Bob the Pleo Forums
Pleo Stuff => Pleo Archives => Archive -- Technical common => Topic started by: orionis23 on January 24, 2009, 11:13:43 AM
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Unfortunately I am finally posting on this board after a week of lurking, not with the joy of sharing stories of what Pleo has been up to, but out of desperation... We got our Pleo a few weeks ago, and the first week seemed to go off without a hitch, on the first charge he was upgraded to 1.1, and seemed to do well. After the 8th or 9th charge, he didn't wake up right away (even with the usual coaxing.) He eventually woke on his own a good 2 or 3 minute later. This continued a few more charges, until he just plain stopped waking up at all... ever. It's been a week now, so I've had plenty of time to make sure that the battery is charged, and we still try every morning to get him to wake up.... nothing... just a slight click sound when turned on, I'm assuming from the speakers in the head. After reading some posts on this forum (thank goodness there is a forum somewhere) I tried using the USB installer to go back to 1.0.1... the installer can't find Pleo... with the cable attached and Pleo powered on. I've also tried starting him with various personalities in the card slot... nothing, This morning, after trying to no avail again with a personality, I clicked him on again after removing the card and he squirmed his body for a split second, then back to nothing. What does it all mean?!?!? Is he dead? Does he need some sort of a total reboot? I filled out the customer service form with Ugobe 5 days ago... no response as of yet... I called several times... no response... Is it a lost cause?
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I agree, it seems like Ugobe have given up the ghost.
Put the battery in the charger untill it turns green and then replace it back into pleo. Use an SD card and install thge following update onto pleo:
- (http://bobthepleo.com/forums/support/icon_urf.gif)SD Card Updater for LifeOS1.0.2 (http://BobThePleo.com/forums/downloads/SD_updater_1.0.2.zip) (http://bobthepleo.com/forums/support/icon_pdf.gif)Instructions (http://BobThePleo.com/forums/downloads/SD_updater_1.0.2.pdf)
Any luck?
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Nada... just a dormant Pleo... I'd think it was toast if it weren't for the little clip sound when turned on, and the split second twist he did yesterday. Is there no known way to fully reset/initialize the Pleo... cuz it doesn't even seem to be able to get to a stage suitable for replacing the os... :(
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Is it still recognized by Windows ?
I had the same symptoms a weeks ago and finally resolved it with the help of this forum's members... But this nite Pleo freezes again >:( ! I inserted the magic sd proposed to you but nothing happened... The first time I get this freeze it was very hard to reborn the beast... But tonite I reborn it with the windows 1.0.2 updater and all is ok in a couple of minutes :)
Be sure to have a fully charged battery before doing an upgrade,
I didn't find any way to hard reset the fleo to get it back to factory default... There is certainly a way but I don't find a tool is on the net :/...
This url talk about it, but it seems that only Ugobe can send it to you -> http://www.dtsn.co.uk/2008/03/14/update-102-bricked-pleo/ (http://www.dtsn.co.uk/2008/03/14/update-102-bricked-pleo/)
Pleo seems to be very instable and I'm sad of it :( I wonder if it's 1.1 upgrade or the Os ???
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I'm wondering if it is the battery or charger. I too have had some problems. Make sure you disconnect your charger and plug it in again. This might help. I've been finding out that even though the light is green on the charger the battery doesn't always get charged.
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When did you purchase Pleo? Do you have a warranty with him? Ugobe will give you a 90 day one, and if you bought him through somewhere else, there might be some sort of extended warranty. I wrote to Ugobe probably three weeks ago about the forums being down. After no responce I wrote back again. Then, I finally received word from an associate. So, if you stay persistent, you might hear something back. However, if you bought him through somewhere else, and you have a warranty, chances are they'll send you a new one. Hope that helps.
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It's ometimes hard to diagnose over the internet because we can't really see what's goig on. But Fancyfont may be on to something. Unplug the base, let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then plug it back in, put the battery to charge. Make sure the battery is seated well, and watch how long it takes for the light to go green. If you have a voltmeter, I would check the battery to see what it's reading. If you don't I would take the battery out of the charger, wait a few minutes, and put it back in for a second charge cycle.
Your symptoms do sound typical of a low battery, but could be something else as well.
