How to revive Prime from sudden death

[René Franquinet]

Recently I tried to update my Prime to the latest version 2016.04.14 r10077 . As I had to do other things I have left the Conmnectivity Kit alone to do the update without interfering. I noticed however a number of error messages. Of course I have no log of these. I have waited till the end of the process and tried to reboot the Prime. Impossible.
I did the following things to get my Prime alive again:
- push a needle in the reset hole: no result
- apply the magical key tricks as mentioned in several threads: no result
- remove the battery for a couple of hours and replace it: no result
- feeding the Prime with and without battery and the USB-cable connected to a power outlet: no result.
The Prime also is not recognized by the Connectivity Kit . Maybe I did forget the ultimate trick?

[Steve Keeley]

I'm in the same boat. I started the update and it went fine up to 7% complete, then froze while the computer kept trying to install a driver. This went on for a while and now the calculator is bricked.

I tried the pin reset, ON-symb, F-C-O ON, and removing the battery.

It still only boots as far as the x^2+y^2 = 1 screen.

Unless there's another method, I'm afraid it's dead.

[kk6pr]

I had the same problem updating on a Windows 10 64-bit machine. The calculator displayed some error, the computer said the USB driver failed and continually tried to install some update (I assume). Several small icons appeared for each attempt (3 or 4 simultaneously), but it obviously wasn't working.

Disconnected the Prime from the computer - did a pin hole reboot, it recoverd normally.

Rebooted the computer and tried the update again - it worked successfully this time.

[DrD]

(04-24-2016 06:18 PM)Steve Keeley Wrote:  Unless there's another method, I'm afraid it's dead.

Hold the [Symb] key down while doing pin-hole reset. It should boot to recovery mode.

-Dale-

[Steve Keeley]

Thanks Dale!

It didn't work at first; it just got me back to where I was. I tried several times and variations (hold SYMB, insert pin, remove pin, release SYMB; insert pin, press SYMB, release SYMB, remove pin etc.)

I don't know which one finally did the trick, but I got the HP logo with a text "Recovery Mode" message at the top. It stayed that way rather than rebooting, but when I connected it to the computer and started the Connectivity Kit I got the option to update the firmware and the update proceeded.

The calculator is now working and updated.

You saved my Prime! I hope this works for the OP as well.

I feel sorry for all the Prime owners who don't know about this board.

[René Franquinet]

Hi Dale

Thank you for the advice. The [Symb] [Pin in the hole] indeed worked as far as to reboot the Prime. The first update gave on the screen of the Prime several times the message: Error! Unknown command: e7. After a [Symb] [Pin] session I read the following message: CodeEntry:0x0. Hp Prime recovery mode V13. After updating to the newest version, which was o.k. according to a message in the Connectivity Kit, I tried to reboot/start the Prime. But I have not succeeded until now. Using your method several times I have updated the Prime already three times.
One thing is almost certain: the device is still alive.
What follow up do I have?

[René Franquinet]

Latest development on the front of "sudden death" HP Prime:
the Connectivity Kit updates the Prime. As you know the process shows three sequences in the update: on the screen of the pc as well as on the screen of the Prime you can follow the procedure via a ruler (blue). At the end the update ends, but in my case on the screen of the Prime the ruler stays in a 100% (full) position. Do you maybe know what this means?

[DrD]

I defer to Tim Wessman for your best resource on installation problems, but I can offer this:

Installing the 10077 CK, and emulator; then update the physical device to 10077 firmware, usually works great. If you have used any folders other than the default ones, it may be a good idea to totally remove any trace of the older installations.

If you are still having trouble, this might help:

1. Recover with 8151 CK and 8151 firmware on the physical device.
2. Use the "C-F-O ON" reset to enter the Diagnostic mode.
3. Select item 4. FLS Utility.
4. Select Format Disk C. [Esc] to exit when completed.
5. Select item 9.RESET.
6. Close the CK and Emulator.
7. Install the 10077 updates.
8. Update the physical device to the 10077 firmware.

Good luck, the new updates are great, and congratulations to the hp team for all the improvements and effort required to get them out the door. It's been quite a year, with all the corporate changes, etc.!

-Dale-

[DrD]

(04-25-2016 11:34 AM)René Franquinet Wrote:  Prime the ruler stays in a 100% (full) position. Do you maybe know what this means?

When you see the blue progress bar remain, continue to wait. May take quite awhile. After a few minutes, if it hasn't cleared, the device most likely didn't complete the installation. I would try the recovery mode a second time, with the latest update. Failing that, I would try the format process, and once again try the latest update. (This all presumes that you have successfully installed the 10077 CK, and are updating from 10077 CK)!

It would be pretty unusual for this process to fail, and Tim may have additional suggestions at this point. I have had installation problems in the past, but have always managed to get things working again, by using these steps.

-Dale-

[René Franquinet]

(04-25-2016 11:37 AM)DrD Wrote:  1. Recover with 8151 CK and 8151 firmware on the physical device.

Would like to do so, but only can find the CK with rel.no. 8151. Firmware 8151 is untraceable for me...

[René Franquinet]

Problem solved (but how?)

After all my futile attempts to revive my HP Prime, I thought maybe another PC could do the job. So I decided to use my notebook Vaio Pro also hosting the CK and virtual HP Prime, to update my physical HP Prime. And lo and behold: it updated my calculator perfectly.
To all of you many thanks for the support. Maybe this could be another advice: change of updating computer?

[DrD]

That sounds like a USB port issue. Just curious if you had tried more than one USB port, by any chance?

-Dale-

[Tim Wessman]

Well, this is another example of why we want to get off the current/older update method. :-( Glad you were able to get it going.

There is a new update method built in to your unit now that should be much more reliable. We will probably be using it by default in the next release provided your unit has a firmware installed that supports it (is version >10000 or something like that).

[René Franquinet]

(04-25-2016 03:06 PM)DrD Wrote:  That sounds like a USB port issue. Just curious if you had tried more than one USB port, by any chance?

No, I have used the same port all that time. Could be the problem!

[René Franquinet]

(04-25-2016 04:03 PM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  Well, this is another example of why we want to get off the current/older update method. :-( Glad you were able to get it going.

There is a new update method built in to your unit now that should be much more reliable. We will probably be using it by default in the next release provided your unit has a firmware installed that supports it (is version >10000 or something like that).

Hi Tim, how can I see what firmware my Prime is working with or upon? I suppose the software version is different from the firmware version. I see a "Released Version" of V.1.10.

[ndzied1]

Go to Help/Tree/About HP Prime

The firmware is in parenthesis next to the Software Version.

See Attached

[Han]

You can also use the VERSION() command, or even VERSION(n) where n is a small integer to get various bits of the VERSION.

[René Franquinet]

(04-25-2016 07:18 PM)Han Wrote:  You can also use the VERSION() command, or even VERSION(n) where n is a small integer to get various bits of the VERSION.

It shows 10077, so it must be able to accept the new update method, as mentioned by Tim.