I just picked up the empeg today - ordred Sunday night from Rio in the US.

My system:

ASUS A7V-based Athlon 850 with 512MB of RAM.
Windows 2000 w/sp1
Other USB devices: Intellimouse Explorer, MS Internet keyboard Pro (with hub: MS Gamepad Pro & MS Dual Strike gamepad connected) and lastly, a Sandisk smartmedia card reader.
Ethernet: 3Com 3c905 10/100 NIC. DLINK 5-port 10/100 switch (all other devices connected to it are currently offline)
HD/CD: Adaptec 19160 SCSI160 controller with connected LVD Seagate drive, Plextor 40x CDROM & external 100MB ZIP.
Then a Soundblaster Live and an ATI Radeon 64MB vid card.

Just to kick around for a bit I first installed the software it came with: 1.02

Connected with patch cable to my 10/100 DLINK switch and nothing detected. Next tried USB. Nothing. Windows showed a driverless device in my removable USB tray area.

Uninstalled and fired up 2.0beta3. Same thing. Stopped an unplugged my Sandisk SD reader and the reconnected the empeg. This time Windows found it - I can see it listed in my hardware profile. Emplode still doesn't find any hardware. Not USB and not Ethernet. Not with both options selected and repeated scans, nor with only one selected and repeated scans.

Currently trying to access empeg.com is producing a DNS error, so I haven'tbeen able to download 1.03

Oh, when the unit is powered, the only thing on its display is the large Rio logo. None of the buttons do anything at all. I have no idea if this is normal/expected behaviour when used for the first time and no music has been synced.

Any help appreciated. I'm about to reboot and try again one last time before getting some sleep. I might as well try the serial connection while I'm at it.

Bruno

Oh, when the unit is powered, the only thing on its display is the large Rio logo. None of the buttons do anything at all. I have no idea if this is normal/expected behaviour when used for the first time and no music has been synced.

This is not normal behavior, and it is the reason for all your problems.

The unit most likely has a loose disk drive cable. You may contact support for under-warranty-sanctioned help in diagnosing the problem.

If you don't care about the warranty thing, you're welcome to open the player and look for a loose cable yourself. Look in the FAQ regarding disk drive upgrades for complete disassembly instructions.

Could be the cable.

Serial didn't work through emplode either.

BUT, doing an upgrade, did find the unit using COM1. All seemed to be going well (I was trying with 2.0b3 since I can't download 1.03 right now) and the new logo appeared. However, when it got to the "Selecting Pump" portion, no progress ever appeared. It just sat there. I cancelled and eventually a No hard disk found message came up. This message doesn't come up with the 1.02 software that was on the unit before (I also put 1.02 back and no message.)

I won't be so concerned with the warranty when I add another drive, as soon as I know everything is working 100% from the beginning. Right now I am concerned. If there's no magic seal then I'll take a look inside. And if it's not the drive I'll have to seek warranty help.

I knew sliding under the radar for customs charges was somehow going to end up having repercussions somewhere else... :)

Serial didn't work through emplode either.

Right. It wouldn't. The thing has no disk drives as far as it knows. Watch it boot with hyperterminal, you'll see it searching for disks and never finding them.

BUT, doing an upgrade, did find the unit using COM1. All seemed to be going well (I was trying with 2.0b3 since I can't download 1.03 right now) and the new logo appeared. However, when it got to the "Selecting Pump" portion, no progress ever appeared.

Right, that is expected behavior in your situation. It is able to flash the kernel into RAM, but when it goes to pump the new HARD DISK PARTITION it can't because THERE IS NO DISK.

If there's no magic seal then I'll take a look inside.

Yes, if the seals are on the drive cradle instead of the lid, then you're safe to peek inside. Definitely read through the FAQ on replacing disk drives, though. You have to know how to dismantle the thing without hurting it.

Edit: What am I saying? I'm acting as if the warranty seals have any meaning whatsoever when I'm advising the guy to open his player on a public forum that's read by the very people who do the warranty servicing.

Just peek inside the player and be really careful. It's probably just a loose cable. If not, then call support right away.

Edit: What am I saying? I'm acting as if the warranty seals have any meaning whatsoever when I'm advising the guy to open his player on a public forum that's read by the very people who do the warranty servicing.

Gosh look at those birds flying over there. Wow. Very interesting, I think I'll be watching them for the next two or three minutes.

..did I miss anything?

