I just pulled my Rio car 60 GB player out of the box today and I cannot get a display to come up after plugging it in and loading MP3's I am very frustrated and unhappy, can someone please help me out here. I don't know what to do and the instruction booklet is pretty vague.

Being a bit clearer in your description would make it easier to assist...

You say you loaded mp3s - how? Via serial, ethernet, USB?
Did you upgrade the player, or are you using what was on it when shipped?
Did the display show the Syncing + arrows when uploading mp3s?
When you boot the player - anything at all at the display?
Does the stand-by LED blink? Will it go out if you press the top button?

Can you start Hyperterminal and connect the serial cable and see the boot messages? (grab them and post here).


/Michael

I have pressed and held all of the buttons down the only thing i get is the flashing blue LED that denotes standby, also when i press a button i can hear the hard drive spinning up but no display!

I am running Windows XP on a Toshiba Satellite 3005-S304 with Empeg 1.03.

I am supposed to be getting it installed Monday in my car, and I want to get it fixed before then, in case I need to send it back for another one.


*You say you loaded mp3s - how? Via serial, ethernet, USB?

I used the USB port to see if that would make a difference, it looks like it worked but i can't see the display.

*Did you upgrade the player, or are you using what was on it when shipped?

I am using it out of the box, the serieal cable I got with the unit doesn't work on my laptop, i might have to get one from the store later but i don't want to spend any extra money without some advice.

*Did the display show the Syncing + arrows when uploading mp3s?

No, the display has not shown anything, it isn't even slightly illuminated. Just a flashing LED that turns off when i touch any buttons.

*When you boot the player - anything at all at the display?

See above nothing no matter what i do comes up on the display but the flashing LED.

*Does the stand-by LED blink? Will it go out if you press the top button?

Yes that is the only thing that lights up and when i press anything be it the remote or the buttons on the player the LED turns off and goes off of standby I guess but nothing comes up when the LED turns off.

OK, so the player responds to buttons presses - good. The disk makes noises when you press buttons - good. Does sound like a broken display (driver circuitry, cable connection or actual glass display). And in that case your best bet is contacting carsupport@empeg.com.

Do you have anything to hook up the home RCA outputs to? If so hook it up and then press the down button 3 times. If you succeeded in uploading music (emplode did find the player and syncing gave no error messages?) then you should start playing. You might have to turn up the volume as I think it comes set to lowest possible...

/Michael

I sent them an e-mail, how long am i looking at on getting a reply? Since it is the weekend?

i live in dallas texas

Well... Officially they do have the weekends off, but it's not unknown to get replys at the weirdest times... And many of the empeg guys frequent the BBS. But I wouldn't count on anything before monday. In this case the time difference might help you as you might well have an answer when you wake up. Unless they're totally drowned in mail they're quick to reply.

/Michael

thanks for your advice man, i appriciate it!

They may have gone home for today by the time you sent the email, but turnaround time for repairs is usually 4 or 5 days or so. (They may be real busy right now though) David will get in touch, and sb will pay shipping for warranty repairs.

Sean

I just want to make a note here:
When I pulled one of my latest empegs apart to swap connectors on the hard drive cable I noticed the ribbon cable going from the mainboard to the display was sort of hooked on the corner of the single hard drive. If the unit had taken any beating I figure something would have been damaged. I didn't have my camera with me at the time so I couldn't get any pics.

Is it possible that this is a cause of display problems??

Well I sent it out yesterday for the warranty work to be done. David @ Rio said that it is probably a controller or power supply that has failed on the display board. They will take a look at it and send it back turnaround i about a week.

I'm still a little bothered that something that costs so much could come out of the box not working.
Oh well I hope it's worth the wait.

My original Mk2 came to me with a broken display. The nipple on the VFD broke off, presumably during shipment. It didn't bother me (considering I paid $1299 at the time for 12GB) because sometimes sh!t happens. My Empeg was returned to me within one week of sending it overseas. It's been working ever since (about 1 and a half years).

"I'm still a little bothered that something that costs so much could come out of the box not working."

hehe

Oh, haven't much dealt with MS products have you?