Bug or not: Unable to upgrade EMPEG

I have just received my Mk II. It has v1.0 on it. I have installed v1.01 of Emplode. I am trying to upgrade the EMPEG to v1.01. I run the upgrade tool, select the upgrade file, click next, wait for the prompt then plug in the power. After forever, it just says Error "empeg unit not found" occured during stage 0x10. I have tried both of my serial ports. I know they both work because I can download images off my digital camera. Emplode does not even see the EMPEG. I know it is not urgent that I upgrade to 1.01 (i hope not at least) but I want to make sure it all works.

I do not know if this is a bug or I need some sort of null modem adapter (manual does not mention it) or what.

Thanks.

A couple of pointers which may or may not help but come from my experience.

What OS ? Windows 2000 ? I have not managed to do an upgrade with that myself. Though it does find the unit for me, it gets to the point of flashing the kernel (erasing it and all goes well) and then at most does 2 steps in the percentage bar before it freezes. Since I have several systems including a few Linux machines it is no biggie since I use those with no problems at all.

However what intrigued me more in your story was the digital cameras. A lot of these things install stuff (frequently with an icon in the system tray) which monitors your serial port and checks to see if there is a camera attached to them trying to send it data. The same is try for things like Sync Cradles for Palms and WinCE/PocketPC's. However, with that in mind you will obviously get a conflict over the serial port which might explain why it is not found.

Another thing that pops to mind is a report (I believe by Rob) stating that they had a batch of incorrectly wired serial cables which did not work. So some units had this incorrect cable or no cable at all when being shipped. I believe a replacement for that would be sent or made available. Maybe you have one of these. As always, the contact-emails for the empeg people posted by Rob on this BBS are the first place you should go if you think this is the case.

Cheers,
Hans


Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

I do not know if (..) I need some sort of null modem

Yes, you definitely need a null modem cable. Though a number of players were said to be shipped with a faulty (straight serial) cable, I understand *all* of those customers have also been sent a replacement (null modem cable).

Before delving into things deeper, try a different cable


Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

I have tried it on both 2000 and WinMe. Neither work. The 2000 has the digital camera but the WinMe had nothing configured to use the serial ports.

What happens when it freezes? Am I screwed?

I sent a msg to support last night (eastern US time) about a physical problem (top left of the faceplate appears broken as the hexnut does not secure it) and mentioned the upgrade problem.

I will try a null modem cable. Thanks. I assume I should get a correct cable sent to me for free??

I assume I should get a correct cable sent to me for free??

I wouldn't worry about that: getting one locally is probably less expensive than shipping a replacement one from the UK. Heck, you can find these things for only US$2-3.

I'd rather have you lose your US$2 than the empeg guys loosing half an hour to find/pack/ship a new cable


Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

. . . . or dont they do null-modem cables on the ocean floor ??? . . .

In reply to:

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or dont they do null-modem cables on the ocean floor ???

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Do u know how hard it is to get a working car in the ocean?? Much less a radio!! I guess I can float a couple bucks....

Firstly you say you've only just received your empeg, so I would think you have the correct serial cable (empeg discovered this a while ago, and stopped sending out the wrong cables)
Secondly, I cannot upgrade via serial from my windows box following the instructions (It's apparently a known problem with windows being too slow with the serial port...)

However, the following method has always worked for me in the past (except in one case, but that was my own fault... =)

What you need to do is power up the empeg with the serial cable attached, then double click on the upgrade file, and press next a few times.
The empeg should reboot itself at the right point and the upgrade will be performed...

Try it and see... =)

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)

Firstly you say you've only just received your empeg, so I would think you have the correct serial cable (empeg discovered this a while ago, and stopped sending out the wrong cables)
That is what I thought too so I was not sure if it was a bug or not.

What you need to do is power up the empeg with the serial cable attached, then double click on the upgrade file, and press next a few times
I just tried that. No luck. Thanks, though.

Greetings!

I have also had trouble, but it seems like a Windows timing issue for me as well. What I did / worked for me was to try starting the upgrade. As it is about halfway through the search, plug in your empeg. I think the serial port is just missing the boot window for upgrading.


