I have been trying and trying to get an old mk2 player to boot up, and keep getting the infamous 'No hard disk found...' error. I have checked the faq and threads, and have checked the header cable and other items that I have found, with no luck so far.
So I figured to start from square one (again), and 'hypertermed' into the unit (with the serial cable) and here is what came up

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˙If there is anyone present who wants to upgrade the flash, let them speak now,
or forever hold their peace...it seems not. Let fly the Penguins of Linux!

e000 v1.04
Copying kernel...
Calling linux kernel...
Uncompressing Linux..................................... done, booting the kerne
l.
Linux version 2.2.17-rmk5-np17-empeg52-hijack-v464 ([email protected]) (gcc version
2.95.3 20010315 (release)) #2 Fri Oct 27 01:00:29 EDT 2006
Processor: Intel StrongARM-1100 revision 11
Checking for extra DRAM:
c1000000: wrote ffffffff, read e28cc001
NetWinder Floating Point Emulator V0.94.1 (c) 1998 Corel Computer Corp.
empeg-car player (hardware revision 9, serial number 10101787) 16MB DRAM
Command line: mem=16m
Calibrating delay loop... 207.67 BogoMIPS
Memory: 15008k/16M available (988k code, 20k reserved, 364k data, 4k init)
Dentry hash table entries: 2048 (order 2, 16k)
Buffer cache hash table entries: 16384 (order 4, 64k)
Page cache hash table entries: 4096 (order 2, 16k)
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
Linux NET4.0 for Linux 2.2
Based upon Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039
NET4: Linux TCP/IP 1.0 for NET4.0
IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP
TCP: Hash tables configured (ehash 16384 bhash 16384)
IrDA (tm) Protocols for Linux-2.2 (Dag Brattli)
Starting kswapd v 1.5
SA1100 serial driver version 4.27 with no serial options enabled
ttyS00 at 0xf8010000 (irq = 15) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS01 at 0xf8050000 (irq = 17) is a SA1100 UART
ttyS02 at 0xf8030000 (irq = 16) is a SA1100 UART
Signature is 67706d65 'empg'
Tuner: loopback=0, ID=-1
Scheduling custom logo.
empeg display initialised.
empeg dsp audio initialised
empeg dsp mixer initialised
empeg dsp initialised
Could not find CS4231A (version=80) --> no visuals for Tuner/AUX.
empeg remote control/panel button initialised.
empeg usb initialised, PDIUSBD12 id 1012
empeg state support initialised 0089/88c1 (save to d0004f00).
empeg RDS driver initialised
empeg power-pic driver initialised (first boot)
RAM disk driver initialized: 16 RAM disks of 4096K size
empeg single ch
Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffd
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffd
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f5
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffd
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
Probing primary interface...
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffd
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f5
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7d55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffd
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xfb8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
ide_data_test: wrote 0x0000 read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xffff read 0xffdf
ide_data_test: wrote 0xaaaa read 0xff8a
ide_data_test: wrote 0x5555 read 0x7f55
empeg-flash driver initialized
smc chip id/revision 0x0049
smc_init couldn't find card
RAMDISK: ext2 filesystem found at block 0
RAMDISK: Loading 320 blocks [1 disk] into ram disk... done.
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem).
empeg-pump v0.03 (19980601)
Press Ctrl-A to enter pump...

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I am hoping that someone with more smarts than I (after all, I AM a conservative!) can take a look at the above, and tell me if it looks normal or does something obvious jump out. I am really about at my 'wit's end' ... Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
Thanks
Ladmo