It's probably the cable issue. Three of the 6 Empegs I ordered (before you ask : two for me, 4 for friends who don't own a visa card) also show this exact problem. Seems the problem is more common than I thought. The serials of those "problem" players are all in the 03010XXXX region.
I contacted David and he will send me three new HD cables once they have them in stock again. I suggest you so the same. Don't worry all will work out fine. Empeg has the best support known to man. (I'm strictly talking about EMPEG here)