Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

I just bought a 1GB mp3 player, commercialized under the name Zipy Panda TR.

Here's a link: http://www.ciao.es/E_Zipy_Panda_TR__1176027
and a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHx2nKuJ2Fo

I can't figure out which firmware it uses (Actions, SigmaTel, etc). The "about" menu entry only shows total and available space, and then simply "ver: 031000"

Zipy apparently is a trademark used in Spain and Portugal, and I can't seem to find any other country selling this player under this name. However, the language selection allows for several languages: english
german, french, spanish, italian, portuguese, czech, russian, slovak and japanese, so I suppose it is another of these s1mp3s, or something (also because it was rather cheap, compared to players from more famous brands with the same capacity and functionality).

So, can anyone help me? I'd appreciate a lot!

Waldir

Looks like a SigmaTel to me.

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Hi Th3_uN1Qu3, thanks for the reply!

Well, the How to modify your firmware (reskinning) post apparently is just for ACTIONS firmware, is there a similar page for Sigmatel? And if there is, I must assume I have a what, Sigmatel firmware v. 031000? The Sigmatel download page shows some examples with the numbers grouped into 3, so perhaps 0.031.000?

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

I just tried SigmaTel Firmware Extractor, but it gives me this output:

Severe consequences? That's scary at least. I'm not sure if I can continue...

btw, the tool download page could use a little more categorization (by player type, that is: actions, sigmatel...)

Unfortunately SigmaTel players can't be reskinned.

But if the firmware extraction tool says it's not a SigmaTel, it may be an Actions chip.

Try using s1fwx to extract your firmware and see what you get.

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

I don't think so... I had tried s1fwx first, it said

Should I try extractors for all the firmware that is listed in the firmware download section? lol

Namely: Anyka, Rockchip, Sunplus, Teclast. Btw are there any others? just in case.

So, what do I do?

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Don't tell me the only solution is to disassemble it!! :shock:

I can only see two screws both on the same side of the player (under the USB cap)

(some minutes later)

...wait, there's a kind of a "secret compartment" on the side :D lol

I wish I had my camera here. Uncovered (the cover is a bit hard to remove), it is a rectangular hole, with approximately the same width as a usb plug, but with about 1/3 of its height. I can see lots of pins inside, maybe it's a way to access the chip inside without dismantling it? It could be, since I see no way to open the think without breaking it apart...

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

I was reading the manual, and the example they use for the about menu is "ver: 10.02.01", So I thought mine could be "03.10.00". I googled this, and (ironically enough) the two entries I found that might be relevant are from this site =P

It's all here (this is the second post, which quoted the first one integrally, so there's no need for the two links :) )

Do you think mine can have something to do with these?

Well, i doubt it could be an Ankya or a Rockchip, as i've only seen those used in players with a color screen. Teclast is a brand name manufacturer of Rockchip players.

Could be a Sunplus. It was unlikely to be an Actions chip as it has a built-in FM transmitter.

If it is a Sunplus, it can't be themed anyway. But i find the default look of MP3 players with monochrome screens pretty nice, the only things i ever changed on mine were the boot and shutdown logos.

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Actually, I'm not interested in looks, but rather functionality. First of all I want to correct some menu entries in portuguese.

But I don't know what are the limits, What can be done with the firmware? I had several improvements in mind but don't know if it's possible. Namely, changing functions attributed to buttons; changing menu entries order; changing the delay we have to keep the menu button pressed for the menu to appear; and several other things like this. Are you saying I can't do any of this? :(

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Since I can't open my mp3, I opened my "old" mp4, which is also from Zipy (the brand was called e-zipy by then)

I found the following in the green board:

0638 MD660IFOD-PCB-V1.2A BW

The MD660IFOD part was the only thing I could find on a google search.

There was also this written in one of the two black chips (or whatever they are):

ALi DRE
M5661R B1
0634 TG05
Y615211000GA

It had a round green sticker saying ROHS. Don't know whether this is useful.

I couldn't read the other chip since I couldn't remove the sticker it had.

