Looking for Suggestions on Dead HP49G+

[cjmcc]

(10-29-2019 01:40 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  

(10-29-2019 12:38 PM)cjmcc Wrote:  My son's calculator has decided to go on strike just before a major exam. The display shows pixels in a horizontal line, but won't respond. He changed the batteries. He tried a soft reset (asked about trying to recover memory, but nothing after that). Tried a paperclip into the back reset slot. Any suggestions for this poor device.

(Right now, I'm express mailing him MY HP50G for his exam.)

If he can get to the "Try to recover the memory" message the device is still alive and booting. I believe the cause might've been perhaps a bad crash started writing to the Flash in all the wrong places, now the ROM is corrupted and cannot start.
My suggestion is to do this:
Holding + and - simultaneously, use the paperclip to access the boot loader. Then flash the 2MB_FIX rom file that's on hpcalc.org . This is a special ROM that will erase and rewrite the entire flash chip. Any blocks that might've been compromised will be repaired.
You WILL lose all data and all libraries installed in flash as well, but will likely get you back the calculator in perfect condition.

Thank you for the reply. I'll get my hands on the misbehaving calculator at Thanksgiving and give this recovery routine a try.

BTW - College kids these days are very Amazon conditioned. Need something desperately, and Amazon Prime will take care of you. Has anyone seen the going prices for an HP49G+? Amazon lists a new one for $229.99 and a dodgy used one for $69.99 (plus $49.99 shipping!!!!).