iPAQ Screen Misaligned after Hard Reset

[Cannibal]

Hi, I have a problem that I hope someone here can advise me on, I've looked around teh internet, but can't seem to find an answer.
I have an iPAQ H5450 with PPC 2002 Prem on it. I had to leave it for a week and the battery discharged. After carrying out a hard reset the screen has totally misaligned itself to the point where I can't select the digits on the pass code keypad. I have tried resetting and hard resetting many times, but the screen is still misaligned. As I can't get past the password screen I can't get to the screen align setup screen. Is there anything I can do or is it a repair shop case?

Thanks in advance.

[Adama D. Brown]

Can you enter any numbers at all, even if they're not close to the right ones? If so, if you get the password wrong a number of times, it should automatically perform a "secure reset," then let you back into the device.

[Konrad Pierce]

Older PPCs do the "secure reset"? (I can't find any reference to this for PPCs anywhere online, nor in the docs for the devices I have. Well, at least in the ones I quickly looked through.)

I've only seen them increase the timeout between attempts. Very frustrating, because the way it does it is to slow down the entire machine. Not only will you need to wait, say, 20 minutes before entering your 4-digit PIN - but you'll have to do it while operating a machine that's apparently 2000X slower ... it takes minutes just to drag the pointer over to the number button, and minutes more before the "tap" is processed, and more minutes ... ooops, did you not move your finger with perfect patience? The device thinks you've touched some other part of the screen, or tapped, or double-tapped, or not-tapped ... aaagh.

If it's gotten to this point you have two choices. You can endure this increasing timeout and use a "brute force" attack; systematically guessing every possible PIN combination until you're successful. (Obviously, you should first attempt any PINs you think you might have used. If you are anything of a programmer, then you can connect the device through ActiveSync and have a script automate this for you ... still, it may take many weeks.)

More simply: you can Hard-Reset. Erase everything, lose everything. Including your forgotten-PIN.

[Adama D. Brown]

As I recall, the iPaq 5450 and 5550 both had a "secure reset" which wiped both RAM and the internal flash if their passwords or biometric tests were failed X number of times. They were unusual that way, since they were designed for high-security environments like hospitals.

[Cannibal]

Thanks for your help. I could enter a number for the pass code so did that until I reached the max number of attempts. I was then prompted to carry out a secure reset, the problem was I couldn't hit the "ok" button for the first few attempts, but I got there eventually. Anyway the secure reset enabled me to re-align the screen and I have now restored everything from my last back-up. I thought I was going to have to scrap it, but thanks to you guys my iPAQ will give me some more service. Thanks again.

[Adama D. Brown]

May I suggest that in the future, you also consider enrolling at least one fingerprint for emergency access?

[Cannibal]

May I suggest that in the future, you also consider enrolling at least one fingerprint for emergency access?

Good idea, I will. Thanks.