Rob

Edit: What am I saying? I'm acting as if the warranty seals have any meaning whatsoever when I'm advising the guy to open his player on a public forum that's read by the very people who do the warranty servicing.

Just peek inside the player and be really careful. It's probably just a loose cable. If not, then call support right away.

if it is a loose cable, he won't be able to re-attach it without breaking the seals.

First thing I would do is like Tony said, fire up hyperterm and see if the player finds any disks when booting. My money is also on a loose drive cable though.

David Moss at empeg replied to me and also said it was definitely the HD. Either DOA or loose connection. He obviously told me to contact the eStore in the US for a replacement.

If it's a loose connection and can be easily reseated, I'd really like to do it here. I'm fairly comfortable with this type of thing and I've also got plenty of people to choose from for help if I don't want to touch it (hardware engineers and techs (both asic and board) all around me here at work).

I've read the FAQ, so I'll take a quick peek and call the store if everything looks OK.

Well I opened the unit up very easily - with of course a 2.5mm allen key for the front and a universal tool to help with the top. The universal tool was much more suited to this job than a screwdriver. In case anyone wants to know what the universale tool is: they're the metal back plates used to cover the slots on the back of your computer when you don't have a card in.

Anyway, there was no warranty seal on the top. There are two warranty seals on either side of the drive mounting plate though.

And Archeon is correct. The drive cable is under the drive tray and can't be seen without moving the tray. Moving the tray would break the seals.

I have written back to support asking them if I can have special consideration in this instance to take a look and then return the unit if there is nothing wrong with the cable. If it's only the cable, I would really not like to go through a week of downtime making arrangements to send this unit back and then waiting for a replacement - meanwhile my car is being driven around with half my dashboard missing. :)

Thanks for all your help guys.

I feel like somewhat of a broken record following up to myself. :)

As I mentioned, I opened the unit. As I didn't want to remove the warranty stickers (man those things are THIN and flaky) I just did a visual inspection and pressed a bit on the cable to make sure it was mating against the drive. I moved the drive tray a bit to feel the suspension.

Plugged the unit in and.... IT WORKED.

Unplugged it, depressed the drive tray a bit and then powered up again. Stopped working. While it was in this state, I pulled up a bit on the drive tray and could hear the disc spin up. I think the cable is not mating 100% at the motherboard or it may be somewhat faulty.

After getting it to work again, I closed the unit and all has been fine for a few hours. I upgraded the software to 1.03 from 1.02a and loaded up 50 random songs I had lying around here (none of the ones I've ripped myself, so most were missing tags, etc..) Anyway, I took the time and connected the unit up to a TV because I don't have a preamp around right now. :) Sounded great. The navigation was somewhat limited because I didn't have any structure yet (I just dumped everything into a single test playlist).

I'll stick with 1.03 until the next beta of 2.0 I suppose. I'll be going through the logs again to see what usability updates have been made. The unit is great, but I still have some wishes for things that are missing in 1.03's track selection/display and visualization interface.

OK, time to buy another drive. Maybe time for another thread. Ah what the hell: Can anyone suggest some good online locations to purchase 2.5" drives? With decent price, fair shipping (that hopefully will serve Canada) and good customer satisfaction (no hassle doa/warranty returns, etc..) Right now it looks like 30GB is the sweet spot - of course if anyone has seen exceptions to this, let me know. :)

The unit is great, but I still have some wishes for things that are missing in 1.03's track selection/display and visualization interface.

Like what? Often, new users will wish for a feature only to discover that their needs are met by an existing feature that they didn't know existed. Give us some examples, we'll see what we can do to suggest ways of doing certain things.

Can anyone suggest some good online locations to purchase 2.5" drives?

Pricewatch.com, just like in the FAQ.

I just got a 30 Gig for $163 shipped from www.newegg.com. They were quick. I don't know about their shipping to Canada though. Check pricewatch.com like Tony said...

Tony, here goes a small list of observations with 1.03. I had previously skimmed the 2b3 release notes, but can't remember for a fact if any info features were enhanced.

Oh, keep in mind that I haven't been able to test this with songs that I have personally ripped (which contain tags for the full set of basic details for every song).

Only the LINE mode seems to scroll the artist/title. Personally, I wouldn't mind some of the other modes allowing scrolling for the current song either.

Is there any way to show remaining track time? At the same time as track elapsed time?

