Microdrive Repair - How Many Of You Had To?? - Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo General

I had to send my ameo for warranty repairs. It took ten days before I had it back even though they initially quoted 3 weeks. I had to dig out my old Tornado (backup, backup, backup, as they say ). Fortunately I was in the eleventh month of my contract and so could get a free repair. They actually gave me a new unit but sent my old keyboard back.
Now my questions are
- how many of us have had to send our units back for repair and
- how far into your contract were you or how old was your unit?
- finally, is there a way around the microdrive issue; precautions, tips, etc, perhaps that would help? Or are we to be ready for another breakdown in 11-12 months time?
Please feel free to post your experience. Many thanks,
Abram.

I sent my X7500 Advantage back to HTC a couple of weeks ago when the microdrive went read-only, with some corrupt data, and various different attempts at formating failed. I got it in May last year, so that's about 11 months for me, too. I had already registered it online, and the warranty period stated there started a few days before I purchased it and ended in July, oddly.
Here in the UK HTC aim for a 5 working day turnaround. I flashed the HTC version of WM6 back onto it and sent it on the Thursday, at my own expense, and they acknowledged receipt on the Friday both by email and phone. I got it back last Wednesday, microdrive replaced but the buttons had all failed. I had to send it off again, again at my own expense, and got it back again yesterday microdrive and buttons working - they had replaced the "switch board" this time.
Another strange thing: when I came to reinstall everything my initial attempts to flash failed. I noticed the SPL had gone back to 1.10, so they obviously did something else too. They've not mentioned to me or listed in the job sheet any mention of finding Olipro 1.20 on it and obviously they've not charged me.
I spent many hours last night reflashing and putting all my software back on it (fortunately I have a list of all my registry keys) - only to notice I downloaded AP 3 Touch rather than AP 3 Dual. Oh well.

Ordered mine the day it appeared on the t-mobile website, so 13 months and counting.
Not one single hardware fault with it so far, apart from the dent from when i dropped it and the little rubber bit falling of the joypad.
Despite the warnings at the start of the microdrive issues on the T-Mobile Ameos I've been absolutely fine since day 1.
seems that the microdrives can be pretty hit and miss.....

7 months of daily use at this point, and no MD problems for me. I had all of my applications installed on it, and its what I used to store all files except the pictures my camera took (sending new pics to flash memory helps reduce problems of blurred pictures since the write delay is shorter). I'll admit though, that when I re-flashed the ROM a few weeks ago this time I installed everything to flash and I'm using flash for my personal files. I haven't touched the MD since, so it might be bad now and I wouldn't know.

3 months
my md died after 3 whole months. It simply disappeared from the file manager. I've got a 7501. After explaining to the tech support guy what a microdrive was(??!!), I sent it in and it was repaired. When I called to check on the status of the repair, I was told that the drive was ok. The controler was supposedly bad, so the motherboard was replaced. It's been about 6 months now since I've gotten it back. I've transfered all the important stuff to an 8 gb micro-sd and I'm just waiting for it to fail again. Once it does, I haven't decided if I'll get it fixed or just get by with the sd.
I wish pocket pc techs would come out with an upgrade to replace the md with a flash drive.

Thinking about it, i did have one problem. I had been playing about with the HTCmail service, and out of curiosity, wanted to see how well the remote device wipe worked on Exchange 2007.
Bloody thing formatted the microdrive and it disappeared from the OS completely.
Tried formatting three times - nothing. My heart almost stopped!
Had to run the recovery thing in WM6 twice before it came back.
I would recommend that if you have an Athena, DON'T use remote wipe. the Microdrive really doesn't like it.

pkchainsaw said:
my md died after 3 whole months. It simply disappeared from the file manager. I've got a 7501.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like the forum has quite a few microdrive issue posts. There was one that claimed that the "format Microdive" tool in the unit MUST NOT BE USED. I did use it on mine prior to my MD getting problematic. Did anyone else use theirs?

