I am a new RioCar owner..

I received a 20GB RioCar from SB a couple days ago. It hung on the Rio Screen. After doing some research, I diagnosed a problem with the hard drive or cable (I was able to flash it but could not get the pump device going)..

Anyway, I e-mailed Rio Car customer service with details and got this response:

___

Hi,

You'll need to replace the hard drive cable. Unfortunately we were supplied
with a batch of poorly crimped drive cables. A handful of them fail after
the rough treatment the player gets in shipping.

I can offer two options - I can send you the replacement cable which you'll
need to fit yourself or I can bring the player in for service.

If you wish to DOA the player, then you'll need to contact the eStore
directly - I am unable to handle any returns issues.

If you fit the cable yourself, your warranty will not be affected, provided
you follow the instructions closely. Let me know your postal address if you
wish to do this.

Let me now how you wish to proceed.

___


So, I will opt for replacing it myself. Hopefully this will not encourage those of you who have working units to contact them for a repair request to allow opening the unit w/o voiding your warranty.

I just had to share my experience. I have a minute feeling RioCar knew about these bad batches but sold them anyway. I personally don't mind, but I am glad I did not buy one for a gift.

-John M

I have a minute feeling RioCar knew about these bad batches but sold them anyway.

To be fair, the "bad cable" problem was only discovered after the product was End-Of-Lifed and the products were being liquidated at below-cost.

Well the service guy suggested I switch the plug on the IDE ribbon to the end plug instead of the middle one. It was a tight fit, but it worked!

They are out of stock on the ribbons,so this was an immediate fix until I get a replacement ribbon..