freeze
Dave Arnett
: Everyone talks about how drastic the hardware reset is, but I regularly
: have to do hardware resets and almost always recover memory.
: When it crashes and asks me if I want to recover memory, I say yes. It
: then starts trying to recover mem, but I have a 128k card inn, so it
: takes forever. I sometimes get impatient, hardware reset it, while it
: off take out my mem. card, and turn it back on, and let it recover memory
: then. Works much better. This has even worked when it has tried to
: recover memory, and then again asked me if I want to recover memory.
: So my question, Dave, is any ideas why it works for me, or an
: explaination of why a hardware reset is supposed to be something you avoid?
I'd say that the reason why it works for you is a combination of things.
If you are frequently doing a hard reset, there may be a short list of
things you're doing to get your '48 locked up. If the CAUSE of the
lock-up doesn't trash memory, then the Reset probably won't, either.
The other half of the situation is the quality of the recovery scheme
used. I believe that CharlieP either wrote that scheme or was a very
singificant contributor. But there's a very well-designed method used
to recovery everything possible if you ask it to try to recover memory.
Clearly, the method works for you.
You asked why we suggest folks use hard reset as a last resort. It's
simple. Your chances of climbing out of a pit are better if the pit is
shallow than if it's deep. An ON-C warmstart disturbs the machine much
less than an ON-A-F coldstart. Similarly, an ON-A-F disturbs the machine
slightly less than the Hard Reset. Also, the ON, A and F keys are easier
to get at than the hard reset key. Clearly, the hard reset will clear
any software induced lock-up, because hardware is much more robust and
important than software (that zinger was for you, JimD. ;} ). So you
can save time going straight for the Reset switch if you know you'll
likely need it.
If you really are in the habit of using hard reset on a regular basis,
you may want to do what some folks on the Software team did - put a hole
in the rubber foot so you don't have to pull it out. One guy was in a
hurry, so he just cut away a quarter of the foot over the reset hole.
Be aware, though, that you should always turn the machine on after you
push reset if you have cards installed. The main change between Rev K
and Rev L was in the initial start-up routine, where we made sure we
handled power routing to the card ports appropriately. If you reset
with a card in and don't cycle through the start-up routine, your
batteries will probably be drained within a day. This is not a problem
using the ON-A-F coldstart or the battery-drop-and-replace method.
That's why Rev K only went into 48G units, no GX. (Except for one GX
I got to evaluate the problem.)
Dave.
------
I don't speak for HP when I post here.
Knut Erik Ballestad
r> My hp48gx was frozen by that french game. There was no way out.
r> It's solved now though. I had to keep the batteries out for some hours.
r> I only wished there could be a faster method, maybe a better hard reset.
r> Anyways, thanx to all those whom have helped.
There is in fact a much easier and faster way to reset the calculator.
Just turn all the batteries in the opposite direction for 4-5 seconds,
and then turn them back in the original direction. You have then fully
discharged the capacitor that sits inside the HP-48, and it will be
reset.
..............Knut Erik.............>
---
· KWQ/2 1.2g NR · [damn, can't think of anything to put here]
Seth Arnold
In article <D2MFs...@hpcvra.cv.hp.com>, Dave Arnett <da...@cv.hp.com> wrote:
[...]
>4. If that doesn't work, try a Coldstart. You MAY lose all your RAM
[...]
>5. If that doesn't work, you're REALLY having a tough day. It's time for a
>hardware RESET. The RESET switch is hidden under one of your 48's runbber
[...]
Why is it, that everywhere, I see the reset switch listed *after* even
a coldstart! If the calc is locked bad enough that warmstart won't
work, then neither will coldstart. Usually anyway. I can't think of
anywhere where it would. But, that is beside the point. Why not try to
just reset, rather than lose all your mem? :-)
--
Seth Arnold | hid...@agora.rdrop.com
Dave Arnett
: Why is it, that everywhere, I see the reset switch listed *after* even
: a coldstart! If the calc is locked bad enough that warmstart won't
: work, then neither will coldstart. Usually anyway. I can't think of
: anywhere where it would. But, that is beside the point. Why not try to
: just reset, rather than lose all your mem? :-)
As I said before, (1) the On-A-F keys are easier to access and press than is
the Reset switch; and (2) Reset does everything bad that On-A-F does, plus a
tiny bit more. If you don't lose mem with a Reset, I don't think you'll
lose it with a Coldstart either.
But, of course, I'm not speaking for HP. ;)
Dave.