How do you read a RAM chip after a reset?

[bobcircuit]

My father passed away two years ago and the one comforting things my mother still had was his voice greeting on her digital answering machine when people called. Although she was reassured everything would remain the same when she switched phone providers to Comcast, her answering machine got switched to voice mail on another phone. After literally hours on hold and numerous calls to Comcast, someone there told her to stick a paperclip in the reset hole on her answering machine and that would fix the problem of not having my dad’s voice as the greeting. This reset everything on the answering machine including the voice greeting and devastated my mother.

My question is can this voice chip be read somehow if the machine hasn‘t been used since the reset? Isn’t it normally a pointer that is erased when a reset is done and the data on the chip stays there until it is overwritten? The answering machine has been unplugged and unused since the reset was done a month ago. It’s a Radio Shack Digital Answering Machine Model # 43-704. Any advice would be greatly appreciated but I’m not an embedded chip expert nor do I have any equipment. Thanks.

[Bigglez]

This reset everything on the answering machine including the voice greeting and devastated my mother.

My question is can this voice chip be read somehow if the machine hasn‘t been used since the reset?

What you need before anything else is done
(or gathering hope), is an electrical schematic
of the internal hardware.

The only way that previous data could have
survived a 'RESET' operation is if the data
was stored in non-volatile memory, and that
the reset didn't write over it. The memory
might be EEPROM or similar (which retains
data without external power), or some
form of internal battery back up. The latter
has its own problems in that a loss of
power (depleted battery or prolonged
disconnection from other power) will cause
loss of data.

This is a long shot, as I'm sure you already
know. There is a slim chance the original
data was retained but is no longer accessible
from the user controls.

[proton]

Based on the info given in the owner's manual, it looks like a RAM IC is used for storing messages: no FLASH or any nonvolatile memory. This is one of the reasons this unit needs a backup battery.
The OM also mentions that "The outgoing message and all information stored in memory are erased when you press RESET". It is likely that after a reset, a destructive memory test/initialization is done.
But, regardless if the memory content was altered or not, the chip can not be removed from the circuit in order to be analyzed. That would have been possible if a nonvolatile memory were used...
Sorry for the bad news... this is just my opinion, like I said, based on the OM. I don't have the service manual or the schematic.
Lucian

[ezpcb.com]

open the enclosure of the device and find what chips inside if I were you.