Elf does not load

[Kettie]

Hi all,

My HTC Touch doesn't load. The blue "Windows Mobile" screen comes up - then nothing else happens.

I've tried pressing the red and green buttons while inserting the stylus into the reset button - the screen goes black while the stylus is in, then I get that blue screen again. The only way I can switch it off is to remove the battery.

I've tried removing & reinserting the battery. I've tried a new battery.

It was working fine, but wouldn't sync with my comp. I switched it off & on again so Windows would detect the connection, and this happened!

It's about 30 degs Celsius in here - don't know if that makes a difference ...

HEEEELP!

Thankyou.

[Kettie]

Never mind ... it just started working again after 60 mins of not working ... note to self, don't keep anything vital on there ...

*edit* and now it's not working again. I think something's close to dying in there ... Okay, I still need help please!

[Kettie]

And now it's not working again. It seems once I get it working, I can't switch it off for ANY reason, or the problem crops up again.

How can I fix it once and for all please?

Thanks.

[Kettie]

Hopeful bump?

[tito12]

Hi Kettie

You have to convince ppl here that you tried to solve your problem and then ask for help in the appropriate thread ;) Did you read this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=406721 ?

[Kettie]

Thanks for replying ... I thought this was the right place cos I found these forums on google when searching for answers to my problem.

I had been through the docs, but I'm still hugely confused. I'm not sure that my Elf's problems count as 'bricked', and not sure what the Bootloader menu is or if it would even be helpful for my problems, but I'll post in that link you gave and maybe some kind soul will take pity on me!

*edit* I've posted in a new place, but I'm fairly certain it's yet another WRONG place. The thread is called "[REF]Recover / Revive your dead / bricked HTC ELF or ELFIN[ONLINE]" which seems right, cos the phone is partly dead, but that thread is in the " Elf upgrading etc." section, and I wasn't trying to upgrade, just to use the thing. Also, the last 2 people to post there never got any help.

Where should I be posting please?

Thanks!

[tito12]

First try to hard reset:

Hold down send/reject buttons (green/red at the front) and reset with the stylus; release the stylus but keep holding the buttons till you get 'this will erase all your personal data' message, then press 'action' (big front button) to hard reset.

[Kettie]

Thank you, I had tried that following information on these forums. When the Elf is stuck in the blue Windows screen startup mode, all that happens when I try to hard reset is that the screen goes black until I take the stylus out of the reset button, then it goes back to the blue screen.

I hadn't tried it when the unit is working, but just did ... all that happened was that it successfully rebooted ... but it didn't ask me if I wanted to delete all my data, and it didn't delete in fact delete anything.

[tito12]

Great news, good Elfing :)

[Kettie]

Why "great news"? I've still got the same problem I had. If I turn the PDA off, then it'll take several hours of turning the machine on, then pulling the battery out to turn it off, then turning it on again, to get it to go through the bootup process.

Plus now it looks like I can't hard-reset even if I want to ...

The unit's only good once I've got it up and running ... I still have my original problem ...

[tito12]

Sorry, I thought you solved the prob :(
I read something about chinese elf clones, one of the signs is they don't hard reset like normal elf http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=548277&highlight=chinese+elf+clones
Can you run this app http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=418892&highlight=chinese+elf+clones ?
I'm going to bed, we'll see tomorrow :-)

[Kettie]

I think it might be a clone, but the hard reset thing used to work in the past (done it a couple of times previously when ActiveSync stopped working on my XP machine - in the end, upgrading to Vista fixed that problem).

Hard reset stopped working around the time that it also stopped wanting to start up after being switched off...

I'll try the program when I'm back on that Vista computer, will post the results here later.

Thanks!

[Kettie]

Okay, I tried running the app, but it didn't work. So I tried installing the two cab files onto the Elf, THAT worked, but the app still didn't. Which I guess means it's a clone (either that, or I'm doing something wrong in running these apps).

Basically, it told me:

HTC Touch device information - by dsixda

Touch version : Unknown
Device ID : Unknown
CID : Unknown
IPL : ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
SPL : Unknown
ROM Version : Unknown
ExtROM Version : None
Operator Version: None
AKU Version : 0.5.0
Page Pool (MB) : Unknown
RAM Size (MB) : Unknown
ROM Size (MB) : Unknown
Model No. : Unknown
Part Number : Unknown
MCC+MNC : Not found

IMEI (private) : Unknown
Serial Number (private): Unknown
MAC Address (private) : Unknown

I guess this doesn't help you help me much ... but still, any other clues about how I can get this thing to switch on first time, every time, and get past the blue (not green) Windows Mobile screen?

Thanks so much!

[vinoob]

same problem is the with my elfin also ... i cant reboot my ppc. it takes 20 to 30 mins to get completely loaded and back to normal. did u check if ur air plane mode and the phone mode are working fine. i was not working in my case. ive given it for service.have to wait till i get it back.

[Kettie]

I'm not sure what "airplane mode" is ... but I can send/receive calls just fine, send/receive texts just fine, and turn the phone on and off in the 'connectivity' window ... when the thing is working, it's just great.

The only problem I have with it is that if I turn it off, I might not be able to turn it on again.

Maybe it's a software issue ... if it were a computer, I could use 'safe mode' to boot with minimal apps and see what the problem is. Is there anything like that for Windows Mobile?

[vinoob]

there is no specific safe mode boot in wm as far as i know. try changing ur mother board.. if u r still in warrenty its well and gud.

[Kettie]

Nope, it's not. And I wouldn't know where to get another motherboard, or how to change it. :/

[tito12]

Hi Kettie

From your device info, or lack of it, it seems you have a clone. Now in order to see if your problem is software related, you have to try hard reset this will set it back to factory defaults. Copy paste " chinese elf clone " in the general search and read what others say, you'll also find what are the other combinations for hard reset.