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- Visor & Deluxe (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)
-- How accurate is the Handspring DRAM test? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=1459)

I bought my BVD in March and I have had a number of hard resets. In the first two weeks it happened 3 times. I was about ready to get a replacement, but the problem seemed to go away and I attributed it to software conflicts. Since then I have had a couple per month. I don't really worry about it anymore because I have the back-up module. When I heard of this DRAM problem I fully expected my Visor to have a problem, yet the test said mine was fine. The test took a split second to complete; what could it have possibly tested in that amount of time? So how accurate do you think the Handspring test is?

I really think my Visor has at least a minor problem related to the DRAM, and I'm going to see what happens by applying the patch(when it comes out).

From my understanding from posts here, I *THINK* the test just checks the serial number of the Visor. Handspring knows what batch of Visors have the problem chip so the test just checks to see if yours is part of the bad lot. I do not think it actually checks the memory itself but I could be totally off here. Though I got a post from the Afterburner people (since I registered it) that running Afterburner while running the test could give a false positive problem result. Now if it doesn�t check memory then how would Afterburner affect just a serial check. More confusion it seems!

No, the test actually does test something - maybe the internal Visor serial number, if not the actual DRAM.

I think that if it detects the serial number as within the range, then it prompts the user to enter the serial number on the back of the battery cover to make sure.

As for that Afterburner problem, my belief is that since Afterburner speeds up all applications, the DRAM test was affected since it was not working like it was supposed to.

[This message has been edited by Tan Kit Hoong (edited 07-18-2000).]

I'm not sure what exactly the test looks for, but it certainly isn't the same type of test as Palm's. Palm users claim ~20-30 minutes for their test to run. Mine prompted me for a serial number in under 5 seconds. Yes, it failed.

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"The mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work unless it's open." - Frank Zappa

I'm fairly confident it doesn't test your Visor at all. I entered my SN, and it said it was bad. (on this subject--HS said a patch would be out in 1-2 weeks..where is it..I should have asked for a replacement ) I changed a digit near the front end--it said my Visor was OK. So I think it just checks your SN--not your Visor actually.

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-Vincent
All these guys have no game, I wish I would have stayed