iPAQ 3850 Backlight issues

[Jkalka]

OK.. I am completely frustrated. I have bought a number of iPAQs recently for my office in Hong Kong. Several of the devices seem to have backlight problems, where they randomly will no longer work. By not working I mean that the backlight will not come on.

I have searched the newsgroups and other resources about this, and have heard a bunch of people complain about the same problem. Of course everyone has a different method of recreating the problem as well as fixing it.

From the Compaq/pocketnow support message board, I got the idea that Compaq felt this was a software issue and could be resolved. If so, then why does this not occur with EVERY device.

Personally I am getting very frustrated with mine, but I love it and would hate to return it, live without it for a number of weeks, only to have returned to me a device that does the same darn thing.

My point in this huge post (other than making myself feel better) is to try to get other people's experience with this problem in a more central location. To me, this seems like a HUGE issue. Out of 5 devices bought in the last 2 months 4 of them are suffering from it.

So if anyone has information regarding this problem, please post it here, and if anyone else also has the same problem, please post something as well. I am very curious to learn how many are affected, and when we should get some kind of resolution.

Take care,
John

[marlof]

John: I had to vote No, you're a whiner. Not from the bottom of my heart, as I don't think you're a whiner. It's just that with my 3870 I haven't had any problems. Yet. But I do know from the newsgroups that this is a recurring problem, that most certainly deserves attention.

[stevew]

No problems here.

[marlof]

John, in the microsoft.public.pocketpc newsgroup I found this:

I finally was able to get an anwser to the backlight problem everyone was reporting. I returned my unit for repair and I was still having the same problem when I received it back.

A very nice lady from tech support, Melissa, informed me that there are 2 ways to turn of the unit. 1) press and release the power button (momentarily) and 2) press and hold the power button.

If you press and hold the power button you disable the backlight settings
and you won't be able to get them back on unless you do a soft reset or you move the slider on the backlight settings a few times. I've tried this procedure and it works like a champ. I haven't had a problem since I started using this technique. It is not a software problem but a built in feature that comes with the unit. There maybe a software patch in the future that disables this feature but unit then I recommend step 1 above.

I thought everybody was aware of the press and hold of the power putton handling the backlight, but apparantly not. Therefor I thought it best to quote the post in here as well.

[JohnnyFlash]

I found the the auto brightness control sometimes has problems when under flouresent lighting or when moving about in various lighting environments.

Just a thought 8)

[JohnnyFlash]

There are times (especially at night) when my bcklight won't light at all unless it is plugged in.

[Jkalka]

Marlof,
I did know about the "feature" of holding the power button down to turn off the backlight, I assure you though that my problems are beyond that. (With my pocket PC that is).

I believe that there may be issues around the entire power management of these new models. I have seen some very very strange things. (Backlight issues, battery reporting incorrectly, only to become accurate after reset, etc) I also have read in one of the newsgroups, that the 3800 series, runs power management now off the main processor, and not a microcontroller. This seems to indicate that the problem may lie in the software layer.. Man I hope so.

The only thing I have seen that seems to cause it more often (not 100% of the time) is if an alarm comes up, and I ignore it. Like, my 6:00 am daily alarm, that is supposed to get my fat ass to the gym. :)

As a past software developer I know that the first step in solving a problem, is to identify what actually causes the problem 100% of the time. There has got to be a certain sequence of things that cause the backlight to fail, to the point where only a soft reset fixes it. That was what I was hoping for, by posting this message. So far I have been a bit disappointed..

I will keep whining though, and once again, I appreciate everything you and the rest of the PocketPC Thoughts team do.

Take care,
John

[merlin]

No problem here. :o

[JohnnyFlash]

I have had no backlight problems with my 3870.

[renz]

After reading your posts I have tried very carefully to press and release the on/off button on my 3850 VERY quickly. No success though: when I turned the iPAQ on for the first time this morning the backlight would not come on. :cry: It always works at night and it does not work in the morning. After I get it to work it works fine for the rest of the day. Very frustrating.

[Jkalka]

OK...now..I look at the poll results and it looks like very few people are having display issues, yet then I look at how many views this post has gotten already (over 300) and I know that people are interested in this topic.

Are people interested because their backlights are working correctly? or are people just reading the comments hoping to find a solution to their problem, yet not feeling a need to post a reply, or at least vote in the poll?

I still think this power managment/screen issue is alot bigger than just me.

