I'm an IT and computer specialist so this is a good one, plus I enjoy
answering questions. Sorry for those who find it OT.
--technical lecture follows.
The braille note runs on software contained in internal memory called
flash
memory. This is because the memory is on chips, and works similarly to
permanent "ROM" (read only memory) however it can also be "flashed" back
to
a blank state and then reprogrammed with new content. People encounter
flash
memory often in the form of a USB flash drive (thumb drive, usb key, etc)
which contains a large amount of this flash memory and is used for storing
user data. On the braille note, the actual system software itself is
contained on a flash memory chip.
Reflashing is the process of writing new information to flash memory. Most
often however it pertains to system software, or "firmware", of various
devices. A computer's BIOS is often contained on flash memory allowing it
to
be updated by the user. In the past, you would have to open your computer,
physically remove the old memory chip, and install the new one. Now you
can
simply "flash" the chip and write new information to it. Most devices that
are portable or specialized have their system software in flash memory as
well. The game system you refer to has flash memory for all of its
internal
software, and additional software is added by way of discs, cartridges, or
whatever.
Whenever you update your Braille note's Keysoft software, you are infact
"reflashing" the Braille note's memory on your own. The file you download
from the Internet or receive on a Secure Digital card (which, by the way,
is
another form of flash memory) contains all of the data that needs to go
onto
the flash memory chip inside your Braille note. Your Braille Note's flash
memory chip also serves as the "Flash Disk" which is why it's always a
good
idea to back up information on the flash disk before doing any sort of
software upgrade.
When the Braille Note completely freezes (as mine has), it's impossible
however to run the software that starts the update. Flash memory is
"reflashed" by special software written expressly for this purpose. If you
can't get your Braille note to start up, you won't be able to run any
software to reflash the memory yourself. Many consumer devices today have
some sort of "last resort" backup method to allow the end user to reflash
the unit in the case of a huge catastrophe. PC's today sometimes ship with
two completely separate BIOS chips; if you ruin one by incorrectly
reflashing you can use the other to boot up again to try reflashing the
main
chip again. The Braille Note however has no such escape route. If the
flash
memory is reflashed wrongly, or if it simply is a faulty chip and can't
"remember" information well, it dies, and goodbye. It's going back to HW.
If I were asked about how to make enduser flashing possible, I'd suggest
HW
introduce another chip to the Braille Note that has just enough program on
it to get the unit to where it can read an SD card and reflash the main
memory using that card's contents. For example, if your main flash was
completely messed up, you could simply get the current Keysoft, put its
file
on an SD card, and reboot your Braille Note while holding down a certain
key
combination or some other trick. The Braille Note would read the SD card,
and write the contents of the file to main flash automatically. You could
prhaps have some beep feedback during this process. Afterwards your main
Flash would be restored and you could continue working.
There's absolutely no technical reason HW can't implement such an
emergency
restore feature. If there is such a feature I want to know about it! If
there is not, the only reason I can think of is QC: which to answer the
other lister's question means Quality Control. Hw wants your unit back so
they can examine it. Perhaps it is like a car dealership even; they fix
your
flash but go "By the way we saw a bent pin in the serial port. We can fix
that for $xxx." I'm not trying to suggest HW is trying to pull a fast one
on
its customers, but it seems routine these days to technologically prevent
customers from repairing their own equipment.
--end technical discussion
well there you have it. For those who I completely lost after five words,
my
apologies :-) Anyway, off for now, will post to let you all know what
happens with the unit, but I'm going to push as hard as I can for a
replacement unit, since I do depend on my Braille note for work and being
without it for me is just about as bad as a sighted person being without
their pen and paper, appointment book, watch, address book, leisure
reading,
and (yep, you guessed it) their handheld game console!
Flint
On 12/13/06, Alex Parks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I tried to do that. It took two or three times of sending my BN
in for repair (which is why I wanted the replacement) and asking
for a new one each time before HW finally replaced mine. I am
glad they did, but you should be extremely insistent because it
is hard, at least in my experience, to convince them to replace a
machine. Good luck.
Oh, a question: exactly what does reflashing do? My friend
reflashed the BIOS on my computer, and I heard of a guy who tried
to flash the BIOS of a gaming system. What does flashing, or
reflashing, do and why would it be so nice to be able to do
independent of a tech support person?
Have a great day,
Alex
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Flint Million" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]
>Date sent: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:55:25 -0600
>Subject: Re: [Braillenote] BN acting up again!
>It was sent in for repair. My guess is they just reflashed the
system. I
>have to think there's a way for endusers to reflash the system
even if it's
>completely dead, but Humanware would rather us send it in. I
understand the
>whole QC thing, but being without the unit is a strain on work,
and
>Humanware (as do many other companies) seem to forget that... I'm
gonna give
>them a call tomorrow and see if I can get it straight. I'm pretty
much going
>to say I want a completely new replacement unit, not just the
same unit
>reflashed.
>Flint
>On 12/12/06, Brian Lingard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Ottawa Canada
>> Dear Flint:
>> After your BrailleNote died last time, how did you coax it back
>> to health?
>> Sounds like you need to have a serious talk with Humanware Tech
>> Support.
>> Brian
>> --
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>> 11/12/2006 4:32 PM
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