Start up problem on 540 Live

[MRCC]

My 540 Live has developed 2 problems in the last few days which i think are related:

1) I tried to make a full backup with Windows explorer but it failed saying the file watchdogtrace.dat was unreadable could not be copied. I managed to copy everything else except that file.

2) Every time i switch the device on, the splash screen stays on for a lot longer than normal ( a failed boot-up i think) then it goes blank and does a self-reset/drum-roll, which makes it lose the GPS position for a while. After this is then works normally. However every time i switch off then on the same thing happens again.

With problem one above i was able to delete the file and replace it with one from an earlier backup. But when i start the device i end up back at square one, the watchdogtrace.dat file now has the date/time of the switch on but it still won't be copied by explorer.

So it seems that when it tries to boot -up it finds the watchdogtrace file is corrupt then does a full reset which creates a new watchdogtrace file but that is also corrupt.

Not sure how to sort this - any suggestions please?

[Andy_P]

watchdogtrace.dat is just a logging file (it makes notes about system crashes!)

I suspect some physical memory corruption on your internal memory.

Now it could either be just a temporary glitch, or it could be the first indication of the internal memory dying (it does happen...)

If it's temporary, you could try copying everything from the internal memory onto your PC (i.e. making another backup) missing out the rogue watchdog file if necessary; then reformatting the internal memory (using Windows standard formatting routine to FAT32); then copying everything back onto it.

That may well do the trick, but if not, we can start looking at re-building from scratch.

If it's a hint of more serious trouble to come, then you can always copy everything to a suitably large SD card and run the whole system from that.
_________________
"Settling in nicely" ;-)

[MRCC]

Thanks Andy, I'll give the reformat a go and report back.

Cheers

[MRCC]

Andy - formatting the device and copying a backup on with explorer worked!

Thanks very much, I appreciate it

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