aap

I've had my TG-50 for nearly two years. I've been using it with a 128x2 memory stick but more space seemed useful, so I ordered a SanDisk 1GB MS Pro. You can probably already guess where this is going: I inserted the new stick and it seemed fine, but empty. When I pulled it out and put back my old one, the Clie didn't even notice. Both sticks still work fine in my PC's memory stick slot.

A voice in the back of my head said to come check this forum here, because the story was starting to sound familiar . A post linked from the TG50 forum showed how salesrep fixed what sounded like the same issue on an SJ30.

So, I opened up my TG-50, took apart the MS slot, and started bending the pins. The only problem is, I never saw the spring-- it vanished into thin air or something. Also, I did at one point see the staple but it escaped somehow. After crawling around brushing through the carpet fibers with my fingers and not finding anything I decided to put the thing together and see whether it could at least read the sticks, even if I might have trouble getting them out again afterwards. No dice. Not only that, I seem to have broken the jog dial (nearby buttons work though). Also, IR and Bluetooth seem to be broken as well, but I don't use those nearly as often as the jog dial and memory stick. There is one piece that I couldn't figure out where to put back... it's a little folded piece of copper-colored metal.

What can I say... I'm a software guy.

A new PDA is not really in the budget right now, and from what I've heard I could almost buy a new TG50 on Ebay for what Sony would want to look at mine. If I do have to replace it some day, is there any way to guess whether a new TG50 would be likely to have the same problem with memory sticks? I guess I could also consider a Treo 650 or T|C... I've grown kind of used to having a keyboard so there are not many other options in PalmOS land.

Meanwhile, any tips for resurrection would be appreciated. My wife also has a TG50 (with a deteriorating screen, but that's another story) but she won't go near the new memory stick after what happened to mine.

madmaxmedia

Definitely better to buy a replacement TG50 off EBay. Then you have your existing one for parts, etc.

The TG50 was never any more failure-prone than other CLIE's, so I don't think you should need to do any extra work to double check the MS slot (besides obviously making sure everything works if you buy a new one.)

Although it would have been nice for Sony to release a TG50 successor, it is still easily the best PDA for me, which is why I personally wouldn't hesitate buying a replacement from EBay (around $100 to $150 depending on condition.) The backlit keyboard is great, as is the Voice Recorder and various multimedia functions. It is also powerful enough to run any app I want or need. Even the low memory is addressed pretty well with MSMount. Way better than buying a Zire 22 or something like that...

JayWigley

I just got my TG50 from ebay about two weeks ago. I got a pretty nice deal on it ($66) in the post-Christmas PDA dump, which is probably still going on at a little slower pace. (You know, where people sell their old PDAs because they got or bought a new one for Christmas!)

I happen to have gotten an older one that had functioning flash memory as well, so that's a plus--just have the seller check the serial number before you bid.

But tell me--what's the problem with memory sticks? I was thinking of getting a 1GB MS (or at least a 512K one)--what should I watch out for?
Jay

salesrep

I seem to be running into the MS slot problem all over the place with my TG50's as well. In another thread I documented the 'crunched up' contacts inside the first one I bought, which lead me to disassemble. . .forgetting to remove the battery first. . .and now that one has a great MS slot, but fried charging circuit on the motherboard.

I just bought another TG50 on eBay for $75 BIN that had original box and all accessories. It works great, holds a good charge (although not as good as my other,) and when I put my 512 card into it, I could feel the resistance at the last little bit. I did manage to get it in there, but I can see this will lead to problems if I continue to remove/insert the MS. Now I've decided that the MS will NOT be coming out of there!!

BTW--what #'s are we looking for in the serial # that indicate extra flash memory?

Thanks!

__________________

CURRENTLY OWN: sj33 x4 + tg50 x4 + msb1 x2 + kb20 x2 + tj27 + nx80v + th55/e1 x2

CURRENTLY USING: th55/e1 + 2GB ms + cc5 + trv80 + SYNC a707

JayWigley

If the serial number starts with "300" then you can use something like JackFlash to get between 3 and 4 Megs of extra memory. Any serial number that begins with "301" or higher will not allow JackFlash to make the memory available to the unit.

aap

Thanks for comments all.

madmaxmedia, I agree with everything you said about the TG50, BUT... what I don't want to do is go buy another, insert the memory stick, and wind up right back where I am now. Almost.

