with my PC I think) and I couldn't get it to do a wifi hotsync for some reason. I finally restored from backup and did a wifi hotsync (with PC overwriting handheld). But since then, I have had my TX get into a reset loop atleast every other day. I have had to hard reset it as many times since then. Sometimes, it just resets when I turn it on, or when I go to activate wifi, or bluetooth, or launch an application from one of the 4 hard buttons. I've had the dia become all black after a reset, I've had parts of the status bar disappear after a reset, I've had my preferences lost after a rest numerous times. Usually, another reset fixes the problem, and I can always restore prefs from NVFS backup. But my dilemma is, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? I have not added anything new prior to this. It just kirked out on me.

Anyways, I need to sit down, hard reset and reinstall everything by hand, something must be corrupted and causing this to occur. I just have not had the time to do it, so I've been doing an NVFS backup each night just in case. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to here.

[bh77a]

Joe,

Very sorry to hear about this. While my TX is currently stable, it has given me fits in the past. So much so that I changed my backup strategy to have a "reversion" backup that I can go back to with a bare bones set of items installed, along with keeping an archive of plain copies of apps on my card so that I can do a "clean" install fairly quickly if I need to.

I do recommend the clean install. It sounds like an app you are using has had a bug that finally surfaced (or a combination of apps).

[BaDZeD]

What softwares do you have installed on your TX?

[Dick Tracy]

What a nightmare Joe.

Disappearing status bar sounds like a software conflict. You may need to take a looksee at all your TSR apps and hacks. I do hope you don't have the two T3 files, appsliprotate and I forget the other one installed accidentally.

[technical1]

I use Stability Test fm Fly-zip.com.

This said, I also heavily depend on Resco Explorer's notification feature to tell me what is running in memory. You go to Control Panel, tap on Notifications & get whatever is in memory, is listed there...

I would also recommend Rlock, to be able to lock difficult apps. Do a search on threads here for more info on which apps should be locked.

Also, there is UnCache, make sure you use version specific for TX & often it can help w/apps that are difficult... However, I have seen probs w/backups &/or restores & files that need to be locked.

Take the last few pieces of advice as a whole picture solution, but imho, it is a locked file issue. See if you can get any help fm the app's author. Also, Rbackup full version locks dangerous apps as well.

You can try to isolate the issue by backing up & restoring 5 files at a time. If one group is good, then go for 2nd group. It can be tedious, but once you get into a group that has a crash, then you can isolate on a one by one basis.

Good luck.

[Church Punk]

the only solution for this:

1. Do a hard reset (dont restore, just do the firsts steps of configuration)
2. Do a zero out reset (yes, after the hard reset...)
(3. maybe another hard reset, without configuring ANYTHING at all)

I know that your situation is difficult with your hard button, but you need to do this in orther to make your TX stable again.

I had some issues last 2 weeks (not the same, but fairly similar) and the only way to have a good TX was doing a zero-out reset. Now i dont remember if i did it in that sequence, but i did have a hard reset and a zero-out reset.

Sry to hear ur situation, hope this helps man.

[technical1]

Church Punk,

What is a zero out reset & what makes you think if the situation is different than the one you had that it will apply here. My comments are based on same situation, i.e. backup/restore of files that need to be locked. If you are right fine, but let's not rule out the backup/restore of locked files issue just b/c it seems like something you saw, but not the same.... sjwiese deserves to have his issue properly covered & taking into account that which is similar to his situation is worth considering at least...

[FerdFerd]

As you wrestle with this while trying to fight your non-performing power button, it would be worth your time to go to Palmpowerups and get Reset OS5, which is free. It will perform a hard reset without needing any buttons. No help for the zero out reset, but you shouldn't need that often anyway.

I agree with the others who have recommended a hard reset and fresh installation of your applications. Fiddling with restoring from backups is more hassle in the long run in cases like you describe than just getting on with a proper house cleaning.

[bh77a]

@ technical1,

according to Palm, a zero-out reset will write zeros to the internal flash memory, thereby completely wiping it clean... sort of like a "secure empty trash" in mac os x

@ ferdferd,

while i agree that the reset app by dmitry is a good creation, most of the times that i would have needed it the app would have been useless, as i needed the hard reset to get out of a loop of some sort (sometimes the warm reset doesn't work)

i agree, make a folder with the critical non system related apps on your sd and install them to ram

from there, make incremental backups prior to each installation of a system related app

[FerdFerd]

while i agree that the reset app by dmitry is a good creation, most of the times that i would have needed it the app would have been useless, as i needed the hard reset to get out of a loop of some sort (sometimes the warm reset doesn't work)Yes, for sure, if that's the situation. I didn't think that's what the OP was describing, though. A couple of months ago something got corrupted in my TX and I had to start over. I wasn't plagued by inescapable reset loops, so I used Dmitry's application to good effect. (My power button still works fine, but it's still easier to tap an icon.)