So, what does this tell me?

ROHS is just a certification. That sticker was probably on the memory chip or something.

ALi... Acer Laboratories inc., well known for their shitty laptops, slow mobo chipsets and poorly-sounding soundcard chips. Their driver division is even worse than the hardware they manufacture. :lol: Since when did they enter the cheap MPx player business?

If it's an ALi chip there's really not much to do with it, as i know of no utilities to extract or edit firmware from those.

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

1) Are you sure it's Acer? I think I read somewhere (aha! it was here) that the ID would be in the green board. Perhaps that is just the device ID, not the firmware chip? :( By the way, with the info I provided (0638 MD660IFOD-PCB-V1.2A BW), what can you tell me regarding the device's manufacturer? Maybe if I can find other brand names under which this player is commer******ed, I will be able to find some reference to the firmware... (well, the data I have is still from the old mp4, but it's better than nothing, I guess...)

2) I suppose my mp3 might have different firmware, since it's not an mp4. It doen't even have a color screen, it's BlackLine, or something. Do you think its firmware is also from Acer, or is it possible that it's from another company?

3) Even if it's Acer too... is it too hard to program a tool to extract data from it? I read about this guy, Dancemammal, who made a tool for Rockchip/Actions. Maybe I'll contact him and see what he says...

4) btw, apparently it is possible to hack the button configuration... I just have to find in what line of code it is, for my firmware! lol

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Some links regarding the ALi chip:

• from mympxplayer.org:[list:70e33a3dbd]
• problem with Mp3 (chipset Ali) (he mentions Bellwood)
• ALI M566/Hynix HY27 Firmware NEEDED PLEASE mympx is dying (he writes "0643 TG05", It might be a coincidence, or it might be the same as mine: "0634 TG05"...)
• Re: Links to firmware for MPx players

[*]elsewhere:

• prosba do serwisujących sprzęt audio DK-Digital (in polish - I din't even try to read it)
• MP3 Grundig MP600 FM (chinszczyzna)po wgraniu firmware PADŁ (in polish - same thing, no clue what they say)
• ((quien revive mi MP4 )) ? :- ( (in spanish - probably refers to one of these: Duo, Razor or NB/NW)
• #rockbox log for 2007-07-20 (this one refers a Coby MP-C7085 - their website has a LOT of other players, I'lll check if any of these look similar to my mp3)

[/list:u:70e33a3dbd]

Note: the Axxis webpage I referred to, in the spanish link, has this one, which is very similar to mine (shape, button configuration, etc.) I'll try to see if I can find its firmware. But I don't think it's the same, the screen doesn't look like mine at all:

http://www.axxis-usa.com/images/MP3DUO.png

Is it possible that it is the same device as my Zipy, with a different chipset?

On the other hand, the screen looks pretty unnatural, perhaps it was added digitally, or is just a sticker...

Note 2: the Belwood website has a player that has a firmware exaclty like mine. Exactly the same icons, altgough my screen is black on color and not the contrary -- I guess LED instead of OLED/BlackLine as the casing said xD. Some icons are not in the same place as mine, but overall it's very much alike. Not sure if this really means anything, but here is an image:

http://www.bellwood.pl/new/images/st..._ukos_lewy.jpg

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

I found out what the mistery hole was!

It's a Micro SD socket!!!

check this out: http://emea.apacer.com/en/products/A...teno_AU524.htm

I bet the guys at Zipy don't even know about this, as it isn't mentioned anywhere in the box, or the manual. LOL!

PS - thanks to pawgal for the link in his post (the Bellwood one i listed in my previous post)

Ok, confirmed. I talked to Zipy's technical assistance, and Panda definitely uses an ALi chip, too. By the way, the company isnt Acer: it's really ALi Corp. here's their website.

The Axxis player in that picture is DEFINITELY an Actions chip.

As for the discovery of that MicroSD slot, that's great! Now if it actually works it'd get even better. :P

As for the ALi company, i know 'em, they made some of the worst mobo chipsets ever. ALi is the company actually designing and building the stuff, while Acer is the brand they are sold under.

