New m500 series USB Sync Problem Solution

I suffered through this problem just last weekend with an m515 and it was quite a pain.

I think this is definitely an improvement over the process I had to go through, especially when you consider that the average user does not frequent sites like this and a straightforward, simply solution is workable for the average user. Hey, my wife could have followed the instructions for this process and I could have used my time on more productive pursuits, like football. :)

In the Spirit of Umoja,
Ronin

But the problem is, the new cradle does NOT fix the problem. I got an m515 with the supposedly fixed cradle, and it stopped synching within a week.

I correct myself! 10 (TEN) hours with the recharge time!!! SLEEP-IN THAT MORNING!!! and you could probably cook your breakfast eggs/flapjacks on the back of your Palm after the constant battery discharge/recharge heat accelerations!

Even though I know this issue is over with the bitter taste in our mouths, I just have to archive my experiences.

I started with a $600CAN m515.

I had suds 3 times, got 3 refurbs (which, as you all know is a horrible thing.. First I was without it and dead in the water for 2 weeks, then there were all kinds of problems with the refurbs, even down to the fact that brightness control was gone [they even removed the sun icon from the grafitti area])

I started doing the software fix (shortcut, drain, etc), but called palm asap when I found out they were shipping the card.

I got a shiny new 32MB sd card (16mb wouldn't have held a backup of my palm), and proceeded to strip it out, using it as a regular card but with backup/hsreset as an option.

The issue was now somewhat dealable.. I no longer lost work, and it even seemed to subside. "I guess it'll do" I thought, since I was tired of palm.

Now, what I didn't realise at the time, is that the issue went away because it was no longer winter.

I'm up in Edmonton, Alberta and it gets very dry in the winter.. I was getting suds from dropping the thing into my pocket or touching it!

So, when winter came again (november, if I remember correctly), it happened again.

THIS TIME IT WAS DEAD!
Nothing! No reset, no battery drain fix, nothing.
I could get it to boot, but it would fatal exception within 10 seconds of a battery drain and hard reset.

I called palm back, totally pissed off at the whole ordeal and was told 2 things:

1) It's dead (this I knew, but always goot to have it official ;)

2) Since I was out of the 90 day warranty all I could do was get a refurb for $160CAN!

I got higher up, and they gave me a revised deal and the refusal to upgrade me. New deal: Refurb for $80+ shipping.

So, I started with a $600 palm pilot, and ended up paying about $650 total for a worse one, then a doorstop.

That's the end of the story, I think I beat most ppl here for ESD problems.. At least all of those who posted ;)

Oh, and I ended up getting a tungsten E, which is a great upgrade to the 515, but doesn't have a universal connector (wtf is the point in calling it universal?). No ESD even though it's winter, so I think it's safe to say it's ok :)

And don't worry; I maxed out the futureshop warranty ;)

I don't think this has been posted to the palm support site yet. You will need to contact palm customer support directly for this.

Your treatment depends on which customer rep you get on the phone. I went through five M505's and most reps were pretty good, a couple were very very good, and one was terible (did know his product and rude to boot). Wish I could say the same for the refurbished units they sent me. Bad pixels, defective batteries, bad ROM's, you name it. They have no quality control for refurbs whatsoever, either that or a few units slipped past the inspector's seeing eye dog.

I would have dropped Palm branded handhelds altogether if it had not been for my great experience with the M515.

because corporations often refuse to accept any responsibility for problem products. Nothing is perfect, and none of us can anticipate every possible scenario. However, when a problem exists, it's prudent to acknowledge the problem and provide a fix. At the very least, a work-around.

Hence we end up with Firestone-like scenarios. Short-sighted management worries about the cost in the immediate picture, hoping it will just go away. Utlitmately it costs more to clean up the mess later.

Lawsuits are often the only remedy for consumers, in particular class action, where large numbers of incidents cannot be rationalized as anomalies or blamed on misuse, abuse, etc.

No fan of lawyers, but where would we be without remedies other than violent retribution. After all an eye for an eye eventually leads to the blind leading the blind since none of us are perfect.

I am a happy m500 owner and I seldom have a problem with HotSyncing. I only have a problem if is a very, very big sync, like syncing the entire inbox from Outlook. However, that said, I wouldn't mind a free SD backup card!!!

1. If a Li-Ion battery is brought to zero voltage, yes, it will be damaged and have a shorter life if it does work at all. The question is: does this process bring the voltage to absolute zero? It would have to be close in order for the Palm to no longer retain the usb sync communications parameters, but given that the drain process halts when the cpu can no longer function, and that Li-Ions have some resiliency, then it would be close to zero but not absolute zero.

2. The cradle changes virtually eliminated the problem, but there are cases of extreme static which can still zap the handheld. I put about a week of usage on my M515 every day, and even run with it in my pants pocket. It's still running fine, but there will probably be exceptions.

3. No, unless you get the occasional Palm rep with a rude attitude, they will most likely take care of you.

4. Never heard of this, and there is no backup capacitor in the M series to hold the data while you switch batteries.

5. It the usb hotsync communications software that is being scrambled. Ever do a hard reset and the Palm remembered the date? This comm software is the same way... it does not get reset when you perform either a soft OR hard reset. As long as there is enough power, these setting are kept regardless of what you do to your Palm. Removing power causes this info to be lost, and the configuration is restored from scratch when power is restored.

6. I wish, but apparently Palm did not find a way to get this reset by software alone. There may be a way, but I'm not a programmer (fooling around with basic and pascal does not count!).

I've done several battery disconnects for out-of-warranty users, as the charging control software also can get scrambled either by SUDS or software (Navman Companion is one...). All have been successful with no ill effect, but don't do this unless the warranty is past. Of course, it would not be necessary no that we have this fix available.

Haven't had any problems syncing with my T|T, and there have been several occasions where there was a nice static shock when I took it out of the cradle.

Thanks

This worked perfect.

I, too, have spoken to a friendly neighborhood tech support person. She told me that the SD card solution was no longer available, and that Palm had run out.
I am able to do the refurbished model switcheroo for free (1.5 years after warranty) so I really can't complain.

Unless it happens again.

If there are no cards available, I wonder if they'd at least make the program available. I have BackupBuddyVFS, so I don't have the backup issue (although, I whould love to get a free SD card!).

Oh well, I guess I'll try disconnecting the battery. I have a good grounding strap and I'm not afraid to use it.

I am seeing in this forum that the HS_Reset cards are not available from Palm. I am not sure what everyone is talking about, as I ordered mine on 1/29/03 and received it on 2/2/03. I think you are all getting Palm's wonderful customer support, once again. They are telling you that the cards are out of stock, because they are uneducated. Call support, as for the corporate office. Call them in California. Then ask for Executive Escalation. When you get them there, (and get them to give you the number, not just transfer you), you should ask for Mike. I spoke to him, and he is the one that sent the card. Tell him that the others are telling you that there are no cards. Reference your trouble ticket number (that you should have already opened with Pal, support). If you do not know it, call them back at support and ask them for it. They track it by your telephone number that you provide to them at the start of the call.

Good luck. They have the cards. Don't accept that they do not. If they tell you that, ask them to email you a zip file of the the contents of one of the cards. I zipped the card and it was 56.6 Kb total. Very small and it fits nicely in an email.