How widespread is this issue? Are there plenty of people who put in a 1GB stick and find that it "just works"? Or is this something that affects most of the units out there?

If I *do* get away with it, then I could probably take the screen from my current unit and use it to replace my wife's... but given how much success I had this weekend she probably won't let me try until hers becomes almost completely unusable.

Romeol

Mine is perfect. I bought it in June and it works great still. icedplatinumdj@gmail.com if you're interesting in buying. I would be including:
512 MB MS PRO
128 MB MS
Innopocket Aluminum Case
Spare styli w/ ballpoint pen tips
screen protectors (3)
cradle
travel charger
stowaway keyboard

It's in nearly mint condition with only a slight scratch on the top of the flip cover and a slight chip in the bottom. Everything works FLAWLESSLY.

decastroandy

I have had the exact same problem with my TG50.
I was using at Sandisk 64mb memory card, but then i decided to upgrade to a 1gb. It worked fine for about a month, and then it just stopped working.
Luckily, this forum has mangaed to shed some light of the problem, as the people at the shop were stumped as to why my Clié wasn´t reading it.
I wouldn´t recommend getting a 1Gb memory card; it´s not worth the risk

aap

decastroandy-- Did it still read the 64MB stick when the 1GB stick stopped working? I would guess not. so did you get it working again?

I suppose I owe an update on my situation. I got a broken unit from Ebay for parts. It was clear that someone had been messing with it before as the back of the case was scratched up a lot. There were three different kinds of screws on the back: the 4 and 5-point ones I had seen before and some 3-point screws which I could not manage to get off with regular phillips or flat screwdrivers. I looked everywhere for suitable screwdrivers and didn't find them around here but there's a shop near my office that had a kit that worked like a charm. Well, actually I had stripped the 3-point screws pretty badly, but got them out eventually, but I was surprised to find that the kit included a 5-point as well. Definitely worth the $20. The kit is the "cellular phone service kit" on this page.

Anyway, I was surprised at how bad the condition of the ebay broken unit was... some of the cables were actually sliced. Since the unit didn't power up I couldn't tell whether the memory stick slot was happy until I moved it to mine. No dice. But at least while I was putting it in I figured out what had gone wrong with my jog dial, IR, and bluetooth: the cable in the upper right had come unplugged and slipped under the motherboard so I couldn't see that it was supposed to be plugged in somewhere.

I did repeatedly try bending the pins into place but it didn't help, and eventually one of the pins snapped. So I guess I'm done trying that particular slot.

So my IR and bluetooth are working now, but still no MS slot. I may try another broken unit from ebay, or I may wind up with a Tungsten C, but for now I guess I am just living without the memory.

decastroandy

aap

decastroandy, it is my understanding that if you can still read the 64MB stick, your problem may not be related to the problem everyone else here is having. What about the flip side... can you still read the 1GB stick in other devices?

decastroandy

yes, i can read the 1GB stick in other devices; i´ve got a Sony VAIO VGC-M1 which is reading it alright. I was recommended to do a hard reset on my clié and see if this solved the problem, but it didn´t. Baisically, everything else reads my 1GB memory stick apart from my clié. I´ve downloaded the relevant driver from the clie-link website for my clie to operate with a MS PRO, but to no avail! The people at the shop have given me 2 cards so far, and neither of them work.
I guess now, after having been to the shop many times and because of this forum, that the problem lies within my Clié, but the strange thing is that i had been using my MS PRO for a month before, and then now it just decided to stop working! Any suggestions please!!?

lewdvig

I just tried a 1 GB Sandisk Duo Pro w/ adatper on my TG50 with no problems. If you look at the business end of the memstick you see it is shaped different than the old cards. Insert very carefully and you should be OK. Mine is a 303 serial #

__________________
My PDA History - Sony TG50 - Palm T5 - Treo 650 - Palm T|T - Sony T415 - Casio Em500 - Jornada 540 - Philips Nino

HiRes

I want to use a 1GB Pro Duo for the TG50 but I do not want to risk breaking the memory slot. What should I do to avoid any problems or should I even get the 1GB? Some people have reported no problems with the 1GB and some have (broken memory slot, nonreadable, etc)

EDIT- The Sandisk website mentions the TG50 being able support up to 2GB. Is this true?

http://www.sandisk.com/Compatibility/Device(7683)-Sony-PEGTG50.aspx