Player keeps giving error message

[simono]

Hi, apologies if the answer to this is elsewhere - I have looked and can't find it though.

I bought a 1G MP4 player from ebuyer (Extra Value M-205 1GB Mp4 Player - Quickfind 126065) - it's a Rockchip based device. I sent my first one back as I thought it was faulty but the replacement is doing the same thing so now I think it's me!!

It came with sample files loaded that played fine. When I loaded single MP3 or JPEG pictures it all went well but then I tried loading a few MP3 files at once (multiple selection copy) - it then came back with a 'cannot copy:cannot find the specified file' error part way through the transfer. When I looked on the player, all the existing files had been corrupted and wouldn't play.

I have tried reformatting the drive - I found a guide on this site which said I should use FAT not FAT32 but that just filled it with dodgy characters and I couldn't copy anything across - so I used FAT32 which seemed to clear the memory.

Trouble is that the original problem still occurs - I can copy single files across ok (sometimes) but if I try a few together it falls over part way through one of them. It doesn't always screw up the other files, sometimes they are still playable - and strangely, when I try playing the one that caused the error message, it plays the correct track and then part way through it changes into a track that was stored BEFORE the reformat. It seems that it firstly creates a new file the size of the file to be copied - it then starts copying the file across and fails part way through - so it ends up with the part copied across plus the remainder of the file containing whatever was there before.

I'm not sure whether I'm not formatting it correctly - but then I don't know whay it screwed up in the first place straight out of the box.

Any ideas guys - otherwise I'm going to have to send this one back again and I really want to get it working.

[lattesurf]

simono , it's something new that i've heard of for a Rockchip player. The symptoms you mentioned are very similar to those with hacked memory, but usually do not exist for Rockchip.

Also check for the current installed firmware version.

i'll suggest that you format your player using HP Format Tool here http://www.mympxplayer.org/hp-format-tool-df466.html

See if this solves the problem.

[simono]

I'm not sure what sort of file the link is to - it has the extension .7z so I've no idea how to use it.

Haing thought about my problem a bit more I'm not even sure whether the format is the problem - I guess the mixing of files is because when I start transferring a new file the first thing is that file of the same size as the source file is created on the MP3 memory, the transfer then starts filling it with the new data and if it then falls over, the remainder of the file is whatever was in that memory before. That explains why I have some files that failed where there is music followed by buzzing - that was probably the remains of a previous non-music file.

My main issue then is, why a transfer regularly aborts with the 'file not found' message - at this point the MP3 drive disconnects from the USB link. I can unplug and the reconnect and try again. It isn't the file being transferred that is corrupt as this file can copy across properly at a different time.

I originally thought it may be some bad blocks of memory but the fact that a second player does the same thing makes me think it isn't that basic a fault. I have even tried the Windows disk check on the MP3 memory and it passes that when it has been reformatted so the memory itself seems to be good.

If you can tell me how to use the disk format I'll give that a go but am less convinced that the root of the problem lies there but I guess it is a good starting point. Should it have worked ok when I formatted it as FAT32 with windows?

[lattesurf]

simono , .7z is a compressed file. You'll need 7-zip to uncompress it, the installation file is here http://www.mympxplayer.org/7-zip-ver...6-26-df12.html

If the formatting goes well and there is no hacked memory, then i can only think that there might be a problem in the USB cable.

If your player is 2GB and below, FAT should work well, FAT32 would be recommended for larger capacities. However, using FAT32 for a 2GB should have no problems too.

[iixorbiusii]

Hi Simono,

I wonder if your source material is 'faulty / corrupt' ?? I have exactly the same player from Ebuyer ( http://www.mympxplayer.org/album_pic.php?pic_id=396 )


http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126065


I have had no problems copying 4 or 5 albums at a time - it just copies across, like using a memory stick.
btw, I format the player to FAT32.

Is there anyone you can 'borrow' some MP3's from, to see if their's copy straight into yours? I remember I had some strange MP3's a year or so ago.. They played fine on the PC, but 4 minute songs were reported as 50+ minutes, and I could never transfer them across to other players. ???

[scatwell]

There are definitely hacked Rockchips too I'm afraid - I have one :-(. Follow the steps to "removing memory hack" on this forum, I would put money on that being the problem.