[James]

No problems with my 3870.

[Jkalka]

Renz,

What you described, is exactly what mine is doing as well. Lately it is only in the mornings. I have to reset the device to make it work. I see you have a 3850 as well.

[renz]

I wonder if somebody could write an app that runs once after 0:00h and that switches the light settings off and an. Perhaps that might help?

[Jkalka]

Renz,

I hope you are kidding. :)

I just want someone to tell me if this is hardware or software problem.

Oh well.

[renz]

Jkalka, you are right but what can _we_ do? :?

[chefmon]

Whenever I turn on my ipaq the backlight comes on and two seconds later it dimms to medium brightness. I then tap the brightness icon or go into settings...change it back to max. brightness. The backlight remains on bright until I turn in off and then on again. And then it dimm again. Anyone else experience this ? Iam using a 3765. :?

[Fattizzi]

The problem you are having is due to the Beam settings. You must have a compact flash adapter on your IPAQ. I was told the CF card draws a tiny amount of power and causes the display to dim slightly. If you turn your Beaming settings to off, instead of to recieve all beams, you wont have the problem. It drove me nuts, and I finally figured it out.

[paris]

ok here is a tip that i found on the internet while reading material on pocket pcs.

If you hold the power button of your ipaq(or any other ppc) for 2 sec it will turn off or turn on the backlight of your device.

i had a problem with the backlight as well but no i dont, it might have been fixed by ppc2002 update

[almondg]

Someone else wrote this but it descibes my problem.
if I turn the ipaq on in the morning in the dark place or in the light. If I turn it on on the dark place, it really takes a long time before ithe backlight comes on. Softresets dont help for a while (1 minute). However, if I turn it on in the light, the backlight comes on immediatelly. The automatic option is turned off, the backlight set to about one third, I had even unmarked the option to turn the backlight off after X seconds or minutes when on battery use. :(

[Jkalka]

OK..I found the following quote of a quote on another newsgroup. This news disturbs me, as I do not want to attempt to send in my IPAQ from Hong Kong, and I am not sure how to do this, once I return to the states. Besides, I hate being without my device. Oh well, hopefully we will hear confirmation soon that the following is true :


Hi I found the message below on the microsoft.public.pocketpc newsgroup. Is it true? Will all of us have to replace our ipaq's is there is only a hardware fix?

"Greg Heidt" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<OwiJdeKtBHA.1968@tkmsftngp03>...

Well, Well, Well, Compaq has found and FIXED the backlight problem on the 38xx series iPAQ's! How do I know? Because I just got an E-mail from Russ Dorr at Compaq stating that they found the problem and made a HARDWARE (yes - hardware) fix! As of now there is NO software patch but Russ said they are looking into it. Russ sent me a new iPAQ overnight (should receive it today 2/13/02) to test before it's released to the general public. Call me lucky I guess. But I was the one that reported it to Compaq when they first released the 38xx series.

They also fixed the Notification light that now blinks according to the time limit set for alarms, etc. This is a software patch and if you want it just e-mail me and I'll e-mail it to you. I'm not sure if it's on Compaq's website or not.

The only thing left is the static sound when docking and when the
alarms go off. We'll see how the new one does when I get it

Just thought I'd let everyone know! I'll be in touch. In the mean
time if you want to contact me please feel free to do so at: mis @
att.net



Best Regards everyone,

Greg Heidt

MIS Director

Scott Paint Company

Sarasota, FL

Temp: 65 degrees and Sunny!

[Neville]

I also have this frustrating problem with the backlight. Tried the on/off button but, unless I am too slow, the duration of the pressure has no effect.
Super item of KIT but this is infuriating.
I am on my second one. The first just would not switch off at all and tech support tried to talk me though this but failed. Anyone else experieced this?
:roll:

[Fattizzi]

I am on the phone with Compaq Tech support and the representitive has confirmed that the Backlight issue is in fact a software issue. They are not doing anything about it at this time in regards to the units, but they are going to release a software fix for it. She also confirmed that it is not Hardware related. I hope this helps.

[Jkalka]

OK..maybe that was too strong, but it is frustrating. One person from Compaq support posts in a public forum that the problem is hardware. (See post above) while other support technicians are reporting to other people that it is a software issue.

I don't know who to believe, and this problem is getting really annoying. Every damn day, I wake up and can't see the screen to hit the snooze button. Would you believe I am getting to work earlier now??? This sucks.

