[NTLK] Strange Error Message from Lady Newt

[Matthias Melcher]

> On 8. Jul 2025, at 13:26, LordGroundhog <lordgroundhog at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "This unit requires immediate
> repair. Factory calibration has been
> lost. It will not charge batteries
> until this problem is corrected."
> 
> In fact, it apparently has lost all my settings and my added-on software.
> When I replaced the storage card in the slot it didn't load everything
> properly.
> 
> I have no idea what "repair" requires in this context.
> 
> Any suggestions how I should proceed?

From what I remember, the Flash storage contains some information that is important for the system itself that doesn't ever get erased, even during a full reset. It seems that in your case, it *did* get erased somehow, and that part of the Flash would have to be rewritten from scratch.

As for the cause, some part of the OS may have gone rogue, which si very unlikely, or you may have switched the device off (or loast power) during some Flash erase cycle that then killed the wrong sector. All these things are rather unlikely. 

There is a chance that your Flash chips are defective. If that is the case, they would need to be removed and new chips need to be soldered in. Sounds scary, but it's quite doable by a professional, and the Flash chips are still around (you would obviously upgrade to 4MB at that point). 

What is the current diagnosis? Does it boot at all?

How to continue? Well, I don't exactly know how t restore the Flash, and I don't know of a toll for checking the Flash's health either. My first try would be finding a ROM Board with a different ROM. The Newton usually reacts to that by erasing everything and rewriting the Flash.

Let us know if that did it.