The LifeDrive was dead?

[tangwd898]

Dear all,

I am a newbie here and i need your help, please.

I just got a nonworking LifeDrive from a friend, the problem is:-

- The small LED (charging indicator) turn on when i plug the charger in, but the unit won't turn on

anyone know what's wrong with it?
any way to fix it?

i tried to remove the back cover to see what's happened but i can't. i see the two small screws at the top back of the unit, is there any more? it doesn't seem like it will come off. if you could direct me with some pics. or just tell me how to remove the back cover off the lifedrive i would be extreamly thankful.

[Dick Tracy]

pdaparts.com has takeapart directions.

[jigwashere]

Try leaving the device plugged in over night.

[sgosnell]

Remove the screws, and then you have to pry the back cover off.

[tangwd898]

pdaparts.com has takeapart directions.
sorry, i can't found it there.
can you give a working links?
thanks.

[tangwd898]

Try leaving the device plugged in over night.
already tried before but useless.

[tangwd898]

Remove the screws, and then you have to pry the back cover off.
i removed the two screws but can't removed the back cover.
can you give more step by step instructions?
thanks.

[hgradeca]

here is the link to the PDAparts:
http://www.gethightech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=RD
Just scroll down a little bit and you should find the video. :)

Or if you cannot find it, there is also a link to the youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=LifeDrive&search=Search

Hope this helps! :)

[tangwd898]

Thank you hgradeca for the links.
I have opened the cover but still don't know what's wrong with the unit.

My question now is:-

If the battery is faulty, does the unit work when i plug the charger in?

[hgradeca]

How long did you leave it charging?
A friend of mine had similar problem - he just left it charge for several hours and it was alive again! :) That was about 9 months ago and it is still working flawlessly!
Try charging it for a long time and then tell us whether it is alive! :)

[Josser]

An in-cradle reset will reset the charging circuitry in a rechargeable device. This is helpful if your device turns off as soon as you turn it on, or if it doesn't seem to be charging when you connect it to a power source.

The charger can be any type of cradle or cable that charges your device. The important bit is to make sure the power adapter is plugged in and supplying power to your device during the reset.

Connect your device securely to its charging cradle or cable, and connect the cradle/cable to a power source.

Use an unfolded paper clip, or the reset tool at the tip of your stylus.

Gently press the RESET button inside the hole on the back panel of your device.

[tangwd898]

i just charged it for for a few hours and can fell the body of unit is very hot, but it still can't turn on.

To Josser:
- the reset button should be at the bottom of the unit not on the back panel of the device, right?
- how to do a An in-cradle reset ?

Thanks again.

[hgradeca]

i just charged it for for a few hours and can fell the body of unit is very hot, but it still can't turn on.

To Josser:
- the reset button should be at the bottom of the unit not on the back panel of the device, right?
- how to do a An in-cradle reset ?

Thanks again.


Well... It is a bit strange to me that it is becoming hot... Just one question - is it becoming hot on the upper part of the body (where the palmOne logo is) or in the lower part (where the serial number is)?
To do an in-cradle reset, put the LD to charge itself and reset it while charging. Hope it helps. :)

[tangwd898]

Well... It is a bit strange to me that it is becoming hot... Just one question - is it becoming hot on the upper part of the body (where the palmOne logo is) or in the lower part (where the serial number is)?
To do an in-cradle reset, put the LD to charge itself and reset it while charging. Hope it helps. :)
- The whole body is hot.
- in-cradle reset -> done that many times but nothing happened.

Thanks.

[hgradeca]

- The whole body is hot.
- in-cradle reset -> done that many times but nothing happened.

Thanks.


Well... I have a sick idea - try charging it without the back metal cover and then see whether the Microdrive or the battery is producing the heat.
If the drive is heating, that means that, for some reason, it is spinning like crazy while it has enough power, but if the battery is becoming hot, that could mean that it is bad.
Has anyone tried that before? Any opinions about the idea?

[cliff09]

I developed the same problem described in this thread in September, this year 2009. I have had my Lifedrive for 3 years (exactly) and initally felt that my problem was a dead/dying battery.

