FAQ: SUDS - sudden failure of USB on M5xx

[shagpalm]

What gives. My wife's 515 does not hotsync again.
We are using XP pro. I have was logged in as her user id, did not just switch users.
After I did the shortcut .1 battery drain method on Jan 12, I was able to hotsync to her user, both the palm user and XP user.
This morning, Jan 20, hers would not hotsync.
The proper connection method, Local USB, was checked.
Also, we use a "E" cradle at home.
I have not had any problem with mine.

Is anyone that is having these hotsync problems using the official Palm metal hard case? I am not using one.

My next try will be to remove hers from this case.
Why is this model so sensitive to static?

Palm may lose me as a customer if this continues.
The PocketPC could be the way to go.

[Ben S]

Originally posted by shagpalm

Is anyone that is having these hotsync problems using the official Palm metal hard case? I am not using one.

Yes. My girlfriend uses the hard case exclusively and hers has had SUDS a couple of times now. I just gave up and gave her a serial cradle, which works fine. She doesn't sync often enough that she even cares that it's about 1/2 the speed.

[mrredsun]

Well, my m505 is up and running. Unfortunately, I'm afraid to take it off of the cradle. Any time it's laying flat on any surface, the screen blanks and the green light comes on. I've done the Shortcut.3 and Shortcut.1. I left it on in the cradle (disconnected from the AC adapter) to let it drain. Later, it looked like GLS all over again. Is it supposed to do this after a battery drain? I did a hard reset afterwards, but it always takes a few minutes after going through the motions until my Palm actually comes back up.

Dale Mulcahy

[Jennifer S]

No, it's never supposed to do this (behave differently when you lay it down). It sounds like a hardware problem - your Palm needs to be repaired or replaced.

[mrredsun]

My Palm seems to work so far (went the whole nine yards draining the battery and hard resetting). I think what was happening when I layed it down on another surface is that it must have been ground to me. As soon as I laid it down, static got to it. Leastwise, that's the best explanation I can come up with. Perhaps I won't have to deal with this behavior after the winter season.

Dale

[delerdelarosa]

I think I'm getting the clue here.

My m515 stopped hotsyncing again. Static. While at the movie theatre. I was taking my coat off and felt a series of mini static shocks. Got home and my m515 won't sync again.

[sifryer]

I've been reading through this thread and learning. I'm on my 2nd 515 thanks to ESD problems and this one is now no longer hotsyncing. I have begun the battery run-down process but have questions about two items of info picked up from this thread: 1) how does the hard reset fit into this run-down process? - Forgive my ignorance but once a hard reset has been accomplished wouldn't writing to the unit be impossible? 2) Is the Palm aluminum case a potential factor in the promotion of ESD failures? i.e. are there case materials which maximise or minimize this effect?

Wish I'd found this board before I splashed out on this most disappointing product.

[delerdelarosa]

My guess is that anything that may act as a conductor is suspect, be it the Palm all by itself or in an aluminum case where metal portions make contact with the handheld.

From what I understand about SUDS (and I'm no expert in electronics), is this something that should be expected with any handheld with a metallic casing, or is this a design flaw in the m5xx series?

[Ben S]

Originally posted by delerdelarosa
... is this a design flaw in the m5xx series?

It's a design flaw in the USB controller chip used on those devices, and the way it was integrated into the m500 series.

[bajwae]

I have the innopocket aluminum case, so I initially attributed my SUDS to that, however, my girlfriend recently developed SUDS and she uses a leather case. I'm guessing that the aluminum case makes it more likely (I never had SUDS until I started using it), but it's not required.