Bug on 256K RAM Pack?

[Yves]

Hello,

I recently (a few months ago) bought a new Rampack 256k, and today I have a strange behavior. Every time I press "On" on the keyboard, it formats the rampack! This is an unpleasant surprise... I looked around to see if there was any software interfering with it, but no, and I have the same problem. I finally reset the Organiser2 (LZ64) and had the same problem. Sometimes, when plugging in the CommsLink, this would happen... There are no warning signs or messages for this problem.

I checked the battery: 2.9V. I decided to change it for a new one at 3.3V.

Since I changed the battery, everything works fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[thesourcerer]

Yes, I’ve come across it with 32k Rampacks. It is due to low voltage. The 256k has the advantage of easily replaced batteries, but unfortunately it can happen suddenly, hence the need to frequently back up any data, and change the battery at regular intervals. It is worth noting that when the Rampack is in an organiser it does not take any power from the battery (even when the organiser is switched off). It is only when the Rampack is removed from the organiser that the Rampack draws power from the battery. I have come across 20 year old 32k packs that still had the original battery because they were kept in organiser, and still had a reasonable voltage.
The Rampack should not be in use when plugging anything into the topslot, as the voltage surge can cause resizing. Similarly the organiser should not be on when inserting or removing a
I’m not sure how long a battery will last in a rampack that is in storage. It will be months, but I would suggest changing the battery every 6 months, depending on how long it is used in the organiser, and certainly once a year. The CR 2032’s are cheap enough. A lengthy program that is being written can be very valuable!

[amenjet]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why the RAM pack resizes when it is in the organiser. Under those circumstances it should be powered by the 5V from the organiser. It sounds like the pack is being powered by the battery even when in the organiser. I've sent a PM about sending you a second pack that you can compare with the first.
The 5V from the organiser goes through a diode labelled D3. It might be worth checking that it is actually on the PCb and is the correct way round and is soldered correctly. It's on the battery side of the PCB between the battery and the connector. I've just checked some paks here and they all have the diode correctly on the PCB.

Regards
Andrew

[Yves]

About how long the battery was in this rampack, see my previous msg It was bought on Oct 29th, that means a fair 6 months. But 2.9V for a 3 Volts battery is not very low, that was my surprise. I did not check the voltage when the battery was on the rampack...

I will check the value with the diode too, but this means to spend a bit time unmounting my LZ. This will be good to know if it is the Org2 (5V) or the 3V battery who provide the voltage when the Org2 is ON.