But definitely keep on the Ugobe customer support. You might also try the live chat on the PleoWorld site.
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Thanks for all the input so far...
Exploring the battery as the potential culprit... here's the scoop:
I have tried returning it to the charger after it turns green numerous times over the past week. It never stays red for more then 10-15 minutes before turning green, which is how a charged battery should behave, right? Is it possible that it responds this way without actually charging correctly? Would this mean the battery is defective, or just the charger? I have noticed that when returning it to charge after turning green a few times it starts to get REALLY hot... sometimes in just the first ten minute charge. I know this heating is not completely out of the norm, but it gets hot enough that the green plastic wrapped around the battery cels is much softer. Would love if it were just a bad battery as opposed to a bad Pleo, especially since getting him replaced would be a nightmare. I bought him from Amazon in the States as a christmas gift for my wife, who is Italian and was with me and my family for the holidays. We returned shortly after to Italy where we are now. With shipping cost, VAT, etc... it could get ugly to just replace him. Pleoworld.it seems to be a much smaller affair then what the .com version was... there is a forum up, but no direct customer support contact number, just an email. I doubt they could facilitate a replacement for a Pleo bought in the States anyways...
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I'm back to the vot meter. Sounds like the battery. But no way to be sure without one. You could gamble on ordering a second battery and see if that solves the problem.
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Just tried with a brand new freshly charged battery that we bought this morning. We were so hoping that was the problem. Same deal. Lifeless Pleo. :'(
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Do you have the correct charger for your area. Sure sounds like it could be the charger. None of my batteries get that hot in their charger. I still don't think the problem is with your pleo.
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When I very first got a Pleo, I had the same problem. After the battery was charging for a little while it got extremely hot. Well, I was worried so I contacted customer service. They mentioned to me that if you look on the bottom of the charger there will be a serial number and a letter. They mentioned that because I had a "B" cradle that that could be the problem. So they sent me a "C" charger. Then, I never had any problems. So, check the serial number on the bottom of the charging cradle and see what the letter is. You'll probably want a descending letter. I hope that helped.
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Thanks for the optimism everyone... unfortunately mine is fading... :'(
The serial number on the charger ends in 'D'. The charger is running on the correct 110 voltage (I have high quality converters for all my N.A. items.) The original battery got really hot both in the States and here in Italy, so voltage is not the issue. The new battery we got yesterday morning did not get so hot at all, and charged for a full three hours before it turned green...
Still no life in Pleo. Remember, there is a popping sound in the speakers in the head when we turn him on... the same sound you get in a P.A. system if you turn on a preamp with the amp and speakers already on... the sound of current spiking through the circuits. So power (of some sort) seems to be there.
I have sent an email to the support address of the Pleoworld.it site, the forum there still seems to have an administrator who is responding to posts. I will also continue my barrage of calls and emails to Ugobe in the States Monday morning...
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Sorry to ask again, but is your windows doing the classic usb recognition sound when you plug the Pleo ? I had the same symptom so the same noise at start-up then nothing else. Now my pleo is alive again so I'm quite sure there is a way to reborn yours.
It was very hard to get it back the first time, and as you I was very upset. I tryed many way to make it live again. Pleo didn't launch the Sd 1.0.2 updater -> just the sound (begining of a sound in fact)
Easiest Way :
- I plugged the Pleo (on ON) to windows via USB -> windows sound -> ok
- I run the 1.0.2 windows updater (that I extracted, because the installer don't accept SP3 and says SP2 must be installed)
- The 1.0.2 updater don't recognize the 1.1 firmware so the updater is doing the job. In a couple of minutes the pleo was born again.
- Then run windows 1.1 updater -> ok
Freaky Way :
- I used the 1.0.2 updater with the 1.1 image -> system seems ti be messed up
- Insert 1.0.2 Sd updater -> the progam work -> pleo alive again
- Then I run the windows 1.1 updater to fix the mess
I just notice that the two times the pleo freeze hard was after a personality show, not sure there is a link. Maybe my personality's files are corrupted - will redowload to be sure.
As Linux is my main system, maybe the prob is there too (not sure of it at all as I always umount disk and writing on Fat32 is ok for this os) and the using of windows is better.
