Getting a Vx "Fatal Exception" error

[steve-o]

Need a little help.

I just bought a new-in-package IBM Workpad c3, which as we all know is essentially a rebranded Palm Vx.

Palm OS 4.1 came pre-installed.

After doing the initial setup, and using the device for a few minutes, I keep experiencing a "Fatal Exception" error message, which results in a crash and a prompt for me to reset. Nothing in particular seems to cause this crash, except for everything.

Having done both soft and hard resets many times, and after checking the to make sure the contrast button is not sticking, I'm still getting this crash.

Does anybody have a solution?

Should I try resinstalling the OS? Is there a chance that 4.1 is an incompatible OS? If so, how do I downgrade my OS to 3.5? Is it simply a matter of installing 3.5 over top of 4.1?

Help please?!

[DrMud]

Steve-o,
The IBM C3 must have had the OS upgraded by someone prior to your acquiring it. They were all built with OS3.5. Some of the overseas units with Asian OS were reFlashed to 4.1.

TO answer you're last few questions:
1). YOu can try reinstalling if you have the PalmVx 4.1 FlashTool in English.
2). There is a correct OS 4.1 for the Palm Vx/IBM C3 and it works fine. I flashed my C3 to OS 4.1. There are also the Palm V, Palm III roms etc. The wrong ROM image is hard to flash onto the unit but it could have been done.
3). You cannot regress to 3.5. You will need to stay with 4.1.

Are you able to return the unit to the company you purchased it from?
Doc
PS: Palm has the 4.1 OS UPgrade CD on sale for $20. Check out the Palm.com site if you need to the upgrade software.

[steve-o]

Thanks very much for the advice, Mud.

In the end, I subscribed to the Palm Blvd. group at Yahoo, got the appropriate flash and 4.1 file, and made a successful reinstall.

Cheers.

Steve-0