I'd love for a quick-escape button press to allow me to momentarily jump to "Now & Next" mode to select a track and then have it automatically jump back to the selected info/visualization mode/state when I chose a track, aborted the selection or just let the selection time out. I really like being able to see a list of tracks while making a selection, but I don't necessarily want that view displayed while listening to a track.

Similarly... Instead of escaping out or pressing a special key, I'd love the ability to configure the software so that I can see a list as mentioned above, momentarily when simply doing a next or prev track selection even if the display is set to a full visualization mode. This way you'd momentarily be able to see the names of the tracks as you're choosing, and it would just time out right back to your visualization or prefered info mode afterwards.

Are there templates for the info display options? This would be one way to allow a lot of personal freedom by placing variables for the different tracked stats wherever one wanted (within the limitations of whatever template design/api).

Anyway, just simple initial thoughts. Nothing major. I'm already quite happy with the versatility it does offer.

And on the (still) bright side, the unit is still working perfectly after getting home. :) Now I have to try running emplode 1.03 with ethernet (tried USB earlier at work).

But.. I've really got to check out tonight's episode of CSI, so I'll be back a little later. :)

Only the LINE mode seems to scroll the artist/title. Personally, I wouldn't mind some of the other modes allowing scrolling for the current song either.

That's already been added in 2.0.

Is there any way to show remaining track time? At the same time as track elapsed time?

That's already been added in 2.0.

I really like being able to see a list of tracks while making a selection, but I don't necessarily want that view displayed while listening to a track.

Not sure what you're referring to here. When you're selecting a specific track (whether by search or by menu), the screen is covered up with menus or with the search interface. What good is having the info screen up only for the time that you're making the selection?

In any case, 2.0 partially implements (and reportedly will soon more completely implement) the idea of a "toggle" button which toggles between an info-text mode and a visual mode. It's an expansion of the current "hold down the bottom button to toggle" functionality. I'm looking forward to seeing Beta6 so I can see what they've done with it.

This way you'd momentarily be able to see the names of the tracks as you're choosing, and it would just time out right back to your visualization or prefered info mode afterwards.

That's already been added in 2.0. "Info:Transient". When a new song starts, or when you press the next/previous track buttons, an information line appears at the bottom of the screen in "Top of the Pops" style. (that's a British music show if you didn't know that.)


Are there templates for the info display options?

User-configurable info displays are not in the current software. However, MLord's "hijack" kernel hack allows you to redefine the knob press so that it can cycle quickly among the info modes, allowing you to see the information you want pretty easily.

And on the (still) bright side, the unit is still working perfectly after getting home.

Yeah, but your symptoms make it sound like it's got a dodgy cable. I wouldn't trust it very far. Hopefully support has contacted you about getting a new one out to you?

Glad to see 2.0 implements a lot of those ideas.

What I meant about showing a list of songs doesn't apply to when using the menu interface. It's for when you're pressing the next or previous buttons on the unit to move forward or backward one track. When this is being done, I'd love to be able to see ahead a few songs so I know what's coming up as I'm clicking the button. Sorry if I wasn't as clear originally.

I haven't asked support specifically for a new cable yet. I have however asked both empeg support in the UK as well as Jim Hafner-Eaton in the US about getting permission to look at the cable and plug it in properly if it's not seated completely, without voiding my warranty. The last info I got was that Jim was going to discuss this with the guys in the UK and get back to me asap. As soon as I hear from him we'll see what the next step is. I'd really hate to return the whole unit just to replace a cable. I'm perfectly capable of doing that job on even this fine a piece of equipment without damaging anything. And if I did physically damage something, I wouldn't expect warranty coverage on my negligence.

But of course companies have to help protect themselves from people who will do damage and then try to claim warranty coverage for it, so they go the route of protective security tape - it's easier than having to take a microscope to the guts of your product to try and identify whether or not the user mucked something up or whether it broke by itself.

I don't suppose there are any "local" places empeg have previously authorized for such work? I'd be looking for somewhere in the Toronto area (Canada :)

And Tony, thanks for the heads up on the blue lenses. I'll make sure to ask about them in my next email.

http://www.ncix.com/Canada/productdetail.cfm?sku=437596
ncix is Canadian (or at least have a Canadian component) and I have heard nothing but praise about them. This price for the 48 gig IBM drive leaves something to be desired though!

Okay, I see what you're saying.

Info:Transient in 2.0 is not quite what you were asking for, but it's a step in that direction. See if it does what you want it to do.

Also, you can try MLord's kernel hack to alter the knob-press to cycle info modes easily.