Paul G.
Q# 15189
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

The fact that it didn't work with either 2K or ME makes it sound like you've just got the wrong cable.

However, just to be sure, try hooking up with Hyperterminal and see if you can get anything at all. Check the FAQ section of this BBS for details on how to get Hyperterminal working with the Empeg.

Also note: the serial port settings for Hyperterminal (shown in that FAQ) should also be the same ones you plug into the Windows Control Panel for that port. Make sure those are in there before trying to run an upgrade.

___________
Tony Fabris

However, just to be sure, try hooking up with Hyperterminal and see if you can get anything at all. Check the FAQ section of this BBS for details on how to get Hyperterminal working with the Empeg.
I do not have HT installed. When I get home I will try this.

the serial port settings for Hyperterminal (shown in that FAQ) should also be the same ones you plug into the Windows Control Panel for that port.
I tried that here at work on Win2k (no luck so far) and will try it on WinME when I get home tonight.

Just to follow-up in this forum...Yes, the cable I received was not a null modem cable. Radio Shack took care of that and I am now at v1.01.

Now, I just need the new faceplate and it should be here before the install on the 16th. I am letting Sound Solutions do it as they have done others (they did DiGNAN or whatever his name is). I could do the EMPEG but the amp makes me nervous so I will let them do it.

Thanks for the help everyone. And for those who are having problems with tags, check out Dr Tag as it does v2 and v1 and it fixed my problems with the tags. Even does multiple files/dirs at a time.

Yes, the cable I received was not a null modem cable. Radio Shack took care of that and I am now at v1.01.

How recently did they ship you this unit? We thought the "incorrect cable" problem was all sorted out.

I told you guys a harsh letter wasn't enough. Sometimes nothing beats a genuine in-person Dope Slap for permanent results.

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Tony Fabris

How recently did they ship you this unit? We thought the "incorrect cable" problem was all sorted out.
The date on the chassis as its QA date is 9-22-2000, so that is probably when it was boxed with all its components, but I just received it yesterday (Oct 5).

I just got my empeg, and everything is working great. Woo!

I am, however, also experiencing problems upgrading using my Win2K machine and the supplied cable. I get an error message saying it can't find the empeg.

I will try the Radio Shack/null modem cable solution tomorrow to see if that helps.

Derek

#15613

The correct cables have been shipping for weeks - only the first couple of hundred Mk.2 owners were affected, and replacement cables were sent to all of them.

Rob

The cable problem was sorted out weeks ago - there's absolutely no way any incorrect cables should be shipping now. I'll phone the factory first thing on Monday, but as far as I know the cables getting packaged now are from the exact batch we've been shipping for the last month.

Squid - what colour is the cable? Grey or cream?

Rob

The correct cables have been shipping for weeks - only the first couple of hundred Mk.2 owners were affected, and replacement cables were sent to all of them.

Squid's report would seem to indicate otherwise.

Unless he happened to get a "correct but faulty" cable, which is a possibility.

___________
Tony Fabris

Squid - what colour is the cable? Grey or cream?
I would have to say it is cream.

there's absolutely no way any incorrect cables should be shipping now.
Well, I would have to say I got an incorrect cable since it suddenly works when I attach a null modem adapter to it.

Squid - what colour is the cable? Grey or cream?
I would have to say it is cream.

Wooooooops, I know somebody is not going to be happy on monday cuz mine is gray and I am sure that one works ...

Cheers,
Hans




Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

We sent back all the faulty cables. At least, the factory were TOLD to send them back.

My guess would be that you got a player that has been in stock for a while, and we overlooked changing out the cable. What's the serial number? Is it 6Gb?

If you want a replacement cable send over an email and we'll get one to you.

Rob

We sent back all the faulty cables. At least, the factory were TOLD to send them back.
Maybe they just missed this one.

My guess would be that you got a player that has been in stock for a while, and we overlooked changing out the cable. What's the serial number? Is it 6Gb?
Well, like I said the QA date was 9-22-00, it is 18GB Green.

