Troubleshooting flowchart for Players/Studios/Recorders

gofurygo · Last edited by gofurygo on Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:53 pm; edited 12 times in total

Hi all,

This is the attempt to make it easier finding out what's wrong with your jukebox. This thing is NO masterplan. The diagram is for testing only at the moment.

Help/input/suggestions of improvement are highly appreciated. Wink

At the moment the diagram includes the most recent (and always returning) problems occuring with Archos Players 6GB, Studios 10, 20 and Recorders 10/20.
The Links (1 - 12 ) can be found below. Just post what you think of it below. Also, please let me know if I made a general mistake in the diagram.

Links mentioned in the diagram:

Link 1: Repair a fried charging circuit
http://www.jasonk.fsnet.co.uk/Archos/archosrepair.htm

Link 2: Repair a broken battery connector:
http://www.rockbox.org/docs/repairbattery.html

Link 3: Topic dealing with solders you should check:
http://www.newmp3technology.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=438&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Link 4: Follow these instructions to bare your LCD:
http://www.mctubster.com/led.html

Link 5: Get a new LCD for your jukebox here:
http://www.newmp3technology.net/products.php?cat=12

Link 6: Use this program to format your drive within seconds:
http://www.compuapps.com/download/swissknife/Swissknife.htm

Link 7: This one shows you how to take your drive out of your jukebox:
http://www.funmp3players.com/reviews/modify/

Link 8: Evil Dogs "what drive to pic post":
http://www.newmp3technology.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1928#1928

Link 9: Get an external charger here:
http://www.newmp3technology.net/products.php?cat=14

Link 10: Useing fdisk for partitioning and formating:
http://newmp3technology.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3744#3744

Link 11: Using windows built in device manager for partitioning and formating:
http://newmp3technology.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3745#3745

Link 12: Getting an USB-enclosure of ebay:
http://search.ebay.com/usb-enclosure-2-5_W0QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQsatitleZusbQ20enclosureQ202Q2c5Q22

The whole diagram - including links - is also available on my homepage and as downloadable .pdf-file. Klick here

gofurygo
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Flid · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject:

Excellent work Fury!!!

The only suggestion I would have is to shrink it slightly (width-wise) for people who don't have huge monitors. Panning left and right is a bit annoying. Also... the leader lines on the right hand side (leading back up to the "Enjoy Your Jukebox" comment) could do with some additional arrows indicating the direction of travel. Sorry for being picky... it's what I do Rolling Eyes

I'm sure there's a few other situations that could be added, but I'll have to have a think before commenting further (ie. "Is the Red LED lit up?", "Is the Green LED lit up?", "Can you hear the HD clicking?", "Try pressing inwards on the bumpers.", "Does it work on other PCs?", "Does the screen backlight light up?" etc)

rockboxroxx · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:29 am Post subject:

I love it. Can't wait for a nicer/permanent URL to redirect people to this when they have problems.

BTW, the PDF could have the mentioned links included too, so users can print out the PDF and bring it with them and still find all clues.

Very nice work!
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Daniel Stenberg
Core Rockbox Developer

rockboxroxx · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:35 am Post subject:

Oh, and some feedback on the contents:

When the batteries are totally flat, it doesn't help to attach the charger to make it boot. The batteries always drive the player so you then need to charge the batteries a while before you can boot the player again. Also, recommending trying a new set of batteries when it can't boot is often helpful as batteries run old and sometimes stop being able to provide enough power to start the hard drive (when then causes ATA or panic errors with Rockbox).
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Daniel Stenberg
Core Rockbox Developer

rockboxroxx · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:37 am Post subject:

Uhm, sorry. You did include those details in the box above... Ah, I'll shutup instead.
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Daniel Stenberg
Core Rockbox Developer

gofurygo · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:41 pm Post subject:

Hi Daniel,

Unfortunately the standard edition of Openoffice (which I used for creating the flow-charts and the .pdf-file(standard-feature) didn't manage to create links within pdfs - only plane text.

Today I learned I had to install a macro called extendedPDF (and 2 additional components) and now it DOES create PDFs with links. So I updated the pdf download of this flowchart - now it includes all links of this topic on page 2. Cool

Fury

PS: Anyone else has any suggestion to make?
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gofurygo · Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 12:29 am Post subject:

Today I updated the flow-chart. Now it includes an additional panel called: "How do I prepare a drive for upgrading".

Again, suggestions on how to improve the diagram are welcome!!

Fury

...the flow chart becomes bigger and bigger... if I will be adding another panel I'm afraid I may have to split it up... Razz

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Linus · Moderator Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 126

For the record, it is perfectly possible to partition and format the drive with the Archos USB connection. No need to purchase an enclosure or 3.5" adapter.

I don't know about Windows, but it is definitely possible with Linux.
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Linus Nielsen Feltzing
Core Rockbox developer since day 0

gofurygo · Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 5:05 pm Post subject:

LOL

...Thanx Linus
...yeah... indeed I didn't think about that one.. Embarassed

quite obvious actually..

I'll see how I can include it in the flow chart. Although, I think this is more likely recommendable for USB 2.0 devices (as long as you have a drive with lots of GBs) and formating through USB 1.1 just takes forever.
I'm almost certain, that the jukebox is being recognized by windows even without partition and not formated, but can anybody please confirm that this really works? I neither have a drive left for testing nor did I try when upgrading my jukebox (usb 1.1 Confused

) - I used the ide to 2.5" adapter method.

Fury
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Linus · Moderator Joined: 08 Mar 2004 Posts: 126

By the way, I don't think it's easy to find the "ATA: -1" problem in the graph. I guess it's a matter of defining "scrambled display". In my definition, it means "random characters", or "Plain garbage", not an error message.
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Linus Nielsen Feltzing
Core Rockbox developer since day 0

gofurygo · Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:09 pm Post subject:

Thanx for the input Linus, I changed it ... better now?

Unfortunately nobody seems to be capeable of confirming the fact that it's possible to partition and format the new drive within the archos (connected to the 'puter through usb). Confused

Until this ain't happening I can't complete the chart... so don't blame it on me.. Razz

Fury
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Flid · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject:

Yep. You can insert a new drive in to a jukebox, hook up to PC via USB and partition / format. Better now? Wink

gofurygo · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:17 pm Post subject:

yeah, better now!! Thanx Flid Wink

I added another "column" to the yellow panel... one step closer to finish this thing... Very Happy

The only thing I can think of, which may be added some time, is the "I can't connect my archos to the computer" problem...

Fury
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melanie262 · Newbie Joined: 07 May 2006 Posts: 1

i have a broken screen on my Gmini XS100. any ideas of replacements without sending it away? if its a matter of taking it apart and fitting it without specialist tools then thats ok.

gofurygo · Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject:

Hi Melanie,

I'm afraid no one sells these things yet. At least I didn't found any source for it. The only chance I see is getting a broken one of ebay or so and salvage the player to get a hand on the screen.

Fury
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