BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD436HP keypad not responding

[nowires]

When I plug in usb when off, it gives me the charge press yes or no charge press no. it works here. But when I power on, and it is a wonder that I can even do that, but when I get to usb serial or usb mass storage it doesn't respond via keypad. Then I let it time out and it starts to scan but first it wants to know what country I'm from after loading my favorites list. I can respond by pushing volume knob, and then it asks for zip code. But I can't enter anything. I can use side buttons to get out of that and it goes to normal scanning. Is this a bug? Trivially opened it up and found some blue corrosion building up around a cirrus marked chip. Tried to clean, but didn't help any.

Can't field avoid or stop on site/department/trunk system. Have to do all programming with sentinel.

 

[tvengr]

When a database scanner does strange things, the first thing to suspect is a bad or corrupted SD card. Make sure all of your favorites lists are available for reprogramming. Reformat the card. After formatting, go to the Scanner tab in Sentinel and click on Clear User Data. Reprogram the scanner and see if it works OK.

 

[hiegtx]

When I plug in usb when off, it gives me the charge press yes or no charge press no. it works here. But when I power on, and it is a wonder that I can even do that, but when I get to usb serial or usb mass storage it doesn't respond via keypad. Then I let it time out and it starts to scan but first it wants to know what country I'm from after loading my favorites list. I can respond by pushing volume knob, and then it asks for zip code. But I can't enter anything. I can use side buttons to get out of that and it goes to normal scanning. Is this a bug? Trivially opened it up and found some blue corrosion building up around a cirrus marked chip. Tried to clean, but didn't help any.

Can't field avoid or stop on site/department/trunk system. Have to do all programming with sentinel.

Any chance you may have unintentionally locked the keypad?
From the Easier to Read manual:

Using the Keypad Lock (BCD436HP only) The only keys/knobs that work when the keypad is locked are Channel for Hold Mode, Func, , and the Scroll Control for volume.

Press Func then / to toggle the keypad lock.

But it never hurts to make sure your SD card is not causing a problem. Using the Profile Editor in Sentinel, if you look at the Miscellaneous tab, you'll see where you can enable, or disable the keypad lock

 

[tvengr]

Any chance you may have unintentionally locked the keypad?

Before my previous reply, I tried locking the keypad on my 436 and did not witness the same behavior.

 

[pb_lonny]

Either the keypad is locked or SD card is bad.

 

[nowires]

It's not keypad lock. I checked that. Sometimes when trying to unlock keypad it wanted to turn off instead.

Tried moving the keypad slip around from key to key while disassembled and didn't seem to make any difference.

Power button works, but no other keys on the keypad recognize they've even been pushed.

 

[tvengr]

Make sure all of the plugs and cables are seated inside the scanner. In Sentinel, under the Tools tab, do you have Target Model set to BCDx36HP? Here is the link to the SD card formatter: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

 

[n1chu]

Does the 436 have an internal battery? Has it seen better days? I ask because the OP mentioned the 436 asked a couple of questions that show up upon initial setup…

 

[dave3825]

it starts to scan but first it wants to know what country I'm from after loading my favorites list.

then it asks for zip code.

Does the 436 have an internal battery? Has it seen better days?

I ask because the OP mentioned the 436 asked a couple of questions that show up upon initial setup…

My 436 internal battery is shot. Only thing it asks me is to set the clock or use temp time. And it gives 5 seconds to answer and then starts scanning my fav lists. I have never had mine ask me to select a country or a zip code.

Sounds like a bad sd card. I would follow the steps that were posted in post 2.

opened it up and found some blue corrosion building up around a cirrus marked chip. Tried to clean, but didn't help any.

Can you post a pic? And how did you try cleaning?

 

[nowires]

Does the 436 have an internal battery? Has it seen better days? I ask because the OP mentioned the 436 asked a couple of questions that show up upon initial setup…

Where would I find it? There was a real tiny looking thing that might've been a battery, but I'm not sure. I'm not having to set the clock. It is still working. And yes it does seem like initial setup, but I can escape out of it and at least scan.

 

[nowires]

When a database scanner does strange things, the first thing to suspect is a bad or corrupted SD card. Make sure all of your favorites lists are available for reprogramming. Reformat the card. After formatting, go to the Scanner tab in Sentinel and click on Clear User Data. Reprogram the scanner and see if it works OK.

Not sure why the SD card would cause the keypad to not work. Unless there is some run code in the SD card that tells it how to operate. Far as I know it's mostly just database on there. When I take SD card out, it says hey where's my SD card and turns back off.

 

[tvengr]

Not sure why the SD card would cause the keypad to not work. Unless there is some run code in the SD card that tells it how to operate. Far as I know it's mostly just database on there.

The SD card controls most everything the scanner does. A bad card can make the scanner appear totally dead with no display. I have seen that happen. The keypad buttons form a matrix with rows and columns. When the scanner polls the keypad, it detects the row and column of any button being pressed. SD cards are the most common cause of scanner failure. It is a good idea to check the card first to eliminate it before doing any other troubleshooting.

 

[fxdscon]

Not sure why the SD card would cause the keypad to not work. Unless there is some run code in the SD card that tells it how to operate. Far as I know it's mostly just database on there. When I take SD card out, it says hey where's my SD card and turns back off.

.
As has been a solid piece of well proven advice since the first release of the Home Patrol 1 in 2010, whenever the SD card scanners start doing something unexpected and/or strange that would seem to be totally unrelated, always suspect the SD card first. It's one of the easiest causes to rule out, and more often than not it's been found to be the cause. Maybe it won't be the cause in your case, but it's an important starting point to at least take a quick minute and rule it out.

 

[fxdscon]

deleted

 

[nowires]

My 436 internal battery is shot. Only thing it asks me is to set the clock or use temp time. And it gives 5 seconds to answer and then starts scanning my fav lists. I have never had mine ask me to select a country or a zip code.

Sounds like a bad sd card. I would follow the steps that were posted in post 2.



Can you post a pic? And how did you try cleaning?

Had to scale down picture to post. But it's the chip in the center on the third picture (IC404). The internal battery is up in the left corner of same picture, next to the usb connector (BT401).

 

[n1chu]

Doubt that battery is user replaceable. I don’t know if it’s a mechanical latch that holds the battery in place or a solder connection-my guess is it’s soldered. Meaning if you aren’t good with mounting or unmounting surface mounted components, find someone who is or have Uniden repair handle it. But first try formatting the existing SD Card or a new one. If that doesn’t work, send it into to Uniden. They can look at that component that has the corrosion at the same time. It’s a $100 charge (aprox) but they repair or replace all that needed for the one flat fee.

 

[nowires]

Doubt that battery is user replaceable. I don’t know if it’s a mechanical latch that holds the battery in place or a solder connection-my guess is it’s soldered. Meaning if you aren’t good with mounting or unmounting surface mounted components, find someone who is or have Uniden repair handle it. But first try formatting the existing SD Card or a new one. If that doesn’t work, send it into to Uniden. They can look at that component that has the corrosion at the same time. It’s a $100 charge (aprox) but they repair or replace all that needed for the one flat fee.

The other guy was asking about the internal battery, and I'm just showing where I think it is. Mine still is holding time.

It wasn't the SD card, something else went funny.

I just scraped off the blue corrosion, but still no difference.

 

[nowires]

When trying to put in range on sentinel, it seemed to be going by what I had in favorites, not from the full database. Since that didn't work, I just put my old favorites back on from the backup before formatting.

 

[nowires]

No replacement keypads available?

 

[nowires]