Abram said:
Seems like the forum has quite a few microdrive issue posts. There was one that claimed that the "format Microdive" tool in the unit MUST NOT BE USED. I did use it on mine prior to my MD getting problematic. Did anyone else use theirs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used it before,and have no said problem. 13 months now and still going well. Twice the content was corrupted and files were missing. Soft reset always fixed the problem.

No Microdrive problems yet (touch wood). I have formatted it a couple of times, but using the hard-reset mechanism rather than the 'in-os' Format microdrive tool. My fault was with the 3g radio failing, and I 'think' I've had a complete replacement unit which has different imei, different case but same serial number.
But yes, here's hoping for someone to come up with a way to replace the MD with Flash

Just sent mine for repair
Just mailed my X7500 to Houston for repair. The Microdrive disappeared after about 9 months and I'd continued to use the device with it broken until I had the downtime to part with it. No amount of soft or hard reset did any good, nor did the format tools in ROM or in the OS. Oddly, I thought I heard the faint whirr of the drive when doing an in OS format.
It sure would be nice if they'd swap out the drives with flash memory whenever someone sent one in. The little things are clearly failure prone, as I remember from having a Hitachi 4GB CF card with intermittent problems. This falls in the realm of manufacturing defect, so I would certainly hope when the newly installed Microdrive also fails, they would warranty its replacement as well.

even though, I dont posses athena, I have used MDs when I'd ipaq 2215. They never worked for more than 4months for me. after that duration, I used to experience data corruption blah blah.
May be they got it right with the x7510

It is already very reliable on the older Athena based on my own experience.

I've had my athena for 7 years now and not had a problem with the microdrive....

Confucious said:
I've had my athena for 7 years now and not had a problem with the microdrive....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
months..right?

Looks like my microdrive is on the way out, struggling to read or write to it without it filling with junk.
Just checked I bought it 30/04/07 so going to see if I can get it warrantied.

I got mine back from their Houston Service Center on Monday. It looked like I got a different screen as the screen I sent back had a screen protector on it and the one I got back didn't. It also has 2 small scratches on it that I am sure were not on the original screen. Lucky me it was not very noticable. Otherwise, I have to send it back again. The internal components are probably new also (most likely refurbished) as the IMEI has changed. However, the serial number is the same and it looks like they printed another S/N, IMEI label and use a piece of cello tape to stick it to the battery cover door with some of it still sticking out of the battery cover door. How tacky! Oh yeah, and they reused my Athena's casing to house the new/refurbished stuff inside!!!!!!
The only good thing about sending it back is that I got an extra battery. When I sent back, I didn't include a battery. The one I got back has one. So now I have 4 batteries altogether. Oh yeah, and the MicroDrive is fixed. Though, I won't hold my breath that it will last for long.
I bought mine during Thanksgiving 2007.

