Mr. Ksoft
Well-known member
I recently picked up a Motorola StarMax 4000/160 DT. Seems to be in decent cosmetic shape, no obvious damage on the board, but it doesn't power up via the power button or the keyboard soft power. Strangely it powers up immediately without pressing anything if plugged in after being unplugged for a while (a day or so?). The power button will turn it off but then not back on. The only reliable way to get it to fire up is to press the CUDA reset button, which turns it on every single time. (But that has the side effect of requiring the case to be open, and it wipes the PRAM). The system works completely fine once it's on.
Of course first thing with these Tanzania boards is to replace the battery -- I have done so (fabricated my own 4.5V battery using a 3xAA battery holder) but no difference. Multimeter confirms that my battery setup is putting out 4.5V, so I am fairly certain it was put together properly.
My best guess is that there is some kind of issue with the soft power circuit but I am not really sure where to start with troubleshooting (possibly checking that the board is actually getting the battery voltage). Anyone have experience with the Tanzania board that might know something I don't?
Of course first thing with these Tanzania boards is to replace the battery -- I have done so (fabricated my own 4.5V battery using a 3xAA battery holder) but no difference. Multimeter confirms that my battery setup is putting out 4.5V, so I am fairly certain it was put together properly.
My best guess is that there is some kind of issue with the soft power circuit but I am not really sure where to start with troubleshooting (possibly checking that the board is actually getting the battery voltage). Anyone have experience with the Tanzania board that might know something I don't?