IDE Error

Alright today I hop in my car after getting a smoothie(so I didnt remove the player), and the player beings to boot. Well the building datebases screen thing I get a error I cant remember what the exact wording was but I think it said something like "Failed to Unmask IDE" although I could be wrong. I have a new non-faulty IDE cable, so Im wondering what could be the issue? Oh BTW when I removed and replaced the player it booted up fine and has since then. I just wanna make sure Im not about to lose my harddrive or something.

Look at this FAQ entry.

It's at least worth seeing if you have a power problem (despite this entry being for insufficient wall power sources).

Ah ha, I guess that would be the problem. Since installing the player in my new car it tends to shut off quite frequently do to low power. Im thinking I need a new battery. What confuses me though is it hasnt shut off when my amp is really sucking power(ie headlights dimming do to bass hits). Im kinda baffled it only seems to turn off when Im sitting still in the heat of the day with the A/C on. Im thinking it may have to do with the radiator fan turning on because it happens when Im in traffic mainly. Oh well I guess ill get a new battery and see if that fixes the issue.

Im kinda baffled it only seems to turn off when Im sitting still in the heat of the day with the A/C on.

Oh, c'mon, Acura -- you know the answer to this one!

When you're sitting still in the heat of the day with the A/C on, the engine is at idle, and that means your alternator is not developing full voltage.

Knowing you, you probably have underdrive pulleys on your crankshaft to get that last little bit of power, but of course this means your alternator, water pump, and all the other engine driven accessories are turning slower (that's where the extra power comes from...) making the situation even worse.

Next time you're sitting still in the heat of the day with the A/C on, try kicking the RPMs up to about 2000. I'll betcha that your empeg doesn't go "low power" on you then.

tanstaafl.

Yes yes I know that. That isnt what baffles me. And no I dont have underdrive pulleys Im not paying 200 bucks for 3 or 4 horsepower I dont buy into that shi[t]. What does baffle me is that it have never shut off when Im really pounding my music sitting at a stop light, A/C, and lights on. I do know its not as hot at night so Im wondering if possibly the momentary draw of the radiator fan turning on is greater than my amp sucking the life out of the battery while thumpin some hardcore Sir-Mix-Alot.

I too have received the 'failed to unmask IDE' error just once with my backup Mk2a never w/my Mk2 & they're setup exactly the same. This happened just yesterday hence the search for error coming to here. I didn't get the low power icon when this happened but it was booting up at the time never getting to the play the music stage after awhile of not hearing anything I looked down to see the error on the screen. No buttons would respond except for pushing in the knob until Hijack options appeared whereby I used reboot machine option & all was well again. On the flip side my Mk2 has never had the IDE error appear but has had the batt icon appear quite frequently, until I can find a higher output alternator that has so far been elusive to find. I know my HO amp is the culprit & having the Empeg vol pumped, blower fan on high, lights on and/or wipers and sitting at idle in various combinations & is the reason the voltage drops triggering the batt icon to appear.