Okay, well I got the "No HD found" message, no big deal, Support sent me anew HD cable...the problem is when I install the new cable (yes, it's oriented correctly and properly lined up on the pins), the HD itself makes a CLICK, once every second, and the red light inside blinks once a second, and so does do the blue lights on the front and back. NOTHING appears on my screen...

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Valsalva

I had exactly that syptom when my AC adapter that powers it indoors went kaflooey. The screen would blank a few times and come back with the battery icon. Then it would go into exactly the mode you describe. Unplugging the player and letting it sit for a while, then plugging it back it with a good AC adapter solved the problem.

If the drive is unplugged, does the screen come up?

If the unit is clicking repeatedly and all the lights are flashing, this means the PSU is shorted out somewhere - every time it comes up, it goes overcurrent and shuts down again.

This is *usually* due to an incorrectly connected drive, but it might just be that your drive is dead?

Hugo

Yeah, sounds to me like, despite your best efforts, you've plugged the cable in either backwards or off-by-one-pin. Someone else described very similar behavior, and it was a badly-plugged cable (backwards if I recall).

any luck getting that fixed?

If it's an off-by-one, etc, then there's no permanent damage. Just reconnect correctly and all should be fine.

Hugo

...sounds to me like ... you've plugged the cable in either backwards or off-by-one-pin.

I can attest from personal experience that it is amazingly easy to plug the cable into the drive offset by one pin, at least on the IBM Travelstar drives. The cable actually looks more "correct" when it is plugged in offset by one pin than it does when it is plugged in properly.

tanstaafl.

As well as the connection at the motherboard, which, when plugged in correctly, looks wrong because it interferes with the display board cable.

Problem solved!! Thanks to all who replied. As it turns out, when I plugged the RioCar into the car sled, the unit worked perfectly!! However, when I plugged the RioCar back into the AC adapter, the "clicking/blinking failure" was reproduced -- thus, there is probably some problem with either my AC adapter or the circuit that utilizes power from the AC adapter. Special thanks to Deadfire who mentioned that he had a similar problem when his AC adapter failed -- otherwise, I probably wouldn't have thought to try the unit out in the car sled, and would have been very very unhappy.

So I'm thinking that the AC adapter is probably broken -- do you guys think that SonicBlue would send me another one? The adapter produces 12.1V without load, but I don't have time to see if it can produce adequate current under the load of the RioCar or if the voltage drops appreciably.

Valsalva

If it's still under warranty, they will provide you with a new one. If not, then you can purchase a replacement from SONIC|blue. Look for it under the Steals & Deals section of the SONIC|blue store online.

Someone else had also discovered who made these AC adapters and what model # they are, so that if need be you could purchase them from the manufacturer once SONIC|blue runs out. That information is posted in another thread which I can't seem to find at the moment.

I've also found that I've got a couple of other adapters from other bits of kit that work fine - all that's required is that they are (if memory serves) 2.1ml, 12v, centre-positive, and capable of supplying 1A or more.

For example, the PSUs for both my scanner and steering wheel both work fine with my Empeg. Before you buy another dedicated Empeg one it's probably worth seeing if you've got anything else that will do as a temporary measure.

Bryan.

If it's under warranty, email me and i'll replace it.
If not under warranty, email me anyway as I have them for sale at 15UKP each.

Yes, well, I don't have anything lying around that can do the job. Believe me, I looked when I had this problem. So I'll be happy to pick up one or two extra originals so I don't have to worry.

Hi.

For those with european plugs on their AC power, I had really good results with these. Sorry for the german description, but basically, this is a very compact stabilized power supply accepting 100-230V AC input and providing 12V DC at max. 1A (or 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9 V).

cu,
sven