Getting past the 'Align Screen'

Had the same problem starting about 3 months ago with my Axim X5. Couldn't get the touchscreen to respond in order to input my password. However when I sync it to my computer I had better success at getting the touchscreen to work and respond. Tried the business card tip of sliding it between the touchscreen and metal cover/frame of the PDA and now it seems to work even better. Great tip. Hope it becomes the more permanent fix for getting my PDA touchscreen to respond. Mack

Ok this is really common on the Axim X5 but is a fairly simple fix. Take apart the axim (I have not done it in a while but I will go by what I can remember.) Remove all the black rubber bungs on the back of the pda, with a precission screwdriver, remove all of those screws. Don't forget the ones under the battery. Remove the back case and then flip the pda over on your palm to remove the front case. Now that it is apart, look near the bottom of the touch screen. You will see a ribbon on the bottom right hand corner. The problem is, that the home button rubs against that and grounds out the touch screen. So what you need to do is get a bit of electrical or duct tape and put a thin strip on the left side of the ribbon, but do not cover it all up. It may take some experimenting but you should be able to get it to work after one or two tries. Oh and almost forgot. To test to see if this is the problem, turn the Axim off, squeeze the sides really hard, and while they are squeezed together, turn it on. If it lets you past the align screen that way, then it can be fixed by this method.

Had a problem with the screen allignment,and phoned Dell helpline (in India or where ever)the guy told me to wipe the edge of the screen with a thin card and that would fix it. Joke ain't it. A computer whizz did it different,when they say touch the crosse acurately that is what they mean,very accurately bang in the middle,several times and all is well John stravers

I have a problem . I have a imate jam and when i turn on theres ALIGN SCREEN on the screen , and a note too . it says : Tap the target firmly and accurately at each location on the screen . The target will continue to move until the screen is aligned . HOW CAN I FIX IT ?????????????????????????

Thanks. It worked perfectlly.
I firmlly attached the ribbon to the back of the screen with a bit of tape so it won't touch the 'Home' button anymore, and it works without a problem.

But now I wonder, why couldn't Dell fix this in the beginning while making these PDA's?

Thanks anyway :)
Rick

Thanks, the trick with the card worked fine and it is very easy. I used not a credit card, but a thinner plastic card.
I wonder I this will be all, or I´ll have to open the axim in a few months.

Thanks for the trick!!!

HT

I tried the card solution since nothing else was helping. It didn't help at first until I slid the card between the touch screen and the cover. X5 works great now. No further problems with screen locking up. Vashti

The digitalizer (touchscreen) is a different part from the actual LCD display. This touchscreen is mounted over the LCD display while having no contact between them. A PDA doesn't know for shure if what you tap on the screen is actually what is displayed on the LCD beneath. Therefore it asks you to align the screen. However due to some mathematical algoritms embedded onto the touchscreen controller it "senses" when what you tap is off the scale and doesn't resemble with what it supose to happen. If you tap correctly and however it doesn't let you pass this screen, it means that these algoritms were corrupted or the touchscreen itself or the connector to the mainboard is damaged. Because part of that algoritm is located onto the device's firmware you will need to have a ROM update to be shure that there isn't any data corruption. If after this the touchcreen doesn't work you will need to have it replaced. For getting yourself a ROM update check DELL's web site for information about ROM/Bios updates. If they offer one for download it is good, if not, you will need to go to a service center to have them do this for you.