Now, that would void your warranty. That would involve opening up the unit, and if anyone other than a certified Humanware technician does that, then that is the end of your warranty.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of J.T.Laurie Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 8:29 AM To: Braillenote List Subject: Re: [Braillenote] BN acting up again! speaking of repairs, a friend of mine said if its just a battery replacement you could take the unit in to a computer shop. anyone know anything about this? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Flint Million" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 4:46 AM Subject: Re: [Braillenote] BN acting up again! > 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 >> >> >> -- >> >> No virus found in this outgoing message. >> >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> >> Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.16/582 - Release Date: >> >> 11/12/2006 4:32 PM >> >> >> >> >> >> ___ >> >> To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >> >> http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >> >> >> >___ >> >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >> >http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >> >> >> >> ___ >> To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >> http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >> >> > ___ > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
