M505-Cannot hard reset handheld in order to change user name

[waterbaby]

Hi!

I bought my "hardly used" 3-yr-old M505 on E-Bay; which means the hardware warranty has expired.

I have tried to hard reset it in order to change the old user's name to mine, but it won't hard reset. A Palm Telephone Tech Support person walked me through the push-the-button/paper clip-in-the-hole procedure, but it didn't work. The screen goes blank; and, when I remove the paper clip, the "palm powered" icon appears, but then the same old date and time appears. The warning about erasing all the info does not appear.

This is my second Palm so I have had experience with a hard reset. I'm sure I'm doing it correctly. I also enlisted help from my local computer guru, who had no more success than I. We have all concluded that it must be a hardware problem.

Is there another way to purge the old user name without a hard reset? How about removing the rechargeable battery to erase the memory; or would it erase the programs, too? I don't have the tiny tool needed to remove the screws and I'm afraid of killing the entire unit, so I don't think that is an option unless someone tells me it is perfectly safe. Leaving it uncharged for over one week did not cause it to forget anything.

If I have to, I'll live the rest of my Palm life as a man, but I'd really like my own name as the user, which has to match the desktop version. I have backed up my few entries and am ready to accept any and all suggestions.

Another reason I want to change the user name is that I want to import the extensive address book from my old IBM WorkPad on which my name was the user; it was downloaded onto a CD from my old computer. But that's a problem for another day.

Thanks for your help from Susan.

[Telyx]

Just pushing the reset button in the back of the unit is not a hard reset. You have to push in and hold the power button, push the reset button, wait for the "erase all data" message, then release the reset button. You were doing a soft reset, which doesn't delete anything.

[waterbaby]

Thanks, Telex, for your reminder about hard vs. soft resets, but I have several very bruised fingers tro prove I was holding down the power button. The power button on my old WorkPad had the same uncomfortable bump, but it was easy to do a hard reset on that handheld.

Any other suggestion?

[Telyx]

Sorry to assume, but your post described doing a soft reset. You never got the "erase all data" prompt?

[JohnKes]

Check for stuck buttons and junk between the screen and the case. Perhaps a screen protector is causing interference with the button press signals.
http://kb.palmone.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=270,E=0000000000078272246,K=3710,Sxi=19,useTem plate=Case.tem,CASE=887

[waterbaby]

My hard reset problem has been solved...by two eight-year-old girls. As I mentioned in my first posting, my fingers were bruised from trying to hard reset my pda according to the directions. Along came my nieces with small, strong fingers. One held the power button while the other pushed the paper clip into the hole. After about five tries, and holding the button for about three minutes, it worked.

Now I can be me and the old user is gone.

Thanks for your help.

Susan :)