KR> thanks for the ideas, everybody seems to have the same
KR> idea that reversing the polarity clears the device. i'm
KR> afraid that i cant buy it for a couple of reasons. firstly
KR> the data was, much to my surprise, still in memory,

Using a polarity reversal to signal to the system to do a reset
doesnt have to clear the ram contents. There is no reason why it
cant do that reset intelligently, analyse the stored data to see
if its good and keep it if it is. Its quite trivial to include some
check data to allow you to see if the data is still good or not.

Particularly with stored data which cant by definition affect
operational conditions etc.

KR> and secondly, the thing already has two little push
KR> buttons to set the clock, and enable the beep. it would
KR> seem much more logical (and cheaper bob) to set the thing's
KR> micrcode to reset if both buttons are pressed together.

Yes, but there are fucking heaps of designs which dont do
it the rational way that someone else would have done it.

There are some utterly fucked Japanese designs where the stupid fucking
control clicks to give feedback to the user, but the stupid fucking click
bears no relationship to the electrical action of the switch. Thats the
whole fucking point of the switch, to signal that the effect you wanted
happened. Talk about a colossal brain fart on someones part.

Your original,

KR> the day that i left america, it ceased to work, so i tried changing
KR> the 3 aaa cells but no go. on my return, i called the manufacturer
KR> for service under warranty. the girl at the service department asked
BV> me if i had reversed the batteries, sensing a trap, i of course denied
KR> it. "well" she said, "try doing that, it usually
fixes them". so i did,
KR> and fix it it did.

KR> i dont see any reason why reversing the battery polarity should fix
KR> a digital device, i'd more expect the opposite, so - any ideas?

appeared to be saying that after the phone call, you took the batterys
out, put them in backwards, AND THEN took them out and put them back
in the original way again, and it then worked. If that is in fact what
you meant to say, Brentons theory cant possibly be right. If you JUST
reversed them after the phone call, its the most likely explanation.

But if it was really the latter, why the fuck did you ask the original
question ?  The answer was dead obvious.

You either had a massive brain fart originally, or you are having one now.

--- PQWK202