Related

Hard-Reset For No Reason after it dropped

Hey guys,
Todays i dropped the XDA2 and it got some scratches near the bluetooth blue lamp. It looks a bit ugly, but i could only be thankful that it didn't die.
Few hours later, i charged the thing, took it off, left it for a while, grabbed it to use the calculater, finished using it, was closing the application, AND BOOOM, a hard reset for no reason.
Note : I was closing it through the battery pack X icon on the top.
Question is, what was that for, and am i to expect sudden death hard-resets in the future, and if so, what can i do.
Thanks in advance.
LOL! :lol:
"Hard-Reset For No Reason after it had dropped"
Yeah! Sure..
"Pasient died for no reason after surgery by drunk doctor with a leatherman"
Try getting it serviced..
If the problem doesn't get fixed, return it to the same service point..
Depending on the laws in your country, you might get a new one after a while..
Well i bought this one from england, so i don't know there is any way of returning it, that if the returning policy of O2 includes getting a hit on the ground.
The question remains, will it do this hard-reset again...?
Any one with similar experience.
hard reset
Mine has done involuntary hard reset 2x now. Both have been whilst using the Agend Fusion application, On the first occasion it wiped and disabled a 512 SD card (real pisser) and the second aload of backed up appointments notes etc that I'd just entered. However I did get the SD card before that too was wiped. Thats the good news.....
For you the bad news, since my original post I've had no response to my query. I've checked out the issue with Dev one the designers of agenda fusion cross checked the ROM version and all to no avail!!
Pisser I know, but it seems to me the only way to protect from this is regular backups to PC and use Xbackup to a seperate SD which you always carry.
If anybody can add anything more useful please advise.
Finally, you can take it back to o2 and ask for a replacement as the superficial damage didn't appear to have an immediate effect...
let me know how you get on with this I'm interested.
Pete
I'm not intending to return it O2, it's working, and maybe this problem of Hard-Reset was just due to that when it was dropped the battery got misplaced or that some dust got into it which cause that Hard-Reset.
That was 1, 2- I live in Egypt, and i have to send it all the way back to O2, not unless something really bad Happened, like it doing this hard-reset on it's one 2-3 times more.
A backup will be a VERY GOOD CHOICE. (Please do it for god's sake, or you will have to lose everything, I've warned you!!!)
Thanks for sharing.
But the question remains, Will this damn thing do it again, maybe time will only tell.

Touchscreen stopped working :(

For no apparent reason on Saturday, my touchscreen decided to stop working. I was running the latest WWE iMate ROM, with the .10 Radio installed over the top.
I tried soft reseting a few times, with no luck - so moved onto a hard reset as well. That failed
Having seen someone post a link to a proper T Mobile download for the original ROM for the phone, I thought it best to try that. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the problem, but at least has put my phone back to a state where I can cheerfully give it to T Mobile and claim on the 12 month warranty.
I'm dropping it into my retail store today... but am disappointed it has only lasted 3 months before dying.
It hasn't been dropped, water damaged or anything like that - just simply gave up the ghost.
my touchscreen sporadically stops working (mda pro), but then will start again, if I rub the wider end of the Stylus across the screen quickly a few times.
I'm contemplating taking it back, let us know how you get on with T-Mobile.
Do t-mobile UK give a replacement unit?
Well mine's gone into the store today. Reckon I'll get something back from them by the end of the week. They reckon 5-7 days turnaround, but the phone won't even be sent offsite until tomorrow. (They have collections 2 or 3 times a week I think...)
Its a far cry from Orange where, with Orange Care, having stopped working Saturday, it would have been replaced on Sunday.
Luckily I still have my Orange C500, so I unlocked it, put an iMate ROM on it, and inserted my T Mobile SIM.
No question that it'll be repaired or replaced - but if you rely on the device, a week (or more!) is a long time to be without it...
Had I had the T Mobile equivalent of Orange Care, it wouldn't be sorted any quicker - so at least I can be happy I didn't waste my money with that.
I did try slightly flexing the screen and repeated tapping to try and get it to work again, but no joy. Perhaps the screen IS the weak link afterall, despite me religiously closing it up clamshell before putting in my pocket etc.

