HP Forum Archive 16

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HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #1 Posted by Steve Leigh on 6 Feb 2007, 5:23 p.m. Hi, just purchased what appears to be a brand new 1MB 48GX ram card - no visible signs of wear on gold plated contacts. The 48GX sees the card in port 2 but does not seem to be able to initialize. Invalid Card Data keeps popping up no matter what you do. New battery installed and same problem on two different calcs. Is there some form of low level reset or something?? Thanks in advance, Steve

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #2 Posted by Randy on 6 Feb 2007, 5:28 p.m., in response to message #1 by Steve Leigh Quote: Is there some form of low level reset or something? Yes there is and you have to force it manually as the GX does not initialize cards by default like the SX. Press [<-] [2] [NXT] [B] to invoke the PINIT (port initialize) command. That should solve your problem. Edited: 6 Feb 2007, 6:05 p.m.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #3 Posted by Steve Leigh on 6 Feb 2007, 6:44 p.m., in response to message #2 by Randy Hi, Thanks! I have tried this many times however to no avail. I tried the RAM test and the test came up with "RAM(2) 90000", did not appear to pass the self test. I just cleaned the contacts with alcohol and now for some reason even though it is a 1M card 33 ports show up. However when you try to access ports 2 through 9 - the ones I should be able to see only they appear as ROM. S.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #4 Posted by Randy on 6 Feb 2007, 8:13 p.m., in response to message #3 by Steve Leigh Check the write protect switch... that will make it appear as though it were ROM.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #5 Posted by Steve Leigh on 6 Feb 2007, 10:39 p.m., in response to message #4 by Randy Tried that also. Starting to think the card is bad. Any other ideas?? Thanks! S.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #6 Posted by Ron on 6 Feb 2007, 11:54 p.m., in response to message #5 by Steve Leigh I think "invalid card data" is the expected display item when you insert a new card. Got this off the TDS site though: Alpha, alpha, left shift, alpha, and type [I][N][I][T][R][A][M]. Press [ENTER]. The HP 48 will prompt "OK TO ERASE ALL FILES IN PORT 2?" Answer [F] for yes. Edited: 6 Feb 2007, 11:57 p.m.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #7 Posted by Steve Leigh on 7 Feb 2007, 2:14 a.m., in response to message #6 by Ron Hi, tried this also and command does not seem to be recognized. Is there a particular way to enter the "initram" command?? S.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #8 Posted by Ron on 7 Feb 2007, 2:37 a.m., in response to message #7 by Steve Leigh I just tried it with a 512k card, and it worked as advertised. Alpha key twice. Left shift key once. Alpha key once. Type in INITRAM (CST STO CST COS > A '). Enter key once.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #9 Posted by Han on 7 Feb 2007, 2:54 p.m., in response to message #7 by Steve Leigh That's because INITRAM is a command provided by TDS (so presumably Ron has another card in slot 1 that is enabling the use of this command). Normally, a brand new RAM card needs to be initialized. Every bank has a certain CRC value that ensures the data stored in each bank (port) has not been corrupted. A brand new card would not likely have the correct CRC. This is where the built-in command PINIT comes in. If your card is in READ/WRITE mode (i.e. WRITE PROTECT switch is turned off), then this will take care of the invalid card data problem. Other causes for invalid card data errors is low RAM card battery. If there is not enough power to the chips, the CRC data may be lost/corrupted. Or perhaps actual data is corrupted, so that the calculated CRC is different from the stored CRC. This will also cause invalid card data. You will not notice the effects when the HP is turned on since the RAM cards pull power from the main batteries when the HP is on. However, after if the HP has been off for some time and the RAM card battery is low, you may see data corruption. If you can eliminate these possibilities, then it is possible your card is defective. Can you tell us who made the card? Edited: 7 Feb 2007, 2:55 p.m.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #10 Posted by Ron on 7 Feb 2007, 9:21 p.m., in response to message #9 by Han Actually, I do not have another card installed. Just the RAM card.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #11 Posted by Han on 7 Feb 2007, 2:58 p.m., in response to message #3 by Steve Leigh Quote: Hi, Thanks! I have tried this many times however to no avail. I tried the RAM test and the test came up with "RAM(2) 90000", did not appear to pass the self test. I just cleaned the contacts with alcohol and now for some reason even though it is a 1M card 33 ports show up. However when you try to access ports 2 through 9 - the ones I should be able to see only they appear as ROM. S. "RAM(2) 90000" either means you forgot to change the write-protect switch so that you can write to the card, or that the card's battery was low during the test phase, or that you simply have a defective card. The fact that you also saw 33 ports is a good sign your card is defective. It may be that the bank selector IC on your card is bad, making the HP believe you have more banks (ports) than are physically available.

Re: HP 48GX Ram card problem Message #12 Posted by Steve Leigh on 7 Feb 2007, 11:11 p.m., in response to message #11 by Han Hi, have tried everything and it looks like the card may be bad. Today it did show up with ports 2 - 9 but they appeared to be ROM and not accessible. I am about to get ready to take the card cover off and see if there is any visible damage to card due to age. It is a genuine HP card and was never used but is 10+ years old. Ideas?? S.

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