I also learned a lesson about keeping a set of archival backups!

[RazrTX]

As an add-on (or replacement for) the reset app, "power button" pref panel with its hard reset button may provide additional circumstances where you can hard reset.

I have it installed but not enabled (power button still works reasonably well on one TX and perfect on others) just for such situations.

Razr

[Sjweise]

Well, after living with resets and random hard resets for days now, I've wiped my TX clean. The only extras I have on right now are Myskin and Dmitry's TX rom update (maxx could be causing me grief..who knows?). I have very little 3rd party apps, I even dropped Zlauncher. The TX seems much zippier, but I just got a crash by pressing the 4 hard buttons in sequential order, left to right. I'm going to run it with these apps until I have figured out what is causing this.

[Sjweise]

Update....NOTHING WORKS!!!!!!!

I hard reset every other day. Sometimes by choice, some times spontaneously. Th eTX crashes probably 1/2 the time I use it. I've restored my TX manually soooo many times. Sometimes just writing in the dia resets the beast. I've found that reseting the TX in succession (like 5-10 times real fast) gets it out of a reset loop that would otherwise need a hard reset. Some of the manifestations of this corruption are:

*launched Contacts and all my records listed as UNKNOWN
*Device will not turn on until I soft reset
*When doing network hoysync keeps trying to connect using cingular wap gprs
*Inconsistent error messages when using SMS. Sometimes it says it cannot connect. Sometimes it says it has detected a new bluetooth accessory
*Sometimes bluetooth (and wifi) settings are lost and all trusted devices etc are gone. A soft reset corrects this
*Elements of the dia (status bar, buttons, etc) just disappear. A soft reset usually solves this
*Device just locks up and is unresponsive, needing a soft reset
*Reset when turned on by 1 of the 4 hard buttons


I have this intalled on my TX
appicon
bird
dalauncher
Directory Assistance
Drive Mode
FileZ
HandyShopper
Hardreset
IconCMD
IM+
Keyboard
TCPMP
myskin
netfront
noah lite
NVBackup
Palm Revolt
Powerone
pTunes
screenshot
sharklinks
skinui
snapcalc
solitaire
UniCMD
WifileLT
Zlauncher
ZL Manager

Its not a lot of apps.

[_Em]

Well, I had that experience when I was using IM+... I removed it, and things went stable again.

Other than that, have you tried deleting your pref DBs and rebuilding them from scratch? I had to do that once as well.

[headcronie]

Bird causes tons of problems for me. Try getting rid of that, and see if it helps.

[FIA WRC]

Hearing about TX's doing this is getting more common. I've had this reset problem myself Sjweise that are very close to what your having. The only way I was able to stop them was a hard reset then a hotsync. A restore from Backup Man was useless. I'm now using NVBackup. I still get the reset loops or soft resets by clicking a program that suddenly no longer works, like today with Black Jack. I have no hacks. I'm now going back to my TH-55 which I had no problems with.

[Sjweise]

I've taken almost all the programs that made my TX cool to try to stabilize it. And i'm still getting resets. The 3rd party list is minimal now: appicon, IM+, TCPMP, Pockettunes Deluxe. I did run Dmitry's rom update, so its possible there is an issue with that. I'm running on a clean install from a hard reset. The only thing transfered over was PIM data. I'm just about done with the TX. I have lost alot of data over the last few weeks due to the dasily hard resets that the thing is useless to me. I can still get the web and do sms thru it...but I can do all that with my stupid phone.

[Modnar]

Yeah my TX is "going through the motions" at the moment and have just Hard reset then I'm going to be doing a fresh install (minus PIM only backups) and jsut see how it goes from their!

