Congrats on your new toy. What serial number was it, and how much did you pay for it? We like to keep track.

You should definitely wipe the disks and run the stress testing loop on them. Now's the best time to do it, before you've had a chance to create any complicated playlists.

To wipe the disks, plug them in one at a time into the primary controller on the Mk1. Make sure to read the entire FAQ on disk replacement regarding how to open the unit and remove the drive cradle.

Opening the unit to plug/unplug the drives will give you a chance to make sure the shock mounts are in good shape, too. Also check the IDE cables to make sure they're OK-- mine was getting clobbered by a jumper on the motherboard until I repaired it.

Also, make sure the tape insulation on the drive cradle isn't pressing against the bottom of the drives. I re-did the insulation on mine with fresh tape, making sure that each strip barely touched instead of overlapping.

Then, for each disk (each one plugged in by itself):

- Run the builder image .upgrade file.

- Have Hypterterminal ready (check the FAQ on getting hyperterminal to work) and connect to the player the instant it's done applying that builder upgrade.

- It should prompt you in hypterterminal. You're right, it says something about how the disk is already built. That's OK, press the Enter key (I think that's what you press) and it should start wiping the disk anyway.

- When the disk is done wiping, let it run the stress test for a while.

- When the stress test has satisfied your curiosity about the state of the disk, exit hyperterminal, unplug the power from the empeg, double-click on one of the consumer .upgrade files, then plug in the empeg power when prompted by the upgrader. This will remove the builder image from that disk.

- Repeat this procedure, especially that last step, for the second disk drive as well.

Then put it all back together. If you're still getting synch errors after that, come back and let us know.

___________
Tony Fabris