X50v URGENT ADVICE REQUIRED

[Targaid]

Sorry to be dramatic, but I'm off on holiday in 12 hours and my X50v just went haywire.

After a complete lockup whilst using Pocket Quicken I had to do a soft reset. Following the soft reset the machine wouldn't go beyond the Dell startup screen and also wouldn't turn off. I had to hard reset twice to get it to behave. The memory card backup doesn't seem to have reinstalled anything, including data and personal profiles & information.

Now I'm back to blank machine and being a complete newbie with PPCs I just want to check the best procedures for reinstalling before I sit it in the cradle & pray only to find out I could've done something else to make life easier.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Jason Dunn]

Ouch, that's frustrating! Dell just released the A05 ROM update today, so you might as well install that first then start to re-build it. It's strange that the backup didn't do anything - are you sure it successfully backed up? How big was the file size of the backup?

[Targaid]

'Fraid I don't know offhand what size the file was, but it did say it was backed up. I did another one saved onto the PC the other day though, so I guess the next stage is to try that...

[Mitch D]

I have not had an issue with my x50v (and with any luck I won't), I did have a similar issue with the hx4700 I had. When I was talking to HP tech support they felt it was a software conflict that caused the lockup on a reboot (it would happen each time I tried to use SE_VGA). But I'm thinking it might actually be a registry error as everything was usually fine after a Hard Reset, but I am not an expert in this area.

[Targaid]

I've just been on the Dell Service runaround for the last two sodding hours :bad-words:

I bought from ebay. Ownership has not been transferred. I didn't know it needed to be. Dell wouldn't let me have the ROM update without transferring. I can't do that, only the seller can. :frusty:

I finally talked them round after being referred to the UK site which only connects to the same Indian contact centre. It won't do anything because the machine was bought in the US. The US won't talk to me because I'm in the UK. They're both in India. Probably sitting next to each other having fun passing me back & forth like a tennis ball. :bangin:

So now I only have to wait another two hours whilst my dial-up connection gets me the file. Then I can start reinstalling. And wonder when it's all going to happen again.

No wonder I want to go back to Palm.... :grumble:

[PetiteFlower]

This isn't Dell's fault. This is what happens when you buy from Ebay - no guarantee of service, no warrenty. Sorry, but it's true, they only have to support the person who buys the device, as far as they know you could have stolen it, or the person who sold it to you could have stolen it.

[Targaid]

Actually, it is Dell's fault. For these reasons:

1. Before buying I called Dell and asked if service would be honoured. They said yes. They made no mention of having to transfer ownership despite being told that it was an ebay sale.

2. The manufacturer's warranty covers the machine, not the owner. Buying from ebay does not invalidate one's rights to that, though the US may be different for all I know. (I understand the comment about theft, but Dell are not the police. Besides, as I pointed out to them on this very topic, even if it were stolen, what difference would me upgrading the ROM make? Not only was I having to tell them who & where I was, but if stolen the owner would then get back an upgraded machine. It was after this comment that they pointed me to the file.)

3. The ROM file doesn't need to go through regular service. All this came about because Dell were farting about with their website and had pulled the link again. All they needed to do was tell me that & I'd have waited for the link to be reestablished. Instead, they gave me the runaround for two hours. It was like reading Kafka.

4. No one made Dell set up a support system that says you must approach them through the website in for your own country despite the fact that all responses come from the same contact centre. You're going to be dealing with the same people regardless of the initial website you contact them through.

5. I went there from Dell's forum pages following a link posted by a Dell administrator. (Dell's UK site are still posting the A03 ROM, BTW.)

6. It's not working anyway. Every attempt at installing the file has locked up my PC.

[Ivanna Tinkle]

I bought from ebay. Ownership has not been transferred. I didn't know it needed to be. Dell wouldn't let me have the ROM update without transferring. I can't do that, only the seller can. :frusty:

Who's the problem seller, Dell or the person/company you bought from on Ebay. Maybe Ebay's technical support can help. While I hope you get your problem fixed, don't blame Dell that you didn't buy from them directly. I hope that you enjoy your new Palm, and hope their support is better.