[Sjweise]

Well, I am running with a pretty clean TX and resets are still hapenning. I added in ButtonsX and ran nvfs backup and the resets seem to be getting worse. Instead of Myskin, I loaded a TX-only dia skin, so I could avoid using Myskin. Here is how my TX has reset after the limited install:
command bar stroke in dia
Tapping on BT icon in status bar
Tapping on Wifi icon in statusbar
Checking SMS

[pixelpainter]

I have experianced similar pains and at least for me, it had to do with two things. first was Icons+. I don't know what it does, but everytime I try it I get resets. Second one is using Grafitti 1. (This got rid of many resets in Blazer)

[PinCushionQueen]

You could try the Palm Enterprise Security update to flash your ROM back to Palm's (you mentioned that you did DG's custom ROM). Unfortunately it is $6. But it is possible that something went awry when you 1st flashed your ROM.

[Modnar]

Is it possible to use dmitry's rom after using the ESU as I have ( to use my tx at university)?

[Sjweise]

Today I believe marked the day my TX died. I had a reset loop this morning, which after a hard reset I restored and while all my prefs were wrecked the data was still there. Then the TX crashed 3 times where the screen just got all scrambled. Now it has been inert for about 4 hours. I've got it plugged into the charger right now, but it is DEAD. I'm really disappointed, since my I had 3 T3s and the TX has been very problematic. At this point, I'm out 300 for the TX, my T3 is out on loan to family and all I have is an m515. I need something, and I'll probably need to buy something, but I'm REALLY not sure what it will be anymore. Very disappointing indeed.

[FIA WRC]

Sorry to hear that your TX is dead. eBay and Amazon are a good place to find Clie's.

[bh77a]

Joe,

Very sorry to hear about your troubles. Over the course of my TX's lifetime I became so frustrated with it that for Christmas my wife bought me a mint condition CLIE TH55 from forum member DanT. My TX is stable now, mostly since I only use it lightly once a day.

Since you are such a nice guy, if you were my neighbor, I would loan you my Tungsten E or CLIE TJ27 to use. Too bad you don't live closer...

Out of curiosity, what would happen if you could get it running and run the wifi update from Palm that would wipe DG's ROM update?

Have you tried running it completely hard reset for a while to see how it works? Sorry if you have and I missed the post, I haven't been following too closely with work and all.

Very sorry to hear about your woes...

[Modnar]

Today I believe marked the day my TX died. I had a reset loop this morning, which after a hard reset I restored and while all my prefs were wrecked the data was still there. Then the TX crashed 3 times where the screen just got all scrambled. Now it has been inert for about 4 hours. I've got it plugged into the charger right now, but it is DEAD. I'm really disappointed, since my I had 3 T3s and the TX has been very problematic. At this point, I'm out 300 for the TX, my T3 is out on loan to family and all I have is an m515. I need something, and I'll probably need to buy something, but I'm REALLY not sure what it will be anymore. Very disappointing indeed.

Dam that stinks the m515 can still do a bit though!

[Sjweise]

Joe,

Very sorry to hear about your troubles. Over the course of my TX's lifetime I became so frustrated with it that for Christmas my wife bought me a mint condition CLIE TH55 from forum member DanT. My TX is stable now, mostly since I only use it lightly once a day.

Since you are such a nice guy, if you were my neighbor, I would loan you my Tungsten E or CLIE TJ27 to use. Too bad you don't live closer...

Out of curiosity, what would happen if you could get it running and run the wifi update from Palm that would wipe DG's ROM update?

Have you tried running it completely hard reset for a while to see how it works? Sorry if you have and I missed the post, I haven't been following too closely with work and all.

Very sorry to hear about your woes...

My wife has donated her Treo 650 (not the same) since she doesn't use it really and will be getting blackberry pearl anyday thru work. I'll call Palm and try to do a swap out for a refurb unit. In the interim I'll see how I like the Treo. Maybe I'll go for a 700p and save up for it.

[Church Punk]

i guess flashing the rom (like PCQ suggested), doing a hard reset before a zero-out reset, and restoring app by app would have done the trick...
im sry to hear ur experience with ur TX :(

[Sjweise]

Does anyone have any ideas on getting the TX up and running? Technically, I am out of the 1 year warranty period for Palm, so I figure they'll screw me on that one. (I put a service request email in, got my fingers crossed). If they won't send me another, I think I'll open her up and see if disconnecting the battery will get it to turn on again. If I could just get it on I could reflash the rom (not that I think Dmitry's rom is causing this, but its worth a shot) and get it back up. Since I've got my wife's Treo I am not even sure if I want to use the TX anymore. But, I'd hate to see 300 bucks get flushed down the toilet. Maybe I could sell it and put it towards an newer Treo? LOL...doubtful.

