Sorry to hear about the problems with your MK2. I know this isn't going to solve your problem, but it won't hurt your empeg any more than it already is.

I completely remove all comments fields from my ID3 tags in emplode. The comments field uses RAM on the player, so what better way to free up our precious memory then to remove all comments tagged in mp3's

I hope the lord will be able to fix your empeg, it’s really painful when we read about hurting empegs