If you want a replacement cable send over an email and we'll get one to you.
That is not necessary but I did send a msg to support about getting the wrong color carry case which I would like to get.

Thanks.

I had a problem upgrading on Win2K. I thought the problem might be with the cable, but now I think it wasn't that at all.

I *did* get a new cable, but had the same difficulty on Win2K. I then had the bright idea of trying to upgrade on my Win98 laptop. This only produced a different connection error (at 0x25 rather than 0x0).

Then I remembered that on both my desktop and my laptop I have a driver for my Wacom tablet. When I used the Wacom utility to turn off my tablet, the connection and upgrade process worked smoothly.

(Note that the tablet and the empeg used the same serial port. I thought simply unplugging the tablet would be enough to signal to my computer not to use the driver. It wasn't.)

Long story short, everything turned out well and I only faced very minimal frustration.

Derek

#15613

I just spoke with the factory. All of the faulty cables were returned so they have no idea how this one crept in (in fact I've heard of two cases of this with players serial numbered in the 09000600's). We think the boxes must have been prepared weeks ago and overlooked until recently - they're going to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

For anyone else that thinks they may be affected - the offending cables have a large white label with the code SC0183. The cable itself has a cross-hatch pattern moulded into the connectors, as opposed to a linear pattern on the correct cable. Of course the biggest giveaway is that the wrong cables don't work!

Rob

That's funny, I've just hit the same problem.

Funny thing is - I can see output via my terminal program (SecureCRT) over the serial cable - but the upgrader can't find the empeg.

Emplode can't find it over serial either.

I did the upgrade to 1.01RC2 a week ago with the exact same cable.

Ideas?

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

I can see output via my terminal program (SecureCRT) over the serial cable - but the upgrader can't find the empeg.

Um, you are quitting the terminal program before running the upgrader, aren't you? They can't both access the serial port at once...

Peter (who's got this wrong himself about a billion times)

Yep. I did make this mistake a few times already.

If you leave the terminal program logged in, it fails immediately. ~When I don't have it logged in, it takes about a minute to fail.

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

unfortunately I too received the incorrect cable with my order in August. Serial number in 09000350's. I have been completely unable to connect to my Empeg with any Serial cable I have tried. :/

unfortunately I too received the incorrect cable with my order in August. Serial number in 09000350's.

If you are sure you got an incorrect serial cable, contact (i think the address is) [email protected] and have them send you a proper one. You should have received a correct one already.

However, just being unable to do the upgrade doesn't necessarily mean that the cable is bad. You might simply have another piece of bacground software (such as PalmSync) grabbing the serial port and preventing the upload from working. Or maybe the serial port shares an interrupt with the modem or the mouse, preventing it from working.

Check out this FAQ entry and see if you can get Hyperterminal working.

I have been completely unable to connect to my Empeg with any Serial cable I have tried. :/

Remember that it needs to be a null modem cable. A straight-through serial cable won't work (and this is precisely the problem with the one bad batch of cables that accidentally got shipped).

If you're sure that you tried a null modem cable and it didn't work, then I'd start looking beyond the cable for possible sources of the problem. For instance, try using Hyperterminal on a different computer (but with the same cable) and see if it works.

___________
Tony Fabris

I initialy had the problem with my second hand mark1.. i know it wasnt the serial cable, as the bloke who had it before me had it all working fine.

After about 20 seconds of fiddleing, i turned off the ethernet support (click on the ethernet bit Connection -> Look for empeg on...) and only had serial enabled. Worked fine. Thats in win2k, 1.01.

Might help, worth a try.

After about 20 seconds of fiddleing, i turned off the ethernet support (click on the ethernet bit Connection -> Look for empeg on...) and only had serial enabled. Worked fine. Thats in win2k, 1.01
No, it was the serial cable. I got the null modem adapter and it worked fine after that.

Although, using ethernet at home I am getting an infamous Synch Stage 5 error 0xffffffff. From the posts here it does not seem to be too common of an occurrence. If anyone has any ideas what it could be, I would appreciate it. I sent an email to bugs@ along with a log file as was recommended to another user.

Squid2k1
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18GB of Green Mk II Fury - Fast As A Shark