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DIGITAL WALLET RESCUE
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PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME with questions
about what to do or to get help.
Everything that I know about
recovering these units is here on this page.
This page is based on my ONE experience of recovering my Digital Wallet unit,
which was successful. I
have placed these files and instructions on my website mainly for my own use,
in case I need to recover my DW unit while away from home on a trip or
something.
Of course, others (you) are welcome to use them as well!
GOOD LUCK! |
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| PLEASE NOTE: You will likely LOSE ALL
OF THE EXISTING FILES on the DW unit during this process!!
Although following this entire process will likely erase all the
existing files on your Digital Wallet, you can still copy these
files from the hard drive if it is still useable.
To do so, remove the hard drive from the unit and connect it to a
desktop computer using a laptop IDE adapter. Do whatever
configuration you would normally do to get your desktop system to
recognize the drive. Then simply copy the files from the Digital
Wallet hard drive.
If the hard drive is not useable, you will probably have lost the
files on it. There are companies that can rescue data from dead hard
drives, but such services are not cheap. If you are replacing the
hard drive, just about any laptop hard drive can be used in a
Digital Wallet unit.
If you are not familiar with removing and installing hard drives,
get help from a knowledgeable and responsible computer service store
or local computer geek friend. |
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REQUIREMENTS TO RESCUE THE
DIGITAL WALLET:
- TWO blank formatted 1.44MB floppy diskettes
- Win98 or above operating system (need FAT32)
- Adapter for laptop IDE HD, to connect it to a desktop system
NOTE: "DW" means "Digital Wallet"
"HD" means "Hard Drive" PLEASE NOTE: You
will likely LOSE ALL OF THE EXISTING FILES on the DW unit during
this process!! |
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**FIRST**
DOWNLOAD ALL OF THE NECESSARY FILES.
RIGHT-click on the links (the filename) and select "Save Target As". Save all the
files into a new folder on your hard drive.
**Do not Left-click on the links.
If you do, the files will not be saved correctly, and the recovery
procedure will not work.NOTE:
ALL FILES ARE STORED ON THIS WEBSITE WITH NO EXTENSIONS. This
was necessary as some Internet browsers take certain actions on
filenames with certain extensions. So, it was simplest to remove the
extensions altogether.
Internet Explorer & Netscape may add .TXT at end of each.
YOU WILL
NEED TO RENAME THE FILES AFTER DOWNLOADING to change the filename
extensions.
DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING FILES:
Files #1 through 4 are
essential. Files #5 & 6 are optional.
| ESSENTIAL FILES:
1.
msdw02.img (1,474,560 bytes)
2. rawrite.exe
(14,305 bytes)
The file msdw02.img is a floppy diskette image for a RAM-boot version of Linux.
It includes the older version of the msupg Linux script.
The file rawrite.exe creates this boot diskette from the
msdw02.img file. You
use this to write the msdw02.img file to a floppy diskette.
3. msupg (9,750 bytes)
4. fw-img.gz (241,422 bytes)
The file msupg is a new, revised (and much better) Linux script
that will do the work of placing the firmware image into the special partition
on the DW HD.
The file fw-img.gz is the new & better firmware image to be placed onto the
DW HD.
NOTE: DO NOT unzip this file. Leave it as is.
**Please note that the msupg file is named just that: msupg, no
extension**
OPTIONAL FILES:
5. Digital
Wallet drivers for Windows.zip (66,048 bytes)
These drivers MAY be necessary to get Windows to see the Digital Wallet unit in
the very last step, which is where the regular (main) partition gets formatted
with FAT32. This file will need to be unzipped. You may download and use
Winzip
(next below) for this purpose.
6. WinZIP95.exe
(709,120 bytes)
for extracting the "Digital Wallet drivers for Windows.zip" file.
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Please note that filenames will have to be changed after downloading. All of the
above files are stored on my website with no extensions. Internet Explorer and
Netscape may add .TXT at end
of each.
Check the file sizes after downloading to
make sure they are the same as indicated above for each file. This will help to
ensure that the download was successful.
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| NOW, you're ready to attempt
to recover the unit...
STEPS TO RECOVER the Digital Wallet HD:
There need to be two partitions on the DW hard drive:
- Firmware partition: The firmware image is necessary for the Digital Wallet to boot and run. It is
placed in a special partition on the DW HD. This partition is not recognized or even seen by
Windows/DOS, only by Linux.