touch screen stops working

Been using mine for a couple of weeks, but just now the touch screen has been acting up. Sometimes it responds sluggishly and sometimes not at all.
At first I thought it was one of my apps running in the background, but even after a soft-reset, the touch screen still doesn't work. Can't even enter the PIN to my sim card.
Found that if I gave the screen a few solid taps here and there, the screen would start working again.
This happen to anyone else?
I've got the same issue. I can't find any reliable way of getting the screen to respond apart from to get someone to call me and then after some bashing on the screen it starts working again. I've even updated to the latest ROM in the hope it would cure the problem - but it didn't. I contacted HTC support they offered to repair the device...
I've got the same issue. I can't find any reliable way of getting the screen to respond apart from to get someone to call me and then after some bashing on the screen it starts working again. I've even updated to the latest ROM in the hope it would cure the problem - but it didn't. I contacted HTC support they offered to repair the device...
hi maybey you install app thats not modifite for hd2 giving you this isseu have you try a hard reset you whil lose all apps installed but then you whil now if its app causing this, if its not fixed take your hd2 in for repair
how do i hard reset check this
http://www.hardreset.eu/htc_hd2_leo_hard_reset_soft_reset_en.html
grtz weesje
warhead1 said:
Been using mine for a couple of weeks, but just now the touch screen has been acting up. Sometimes it responds sluggishly and sometimes not at all.
At first I thought it was one of my apps running in the background, but even after a soft-reset, the touch screen still doesn't work. Can't even enter the PIN to my sim card.
Found that if I gave the screen a few solid taps here and there, the screen would start working again.
This happen to anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that happened to me plus the screen started jittering with some weird actions. I sold the device and ordered a new one, to be delivered dec.19.
robertc17 said:
I've got the same issue. I can't find any reliable way of getting the screen to respond apart from to get someone to call me and then after some bashing on the screen it starts working again. I've even updated to the latest ROM in the hope it would cure the problem - but it didn't. I contacted HTC support they offered to repair the device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've contacted Handtec about the issue, my phone's just marginally inside their 28 day replacement policy so hopefully I can get a new one out of them.
I tried a hard-reset before, didn't fix it. And I've found that if I place my entire palm over the screen and give it a bit of a squeeze then that restores life to the screen for hours or days at a time
warhead1 said:
I've contacted Handtec about the issue, my phone's just marginally inside their 28 day replacement policy so hopefully I can get a new one out of them.
I tried a hard-reset before, didn't fix it. And I've found that if I place my entire palm over the screen and give it a bit of a squeeze then that restores life to the screen for hours or days at a time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the connectors under the screen came loose, either because it was dropped or just shouldn't have passed QA. Definitely a candidate for repair/replacement.
By the way, if this happened even after 28 days you would still be covered by warranty...no matter what some dodgy resellers say
jagnet said:
By the way, if this happened even after 28 days you would still be covered by warranty...no matter what some dodgy resellers say
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh of course, but the regular warranty process is to repair the phone. Being so new, I'd want a replacement.
For what it's worth, I posted a message asking about this same fault a couple of weeks ago but with no replies. I emailed HTC and they said it was probably a hardware fault and to either send it to them for repair or contact my supplier (O2). I spoke to O2 and they suggested that it might be because my SIM card is a few years old and suggested trying a new one. I thought this was worth a go so they sent me a new card but the screen still becomes unresponsive and the fault also survives a reset. In fairness to O2, they are now sending me a replacement unit which should arrive on Monday.
Question wifi related
deleted - wrong thread
warhead1 said:
Been using mine for a couple of weeks, but just now the touch screen has been acting up. Sometimes it responds sluggishly and sometimes not at all.
At first I thought it was one of my apps running in the background, but even after a soft-reset, the touch screen still doesn't work. Can't even enter the PIN to my sim card.
Found that if I gave the screen a few solid taps here and there, the screen would start working again.
This happen to anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same thing happened to me. I think it was because I left it in my hot car. HTC fixed the problem, for free, inside warranty, and just sent me back my phone 2 days ago. It's even got a brand new screen. NO SCRATCHES>
FriedSushi87 said:
The same thing happened to me. I think it was because I left it in my hot car. HTC fixed the problem, for free, inside warranty, and just sent me back my phone 2 days ago. It's even got a brand new screen. NO SCRATCHES>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent my back and the first time it came back and worked for a week and then stopped working completely. I sent it back a second time, they paid for shipping and ordered a new screen and replaced the old. Nice thing, I bought the phone used and the warranty was still intact.