The LD went out/was turned off one night and would not turn on the next morning. I charged it and the orange charging light stayed on. I began to get worried. I started reading appropriate threads here and at Brighthand and 1src Forums. I tried different resets, but no response from the LD. I decided to get a new battery (1700 mAh) from BatteryShip.com (good price, plus ground shipping brought it to $25.60). After following the YouTube video on how to change the battery (I had never opened it up before), I began. It was fairly easy, I just took my time. After hooking up the new battery the LD came on, so I thought I was out of the woods. However, after it shut down
after the long bootup process it would not come on again. Figured the battery needed charging, so began charging it.

After charging--same orange light with no green light, it would not power on again. Began to fear a motherboard problem or the "charging circuit issue" alluded to in some of the threads I was reading. I began researching the iPod Touch as a replacement. While not the ideal replacement for my needs, I felt I could get it to do most of what I use the LD for. I found a good deal at Frey's Electronics. But before purchasing the Touch, I decided to give the LD a last chance.

Since it came back up after unhooking and replugging the battery, that is where I started--opening the LD was easier and faster now. I can't remember all my steps exactly, but I unplugged/plugged it in a number of times, even the old battery too. I tried hard-resets, soft-resets, etc. Finally, holding the power-button to the Right while holding in the Reset switch with the stylus, I began pressing the other buttons. (I had also plugged in the power cord with the battery out and this brought up an interesting series of actions, which didn't seem to aid very much. Don't know what combination did it, but it eventually reset but not properly. Anyway, when it finally came on after a reset, I did another Hard-Reset with a "Quick Erase" (don't forget to press the Up on the Navigator button--I did the first time and had to unplug/pug the battery again).

After this reset, the Palm started asking about the CD and installing software. It also wanted me to charge the new battery, so I did that, and after an hour or so I saw the green ready light for the first time in 3 weeks. I began to feel that possibly, just possibly, I might be on the right track. I played with the LD for a hour or two and things looked good. I installed some software and things were still looking good. I did a second Hard-Reset with a Quick Erase. I then started putting software back onto the LD.

It will take a while to get everything back to how I like it, but I can put the iPod Touch back onto the back burner and hold off on it till the LD actually does die.

These boards/forums are great as are all the posters here too.

Thanks.

Sorry about this dupe posting.

[cliff09]

Well, the LD worked fine for a day, but then the same thing happened again.

Grrr .... Guess it's time for that iPod Touch. Oh well!

[ECONORAM]

Do you think your microdrive bit the dust? I had one that I could leave plugged in for a few hours and would only have the orange light, and only get the initial Palm splash screen with no status bar at the bottom. Drive was toast. Replaced it with a Sandisk Ultra II CF card via the directions here on 1src and voila! It works better than factory!

[bizzybody]

My LD's green light has never come on to indicate a full charge. WiFi hasn't worked very well since I replaced the MD with a CF, could be poor contact between the spring loaded pins and the patch of copper foil glued to the inside of the case.

The battery has always lasted a very long time, even longer now with the CF.

Don't really need WiFi since Blazer is crap, so's every other Palm OS browser I've tried and Opera Mini refuses to complete its inital setup due to an incorrect time problem that doesn't exist. The time is correct for Mountain Time and I'm not going to change it just to get a web browser to work. It's Opera's problem.

Other than that, the LD is fine, much better with the CF installed.

[Kamthor]

I might as well be wrong but I think I found a possible solution to the dead LD syndrome.
I started having Issues with my LD two days ago when it first refused to turn on, when plugged in to charge the led would turn on orange but the unit would stay dead. Disassemble. Swap with an old battery. It turns on but after a few minutes on charge dies.
I started tinkering around with a multimeter and I suspect that it might be a dead capacitor, just above the battery connector. After hooking up a standard (non smd) cap to it the issue seems to be gone away. turns on, off, charges, everything seems sweel.
Of course I need more testing and eventually soldering an smd capacitor atop of the dead one but right now I need some sleep so I'll keep you guys updated as soon as I'm done, hopefully with some pics and details on how and what to do.
cheers!