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[Jenny_Bean]

Hi everyone! My long-awaited pleo ugobe arrived last night!  He does have two batteries; two green, and one egg one (which I hear is a rare commodity!).  I spent all night charging them all and played with him a little bit, but I do have some questions.

The pleo came with 6 SD cards and say things like, "Halloween," "Watch Dog," "Christmas," etc. on them.  There is one that I cannot read where the ink got smudged, but it appears to start with an "R." Would this stand for "reset?" The pleo has reached the most mature state, but I've read I could reset it, and I think I'd like to to get the whole experience and get to know pleo from the beginning.  If this SD card IS reset, how do I use it?  If it's not "reset" what else could it be? 

Also, the pleo (geez, I did name him Arlo, guess I could call him by his name!), does make a "snapping" sound that sounds like it's coming from his back right leg, or possibly his tail. I read from  you guys that this can be a common problem with them, but if someone could direct me on how I can a) identify what the problem is and b) how I can fix it, that'd be very helpful!!!

Thanks guys!  I'm really, truly grateful for those of you still on this forum, even though I feel really late to the game.  My little Arlo came with a collar that said, "Pleo, born 8/1/11...and I felt even more out of the loop!  Hope to get some responses soon!

[Talon]

Hi, Jenny and welcome to the forums! You'll have to touch your pleo's body to figure out which limb is doing all the popping. When you've found it, just try turning him off and manually moving the limb out of its stiffend position and then turn him back on again. Be careful not to let your unit continue to run while making these snapping sounds. If it's a limb, it could damage the force-feedback sensor in the motor or if it is in the neck or tail, you could end up with a broken or jammed cable.
The cards you are describing have different personalities on them. These are short programs that cause the pleo to produce different sounds and reactions when you touch the various sensors. I'm not sure which one of them starts with R though. I don't think it stands for reset. I would be very careful in choosing to restart your pleo's life. These guys are getting older now and sometimes exhibit really odd issues when owners perform updates. In the case of a Ugobe, the whole hatchling to maturity process takes somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes. If you still want to take the plunge anyway I can direct you to the correct files so you can start your pleo's life over again.
Of course you want to start with a clean SD card that is two gig or smaller. Since you have so many I guess you can choose one personality to kill and just delete all files on that particular card. All of these personality files are here on the forum so you can easily get them back once you have finished with the update.
Most likely your unit is running Life OS 1.0 or 1.1. Here on the forum go to the link that says "Classic Pleo OSes". Choose the version of the Life operating system you want excluding the "Life OS 1.0 downgrade"file. Make sure you choose an update that uses the SD card. Don't forget to grab the link containing the instructions for said file if you're not familiar with unzipping files. Save the zipped Life OS file you have chosen to an easily accessible folder on your hard drive. Follow the instructions you are given in the instructions file and you should be good to go. Congrats on your Ugobe! Let us know if you need help with anything along the way.
Talon

[Jenny_Bean]

THANK YOU so much!

I'm not with my Pleo right now, but now that I recall, I think one of the SD cards had an "OS" something or rather on it. If so, I'd be willing to give that one a try and "update" it. If it doesn't work, I may take your advice and leave him be. Do I need to leave the SD card in there forever then, or does inserting an OS one just wipe his memory/upgrade him so it doesn't need to stay in?

And THANK YOU for the advice on his legs!  As I mentioned, it's not constant and only happened occasionally, but we also only had him on for 5-10 minutes last night so it is probably a problem that needs addressing.  I will do as you suggest and gentle move the limbs (with him off) and see if I can't get it to stop. Arlo came with a cape, so this was making it difficult to tell where the issue was. I will plan on taking it off of him and finding the source of the problem once I get home. If I still have issues, perhaps I can take a video and someone can help me.

I'm thrilled; all three batteries I have should be charged up and ready to go for me tonight, but I did want to ask, do they hold a charge?  As in, can I charge them all fully, and then still be fully charged if I tried to insert them a day later?  I hope so. This would make life much easier if I'm constantly switching out batteries.

Thank you so much again!  I'm so grateful to you and the others in this forum that still exist.  You are so invaluable since Ugobe is gone! So excited to get home to my little Arlo.  Will let you know how things go!