[Q] Camera icon gone, camera not startable

I turned on my phone last night, pressed the camera icon in the list of programs and it disappeared and hasn't come back since?????
Then went to the picture and movie tab and pressed the camera tab (both for taking picture and movie) and nothing happens, no camera launches.
I've had the phone sitting in the cupboard for days and it's cold where I live so I wonder if it's possible that the camera hardware has frozen and the icon disappears because the system cannot detect working hardware?
I don't know but my phone is out of warranty and I am worried.
Would flashing a new ROM help do you think?
normally your phone should not be out of warranty yet, since htc offers a 24 months warranty.
and if the camera worked with your rom before, changing the rom should not be necessary, but maybe a radio/rilphone upgrade would help or a hard reset.
Thanks for the reply
I've emailed the local distributor of my phone (bad reputation for replies) who paralell import it from singapore so I might be out of luck.
Done several hard resets and also warmed the phone up to see if the camera hardware was maybe stuck from the cold but no luck.
Tried to burn a new rom (The EnergyRom looked good) and the software keeps complaining that it lost communication with the phone so I can't even do that. Tried 10 times already.
So, I guess I have to wait for the supplier but they said the warranty is only one year.
afaik htc generally offers a 2 year warranty, so they are probably the ones, you'd want to contact about that issue, but before actually sending it to them, make sure to flash back the stock rom, radio and spl.
As I said above, I tried burning a new rom but the software keeps complaining that it loses communication with the phone so I've given up.
Thanks for the suggestions though.
I absolutely agree with Chef_Tony.
You've tried enough to exclude everything. It must be a hardware issue.
I think you can check the production date via the sn below the batt. I would just go ahead with HTC and call them, and NOT your local dealer.
You can also open a ticket online but from my experience that is a waste of time since they will start asking stuff to do and email them again.
HTC provides 24 months of warranty in most areas and the sn will be enough for them to decide if it is warranty or not.
Also do not mention the custom roms as that will void your warranty, even if the issue was there on the stock rom!
So go back to everything stock, everything that you need is in the sticky on the rom page, and give HTC a call.
The ROM is a stock one. I mentioned in my above post that when I tried to burn a new one that the phone lost comms so I never could get a new rom on to test if the camera would come back so I am still stock.
HTC mentioned all the same things you guys did.
Spoke to my supplier, looks like I have to send this back. Damnation!!!!!
Okay, made a few mistakes about trying a new rom but under severe pressure since my father died so I can't comprehend much at the moment.
Will try all the steps later when I am less distressed.
Sellers have gone, phone is worse.
Just to update people, this post can be locked now.
Blue Fly Mobile are gone, nobody can find them. They told me to send the phone back for repairs and when I was just about to, they turned up missing.
Web site is gone, no contact anywhere and I read in many forums about their bad rep.
Camera still gone. Battery may last a day if that. Phone randomly cuts of calls when I make them or when people make them to me.
Looks like I will be waiting for the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 when it hits OZ as it's better for my eyes.
Now, how to convince my wife that I absolutely need it???