[droopy]

Ihave the same problem med whit my 3850, :( and its realy annoying

the only way for me to w´fix it to hit the reset botom.

[sallyb]

Between the SD card problem and the backlight problem, I've already sent my 3835 back to Compaq twice :( . I just got it back two days ago, supposedly with the brand new hardware fix for the backlight problem. Today I'm waiting for Airborne to pick it up for the 3rd time since yesterday, something inside--most likely the new card they just installed--quite literally burned out :evil: . The ipaq then on its own hard reset losing everything I had just reinstalled. (I backup and then hard reset before sending in for service)

The tech guy said he would recommend a unit replacement, so we'll see. From following these forums, it could be worse as I don't have the speaker popping problem.

[JNewby]

I had a problem with my first 3835 with the back light and the store where I got it tried to make it seem like it was all my imagination. I returned it and got a new one... no problems (yet). After reading these post, there must be something going on.

J

[bthompson]

I have been having the same problem with my 3835. The backlight went completely out in my first unit (after random brightness problems) and I exchanged it at Office Depot two weeks after I got it. My second unit has a random brightness reset problem that happens about once or twice a week.

[devost]

It is seemingly random and very annoying.

[griph]

It is seemingly random and very annoying.

Tell me about it! I have this problem - if I haven't used my 3870 for a while when I switch on the backlight fails to illuminate. I can get it to come on by going to backlight settings, dropping the slide to zero, clck the Auto button on and off again and then drag the bar up to the required light level. This is really pi**ing me off - it NEVER happened with my last unit (3650) and yes I do know about short/long hold of on button. This happens several times a day but usually after the machine has been switched off for several hours!!

[Al @Home]

Have you looked and acted on the advisory?

http://wwss1pro.compaq.com/support/reference_library/viewdocument.asp?countrycode=1000&prodid=2183|iPAQ+H3800+Series+Pocket+PC&source=MH020124_CW02.xml&dt=3

[griph]

Have you looked and acted on the advisory?

http://wwss1pro.compaq.com/support/reference_library/viewdocument.asp?countrycode=1000&prodid=2183|iPAQ+H3800+Series+Pocket+PC&source=MH020124_CW02.xml&dt=3

Yes I have, Interestingly the Serial Number Check tells me that my unit is unaffacted! I am concious also of the problems I am having with the SD card, and am wondering whether to dump the iPaq and go for the Loox or O2 XDA. I guess I shall wait until the 24th and see what changes come about from the next Rom Update. If this is still a problem I will return the unit under warranty.

[Ainvar]

Well I just called Compaq today Sunday June 23rd, 2002 @ 9:33pm EST.
I spoke with a guy there and they are sending a box to me to have my unit shipped there and have a systemboard replaced to fix the backlight issue. I was told a 5-7 buisness day for the roundtrip and fix. He told me that most people were getting it back in 3-4 biz days. He did all this after verifying my name, number, and serial on back of my iPAQ 3835 unit I got back in Feb of this year. The CS rep there was very nice and seemed like he knew what he was doing, I felt like something good will come of this. He also saw that I ordered the CF plus Expansion sleeve and it will be at my addy tomorrow sometime and he wanted to let me know that if I had any issues to please call them, since there has been an upset in the compaq community with these and the 3800's with resets and all.


Just wanted to let the people on this forum know that I am having a good experience with Compaq and my iPAQ since I have gotten it, except for this backlight issue. I will have my e740 to use while this is getting fixed.


Thanks all for the information that I find on this board it is really useful.
Jay G.

[ErorZ]

If youve tried the holding down the power button to re-enable your backlight and it doesnt always come back... Have your unit picked up and serviced, everyone I have talked to that has had their unit serviced has had the backlight problem fixed.

Have your unit picked up even if the Advisory says your unit is not effected .... if you are certain you are having problems with your backlight... Have your unit picked up, call Compaq Technical Support !! :)

Also make sure you do the ROM update (which is currently only available for the H387x model it fixes a number of other issues
http://www.compaq.com/support/files/handheldipaq/us/download/14999.html

The ROM update for the other models should be out shortly !

After doing the ROM upgrade and having your backlight problem fixed... its like having a brand new unit ! :)

[Thanasius]

The backlight of my ipaq is blinking when it is turned on.
Has anyone seen that before?
Apart from that the pda is working fine.