My PDA is frozen

[Kris5.0]

I switched batteries on my Dell Axim and now when it first starts up, it asks me to hit one button to clear the memory or another to cancel. If I cancel, it just sits at a blue Dell screen. All I can do from here is reset the PDA, nothing else does anything, not even the power button.

If I switch back to the origanal battery, it still does this.

If I reset the PDA memory, it works fine until I remove/replace the battery... it seems that just taking the battery out and putting it back in causes it to go into this state. Any ideas? I'm fairly new to this PDA business.

[Kati Compton]

I switched batteries on my Dell Axim and now when it first starts up, it asks me to hit one button to clear the memory or another to cancel. If I cancel, it just sits at a blue Dell screen. All I can do from here is reset the PDA, nothing else does anything, not even the power button.

If I switch back to the origanal battery, it still does this.

If I reset the PDA memory, it works fine until I remove/replace the battery... it seems that just taking the battery out and putting it back in causes it to go into this state. Any ideas? I'm fairly new to this PDA business.

Hmm. Sounds like it's asking you to hard reset. Is it possible the reset button is jammed?

[Kris5.0]

I don't think so... when I do a hard reset myself, I can feel a click on the reset button when I press it.

Plus, if I do the memory clear, it will work fine and I can turn it on or off again.

But if I remove a battery and replace it or if I switch to the backup battery, I start having this problem again. If I only used one battery, this wouldn't be a problem... but I have a backup battery for a reason.

[Sven Johannsen]

That screen you see is the typical Dell Hard Reset 'Are you sure' screen. That implies that the backup battery is not working right. It should give you ample time to change the battery. The power screen indicates it should hold your data up to 30 min, for just that reason. If yours forces you to factory reset (hard reset) when just changing the battery, it is malfunctioning. Call Dell. Make sure you explain the problem clearly, that it will not retain memory when changing the main battery. They will most probably arrange an exchange. Typically they send the new and you return the old in the box the new one came in.

All this is assuming you did charge the thing overnight, before trying the swap battery thing, right.

[Kris5.0]

The batteries have been sitting in the cradle for the past month and have experience little use. I hardly ever take it out of the cradle acctually. .

Infact, it should have continuous power when it is sitting in the cradle, shouldn't it?

When I look under the power settings, I have the Main Battery at 100% and the Backup battery appears to be at 0. Is this the internal battery it is talking about? I figured it meant my spare battery before when I saw 'backup battery low' messages, I thought maybe the cradle didn' charge the battery in the back position.

Any way to recharge this battery, if it is infact the internal battery?

[Jason Dunn]

Any way to recharge this battery, if it is infact the internal battery?

It's recharged when the device is charging - so I'd leave your device plugged into power, but turned off, for a good 4-6 hours.

[Kris5.0]

Any way to recharge this battery, if it is infact the internal battery?

It's recharged when the device is charging - so I'd leave your device plugged into power, but turned off, for a good 4-6 hours.I'll try leaving it turned off for a while and see if it charges... I've left it plugged in nearly 24/7 for the past month and it hasn't charged at all, though it has been on most of that time.

[Jason Dunn]

I've left it plugged in nearly 24/7 for the past month and it hasn't charged at all, though it has been on most of that time.

Hmm...I think you have defective hardware. The back up battery will charge even if the device is on. Putting it into off (suspend) mode just makes it charge faster.

[Kris5.0]

I've left it plugged in nearly 24/7 for the past month and it hasn't charged at all, though it has been on most of that time.

Hmm...I think you have defective hardware. The back up battery will charge even if the device is on. Putting it into off (suspend) mode just makes it charge faster.Is the battery replaceable or do I have to get a new PDA? I hate calling Dell tech support, expecially when it is about defective hardware (they replaced the mobo on one of our laptops three times before they finally realized it wasn't the problem and finally sent us a new laptop).

[Jason Dunn]

Is the battery replaceable or do I have to get a new PDA?

It's not user-replaceable if that's what your asking - you'll need to call Dell tech support.

[Kris5.0]

Is the battery replaceable or do I have to get a new PDA?

It's not user-replaceable if that's what your asking - you'll need to call Dell tech support.Well, I guess that's what I will have to do... Thanks for the tips everyone.

[Kris5.0]

Well, I talked with Dell support and we got it working afterall... had to replace the backup battery, which was pretty much just a watch type battery, with a new one (which we happened to have a couple around the office). It must be a differant model that has a battery that isn't user-replaceable. Thanks everyone, it's all working again.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, I talked with Dell support and we got it working afterall... had to replace the backup battery, which was pretty much just a watch type battery, with a new one (which we happened to have a couple around the office). It must be a differant model that has a battery that isn't user-replaceable. Thanks everyone, it's all working again.

Oh, you have an X5! Yes, that one is user-replaceable. I assumed you had an X3i or above...that's why it's always good to tell us what kind of Pocket PC you have in your first message. :-D Glad you got it replaced though! Let's hope it solves your problem.

[AlanTheWoo]

My brother's X3 has the same problem. It's been ~3 months since the warranty expired and now he has no clue of what to do with it. Anyone ever gotten over this problem with an X3?