TX as of now: Won't charge (as far as I can tell)
Will not turn on
Pressing the reset button has no effect (there is resistance, so I don't think its broken there)
Power button is useless.

I'm open to any ideas, assuming Palm refuses to send me a refurb.

[Modnar]

You sound very similar to what I had with my Z72 where by it jsut didnt respond one bit so now you have to wait to fully discharge it then recharge it the only sure way is to use a voltmeter to check if it is low enough or open it up (only if palm refuses to replace it) and disconnect the battery then reconnect it has happened before to other tx's as well and has been fixed.

[Sjweise]

I agree. If Palm won't let me send it in I'll take it apart and disconnect the battery.

[Gregte]

....the only sure way is to use a voltmeter to check if it is low enough or open it up (only if palm refuses to replace it) and disconnect the battery then reconnect it has happened before to other tx's as well and has been fixed.

One problem with the TX is that you can't check the voltage with a voltmeter without taking the back off. The battery voltage is not present at the power input pins. Do you have some way I am not thinking of to check the voltage with a meter without removing the back cover?

[Modnar]

I agree. If Palm won't let me send it in I'll take it apart and disconnect the battery.

Keep us posted and look around on how exactly to open the tx so nothing is ruined!

One problem with the TX is that you can't check the voltage with a voltmeter without taking the back off. The battery voltage is not present at the power input pins. Do you have some way I am not thinking of to check the voltage with a meter without removing the back cover?

Well since Palm has gone to a proprietry connector (GRRR no using my dads spare Htc apache usb charger anymore when traveling or jsut about) you could actually pick up some charge of the usb connection at the bottom of your palm as again with my Z72 I somehow over time ruined the power pin in it so i had to charge via usb and when it died I think that i could read the power via the usb connector but you had to have some very small rods sticking into some hole(s) (cant remember which) and attach your voltmeter to those (I used pins I think).

[Sjweise]

Palm stated that my TX is out of warranty, so no refurb unit for free. I decided to open it up and take a look. Its very easy, just 4 screws...the T3 was trickier. I fiddled with the battery, kinda jiggled the connector on the battery and my TX turned on...with full data! I did a hard reset and have been charging it since then. My power button still barely works though. My next step is to do a zero reset (need my wife's help on that), run the wifi rom update (just in case) and reinstall apps 1 at a time. However, I've fallen in love with the Treo and it's keyboard...I need to get a 680 or 700...the 650 is too slow.

[Sjweise]

AAAAAAAA!!!!

Now the TX will not turn on. It must be a hardware issue, but I have no idea how to figure out what it would be. What a piece of &^%. Sigh.

[Dick Tracy]

Time for Chris Short.

[Modnar]

AAAAAAAA!!!!

Now the TX will not turn on. It must be a hardware issue, but I have no idea how to figure out what it would be. What a piece of &^%. Sigh.

Repeat as above :S and as soon as it goes do a hard reset (as it had the datat already on it didnt? due to nvfs) as I know you really wouldnt want to do it but you must it could be an app on start up that is screwing it over!

If not I guess I'm pretty much out of options :confused:

[Sjweise]

After the successful hard reset the only thing that should have been running was Maxx in rom to allow for Netfront. I'm not convinced that Maxx is the culprit. The circuit baord was very warm to the touch while it was on and plugged in, right below the reset button. Then it just crapped out and will not turn on. I've jiggled the battery, plugged it in and tried reseting to no avail. I am hoping someone will have some suggestion on what to do next. I know the battery has a charge, it was probablt at 75% atleast when it stopped turning on. So what is the next thing that could be wrong that would make the device not be able to get power to the device? Keep in mind that I've also suffered through episodes where the device would not turn on without a soft reset, which is not working now.

I guess worse case scenario I get Chris to work on it. Maybe now is a good time to try squeezing the TX into the T3's shell?

[Church Punk]

maybe OT, but have you guys noticed that the TX turns inestable with hotsyncs?

i havent donea hotsync since january 14th and i remember i did a hard reset after that due to instabillity problems. I havent installed an app with hotsync ever since and i must say that my TX is pretty much more stable than ever before...

