I know this is realted to power problems, but Ive been using my empeg since January with the same PSU capable of 1.5A at 12V. Recently it has started to show the Failed to unmask IDE error on plugging in the power supply.
This is always after the empeg has been off overnight.
To fix it I just remove the power and replace, boots up no problems. Even if I remove the power for say an hour, it will boot up just fine.

Any ideas as to why this is happening?
I havent upgraded the kernel or hijack in a while, and last did so before this problem appeared.
Suggestions / fixes welcome!

hrm soudns like the ide cable problems.. i havent had personal experience with this.. check some of the other threads..

What temperature is the unit being stored at overnight? Cold?

-ml

Not too cold, its keep inside of a house, and travels with me to work on the bus (no car atm!).
The house is warm enough for me, so I'd assume the same for the empeg.

The "office" is really cold in the morning, but it doesnt hang around getting cold, I need music straight away!

Its not a big problem for me, but if it does it in the car as well (that will have to wait till I buy another one) then I guess its something to look at more seriously.

Please perform a FAQ search on "failed to unmask ide".

I think that FAQ entry is misleading Tony. Possibly the "failed to unmask ide" can be caused by low power, but it can also definitely be caused by cold.

I have a empeg "blessed" power supply on my desk at work, but when my unit is cold (after sitting in the foot well of the car on cold mornings) I always get the "failed to unmask ide" message on the first attempt to start it. The disk does not spin up quickly enough on the first attempt.

I believe that the problem Thenominous is having is that he's using an inadequate power supply. His solution is to use the power supply that came with the player instead. I do not believe his problem is temperature-related. That's why I told him to look at that FAQ entry.

but I've been getting this problem recently with my empeg branded power and when it's doesn't seem too cold...it's been in a Pelican 1400 all night in my house...

I wasn't disagreeing with you about Thenominous's problem being power related. I just think that that FAQ entry could do with mentioning that the "failed to unmask IDE" message can be caused by things other than your power supply not deliverying enough amps. It probably ought to be another FAQ entry though I guess as apart from the error message the two issues aren't related.

I did look at the FAQ entry, and that didnt answer my question, hance the post.

Looking at the empeg, it says that it needs 1A as low as 11V, well this PSU is pushing out 12V at 1.5A as tested and checked.

Plus, it has only just started doing this...

We use the same type of PSU's here for powering CDROM's and 3.5" hard drive units in external cases with aditional power reg for the 5V.

Is the PSU the one that shipped with the player or not?

If it is not the same one that shipped with the player, try the one that shipped with the player. If the problem goes away, I rest my case. If the problem does not go away, let us know, and then start looking at cabling problems.