Noticed that all this operations didn't erased the files in the Pleo memory -> so no hard reset (for example camera.bmp still there)
Hope it will help :)
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FWIW: After installing the 1.0.2, you should be able to go in and remove any excess files (like the camera.bmp). 1.1 does not seem to support the remove command.
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Well I didn't succeed... I thought it was because of my Dino-Mite version (1.0.2) the remove button is inactive (with both firmwares) and it's a change for these release ( UGOBE request - disabled specified buttons and removed commands)
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You could try using the automon.txt script method, like we're discussing in the other thread. Create an ASCII text file in the root of the SD card called "automon.txt". In this file, enter the lines:
access 3
rm b:camera.bmp
WARNING!!!
I have never tried this, and can't vouch for it's accuracy. Basic programming says it makes sense, but use at your own risk! Running scripts like this could permanently damage your pleo! I claim nor offer any responsibility for this script or what actions may come from its use.
I would assume the reason Ugobe requested the disabling of the button was to keep people from accidentally killing their pleos by deleting the wrong things. Which is why the use of the automon.txt scripting is also dangerous.
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I totaly understand the choice of Ugobe and agree with it...
I'm not sure that this script will work as this command don't work with Dino-mite -> rm b:/xxx.bmp -> "could not remove b:/xxx.bmp"
edit : added a "/" -> suppress it -> ok file removed... Thanks a lot
-> what is the process to get the pleo back to hatch mode ?
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It's described in the last post of the Need Reset Script (http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=56.0) topic .
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I'm mac only... no pc's, so things like dino-mite aren't an option for me. The crux of my problem at this point is that Pleo doesn't seem to communicate at all with input, whether from SD card or USB. The mac USB installer (which worked fine the first day we got the Pleo for the initial upgrade to 1.1) sits forever on the first step, never finding and establishing a connection with Pleo, so it is unable to input any new code. I can only assume the same holds true for the SD card input, as everything I've read says that when receiving new OS code from the card there is some sort of audio signaling that this is happening, whether before or after the code transfer. I get nothing. Yesterday I received the 'patch' (a demo mode code) from the italian Pleoworld site, which is meant to 'reboot' the Pleo to it's initial state... nothing happened. I just don't think any code is getting in. If he's not dead (defective hardware) then the only chance for him I think would be some sort of physical hard reset. Pleoworld.it also told me that they could not honor the guarantee on mine since I bought it in the States, and had no comment on Ugobe's missing in action status...
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Do you have friends or relatives in the US that could act as a contact point and mail forwarding point? Since you bought it in the US, you will probably have to return it / get it replaced in the US under the US warranty. From what I understand, the Italian company is a totally different company and is merely a licensed distributor, which is why they don't service the warranty.
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Yes, I'll actually be back in the States next month. It's all a matter of if Ugobe will be functioning and offering customer service or not. Still no responses or answers to phone calls, but the updated Ugobe website is a positive sign. The Italian company did tell me they were a different entity, and do a lot of warning of buying Pleos outside of Italy on their forums.. who knows how many units they bought from Ugobe!! They also did not say anything about keeping the patch code to myself... should I upload it and make it available here?
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If you could email the patch to Bob@bobthe pleo.com, I'll add it to the downloads section of the forums here. :)
I would like to gather as many of the downloads and as much of the information from Ugobe as we can, just in case Ugobe does go away . . .
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I've posted this on 2 other topics but just wanted to make sure everyone saw it... Just in case it helps..... I recenlty received a random email from Pleoworld customer support recommending to do the following if Pleo becomes tired or frozen;
After you update successfully and you find Pleo going to sleep or freezes please do the following:
NOTE:Put your thumb between Pleo's eyes and index finger under his chin and squeeze his mouth together while holding his button on his belly down for approx 10 seconds.
Then Turn Pleo on then off and hold him upside down by the tail for approx 15 seconds. Pleo should appear aggravated and begin to call out.
