EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Technical Assistance HP XLi M1700A software - Error Code 6503

Thanks a lot Dinhvu load it now going to try it

i did download the software but give the code6502 like it doesn't reconize it i did extract the file also.
do i need to do something else before i install the sofware? Thank for any help on that

It is a long time since I worked on these but that code number rings a bell and is pulling my old grey cells in to life. But the memory is still hazy.
I beleive the software is machine specific. It must contain the same ID number that is hard coded in to the machine - probably the serial number.
I remember we had to keep one disc per machine and reload the correct software on to the correct machine.
If it lost the software due to a flat battery or the wrong disc was used you got the 6502 or 6503 error code.
I am afraid borrowed software will not work and I am afraid I do not know how to add the appropriate code to it.
Robert

Thank Robert for your help, one of the batteries went bad i think that was the problem to loose the code i did replace the batteries with new one, don't know yet where i can get the sofware.

The Software is generic and should work on any machine, although most people kept a backup disk for each machine to save having to re enter options like location, number of copies etc etc. Also ensure that the file is unzipped correctly to a formatted floppy.
If OK I would check the floppy drive as the only time these got any exercise is when the battery fails totally (after a good number of years). I have had several where the mechanism has "stuck" through lack of use. Unship the drive and take off the tin cover at the top and bottom. Start the pagewriter with the disk inserted and you should see the head assembly move to the centre seeking the file allocation table. If it doesn't move just give the worm drive assembly half a turn with your fingers (which is usually enough to free it up) and you should see the head moving as data is read out. Once the data is reloaded you just have to reenter the config data (the most important is paper size) then I would resave to another blank floppy.
Let me know how you get on
Regards
Ed
Southwest Medical Ltd

That has fired off a few more grey cells, yes that is why we had several discs.
Robert

That's a nice post, Ed.

Yes ... it's amazing that floppy drives of circa twenty years old work at all (if and when they indeed do) - not to mention the floppies themselves, of course - but I have found that 3.5" drives are generally more willing than earlier types. And again yes, they sometimes need some gentle exercise (even to the extent of bunging them in an old PC and playing with them for a while).

I presume that we are downloading software then copying to a 3.5" floppy. So it seems to me that there are (possibly) a couple of things going on here:-

1) Is the software right for the PageWriter in question? That is, M-1700 versus M-1701A. I believe that the M-1700 may have originally used two disks (although perhaps only the first was important).

2) What format does the FDD expect? This could be the important point! Format, number of tracks etc.. Most (modern) PC's support a modicum of "auto-sensing" when it comes to reading floppies, but I'm not sure what the PageWriter* expects in this regard. I would recommend OmniFlop here (available as a download from all good internet connections - see Google). OmniFlop would see an "MS-DOS 1.4" MB floppy as 81/2/18x512 1458KB, for example (and many other formats are available). "If it was me" I would prepare the new floppy by formatting it first on an old MS-DOS PC (you know, "just to be sure")!

3) I seem to recall this problem coming up on the forum before. Does anyone have reliable versions of this software available? Perhaps a set of floppy disk .img (image) files available for download could be the answer.

4) Does anyone have an example of the original disk(s) to hand? What format are they using, and what files are actually on them, I wonder? Unfortunately I don't have these disks myself (I thought I had one, but having just turned the place upside down, have decided that they must have lost somewhere "along the way").

5) Once sure that everything is OK disk-wise ... be sure to follow the instructions (in the manual) about how to load the software (that is, use of the [On-Standby] button).

6502 : "Failed to complete loading of software"
6503 : "No RAM code found in machine"

* Does the PageWriter have its own operating system, I wonder.

OmniFlop ... more

Before.

the only thing I see when I try to download on the floppy disk I have so much error on track 46 to 55 and head 0 and 1 on each track