HP IPAQ Backlighting "Feature" Issue and Fix

With Paul Remde's assistance I just fixed an issue with a "problem" I
had with my HP IPAQ 2215 (2210). You might want to know about this.

My problem was that the unit would not power on when using battery
power. On AC (or cradle) it was OK. I thought it was a battery
issue. I thought that the power connector was bad. A soft reset
didn't help. Everything was working fine last week and I hadn't
changed anything (really!). And it was happening during a contest.
As you can imagine, this was VERY frustrating.

What was really happening was that backlighting had been turned off
for battery power. In most lighting conditions you cannot see the
2215's display at all when backlighting is off. But how did
backlighting get turned off all of a sudden?

Paul to the rescue. An undocumented "feature" of the IPAQ is that if
you hold the power button for 2 seconds, it will toggle the backlight
from the default state (usually full on) to full off. Somehow I guess
I had inadvertantly done this. So at this point it appeared that when
plugging and unplugging AC power, the unit was powering up/down. This
setting is *NOT* affected by a soft reset and is *NOT* mentioned in
the manual.

The solution is to either; 1) holding the power button again and 2)
going to Start Settings System Backlight Brightness. The real
trick is knowing about this undocumented "feature" in the first place.

Thanks again to Paul.

- John "Backlight" DeRosa

OK, I finally found the REAL power issue with my IPAQ and thought I
would pass it on. This became a major problem when my PDA would power
down in flight. Arggg. I was also having problems charging the unit
on the ground. I had to set it juuuuusssst right to get it to
charge. I figured it was the connector on the bottom and began
looking for a replacement PDA.

What I found was...

The battery cover was loose. It appears that if the battery cover
isn't PRECISELY seated, the PDA will not power up (and if loose will
power down). Just a very, very small amount of pressure on the cover
(not the battery) made the difference, to the extent that it would
work laying on the desk but would power off if I even very, very
gently picked it up. This makes sense HOW? Protecting the consumer
from a shock hazard?

Anyway the fix was a judiciously placed piece of tape over the battery
cover. Now the unit will stay powered up in all those wild Midwestern
thermals. ;-)

My $0.02.

Thanks, John DeRosa

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:04:53 -0700, ContestID67 wrote:

The battery cover was loose. It appears that if the battery cover isn't
PRECISELY seated, the PDA will not power up (and if loose will power
down). Just a very, very small amount of pressure on the cover (not the
battery) made the difference, to the extent that it would work laying on
the desk but would power off if I even very, very gently picked it up.
This makes sense HOW? Protecting the consumer from a shock hazard?

I have a 3630, so this may not apply. Anyway, mine had a dead battery
when I bought it so I had to change the battery and, in the process,
discovered that the battery connector is a 4 pin connector on the end of
a length of 4 land printed plastic conductive strip. I was surprised at
the small size of the connector and how relatively short its pins were.
It never ocurred to be but I suppose its possible that connector could
work partly out of its socket - after all DIL chips have been known to do
just that when socketed rather than soldered in and Murphy should never
be mocked.

If your 2215 uses a similar power connector, it might be worth checking
that it is clean and fully pushed home.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

ContestID67 wrote:
OK, I finally found the REAL power issue with my IPAQ and thought I
would pass it on. This became a major problem when my PDA would power
down in flight. Arggg. I was also having problems charging the unit
on the ground. I had to set it juuuuusssst right to get it to
charge. I figured it was the connector on the bottom and began
looking for a replacement PDA.

What I found was...

The battery cover was loose. It appears that if the battery cover
isn't PRECISELY seated, the PDA will not power up (and if loose will
power down). Just a very, very small amount of pressure on the cover
(not the battery) made the difference, to the extent that it would
work laying on the desk but would power off if I even very, very
gently picked it up. This makes sense HOW? Protecting the consumer
from a shock hazard?

Anyway the fix was a judiciously placed piece of tape over the battery
cover. Now the unit will stay powered up in all those wild Midwestern
thermals. ;-)

I had a similar symptom with my 2215, but the problem was a bad battery.
It still worked, but had swollen slightly, so the door didn't fit
properly anymore. I replaced the battery, and that cured it. A swollen
battery is a potential fire hazard, and should be removed and properly
discarded.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* Sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

Eric,

Good input. I will have to check that out.

I still don't get why the battery cover must be in place for the unit
to operate. Seems a needless extra complication.

Thanks, John