X30 with a lobotomy

[dna]

I had given up on mine, but Roger is making me interested again.
I still believe I have some kind of a software problem rather than a physical problem due to the fact that I can wake my PDA from hibernation via the touch screen. I have repeatedly replaced the cables and am confident that they are seated correctly.
Also, interestingly, Roger seems to be saying that he experienced this problem after replacing his main battery instead of the backup battery as I did. I assume his problems with Active-sync are unreleated.
I am wondering if it would be of any use to reinstall the ROM? If I understand correctly that is acheived through active-sync and do not need to have actual access on the PDA screen. I am hoping this might realign whatever stars are causing interfearence with my touch screen
I wish there was a way to reformat the entire thing in a manner similar to a PCs HDD and reinsall everything.

[rogerfgay]

Yes. I misunderstood. I guess I just jumped at the possibility that your problem is EXACTLY the same as mine. I have just installed a replacement for the main battery. I have never been inside, but I received the unit after it had been refurbished ... so someone has been inside. I assume however, that it was a trained technician and that it worked before. My friend wouldn't have sent it to me if it was just a dead thingy.

I'm getting an align screen and a set-up screen that tells me I should tap the screen to begin set-up. I can often toggle back and forth between the two by pushing the reset button on the back. So far, I've gotten a menu by pushing and holding the middle button (on the "mouse" ... i.e. in the center of the do-hicky that's supposed to go right, left, up, down) ... but it doesn't always work. The menu has items like delete and send by email ... something about data transfer I think ... I'd look if I could bring it up reliably.

I'm pretty sure I have enough power.

I would be willing to reinstall the ROM if I knew where to get one. ActiveSync might not have been the problem. I did a couple of other things around the same time. Anyway, I'm willing to reinstall it and try to use it ... hoping I don't get the same problems again. If I do, I now know how to fix those.

I also wish I could reinstall everything.

BTW: I'm not really sure that I've gotten any response from the touch screen yet. Locked is locked. When my screen goes dark, I push the start button to get it back.

[rogerfgay]

Just one more thing to mention. Just in case it's worth something at some point ... I've made sure that my computer's infrared port is installed ... as COM 10 in my case ... and my computer is defined as host. I checked every possible service that the wizard offered me. I don't know if that will offer anything more than ActiveSync does ... but if it is possible to connect, I expect (maybe?) that the files on the X30 could be treated like any other files. Same goes for Bluetooth. I'm new to this thing ... the X30 has Bluetooth .... or not? I've done a hard reset to factory settings.

[rogerfgay]

Upgrade for Windows 2003 for X30
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=131500

Dell Axim System Utilities
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=138530

X30 Self Diagnostic Utility
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=106446

[rogerfgay]

Quick note. I've reinstalled ActiveSync. Nokia PC Suite is still working on Bluetooth. I haven't seen any problem as a result of the installation after approx. 2 minutes.

The X30 was relentless about seeking ActiveSync once I plugged it in via USB. As soon as ActiveSync was installed it asked if I wanted to pair and synchronize. I can once again explore the X30 files with ActiveSync.

[rogerfgay]

Update: I've gone through a trouble-shoot at the Dell website that I found after selecting X30 product and searching "locked up".

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...30A68F27286324

I'm sitting here with the X30 plugged in and the main battery out. I've been through all the steps up to the point where it wants me to reinstall the ROM. I had to go through another search and all I could find was updating the ROM using the CD that comes with the X30. This is a refurbished unit that I got without a CD. I have no way to fetch the ROM to reinstall.

I tried to contact a technician but it required a service tag. I clicked on find service tag and it says: We apologize, but we were not able to find your service tag and/or express service code.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unable to determine your service tag.
Unable to determine your express service code.

So that's it pretty much. According to the trouble-shoot I've been through, reinstalling the ROM is the next thing .... but I can't get one.

[rogerfgay]

Got my h out of my a and found the service tag number. Quickly discovered that you can only contact a service technician if the unit is still under warantee. So that pulled my h out of my a even further.

So ... dna ... if you have the CD that came with it, it looks like you can probably get the ROM. I can't.

[rogerfgay]

Update: I may be posting so often that it's obvious that I don't really know what I'm doing and am working through this step by step. New ROM found in the Upgrade for Windows 2003 for X30 link above. I've reinstalled and re-established the connection with ActiveSync. Still have the same problem.

[dna]

Originally Posted by rogerfgay

So far, I've gotten a menu by pushing and holding the middle button (on the "mouse" ... i.e. in the center of the do-hicky that's supposed to go right, left, up, down) ... but it doesn't always work. The menu has items like delete and send by email ... something about data transfer I think ... I'd look if I could bring it up reliably.

You get a menu by holding the middle button? I will have to try that...

If we can explore and edit the files on the PDA, is there a file we could edit to fool it into thinking the screen was aligned? A registry file of some kind? I'd really like to see if the touch would work if I was past that point. Or I could even get some functionality out of the unit if I could just use the directional button.

[rogerfgay]

Update: I installed the other two software packages. The behavior is now slightly different. Little bells sound when I reboot. I was asked during both installations to check the screen on the X30 to see if there was anything else to do. A little bell went off when this happened with one of the installations. But the screen is still the same; stuck on the set up screen.

It went over to align again when I plugged the cable back in. (I unplug the cable and tap to see if it matters that it's unplugged.) The cross even moved once. But now it's sitting in a corner.