I am having an intermittent problem with the unit which manifests itself as follows:

Use unit plugged into mains at home, switch off at 11PM
Next morning, put unit in car and switch on.
The empeg then plays a bit, stops, plays a bit more, stops. FF /REW do not seem to help.

The only way I can get it working properly again is to remove and reinsert..sometimes twice.


Any Ideas??

MK2 Red S/n 949

Is that on every mp3 or only on a specific one?

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

And you have never had this problem in the house? Is this with a specific file or playlist, or anything? When you say stops, is it as if the music is paused, or is there an audible skip? Can you turn on the disk drive icon - see if it displays any unusual behavior? How long until this happens (plays a bit...)?

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

It does not appear to be the file itself as once I have pulled the unit from the cradle a couple of times, it will play it fine.
The playlist has never exhibited this problem either and I have never had this experience in the house.

It is like it is skipping and I can hear the drive seeking but I have not switched on the Icon as yet. I will try.

MK2 Red S/n 949

Are all the wires on the back of the in car connector intact? I know the first docking connector I received had a messed up contact on it, and the second one, I manged to pull out one of the serial connection wires while installing it. I guess I'll have to fix it once the tuner gets released.

Sean

Possible, but I would think the music would continue through - with a noticeable change in song position. If the song picks up at the exact point, it would almost be a seek problem on the disk, or other disk issue. What version of the empeg software are you running, etc?

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

The Connector seems fine, I am not getting the power loss icon etc. and I can see that the track time is stopping in the display also.

I am running 1.02 with Lame VBR files, could it be that the VBR files are causing a problem as in the Fast Forward / Rewind issue? Maybe the unit cannot find the correct location to start playing.

Hang on.....

Maybe one of the buttons is stuck on telling the unit to FF/RW as the results are similar to this with VBR.

Maybe I will have to wait for 1.1with the new decoder to see.

MK2 Red S/n 949

Greetings!

All of my files are VBR, and I have never seen this kind of behavior. Also, I would expect this kind of thing to happen all of the time, not just in the car.

What about your serial connector on the sled - could it be making contact somewhere, pumping noise into the command stream?

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

Postscript - Can you upload a CBR file, just to eliminate all of the VBR considerations? Also, have you tried a memory test?

Edited by pgrzelak on 07/03/01 01:03 PM.

I have seen something similar to what you describe on aggressively compressed LAME encoded VBR files. The only way I got round it was to whack the files, re-encode after dropping the quality, and try again. What I then found was, the disk access icon was coming on very frequently, and stepping track forward/trackback became laborious. Only withLAME encoded files (this is on a Mk 1 with only limited RAM, don't forget).

I've actually stopped using VBR LAME and gone back to the Xing AC encoder - I have more consistent results with better VBR encoding. I suspect when VBR in LAME evolves a little, it will be less agressive and I will go back to trying it again.

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Stuck buttons seem to be a minor fit and finish issue.

I've noticed that it's possible to misalign the Mk. II faceplate far enough, that the buttons will stick. It was most noticeable on the down and right buttons. The jamming may not be noticable until the fasteners are tightened.

Misalignment may also cause the top edges of the handle to rub against the faceplate.

Glenn

PS. Tony, How about a FAQ or this.

The fix is to loosen the screws, nudge the faceplate, then retighten. Not too tight! Just enough to keep the cover from moving around.