- Main (files) partition: This partition of the DW HD is where the
pictures and other files may be stored. It is a regular Windows/DOS partition,
and is formatted with FAT32 ONLY. This is the partition that you see and work
with when you use the DW unit.
What to do:
The following first set of instructions is the preferred method, as it will write the complete firmware partition.
Also, the firmware is a newer, updated version, with more features. (There is an
alternate set of instructions farther below).
- Download the msdw02.img and
rawrite.exe files (see above links). Store in an otherwise empty directory.
- Insert one of your blank formatted diskettes in your diskette drive. Execute the
rawrite.exe file. This will write Linux RAM boot files
to this first diskette, using msdw02.img as the source image.
- Download the new msupg and new
fw-img.gz files (see above
links). Copy both files onto the SECOND diskette (just
simply copy them to the diskette - no special procedure or program used).
- Remove the HD from the Digital Wallet unit (this HD is now referred to as
"DW HD" in these instructions).
- Connect the DW HD to a PC. You will need a laptop-PC IDE HD adapter. If
you don't know what that is, go to a computer store and ask for one. They
don't cost a lot, maybe $10-20 max.
- Boot the PC using the Linux RAM boot diskette created above.
- Hit <ENTER> to boot Linux, select 19 for keyboard, then
<ENTER> again at the end.
- *Don't* run msupg as in the other set of instructions (below). Instead do the following:
- Insert the SECOND floppy (containing msupg and
fw-img.gz).
- Type the following instructions, hitting <ENTER> at end of each
line:
(NOTE: the use of the "umount" command, which is NOT the same as "unmount"!!)
# mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
# cp /mnt/floppy/msupg /bin/msupg
# umount /mnt/floppy
# /bin/msupg
- Select the DW HD from the list when prompted (BE CAREFUL! - you don't want
to select the hard drive of the PC you're using to perform these steps!), and select "new"
at the next prompt. This writes the firmware image to the DW HD, to the
special partition. I think it will also create the partition if it doesn't
exist.
- Reinstall the DW HD into the Digital Wallet unit.
Connect the Digital Wallet unit to a PC (using a USB cable), and format the drive using
FAT32. You may need
the Digital Wallet Drivers for Windows to see the Digital Wallet unit (see file download
section above).
Here is an alternate set of instructions. I call
these the "OLD" set of instructions.
(This section is included as an alternative if for some
reason the above (preferred) set of instructions doesn't work).
- Download the msdw02.img and rawrite.exe files (see above links). Save into a new folder.
- Execute the rawrite.exe file. This will write Linux RAM boot files
to a floppy disk.
- Remove the HD from the Digital Wallet unit (this HD is now referred to as
"DW HD" in these instructions)
- Connect the DW HD to a PC. Need a laptop HD adapter.
- Boot the PC using the Linux RAM boot disk created above.
- Hit <ENTER> to boot Linux, Select 19 for keyboard, then
<ENTER> again at the end.
- Type msupg at the # prompt to run the script.
- Select the DW HD from the list when prompted (BE CAREFUL!), and select "new"
at the next prompt. This writes the firmware image to the DW HD.
- Reinstall the DW HD into the Digital Wallet unit.
- Connect the Digital Wallet unit to a PC, and format the drive using FAT32. May need
drivers for Windows to see the Digital Wallet unit (above).
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PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME with questions
about what to do or to get help.
Everything that I know about
recovering these units is here on this page.
This page is based on my ONE experience of recovering my Digital Wallet unit,
which was successful. I
have placed these files and instructions on my website mainly for my own use,
in case I need to recover my DW unit while away from home on a trip or
something.
Of course, others (you) are welcome to use them as well!
GOOD LUCK! |
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| OTHER LINKS:
Here on this website...
Other websites
Steve Dempsey's
website - for more instructions; See also
This
Page -- EXCELLENT website
OOPS! - This site is no longer in existence (Jan 07) Too bad.
Digital Wallet
group on Yahoo for more drivers and firmware files -- another excellent
resource, although you will have to sift through all the messages from people
seeking help!
Minds @
Work website - the company is no longer in business, but
there's a website with some info here.
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