I get the error:
"failed to unmask IDE"
when I try to boot the player in my car.

Hey, I'm up to 3 problems with this stupid thing in my car

Are you sure you have adequate power to the unit. Make sure your constant power and ignition power are correct. I'm pretty sure you can get that message if your power supply is not enough.

I'm not going to like the answer to this but...

It finally booted up after a bit and when I switched on my headlights, it went blank and then picked back up in a couple seconds... I think this thing may be using up all my car's power... someone please tell me I'm wrong

Or is it time for a better alternator?

First thing I would do is double check your wiring.

Yeah, I think you've got a serious wiring problem somewhere.

Please check these places for information on how to properly wire things.

The "unmask" error is mentioned here.

I rewired the stereo and brought all the wires to my fuse box where it has a 12v always on and a 12v ignition.
Both my memory and ignition lead were coming from the same place in a mass of wires behind the dash, so I cut them out and put them over in their proper places in the fuse box and that's when this started. I have a feeling that the previous owner had the same problem which is why he spliced both power leads into the 'always on' power.

the car is from 1971, so I have a feeling the alternator was not designed for this kind of a stereo.

However, I never had the problem of my lights dimming with bass hits or any other problems that I read about from the links on the FAQ so I'm not sure.

By checking the wiring are you suggesting the wiring to the empeg, amp... or everything in the car?

When you say that you wired everything to the fuse box, does that include your amplifiers?

Amplifiers should not be wired to the fuse box, they should be wired directly to the battery with an inline weatherproof fuse. This might be your whole problem.

Tell you what. Try this and see what you come up with.

No, the empeg is wired to the fuse box

the amp has it's power from the battery
I may not know too much, but I know that ;P

The player uses practically no power at all compared to your amplifier. If your voltage is getting pulled low the player will suffer, but the player itself couldn't possibly cause that much drain without blowing its fuse.

When the unit comes back up from one of these brown outs, does it show the battery icon in the top left corner? If so, that confirms that your voltage has dropped under about 8.5V and you need to consider checking your battery, alternator and wiring. Even old cars should be able to keep it up higher than that (I guess there's always viagra).

Rob

Yeah, the battery icon comes on...
I could stop by and get a free battery and alternator test at autozone tomorrow if that might help diagnose my problem.

I read somewhere that noise can be caused by the battery being low in water... I tried to check my battery but I didn't see any way of getting inside without the warning of getting my eyes sprayed with acid and the battery did say it was maintenence free... now I'm getting the idea that this noise and power loss could just be my battery. The noise started for apparently no reason with my old Alpine CD player probably about a couple weeks after putting a new amp and new subs in my car.

added:
I was just told by someone that power loss like this can cause damage to the empeg... any truth to this?

Sounds like new battery time... also, make sure you check your alternator belt tension, and the alternator output.

I vastly doubt low voltage can damage your empeg, it will just cause it to fail to work properly.