For new pleo skits:go to: www.dogsbodynet.com
Hope I dont get in trouble for doing this but the email address for the customer support person that emailed me is; rafael@ugobe.com ....try emailing him direct.... I know how frusterating it is not to get any anwsers from them after investing over $400 in their product.... NOT GOOD ENOUGH UGOBE
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Sounds like a hard reset possibility to me, but my Pleo did not respond to it... although the instructions are rather incomplete/confusing: Should it be off or on while doing the initial step? If you turn him on then off before the last step... how can he be expected to respond after hanging by the tail? (he would be off!) I'll try different combinations, but the form and language of the message don't have the same character of previous communications from Ugobe...
oh, and the patch is on its way to you Grumpy!
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Yes, I'll actually be back in the States next month. It's all a matter of if Ugobe will be functioning and offering customer service or not. Still no responses or answers to phone calls, but the updated Ugobe website is a positive sign. The Italian company did tell me they were a different entity, and do a lot of warning of buying Pleos outside of Italy on their forums.. who knows how many units they bought from Ugobe!! They also did not say anything about keeping the patch code to myself... should I upload it and make it available here?
That patch zip file fix the problem after the 1.1 freeze, it's not a RESET code ;) If you turn pleo ON he just make funny noises, laughs, etc. like the other SD contents, but this patch will be saved into your pleo's memory FOREVER, until you'll upgrade him to 1.1 or 1.0.2.
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Hi orionis23,
I can send you the email i got from Ugobe if you like? might make more sense if you have the whole email.... what's your email address?
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Hey everyone,
Just relised that the email that Ugobe sent me had 3 attachments one of which is a full document titled "sleeping or freezing or updatar 1.1 issues".... The following is was Ugobe recommends (more detail this time);
IF YOUR PLEO IS SLEEPING/FREEZING
TO RESOLVE YOUR PLEO ISSUE:
OPTION 1:
*Make sure you have a FULLY CHARGED BATTERY AND PROPERLY WORKING CHARGER*
*Make sure you downloaded the 1.1 updater at www.pleoworld.com and heard the appropriate chimes within 3-4 minutes sometimes longer.. You initially should hear a chime in approx 1 minute then a second and third maybe fourth chime in approx 3 minutes. Then there is a FINAL chime/bell sound approx 4 minutes. You then will turn Pleo off and remove the sd card. Now Pleo is ready to run with his new software. (PLEO WILL INITIALLY APPEAR SLOW AND GROGGY) after the 1.1 download is complete. PLEO is going through a re-hatchling faze and will explore his environment over the next 35-45 minutes. (YOU MIGHT WANT TO RE-CHARGE THE BATTERY AGAIN)
FYI: It’s less complicated to download with a sd card. You can download via usb cable, however, more complicated.
OPTION 2:
After the 1.1 download is complete. On a FULLY CHARGED BATTERY:
Step 1: Place your thumb between Pleo’s eyes while using your index finger under his chin and squeeze his mouth together.
Step 2: While you’re squeezing Pleo’s mouth together push Pleo’s his button on his belly simoutaneously for 15 seconds.
Step 3: Turn Pleo Of then turn Pleo on and hold him by the tail upside down for 15 seconds.
Pleo should appear aggravated. He then will explore his environment when placed on the floor.
Important: Pleo’s battery will get drained at times while doing the steps provided. Make sure the information provided in this email is done on a FULLY CHARGED BATTERY.
OPTION 3:
If this doesn't resolve your issue, we can send you a Patch file that will revert Pleo back to an earlier version. I first need to send you a Patch License Agreement for you to sign digitally. Make sure to check your spam/junk mail inbox at times the Patch File License Agreement is sent to that inbox. Once you sign it I will immediately send you the Patch files along with the 1.1 download file with instructions.
NOTE: IF you decide to select the Patch file, Pleo skits and personality downloads WILL NOT WORK.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PATCH FILE:
1. Go to www.pleoworld.com
2. Click “updates”
3. Log in with your user name and password
4. Click “download software”
5. You’ll get a page that says “Software License Agreement”
6. Click “I AGREE”
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Forgot to mention there are two more attachment that ugobe sent me with their email, they are "Outside of the United States" and "What is normal for Pleo" please let me know if you would like me to forward any of these on.... it seems i was pretty luck to get any sort of communication from them at all...
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Hey Krystald... I'll gladly take a forward of any communications you got from them!!
orionis23@earthlink.net
Thanks so much!