"No hard disk found. Contact support"

this little delight graced my Empeg a moment ago. I was listening to some music, got a phone call, paused it for about 5 minutes and when I unpaused it nothing would play. After looking for the control, alt and delete buttons on the remote for a while I unplugged it (running at home) and plugged it back in. I got "No hard disk found. Contact support" and Linux Penguine (does he have a name?) with crossed out eyes (sick sense of humour guys ). Any ideas what happenned?

Tried again a few minutes later and all is ok again.

Ben

Happenning again

Was playing music and it just stopped. Went to the playlist and it just hung with the wait icon (obviously trying to access the disk). I haven't opened it up or done anything funny with it. Ideas?

Ben

I think these problems almost always stem from a dodgy IDE cable or a dying HD. Drop David an email and he'll probably send you a new cable out.

HeHe, got here before Tony...

Have you read the Know Problems and Troubleshooting FAQ at RioCar.Org?

It contains a section labelled Why does it say 'No hard disk found contact support'?

...and Linux Penguine (does he have a name?)

The penguin's name is Tux.

I don't believe this problem is the HD cable or the HD itself. I have 3 Empegs (1 original MKII and 2 MKIIa) and all have that same problem. I have replaced the cables on all units and replaced the HD's on 2 of the units. I still get that message at total random times which has driven me to give up on the empeg and get a new Alpine. Now I only use one of my Empegs in my office to listen to music. Nothing if more frustrating than dropping $6K on a car audio install and not being able to test it because the empeg won't work.

Rob

I've noticed that the cable lifts easily from the motherboard connector - and this also causes the problem. You have to make sure that the cable remains well seated as you put the drives back in, as the flexing of the cable due to the drive caddy movement can be enough to lift it....

I repaired an empeg with this problem. The solder joint for one of the pins of the had disk header on the main board broke away from the pad, although the pin itself was still solidly attached. The contact then became intermittent. A wee dab of solder fixed it up nice. (note: DO NOT attempt this if your player is under warranty, as it will void your warranty.)

I have replaced the cables on all units and replaced the HD's on 2 of the units. I still get that message at total random times

Did you ever contact support?

Some units had dry solder joints on the IDE header on motherboard and needed to be touched up a bit. That sounds like what your problem would be. I'm pretty sure David was performing that fix free of charge, but it's easy enough to do yourself.

In reply to:

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Did you ever contact support?

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Yes I did contact support and each time received a new HD cable.

In reply to:

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Some units had dry solder joints on the IDE header on motherboard and needed to be touched up a bit.

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To have this happen with 3 different Empegs is not what I would call "some units".

Where exactly can I look to see the problem? I'm good at soldering and could make the repair myself.

Where exactly can I look to see the problem? I'm good at soldering and could make the repair myself.

Well, assuming it's not something silly like the perfectly-good cables pulling loose from the drive connectors (I've had that happen as well)...

Just remove the drive tray and the cabling and look at the IDE connector on the motherboard. On my Mk2, the pins that attach it to the motherboard are really obvious, they're kind of like flat tabs that go out from the connector onto pads on the motherboard. Just look and see if those seem to be properly soldered or not. If they aren't, just touch them up. It's probably a pretty obvious thing when you see it.

My unit actually had the problem to begin with and I can see that it was hand-retouched before it even got shipped to me.

I don't know what it would look like on a Mk2a, dunno if the connectors changed or anything.

To have this happen with 3 different Empegs is not what I would call "some units".

Assuming it's the same problem with all three, then yeah, I'd say you either got really bad luck of the draw, or it's a more widespread problem that we think. Although disk trouble can come in many forms, so you might not really be having the same exact problem on all three units.

If any of your units happen to have this problem, I'd actually be really interested in getting some clear, sharp digital camera photos of what it looks like before the fix is applied, so that I could put it in the FAQ.

It was a little bit difficult to see in the unit I worked on...the only way I could tell is that when I wiggled the IDE cable, the solder joint moved away from the pad on the board ever so slightly....then upon closer examination I could see the hairline space between the two. It was very easy to fix though.

The pins on the headers used on the Mk 2a are flatter and are much more prone to moving around than the ones used on the Mk 2. Typically you'll see that the pin is floating above the solder pad - sometimes it will look like it was seated in the solder, but pulled out.

A little bit of flux and some solder will be enough to fix it. I tend to resolder every pin just to be sure.

You bring up a good point... Flux is important. If the thing has solder on it, but it isn't sticking, then the problem isn't lack of solder, it's the solder not bonding to the metal. So yeah, make sure to flux those joints if you're resoldering it.

Uh...right...I forgot to mention that. I don't know the "right" tool to use, but a flat toothpick worked to put a little flux on the joint.

Can't think of any more "Right" tool to apply flux in that situation.

Thanks guys,

I'll contact support, though I don't have a whole heap of electronics experience, I'll get in there and see what I can do if it makes things easier as I'm Australia, which makes UK tech support tricky

FYI, I've only had the unit 2 or 3 months and it's yet to go into a car (shaddup, I just bought a new one, ok? ) so I wouldn't think wear or vibration is the cause.

This site has a great FAQ, the problem is in fact it's too big! I've read the entire thing but don't remember that this was in there....

Ben

some of you MAY remember the problems ive had with the 'HDD not found' syndrome the past half a year.

i just wrote a huge speil in frustration but forget it, heres the short story:

found out a few weeks ago that one of the "feet" of the IDE connector where it is attached to the motherboard, had lifted up off the pads on the board as described above. pushed it back down and the unit started working again, but of course now any vibration or the like will start the unit staggering playback and eventually locking up, and not booting. im assuming one or more of my IDE 'feet' have come loose in the same manner - so the IDE cable was never the problem.

my problem is that i am in NZ, the shipping cost back to empeg base, and back here, and the time taken, would be considerable. i was thinking about taking it to an electronics place here where someone with skill could resolder ALL the feet for me, locally. should i check this with David before i go ahead? it seems that the others who fixed their units have had no further problems?

Yes, you should check with David. And anyone with decent SMT soldering skills should be able to help you fix it.

Shipping cost and time shouldn't be an issue if it is under warranty. Sonicblue pays for all shipping costs and turn around time is about a week. It's definitely worth it for peace of mind.

If not under warranty, just find someone who is adept at soldering electronics. I fixed one like that and I have extremely limited soldering experience.

oh! all this time i assumed that shipping back and forth was my responsibilty... darn! well, i will email david either way tonite, id still rather someone here do it for me as it sounds like it can be done nearly instantly. i am tempted to take my own soldering iron to it but murphy's law will be looking over my shoulder and will bump my elbow at the perfect time, no doubt!

I hate that dang Murphy!!! First the car breaks... no car for my empeg Now my empeg breaks... Curse that murphy!!!!

It's interesting that the cases of extreme empeg fustration usually result from not having contacted support, where as my experience with most other companies is that the frustration usually starts when you do just that!

Rob

Too true.