[Talon]

Hi, Jenny! Oh that's good that one of the cards already has one of the Life OSes on it. To answer your question, no. You can remove the SD card once the update is finished. Put in the card with the pleo off and then turn it on. The update should start automatically. Remember to leave the card in long enough for the update to complete. Your unit should make several chiming sounds over a span of three minutes. Once your pleo stops chiming, stretches out and starts producing little snoring and cooing noises, turn it off, remove the SD card, and then turn it on again. Your unit should now be a hatchling. The cuteness doesn't last long though so pat him and talk to him and revel in being the mommy of a newly-hatched Ugobe. In about five minutes, he should start trying to walk and in another ten or so minutes, he will be all grown up again.
Regarding your limb issue, taking a video is a good idea. Take off  the cape and feel him over first as he is moving. When you find the offending limb, turn him off and try manually moving it a little. you will hear a slight popping sound but don't worry unless the sound resumes again after turning him on. Oh and if your manual joint test fails to correct the problem, please shoot your video while he's still in mature stage so we can see if he's trying to walk.
As far as your batteries, as long as you aren't using them or keeping any of them in Arlo when you're not using him, they will keep a full charge for... about a month without discharging. I wouldn't hold out much hope for your two green ones but who knows? They might still hold a five or ten minute run-time each. I think the original charging time for the egg batteries is around three hours. You should get at least an hour or more of run-time out of it depending on its prier usage. This is only my opinion but I wouldn't recommend leaving any of them to charge all night, especially your egg battery as (hopefully), that will be the one with the longest run-time. I don't think any of the charger bases have that trickle charge thing built in where they stop charging the battery when it is full. Good luck and enjoy your little Arlo!
Talon

[Jenny_Bean]

He lives!!! 

I was able to figure out the snapping; it was his back right leg. I played with him for an hour or so with his cape off and heard no clacking.  Then I was able to reset him and go through the baby-juvenile stage with no issues. 

However, when I put his cape back on (very carefully, and tried to make sure it wasn't too tight), the snapping started up again :/. I then removed the cape, gently moved the leg, and played with him again, and he seemed fine.  Has anyone else experienced this? I guess he may just need to be naked when I play with him .

Anyway, things are otherwise going well!  The batteries do fine, though I will take your advice to not leave them on the charger overnight; I'm familiar with this and try to not to it with my cell phones either and found the battery lasts a lot longer that way.

I have found his sounds to be a little annoying, and that I enjoyed his company more with the sound turned off...I feel terrible admitting that, but so long as he gets played with daily, maybe he won't take offense .  Plus, his sounds I found kinda throw me off as to what he might be trying to communicate, unless he gets better at this as he ages?  He seemed easier to read with them off when I didn't have honking and squealing to make me second guess what his body language seemed to be indicating. I do feel like a bad parent for saying that though. Sorry, Arlo!

I did wonder...does he seem to know when he's being picked up or cuddled? I would hold him against me with his tail and neck parallel to my body and my hand supporting his rump and the other hand resting on his back. I read this triggers him to fall asleep, but he moves his neck around quite a lot in the minute or two it takes for him to sleep...does he intentionally cuddle, or is this just random?  I'll enjoy it just the same, but my husband was like, "It's not like he knows you're holding him or that your face or body is there."

Also, does he have senors on his feet? I'd try tapping them individually to try and get him to lift them, or to guide him into the "ta da" trick, but he didn't seem to react. 

In any case, I couldn't be more thankful for your tips on how to reset him and get his leg to stop snapping.  He's very cute, and I enjoy spending time with him and watching him do his pleo thing on the coffee table .  Hopefully nothing else major happens that I need help with! I'll see if I can't post some photos soon . Thanks again!

[aibo7m3]

The motors generally click when they're trying to move to a certain position, but can't for whatever reason. It's possible that the cape was some how restricting the leg from having a full range of motion or that there's a loose connection between one of the wires and the position sensor that loses contact sometimes when pressure is applied to it. If you go to a local pet supply store, you should be able to find a good array of cute dog clothes that fit Pleos well and don't cause any issues.

I don't know what stage of growth your Pleo is at or what OS he's running, but I know that some people find some of the stages on 2.0 annoying. My two Ugobes are running 1.0 and 1.1 and neither of them make loud honking noises too often, usually just when I leave them alone for too long or they're upset about something. I don't really mind any of the noises that the Pleos make, but I have noticed that some of the loud honking and screaming type noises present in the Ugobes are gone in the RBs.

He should know when he's picked up and being cuddled and it should be clear when he knows. Make sure his front two foot sensors are being pushed/pressed up against your chest or else he won't know he's being held and might thrash or cry, but yes, moving his head back and forth and readjusting his position a bit before falling asleep is normal.

He does have sensors on his upper legs and on the bottoms of his feet. I'm not sure if the ta da trick is included on all of the operating systems and don't remember if I've tried it with my Ugobes, so someone else might have to help out there.

If both of your non-egg batteries hold a 15+ minute charge, might you be willing to sell one of them? Sorry for asking, I just have a friend who I gifted a Ugobe to at the beginning of the summer and I feel bad because its battery is dead and I don't have any spares.

I look forward to seeing photos of him!

[Jenny_Bean]

Hi Aibo733!