Maybe hotsync is the root of all evil resets for our TXs? :confused:

[Modnar]

my last piece of advice their is to leave the battery to fully flat out cant think of more! *repeats self*

[PinCushionQueen]

maybe OT, but have you guys noticed that the TX turns inestable with hotsyncs?

i havent donea hotsync since january 14th and i remember i did a hard reset after that due to instabillity problems. I havent installed an app with hotsync ever since and i must say that my TX is pretty much more stable than ever before...

Maybe hotsync is the root of all evil resets for our TXs? :confused:

That's an interesting theory CP, I haven't hotsyncd in ~9 months (I do card backups and use CardReader to transfer files if needed and then RescoExplorer to install - although uniCmd will also install) I too consider my TX to be very stable (knock on wood) even though I do quite a bit of beta testing. I did accidently hard reset last week when I was trying to make Dmitry's HardReset app into a Prefs Panel app - but haven't needed to other than that.

[cyberdude]

That's an interesting theory CP, I haven't hotsyncd in ~9 months (I do card backups and use CardReader to transfer files if needed and then RescoExplorer to install - although uniCmd will also install) I too consider my TX to be very stable (knock on wood) even though I do quite a bit of beta testing. I did accidently hard reset last week when I was trying to make Dmitry's HardReset app into a Prefs Panel app - but haven't needed to other than that.
Could be ...

I haven't hotsynced since the beginning of January. I also do card backups and use cardreader to transfer files - although I use myinstall to install them. I've also used PInstall quite a bit to install apps. This is quite useful as it uses the hotsync method, but only installs apps. Thus Uninstall Manager and other apps that look for apps to be installed via hotsync, see these and track them. BTW, I would consider my TX fairly stable as well, even though I'm beta testing 3 apps currently. I haven't had to hard reset my device in about a year. The only soft resets I have are either scheduled from 2PlayMe, or due to alpha/beta software I'm testing.

[Modnar]

Delets my double post as I did it on my tx and it hands on the reply so I wasnt too sure if it had posted or not :S

EIther way I found that my tx is more stable after not hot syncing *Wonders*

[Sjweise]

Well, the TX is just plain DEAD. The more I think about it the madder I get. The Treo is running most of the extra utilities that was on the TX plus some Treo specific ones and has only frozen up during my foolish attempt to use Versamail (as if I had not learned already). I wonder how much wifi, bluetooth, and the dia mess up the TX. I'm mad that I spent 300 bucks 18 months ago and now I have a lump of plastic now. Even my T3 still works. Ridiculous. I've thought about things and I'll make do with the Treo 650 till a better gsm treo comes out (680 isn't really all that better). However, I wish I could rant at Palm over my TX just dying. I'd like to get it running if just to have a quick, mobile web access option when wifi is available. Did I mention how mad I am? I went throught 3 T3's before I had one that worked, and even then it has screen whine. Now my TX dies, and NO ONE can tell me its software since even a reset won't reboot it.

Atleast the Treo has me hooked. If only it had UTMS access and more ram. Then I'd love it more than life itself.

Oh yeah, I had to reformat my 4 gb card in the Treo and keep <2gb on it so it doesn't freeze up. Awesome. I could try the rom update from Shadowmite, but I flashed the rom on my TX and now its dead. :(

[PinCushionQueen]

I'm real sorry to hear about your final loss SJWeise! That totally stinks! I am happy to hear that you're digging the treo and have one to tide you over until you can get a new machine. My TX is my right arm. I'd be lost (or at least late :-P ) without it. You'll have to let us know which unit you end up with.

[Modnar]

Yeah thats bloody sad and annoying about that!

[Gregte]

Well, the TX is just plain DEAD. ...(

I cannot tell from your post if you mean that you have taken the back cover off, but if you have not it would certainly be worth doing.

There are two ribbon cablse plugged into the main board. If the one on the side is partially unplugged the TX will not show anything on the screen, including no light.

Also, the TX's internal battery does have a circuit breaker built into it. It would be a simple task to put a voltmeter on the two solder connections where the battery's wires are soldered to the board. It should show at least 3.64 volts or so in order for the TX to work. And while you are at it, unsolder one of the wires and let the TX set for a minute then resolder.

Again, maybe you have had the back off and done these things but I didn't see it if you had already said so.

[Sjweise]

I tried unplugging the side cable..no luck.

I will try detaching the battery (the T3 just plugged in for Pete's sake) and re soldering. I think the board is dead though. I think I got a bum unit and the TX died just out of warranty. I just wish I had spent the 300 bucks 18 months ago on a Treo and not wasted my money. :mad: