Help Diagnose 5MX Problem

[Ross]

My 5mx has developed a problem. The symtoms are:

- All programs/apps run slower than they use to
- The screen now has a ripple or flickering affect to it.

This problem occurred quite suddenly then went away for a few weeks and now it has reappeared and has been consistant for over a month. Batteries are good, no manor of reset has any effect.

Has anyone else seen this problem? Is my machine on it's last legs? :confused:

[diem]

Not heard of this one before, but from the symptoms it sounds as though the machine is being forced to run some routine or other repeatedly, which is dragging it down. If a very hard reset (all batteries out for a few minutes) doesn't fix it, then it can only be a hardware fault.

I would check and make sure that none of the buttons, keys or sensors on the machine is stuck. There is a microswitch under the front edge of the keyboard that the machine uses to sense whether it is open or not, and there are the voice recorder keys.

If your machine is 3 years old or more, I would be tempted to say that this is related to the ribbon cables that attach the keyboard and screen to the mainboard. If any part of your screen goes temporarily or permanently blank or displays unexpected lines then this is confirmed. Repairing a screen fault is not a DIY job, and will cost about £90 I think - best people to speak to about your problem would be POS Ltd (www.posltd.com)

[Ross]

All of the buttons and/or switches appear to be functioning properly and a hard reset has no effect on the problem. The screen looks normal except that it takes longer to "refresh" and there are lines that run diagonally across the screen and appear to be moving (as in scanning) which gives the screen a flickering appearance. I'm inclined to think it is hardware related also but I was thinking more along the lines of the processor. I have an application that displays some figures moving across the screen and when I run it now they are moving at about half the speed that they used to........???????

[amitchell]

Hi,

My mc218 has been suffering lately - every app (especially Agenda) has been running very slowly. Also, every time I removed my CF card, I suffered an annoying error. I managed to track down a fix for the CF card and at the same time this fixed the slow running problem. This is what you need to do:

Move the System/RECOGS folder from the CF to the C: drive.

It would appear that there is some background OS thread constantly reading this directory on the CF; reading from main memory is much quicker.

Austin.

[diem]

If nobody else here can offer any suggestions over the next few days, I suggest contacting either Psion or POS and see what they can offer. Psion will just say "send it for repair" whereas POS _may_ be a bit more helpful..

[Ross]

Austin,

Thanks for the suggestion, BUT, it did not help. I was hoping but kind off figured it wouldn't help in my case. I have tried removing the CF card completly and resetting to no avail. :(

[brianh]

Are all of the connections to the batteries (rather, terminals) secure and clean?

Does the problem occur after a hard reset WITHOUT restoring any of the files that were on the machine? If so, it is probably a hardware fault. If it doesn't demonstrate these problems until a restore, then it is probably a corrupt file of some sorts.

Have you tried deleting C:/System/Temp/?

[Ross]

brianh,

Another good thought but one I've tried with results pretty much as you indicated, which is to say that the problem is still there with only the stock software installed. But thanks anyway.....

[nathangarrett]

I have a problem with my series 5 mx it was working fine and then one day it just wouldnt turn on. i have replaced all the batteries but still have the problem. does anyone have any ideas?

[MikeMcC]

nathangarrett,

The solution which often works with this problem is to perform a "very hard" reset - take both the main and the backup batteries out and leave the machine without power for a couple of hours. This allows any residual charge to dissipate from all of the components. Obviously all internal data will be lost as a result of this procedure.

If, after re-inserting the batteries, it still shows no signs of life, it must be a hardware fault.

[cslim]

Ross,
Could you switch the back light on and see if the lines get worse?
The other thing you can try is to put the psion in the sun for a few hours without battery but with the screen open up.
CS lim

[MikeMcC]

Originally posted by cslim
Ross,
Could you switch the back light on and see if the lines get worse?
The other thing you can try is to put the psion in the sun for a few hours without battery but with the screen open up.
CS lim The last contribution to this thread by "Ross" was almost fifteen months ago, so I suspect the issue in his case may no longer be "current". ;)