Empeg is broken! Hard drive failure

I don't know what I up and did... All I know is that my empeg says "No Hard Disk Found Contact Support" every time I start it...

Now some people would say, "Well, get a new hard disk" or "Maybe it's a bad cable" but the problem is that I have already replaced the cable 9 months ago... I also have tried multiple hard disks that detect just fine in my PC - with no love on the empeg...

I did notice however that it had become disgustingly slow (as stated in previous posts) to the point where it would take multiple minutes to change tracks... This occured in the past few weeks before it died...

Also, when I pulled it out of the dock today, I literally, burned my hand on the underside... I'm sure that's not good for it...

I honestly can't say weather or not it's something on the inside of the unit that is producing the heat or if the 90+ degree temperature out here the last few days and a car with no AC had anything to do with it...

Although, either way, i'm sure it didn't help anything...

It does seem to run cool inside my house, so i'm leaning towards the sun baking it nice and toasty...

I have tried to put a new hard disk in, and when I try to run the builder software for formating new drives, it can't find my empeg on the normal COM port I used to always connect to it on... I've even tried changing those too!

Help!

Now some people would say, "Well, get a new hard disk" or "Maybe it's a bad cable" but the problem is that I have already replaced the cable 9 months ago... I also have tried multiple hard disks that detect just fine in my PC - with no love on the empeg...

It could well be bad solder joints on the IDE header on the mainboard then.

So - What are my options? If that's the case, or if it's not? I'm SO not hoping to hear someone say, "Throw it out" or "Paper weight"

Have you read the extensive FAQ entry ?

http://www.riocar.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=FAQ&file=index&myfaq=yes&id_cat=8&faqent=221#221

Whatever you do...

DO NOT EVER THROW OUT AN EMPEG!!!!

As far as I know, every empeg that has been in for service has come out working. Contact [email protected] for your service options, or try and fix it yourself by reading this BBS and the FAQ.

I'm SO not hoping to hear someone say, "Throw it out" or "Paper weight"

Rest assured that that will not likely be said here. There almost always seems to be recourse no matter how dire the problem, and yours doesn't seem to be too bad (like having run over it with your car or something). I don’t really have any help to offer; only the encouragement that I have seen very few empegs left for dead.

Darn PocketPC Software wanted to use the Serial Port... Got that taken care of... Now i'm running the builder software...

*Feels Warm Fuzzy Feeling Inside*

Honestly though - I am SOOOO glad I bought this...

I can't think of one other product that has so many people behind it offering their help to keep it going... And it's DISCONTINUED!

I only wish I was as savey as some of you guys!

But I'll keep chuggin on getting this thing working...

Stay tuned!

Also, when I pulled it out of the dock today, I literally, burned my hand on the underside... I'm sure that's not good for it...

And also, likely, the whole reason the hard disk is failing.

When you say "pulled it out of the dock", you're referring to a dock installed in the car dashboard, correct?

Are there two stereos installed in your dash? Or perhaps no room for air around the player in the dash? Those things can cause heat buildup and kill a hard disk rather effectively if you're not careful about keeping it cool.

Okay... so I overeacted a bit

I got the new drive built out... Got hijack installed... But I stsill have a problem I can't figure out... I can't connect using emplode via ethernet... When I connect to my player via serial cable in emplode, and try to see what the problem might be in the config.ini file... There, quite simply, isn't one... It's just blank... What did I do wrong?

Yes, car dock... There is another head unit right below it... I do have a cooling fan installed... But it can only put out so many "mini-CFM"

You ran the builder, you installed the 2.0 car player software and then hijack? Just checking - it sounded like you missed the 2.0 developer version in there...

Also, after running the builder, that would completely wipe your music and configuration (if you rebuild the disk). If so, it also wiped any ethernet configuration you may have had.

Thanks for the help everyone...

It appears to be working now... I got the old hard disk going out for RMA (That appears to have been the problem all along) and tunes are uploading to the temp hard disk as I type via ethernet!

Again, the empeg community has calmed my fears and brought my empeg and I into a closer relationship... Erum... Minus any sort of "sensual" feelings, of course

Hey, what you do with your stereo equipment in the privacy of your own home (or car) is your business, sensual feelings or not.


-Zeke

There is another head unit right below it... I do have a cooling fan installed... But it can only put out so many "mini-CFM"

Interesting. Well, it looks like you're doing everything you can. But yeah, a hot head unit (lots of CD players run really hot) right below the empeg can cause problems sometimes. It's good you've got a cooling fan, it's the best you can do in that situation.

Is it possible to swap the positions of the two units in your installation? The player may run a bit cooler on the bottom, depending on where your head unit is generating its heat.

Is it possible to swap the positions of the two units in your installation? The player may run a bit cooler on the bottom, depending on where your head unit is generating its heat.

Yeah, unless they're mounted so close together that the cooling fan doesn't have anywhere to exhaust the air. But if there's a bit of a gap between the two, then yeah, headunit on top is the way to go. That way the heat from the head unit doesn't rise into the player and cook it.

Rob sorry to disappoint you but one of mine died. It fell off the bed in an unfortunate accident. The IDE header was pulled away from the mainboard in that David could not repair it. I ended up needing a new mainboard. I have the same display board, HD cradle etc, just the mainboard and main housing was replaced. Yes the empeg lives, but it is a new one, different S/N. But praises to Car Support! I still have an empeg! An empeg is never a paperweight (Unless of course its a trophy for the worst install). They can be repaired!

Moral: Never pull a blanket off your bed until you locate your empeg first.

Moral: Never pull a blanket off your bed until you locate your empeg first.

A valid moral lesson for us all. But it makes you wonder how the empeg got on/in the bed in the first place... To quote Zeke:

Hey, what you do with your stereo equipment in the privacy of your own home (or car) is your business, sensual feelings or not. -Zeke

That's the first time I've laughed this morning... Bravo.