"Hard" reset on Minolta Dimage A!?

The usual way is to make sure the camera is not receiving any electriclal power. So remove the battery and if it has one the small backup battery (usually a small button type). Wait a few minutes and put everything back.

Thanks for the suggestion, Peter. I have tried removing the battery overnight. No help. If there is a backup battery, it is deep inside the camera, not accessible to DYI fingers. I suspect this camera is going to end up on the very far back backup shelf. A shame. It's a good camera and my first digital. I got me back into seriious photograpy after I spent many years just doing 35mm family snaps.

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CALL SONY!

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=120&region_id=1

Sony After-Sales Service and Contact Information for Konica Minolta Cameras and Related Products

Overview

Effective April 1, 2006, Sony Electronics will be providing service and repair of certain Konica-Minolta products in the United States. Sony is pleased to provide existing Konica-Minolta customers an excellent customer service experience. All terms and conditions of the Konica-Minolta products' limited warranty continue to apply.

Applicable Konica Minolta Products

"Konica Minolta", "Konica" and "Minolta" brand:

• Digital single lens reflex cameras
• Digital cameras
• Film single lens reflex cameras
• Film cameras
• Interchangeable lenses for single lens reflex cameras
• Camera accessories and accompanying items (except binoculars)
• Film scanners
• Meters for photograph

Service Process for Konica Minolta Products

• Effective 3/31/06, Consumer Repair requests will no longer be accepted by Konica Minolta.
• Effective 4/1/06, all Consumer Repair requests for Konica Minolta Products in the US will be transferred to Sony Electronics Inc.
• Effective 4/1/06, the Sony Electronics Service web site at http://eservice.sony.com can be used to locate a servicer or setup a service request for applicable Konica Minolta products.
• Konica Minolta Technical support phone numbers will remain unchanged.
  • Film Product Support: 1-877-646-6582
  • Digital Product Support: 1-877-462-4464
• Click here for email support on your Konica Minolta camera.
• For online support, such as drivers and other documents, Konica-Minolta users can also visithttp://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/index.html.

My Minolta DiMage A1 also misbehaved for a while after Sony repair. It would endlessly try to engage the anti-shake, and the yellow anti-shake light would pulse. I turned it off, and on, and off, and on, and so on. Eventually, it settled down each day, and eventually it settled down altogether and is okay now. I think the Minolta electronics may have been rather naive in their design, so we have to be very careful with our valuable antiques -- the only way to keep them alve after a fasion. See Minolta:

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/products/consumer/digital_camera/dimage/dimage-a1/index.html

Looking at the programming update instructions, I see that Minolta suggested turhing on the camera with certain keys pressed during power on, so thry this:

(1) Press the main switch to turn on the camera.

(2) Press and hold the Function button and press the Menu button to open the setup menu. (Confirm that the section 1 menu tab is highlighted.)

(3) Press the display Information button.


A window will open to indicate the firmware version.

Mine's at v1.13u - what's yours (if you can get there), and does trying to get there reset the camera? Heck, even try "upgrading" the camera again using these files on your CF Card:

MLT16.APG
MLT16.APN
MLTDSC.CFG
RAM.BIN

(1) With the camera off, insert the prepared CompactFlash card.


(2) Press and hold the Shutter-release button all the way down without turning on the camera.


(3) Without lifting the your finger from the Shutter-release button, press the main Power switch to turn on the camera.

(4) The access lamp will be lit.
You can release your fingers from the shutter-release button.
Please wait until the lamp turns off. (It takes 1 or 2 minutes.)

(5) When the access lamp turns off, updating is completed. Remove the batteries and then insert them again.
(When using AC adapter, disconnect the AC adapter and then connect it again.)
* If the updating-completed message does not appear within 10 minutes, an error occurred during the procedure.
Turn the camera off and remove the batteries or disconnect the AC adapter. Repeat the procedure from step 1.

(6) Check that the camera firmware version number has changed to "Ver.1.13u". (See the "Checking the camera firmware version")


After checking the version number, press the center button of controller. Setup menu will be displayed.

* After updating the camera, delete the all files from the CompactFlash card.

Do you have an AC adapter to try instead of the battery? That may troubleshoot the power supply and isolate power sources from the challenge.

Let us know what we can do.

Why is this thread NOT in the Minolta forum, by the way?

http://photo.net/sony-minolta-slr-system-forum/

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Thank you Peter. Called Sony/Minolta service. As it turns out, the way to do a "hard" reset on the A1 is to remove the battery and then hold down the shutter button for >60 seconds.
It didn't work, by the way. I still have the adjust LCD brightness as the only thing on my display, with no access to the menus. Sony said to send it in for the $211. minimum repair service. I'll have to decide about that. In the meantime, It still works to take pictures, unfortunately stuck in JPEG. Manual mode works and that's were I am right now. Just no feedback from histograms, quick review, etc.
I'm new here. I put this here instead of the Minolta forum because that seemed to be pretty much SLR oriented and while the A1 looks-like, it isn't.
Thanks again.

Wally

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Try "cleaning" all knobs and switches -- with power off or on. I have done this with other cameras to good effect: operate everything hundreds of times, say, while watching TV or something else, clean all contacts with alcohol to make sure no shorts are crossing via moisture or dust, blow out every crevice you can find with a good blast of an air can, and so on. Theory: something is "stuck" making contact, and your assignment is to clear it.

Contact me off thread for the PDF service manual if you also want to try opening it and reconnecting a few circuits (or removing a roach?).

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