[simono]

Originally Posted by iixorbiusii";p=&quot

Hi Simono,

I wonder if your source material is 'faulty / corrupt' ?? I have exactly the same player from Ebuyer ( http://www.mympxplayer.org/album_pic.php?pic_id=396 )


http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/126065


I have had no problems copying 4 or 5 albums at a time - it just copies across, like using a memory stick.
btw, I format the player to FAT32.

Is there anyone you can 'borrow' some MP3's from, to see if their's copy straight into yours? I remember I had some strange MP3's a year or so ago.. They played fine on the PC, but 4 minute songs were reported as 50+ minutes, and I could never transfer them across to other players. ???

Thanks iixorbiusii, but I don't think the MP3 files are dodgy - I ripped them from a CD with media player and the same file will copy fine one time but then fail another time. I've actually given the player to a friend at the moment to try with his files and his PC so that will prove it once and for all whether it is me or the player.

Just in case I've done something stupid, can you tell me if this sounds right;

After the player crashed first time (when I was using media player to copy over an album I had ripped from a CD) and corrupted all the sample files, I reconnected to the PC and formatted the drive using Windows XP to the FAT32 format. If I then looked at the drives properties via windows, the memory was all free apart from one 4k block which I presume is to do with the file structure. Then I dragged files one at a time from my PC directory onto the MP3 drive - at first each song copied across fine but then I got the 'file cannot be found error' and a disconnect. When I reconnect and look at the player, I see a file with the name of the crashed file and of the correct (ie full size) but if I play it I only get part of the song and then either buzzing or the sound of a file loaded before I formatted it. I guess before it starts copying the file from the PC it first names a space on the MP3 big enough to hold the data and then starts copying - so when it crashes I can go back and find the file and whatever data copied over before the crash followed by whatever was in that memory previously.

Any ideas gratefully received - I really like the player but it will have to go back if I can't get it to copy files reliably.

I'll let you know what happens when my friend has tried it.

[lattesurf]

simono , do format it with the HP Format Tool given above, as typical Window formating would not be able to remove any memory hacks (if there are any). The symptoms you've given do match those of a hacked player.

As scatwell mentioned, he too has a hacked player with Rockchip, and I would be very interested to know of the outcome of your player.

Let us know when you have formatted it.

[simono]

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. Just thought I'd give you an update in case you are interested.

My friend took the player home (with some files ok and others mixed up) and tried it on his XP machine - it wasn't recognised, so he tried it on his Vista machine which reported that it needed formatting. He then formatted (FAT32) it with Vista and was the able to transfer files across with no problem - even when back on his XP machine.

I now have the player back and was able to transfer files OK last night when done singly - however when I tried copying 6 at a time it would copy 2 or 3 fine, then start copying the next one but fail part way through with the error message 'file not found' - at this point the drive is disconnected from the PC by windows. If I then look on the player, I can see the file that was 'not found' has been created on the player but has no or only some of the actual data in it. If I then reconnect the player to the PC, delete the file that failed from the MP3 and then copy that same file across as a single file it copies fine. I haven't (yet) had the problem I had before where a file fails in copying (as described here) but in failing manages to destroy all the files already on the player (with format being the only way out).

So in conclusion, it appears that formatting with Vista has improved the situation a lot and probably to the point where I could live with it (I really like the player once it has the data loaded). Should it corrupt all the files again I'll try the HP format utility lattesurf provided but don't really want to resort to that at this point.

My friend did say that there has been quite a lot of adverse comments about the reliability of USB ports with XP but I'm not sure if it is that simple. So the cause is not really clear and it would be good to know if iixorbiusii is using Windows XP with SP2 (and also when you bought the player). I'm just wondering if the recent batch of players ebuyer have had were formatted differently or whether there is something odd with my PC or .............. As with most problems like this it's probably a combination of several factors.

If I do cast any more light on it I'll post the info here.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

[iixorbiusii]

Hmm, it's still not right though. My exact same player from Ebuyer (bought in May 2007) behaves normally with genuine XP Pro and Home editions (both are fully up to date with all Microsoft's updates).

I can copy as many things as it's 1GB mem can take, in one go - be it 5 or six albums, or a couple of full length movies.

Perhaps a batch of them from Ebuyer are faulty - I'd recommend sending it back and trying a third unit.

Just a silly question perhaps, but are you using USB 1(.1) or USB 2 on your machine??