rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

Hi forum, i've got a rockchip player here. Me idiot tried to make a firmware upgrade.. But it seems to be the wrong firmware. The problem is, that I couldn't upgrade now the latest and right firmware to this player.

ConsumerUpdate always tells me "there are too many bad blocks"

what should I do now?? please help :((

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

Some have had success with the Rockchip "Nand Tool" which you can download from this site.

You will need to get your player into RockUsb mode first, then you need to test the memory then select erase to clear the bad blocks.

No guarantees it will work but its worth a try.

Nand Tool is telling me: "Set flash type error" when i'm reading out chip info..

So now I can throw this player through the window?

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

I did had the same problem... and also fails NAND tool.
Here is how it was solved:
When I feel that my Rockship device was lost, I started to apply different firmwares, choosing those of small size, suddenly a Zarva firmware do the trick and cleans all the bad blocks.
I have upload that firmware and the corresponding Consumer Update, which is a special version of Zarva. File is "ZARVA MF740 Guijan"
I've applied this firmware more than 10 times when having such problem "too many bad blocks".
It must be used the CU tools and the firmware that goes in the package. After that the device get automatically in "rockusb" mode.
I don't have a explanation for this... but have work all the time for me.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

NAND flash has a limited number of write cycles, and usually comes from the factory with several bad blocks.

Consider replacing the flash if the problem persists.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

where could I find this zarva firmware?
I can't find it anywhere

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

Lolita... Are you sure of this?. If it is so which part is limited to write?

AFAIK NAND flash is the harddisk of the device... supposedly it will be written as many times you want to transfer files to it.

Kindly give more details.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

About this message "too many bad blocks" given from Consumer Update programs.
Reading the spicy "Meizu M6 vs Rockchip Player" I have made a theory about rockchip devices that I want to share with this community. :)

First, is that firmware is stored in a separate chip in a rockchip device (ELPIDA chip in the pic of iixorbiusii device). In my device: Winbond chip... used in PC to keep BIOS.... then IS NOT using NAND flash and is in a VERY SAFE part.
Maybe due to this Rockchip device are so consistent, is possible to load any rockchip firmware and the device will function as it should, of course some times showing a Blank Screen, some times with wrong buttons configuration, in such cases Rockchip device is fully functional but "blinded" on "handicapped"... but not "dead".

I have prove this by writing music in my beloved Blank Screen device and I have been able to listen to it without problems but "blinded". Of course, when buttons configuration is messed up it works bad, then is when it's needed to use the hardware method to connect the device in safe mode (rockusb)

I think that is in this chip where appears the bad blocks, Consumer Update maybe check its integrity and when is not in the internal format expected send the "Too many bad blocks" message.
My Zarva Consumer Update do the trick in this chip.
BTW Consumer Update is a program provided by Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co., Ltd, makers of the wonderful chip.

Second, the firmware uses NAND flash as a harddisk (Samsung chip in the pic), which will be formatted according to windows schemes, and it will act as a common harddisk... writing and reading all the time!

:? I have short circuited NAND FLASH when I want to put the device in "rockusb" mode... next time I will try doing it in the firmware chip instead... or maybe not :?:

lAmeR^ - everything you said is EXACTLY what I went through with my 2" screen rockchip player. I tried EVERYTHING, including the Zarva Firmware and Consumer update DaremoS sent me through e-mail, but it read "firmware file error" and wouldn't upgrade. I'm practically at my wits' end. My player has been dead since April.

IAmer^ did fix his device with Zarva firmware :D ...
Let's say that is the first beside me... who succeeded with this trick :)
Anne try once again with the version I've uploaded here in firmwares ;)

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

I just tried the Zarva firmware and a very interesting thing happened.
It caused the bad block error on my player!!.:shock:

The good news is I got it back again by alternately trying to flash between my firmware and ConsumerUpdate and the Zarva firmware a few times!!!:roll:

I found that I had to load the zarva firmware into my Consumerupdate to get it to flash otherwise I got write error.

These Rockchip players are very robust I thought I had killed mine for good but it's back again now!!! :D

It proves as Daremo says that the bad block problem is not permanent :D

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

Your flash chip is failing, please replace.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

You may well be right lolita, but my flash chip is working ok now.

If if does fail it is not practical or economic for me to replace the flash chip, I will just get a new Rockchip player, all my media is safely backed up so it is not a worry.

lolita, you seem to have a knowledge of Chinese technology, are you able or kind enough to find chinese software to support Rockchip? or maybe some Rockchip source code to help develop Rockchip tools?

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

:shock: Come on Lolita!!!... stop being so drastic... this time you're wrong!! :D

I have good news and bad news. The good news is, the Zarva firmware actually seemed to upgrade my player successfully without the "bad blocks" error. (I downloaded it from the downloads section this time & no more "firmware file error." Thanks DaremoS.) The bad news: as soon as I disconnected the player after the upgrade, it shut off. And wouldn't turn back on. Tried charging through my computer USB port and the travel adapter & even tried shorting the pins again to get it into rockUSB mode. Nothing. What the heck? What happened? I know it wasn't the battery because it was just full when it was in RockUSB mode before the upgrade.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

princessanne1026
You're nearly there, mine did the same thing, the screen went black, I held the menu button down to get it into RockUsb mode, I had to try it a few times though to get it to come alive, but I did get my working firmware back.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

I think that your device is alive but in a "BLACK screen" status. I've suffered that too... then hardware method is the way to make it come back... use a clip by the rounded side.
BUT BEFORE TRY KNOB METHOD WITH ALL THE KEYS!!!
Have you noticed that hardware method hangs USB ports in your PC?
Then do the hardware method after a PC reset.

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

I didn't even have to do a "hard" recovery or open up my player I just had to switch it on and off a few times and do the hold menu button down method. :)

thanks guys. I'll try it and let you know what happens

Re: rockchip player - there are too many bad blocks
 

I work with Actions.

Hey,
I just wanted to tell you that DaremoS method is a very nice solution for my failure!
It helped me, now I put the right firmware without any problems!
Thank you very much :)