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Palm IIIc, OS 3.5.2 And Grafitti Problems?

Posted by Cliff on from the sometimes-upgrades-break-things dept.

SmackDown asks: "I am having trouble with my brand new Palm IIIc. After installing the OS 3.5.2 upgrade, it no longer correctly recognizes graffiti. The graffiti app displays my pen strokes as being jerky and nearly random. I have performed several soft/warm/hard resets each, and nothing works. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do?"

3 of 8 comments (clear)

  1. Massage the screen by Bud · · Score: 2
    The touch-sensitive layer in the Palm screen contains some kind of small balls floating in gel. The balls conduct electricity when put under pressure. Now if you write a lot in a certain area, the balls and gel will get thinner there and that spot needs less pressure to conduct electricity. So when you tap somewhere in the writing area, chances are that the "bald spot" will connect first, and the balls directly under the pen will connect only when you press harder or move the pen around. So you get an initial spike from the bald spot to wherever your pen is and this spike will confuse the Graffiti recognizer. Typical indications are that I will be recognized as a T, and N will become a W. You can see this phenomenon clearly using e.g. TealEcho.

    The solution is to use a microfiber cloth to gently massage the screen starting from the top and working downwards, in order to spread the gel more evenly. You can also use ScreenWrite (?) or Jot or something similar that allows you to write elsewhere on the touch screen.

    --Bud

    1. Re:Massage the screen by Bud · · Score: 2
      Erm. So it's a brand new IIIc, you say? Sorry. Return it.

      It'll take *months* before a Palm gets a bald spot.

      --Bud

  2. My IIIc did the same thing. by SkubyDew · · Score: 2

    I never flashed my palm but right out of the box it was difficult to write on, I thought it was just me but I let a few friends with Palms to try it and they all say it's wacked. I called Palm and they sent me a box that I used to ship the unit back to them for repair/replace, it's free under warranty. To avoid hassle you have to call tech support first to get like a DOA status or something otherwise you'll be like me and be on the phone for an hour and a half. -peace, Derek