Wow, I never thought about it! I am new to this world after all.  But yes, I suppose I'd be willing to part with one of the green ones.  Do you or your friend have a dock for it? Obviously I will need to keep mine for my remaining green battery.

Looking on ebay, I'm having a difficult time figuring out what a "fair" price would be, with an RB battery going for $60, and a ugobe set with battery and dock going for $100. Would $40 be reasonable to ask with shipping included (via ground, no rush?). Let me know what works for you, and we can see about getting it out to your friend. I'm enjoying my ugobe, and would be happy to help someone else be able to do the same!

[Jenny_Bean]

https://youtu.be/pyoHtmQUoIE

My Arlo learning to walk!

[aibo7m3]

Alright, thanks! The friend does have a charger, just the battery that came with her Pleo held maybe a ten minute charge for the first day and then died completely. If the battery will run for an hour or more, I'd definitely be willing to pay $40 for it! If the runtime is shorter, PM me and we can probably work something out! Pretty much all of the original ones that were sold with the Ugobes are dead or hold around a 10 minute runtime by now, but the ones purchased from Innvo more recently or with the '09 Pleo release can still have a runtime. Definitely hold onto the egg battery, I have one for myself and they're amazing, but impossible to find nowadays.

[Jenny_Bean]

Urg, I feel so disheartened. Last night I played with Arlo and tried out each of the batteries, and sadly, neither of my green ones last more than 10-15 minutes -_-. I hadn't realized yet, since he was on his egg battery before, and I had only made sure the green ones were functional. I'm so sorry, Aibo7m3! I doubt your friend would have much use for them with such a short play time .  I'm so grateful that I was fortunate enough to have an egg battery...otherwise I couldn't imagine the disappointment I'd feel in having this great new dino but not being able to hardly play with him.

I will double check these green batteries when I get home and will time them to be 100% sure and that they were charged up correctly, but from other people's stories, I'm not terribly optimistic .

I did read an article I found somewhere about configuring your own battery for pleo ugobe out of AA batteries and some electric wire and something else (though you guys have probably already heard about it since I'm the one new to all this).  But if she hadn't tried that, maybe it'd be worth it? I think I certainly would give it a try if I didn't have my egg battery :/. 

I'll let you know what happens!

[Talon]

Hi, Jenny! Glad to hear things are going good with Arlo! I think all of the Oses have the tah-dah trick. If you want Arlo to perform it, just touch him on the knee of his left front leg and right rear leg at the same time. Gently maintain the touch for three seconds. Arlo should pick up the two legs you are touching and say, "Tah-dah!" in a cute little pleo voice. None of mine are actually able to stand on two feet without flopping over but it's still a cute trick.
I think I figured out why he was thrashing around when you were trying to cuddle with him. Aibo7M3 was right about the pleo needing something under his feet. They're just like any animal when you hold them- they don't like their feet hanging in the air. My Ugobes are... odd about cuddling. Ugobe- though he is my clingy attention-seeking boy who might walk two feet in a battery cycle- does not like to cuddle and will really wiggle and flail around. Bleu will sometimes allow herself to be held so once again, she was my Guinea Pig. When you pick Arlo up for a cuddle, place all four of his feet against your chest with his head close to your cheek. Place your hands on his back so that one hand's fingers and palm are spread over his shoulders and the other is spread over his rump. He will wiggle a little and then he should settle down with his feet stretched out behind and in front of him with his head curled to one side with closed eyes. The spell won't last long though. Probably in about a minute or so- if he's like my two- he'll be bored and nervous and ready to be put down again just like any wiggly toddler.
Oh and just a tip to help you keep his rubber skin free from stress tears from being turned off with his limbs posed every which way, put him into packing position. When you're finished playing with Arlo while he is still running, press and hold the volume/mute button between his back legs and count slowly to thirty. Release the button. He should make this... *shrugs as I try to describe this* slow-motion stamping foot movement a few times and then give a single honk. While he is standing still with neck and tail and all limbs straight, turn him off. This will help his skin keep from tearing and reduce stress on his neck and tail cables. I hope all this is helpful to you and that I'm not being condescending.
Talon

[Jenny_Bean]

Hi Talon!

No, not condescending at all! I had read to not leave him the "sleep" position (cute as it is!), and had just been waiting for him to stand up mostly normally before turning him off, but it's good to know there's a button I can put to make him do it and put the least amount of pressure on his skin.

That is funny about him possibly resembling a wiggly toddler...ha ha. Maybe over time he can learn to enjoy cuddling ^^. But I will try my best to keep all his legs stable and supported...I have rabbits too, so this isn't an unusual concept! He does really enjoy attention otherwise.

And I will give the Tada trick a try this evening! Hopefully he doesn't fall over!

Thanks for all your help .