[NTLK] eMate just flashes at me!

From: Frank Gruendel (newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Mon Aug 22 2005 - 13:15:00 PDT


> Hello all! I have been on vacation for a
> few weeks and when I came back my daughter
> tired to turn on her emate. Did not start,
> no big deal just dead batteries. Plugged
> it in and got flashing back light. Took out=20
> batteries, same thing. Took out upgrade card
> and plugged it in and it asked if I wanted
> erase all info. Did the wipe and it works fine.....=20
> unless I put in the upgrade card, then all
> I get is the flashing back=20
> light.=20
>=20
> Can I save the upgrade card?

A flashing backlight means that the eMate sensed
a hardware problem with the memory (which you
already found out). I'd bet that your upgrade card
is made by NewerTech. These boards are very poorly
soldered, eventually most of them develop what you
describe.

Unless you have the tools and the skill to solder
under a microscope, I'd recommend not to try
fixing this yourself. You'd probably create many
shorts between the pins of the memory chips that
would kill the board for good.

If you want me to have a look at it, drop me a
line privately. So far I've been able to fix
all of these boards, so it wouldn't hurt if I
had a look at it. Looking, as usual, is free for
list members, and if I can fix it, which I think
I can, it wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg, either.

Frank

PS Make sure to take care of the infamous hinge
spring problem:

    http://www.pda-soft.de/emate_disassemble.html

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de

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