Running Mango on the Surround

I just followed the instructions here.
All in all, I'm very pleased with the results. Angry birds is a bit choppy and the 16 bit color still exists. Post here if there are any issues specific to the Surround.
It's actually smooth for a beta . I'm let down with the whole wp7 thing still tho.
Everything worked fantastically (well as good as could be expected for beta software at least) for a day and a half until the device auto-rebooted and is now permanently stuck on the white HTC screen. Whether this was caused by the Mango beta or it was just coincidence I'm not really sure as this screen error usually occurs from an SD card error from what I understand. All part of the game with installing beta software right?
hey lostinbeta,
I had the same issue as u did, i updated my ohone to mango and it worked for 3 days until it randomly rebooted and got stuck at the htc screen, i tried flashing a ROM for OS 7004 and also tried retoring it through the zune software, it restarted my phone and for the next 3 hrs my phone was still on the HTC screen and zune did not throw any error and was still continuing a never ending restoration, pls pls pls help me , thanx in advance
nikhil90 said:
hey lostinbeta,
I had the same issue as u did, i updated my ohone to mango and it worked for 3 days until it randomly rebooted and got stuck at the htc screen, i tried flashing a ROM for OS 7004 and also tried retoring it through the zune software, it restarted my phone and for the next 3 hrs my phone was still on the HTC screen and zune did not throw any error and was still continuing a never ending restoration, pls pls pls help me , thanx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I could help, but I could never get my surround working again. I considered it hard bricked and went back to my captivate. I never called HTC about it though, so you can try to see if you can send it in for repair if its still under warranty. No guarantees they wont catch why it happened and refuse warranty service and charge you though.
Did you try to install RSPL/HSPL then install stock ROM?
tuankm said:
Did you try to install RSPL/HSPL then install stock ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. It just hangs at the white HTC screen forever (well til the battery dies lol) the only thing i haven't tried was changing the sd card inside the phone, but that's because I don't have a spare one and if it was a big enough deal I could just trying sending it into warranty to see if they will fix it for free instead of buying a new card.
Edit: I should say that I did not install an HSPL, but I flashed the official signed stock rom without a hitch.
Fwiw, I have had this happen on one occasion on the original 7004 build. I was able to get it working again, but not before I reflashed. The best you can hope for is to return the device and get a warranty replacement if flashing didn't do the trick.
problems with being stuck at logo screen
Hello All,
I bought my surround used (only 3 months old) and a month later it re-booted several times and finally ended stuck on the logo screen. Tried different methods of reviving the phone listed on here.... called att about warranty, they wouldnt warranty the phone because they said it had 3 sim registered to it, they said good luck but we are not going to help you. called htc and they had me send it in, couple days later, got a call saying water damage and it would be 170US and shipping for the repair. I had them send it back because i wasnt going to spend anymore money on it.
3 months later...
I opened up the phone last night and removed the internal micro sd card, left the slot empty and did a hard reset. viola... it booted up. Now, i was limited because there was no (at least not very much) memory available for photos, apps, or anything else, but the phone worked for calling
Went to the local walmart and purchased a sandisk class4 16GB card for about 30US. Opened the phone back up and installed the sd card and did another hard reset. Phone booted and I checked the memory, around 14.xxGB free after format. I have made 2 updates from zune, installed several apps, texted, called and sync some zune data, setup my gmail acct and sync'd my contacts. Phone has been working great, only 2 days but I think HTC has put in a bad bunch of micro sd cards in these phones because many people have had the same problem.
I just wanted to share this in case anyone has had the same problem. I am lucky as I had the torx and small phillips head drivers to dis-assemble the device.
Hope this helps. -thejaxster
thejaxster said:
Hello All,
I bought my surround used (only 3 months old) and a month later it re-booted several times and finally ended stuck on the logo screen. Tried different methods of reviving the phone listed on here.... called att about warranty, they wouldnt warranty the phone because they said it had 3 sim registered to it, they said good luck but we are not going to help you. called htc and they had me send it in, couple days later, got a call saying water damage and it would be 170US and shipping for the repair. I had them send it back because i wasnt going to spend anymore money on it.
3 months later...
I opened up the phone last night and removed the internal micro sd card, left the slot empty and did a hard reset. viola... it booted up. Now, i was limited because there was no (at least not very much) memory available for photos, apps, or anything else, but the phone worked for calling
Went to the local walmart and purchased a sandisk class4 16GB card for about 30US. Opened the phone back up and installed the sd card and did another hard reset. Phone booted and I checked the memory, around 14.xxGB free after format. I have made 2 updates from zune, installed several apps, texted, called and sync some zune data, setup my gmail acct and sync'd my contacts. Phone has been working great, only 2 days but I think HTC has put in a bad bunch of micro sd cards in these phones because many people have had the same problem.
I just wanted to share this in case anyone has had the same problem. I am lucky as I had the torx and small phillips head drivers to dis-assemble the device.
Hope this helps. -thejaxster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip. How long did it take for you to take the phone apart in order to get to the microSD & then put it back together?

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