Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!csn!boulder!spot.Colorado.EDU!frechett From: frechett@spot.Colorado.EDU (-=Runaway Daemon=-) Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds Subject: RESET Button Was(Re: SUNCLK and CMT Ramcards) Summary: Don't use reset as last resort Keywords: HP-48, reset Message-ID: <1991May12.203824.12992@colorado.edu> Date: 12 May 91 20:38:24 GMT References: Sender: news@colorado.edu (The Daily Planet) Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Lines: 71 Nntp-Posting-Host: spot.colorado.edu In article TDSTRONG%MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU writes: >fine however when run the machine entirely locked up. Even pulling the >batteries and the dreaded ON-A-F failed to work. The last resort was the >RESET Button and that worked. Will comment on this sorry state of affairs in a moment. > >Even odder yet was that when I reloaded in my archived memory I tried to >used PGDIR to remove SUNCLK directory and the machine locked again!!! It sounds as though that directory was corrupt even before your last backup. I have had this happen.. I suspect that an early version of Tetris ran off the screen and into memory and corrupted some segment of memory. When I went into a certain directory, I started going through it with NXT. At some point, I saw an object repeated... and then every screen after that contained only copies of that object. 1. It could not be purged. 2. The directory could not be purged as it contained the offending object. 3. The end of that directory could not be found.. It was as though that object had killed the end marker for the objects in that directory. 4. The RESET button brought it out of its coma every time (more later) 5. The corruption was in my last 6 backups. Have to be careful of this. So it most likely has nothing to do with the card which was in that calculator as I have had no problems with my CMT 128K card at all.. I believe it to be a superior card. NOW, we are on the point of this message... I see this all the time... someone posts.. "... it locked up the calculator.... ON-C didn't work .... ON-A-F didn't work... pulling the batteries didn't work... and finally I tried the reset button as a last resort and it worked.... " WHY??? I don't understand why people use it as a last resort. Let me let you in on my observations. In a given situation where your calculator is locked up.. ON is how you realized that it was locked... ON-C is a good first step. It works about 10% of the time. Now if you use ON-A-F as the next step, I have found that about 50% of the time it will not work at all and the calulator will remain locked. About 50% of the time it will take you to the "Try to recover memory?" screen and if you press YES it will eat your memory anyway, and leave as most a few bits of garbage in the HOME directory, OR it will just lock it up again. If you press NO it will either leave nothing, OR it will lock up the calculator again. Really useful eh? Then people pull the batteries for several hours. This never seems to work. I pulled my batteries for 5 hours once and when I put them back in, everything was intact. To expect the calculator to be better in less than a night with the batteries out is unrealistic or at least not guaranteed to work. This is the point where in a fit of frustration, everyone tries the reset button. It works. I see these words of surprise from people, that a hardware reset works when all the software resets don't. This doesn't make any sense at all. It has always worked for me. I have locked up my calculator numerous times and this is my sequence of events and results. ON-C 10% of the time, unlocks it. reset button 100% of the time will unlock calc, 90% of the time that I use it I lose absolutely NOTHING. From what I can tell, it seems to be reminicient of the ON on the hp28s. That would turn the calculator off even if locked and when ON- (don't have my 28s handy) and ON-- didn't work. When the calc was turned of after that it was either fine or could be reset. This appears to be what the hp48sx does. Watch the calc when you hit the reset button. If the calc is on, it will turn it off. If it is off then it stays off. It seems to be a bit kinder than ON-A-F. I say use it right after ON-C. What are other people's comments? ian -=Runaway Daemon=-