[solved] White screen following a long reset!
 

My MP3 player would not allow me to go into the Song player, so I started resetting the thing. A normal reset didn't help---the device re-booted quickly but still would not enter the Song player. It didn't really seem like a full reset since it remembered where it was in the menu. So, I held the reset button down for 10 seconds. Now all I get is a white screen! Normal resets don't fix the problem either.

The device seems to be functional otherwise. The USB flash drive memory is accessible by the computer and no data is lost. I even briefly had the device playing music even with the white screen a few times! But since I can't see the menus, it is really hard to get this device to do anything. Could I nevertheless have damaged the firmware somehow?

s1fwx is able to tell me that the player device has the Actions chip with v9.5.54 firmware... I remember it was a 9.x from 2008 when the screen did work, but the download doesn't work of course, so I can't download the firmware and reload it. The battery is soldered in, so I'd have to re-solder if disconnecting the battery is the solution (could doing that really bring my screen back in ways reset cannot?),

I guess if I can't fix this I lost my Mp3 player but now have a weird kind of 2GB flash drive. Disappointing the thing turned into a virutal brick so easily! Any advice on other things to try? Could reformatting the USB drive help?

MP4 Digital Player with ACTIONS 9.5.54 white screen fixed!
 

I was right that since the player's USB disk was still available, as well as the player would still play music even though the unit now had a constant white screen indicates that a firmware update is not what the player needs. In fact, this experience might help some others who have reflashed with the right firmware but now a white screen neverthless.

Turns out I was right about disconnecting the barttery to get a hard reset.

I seems the reset button on the unit doesn't cut the power but rather just signals the processor to reboot. Volatile memory is not cleared! Since the wires coming out of the battery on my unit are soldered into the board and I didn't want to cut and reconnect them, instead I used the small screwdriver to short the batteries +/- terminals to deprive the board of power for an instant, all that is needed to clear all volatile memory in the components. After I did that, the unit would not power up at all, like perhaps I had fried it. However, once connected to the PC via USB, the color display came online! Wow - unit is saved.

Regarding how I did this to myself, obviously I don't recommend overusing the reset button, holding it a very long time, or holding it in conjunction with other buttons, because I came very close to bricking the unit by doing that. The reset button is just a re-boot button really, not a power button (unit always has power). It seems that any minor file system inconsistency, or filename with control characters, or corrupt audio/video on the disk will cause these players to either keep rebooting or lock you out from accessing applets. The proper fix is do something to the disk USB to try to find the offending file. In the worst case, empty the disk and then try to start the apps to make sure you get "Empty Disk" and then start re-adding your files until you find the bad file that caused (or re-causes) the problem. The firmware is very finicky - on one of the replacement players I got, a format using Linux mkdosfs command would cause that player to continuousely re-boot, but doing the identical format using Windows itself restored the device (I'm not sure what the difference in the FAT32 could be!)

So, I'm back in business with my MP4 player now, and hopefully others will benefit from this knowledge.

Thanks cparke for updating us on this!

So to confirm, you shorted out the battery by putting a magnetic head screwdriver +/- terminals?

Then you reconnected it to your computer through the USB cable and that brought your player back to life again and the screen now works?

If that is the case, I think that's a great find!

I would like to make this a sticky and see if others can use your solution to solve similar problems.

fixing my white screen
 

Yes - essentially that is correct. The short was only for a fraction of a second, while the white screen was active (though I'm not sure that's relevant). After that, the screen went out and would not come back on, even using the reset button. Finally, however, connecting USB (maybe it was USB power?) to the computer that brought it back online and with the screen operational.

Remember - the player was working even though it had white screen. Which means that the firmware itself was healthy.

Hi, I have the same problem with my player. When I shorted the battery at the terminals and it wouldn't turn on after that, but, like you said, when I plugged it into my pc usb port it turned back on, but I am still getting the same white screen.

Does anybody else have any other ideas?

thanks

How did you get the white screen in the first place? Remember - I never did a firmware update; I got the white screen just from holding the reset button too long, maybe in combination with one of the other buttons. And my player was playing music even with the white screen---i.e. firmware was healthy despite the white screen. This technique is not going to fix a bad flash update, though might help the unit start up after a good flash update.

I never did anything to the firmware. One day when I turned it on I just got the white screen. I can still play music from it. Also to turn it off I hold the play button for a few seconds, I think that maybe what caused it

Empty the flash drive and reformat it, then do the battery short again.

ok, i emptied the flash drive and shorted the battery, but now it wont turn on at all. I think i fried it this time

after some more fiddling around, one of the wires from the battery broke off at the solder point. I'm pretty sure this happened after the short, but maybe when I re-attach it it will work again. this will take me some time though, I'll have to borrow some tools from a friend. Thanks for your help, I'll come back in a couple of days when I fix the wire.

ok, good news. after stripping the wire and holding the connection, it turns on again. it still plays music, but i still have the white screen.

The idea with the shorting was to avoid exactly this problem---resoldering the wires.

Alligator clips might help you check it out.

I don't suppose you tried using the reset button once the power was restored to try to turn the unit on the first time? It didn't seem to do anything for me, but after connecting to the PC the screen came online in color, much to my surprise.