Check this out: [google]acer laboratories inc[/google]. As you can see, the first result is the Chinese version of the site you linked.

Now for something funny.

Nah, that doesn't sound good.

That's closer to the truth. :lol:

OMG!!!

You mean, Acer is that? THE Acer??? www.acer.com??

I'm stunned...

*deep breath*

Welll... as for what you said,

, I'd like to point you to what I noted in that post:

Don't you agree?

In any case, that's not my firmware anyway. Do you, by any chance, recognize the one from the other image?

Yup, Acer as you know it is engineered by ALi.

It doesn't matter how the picture was made, that's an Actions player, period.

No, unfortunately i don't recognize the second one. But if you say it's similar to yours, then it may be based on an ALi chipset too.

Still, that doesn't bring us any closer to editing that firmware, and honestly, i don't think it's worth the effort.

But you say it's an Actions because of the firmware, right? I mean, you are saying that that screen (icons, fonts, etc) is an Actions one, right? Sorry to insist, but I'm still in doubt that that specific player uses an Actions, and I'll explain why:

Even the box in which my player came showed a different screen (OLED) from what it actually has (multi-colored LED). (Hum, maybe I'll request them to change it because of that, lol!). But my reasoning is, they could just have put a placeholder image in that pic. I'm not saying that Axxis doesn't use Action on some of their players, but that one is so much the same as mine, physically, (compare it, for instance, with the Apacer Audio Steno AU524, the one that helped me discover the SD socket), that I find it hard to believe that the firmware it uses is actually the one in the image.

...too? you mean, too, like mine? As you said yourself, that doesn't get me closer to knowing the firmware and editing it. Although it nevertheless is another keyword to search for the ALi firmware... I'll keep trying to find something, will post here if I find anything about it.


Well, I'd really like to hack the buttons, at least; the main reason I bought it was because it said it was capable of deleting files (the other usb drive/mp3s I saw in the stores did't have this functionality, except for Creative's Zen Nano Plus -- which I didnt buy only because it doesn't allow browsing the folder stucture...)

Anyway, I managed to get some software (The firmware updater, I suppose) from the technical assistance. Maybe someone can help me explore the files in the package and figure out something about the firmware.. Maybe I'll contact Dancemammal, send him the files, see what he says. He seems to be fairly comfortable with firmware editing. I'm not sure if you are into programming, if you want I can send you the files :)

I finally found it!!! It's called [google]MP2007D[/google].

Here it is (the images and specifications are EXACTLY like mine)

* http://www.szimp3.com/product_show.a...ssName=MP2007D
* http://www.szimp3.com/product_show.asp?id=139 (same page, but simpler url)
* http://morestar.manufacturer.globals...MP3-Player.htm
* http://morestar.manufacturer.globals...MP3-Player.htm (note the minimal difference in these two urls -- the content is also almost the same -- I'd say that was a duplication of content due to bad organization of the site)


the images, just to illustrate the topic :D

http://akamai.globalsources.com.edge...0030500912.jpg
Note the cover for the Micro SD on the side. I couldn't find out how to put the cover back, it seems to require a special tool to place the handles as they were before, otherwise it won't fit. I don't see what's the point, but...

http://akamai.globalsources.com.edge...1004610541.jpg

See the two screws I mentioned before? :D oh, and btw, it looks a LOT less cheap than that :P it's blacker and the screen is clean and reflective... pretty fashionable, actually.

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Just one more image... :D This one has the brand in it:
http://multimedia.fnac.es/image/0/1/...2461110IMA.jpg

Re: Which firmware for Zipy Panda TR?
 

Boa noite,

estava a pensar em adquirir este modelo especialmente pelo emissor FM para uso no automóvel.
O que achas do seu funcionamento ?
E a bateria recarregavel duras as 6 horas mencionadas ?
Obrigado pela atenção.
ROliveira

epá eu sinceramente não experimentei muito. Devolvi-o após os 15 dias, pois a função de apagar ficheiros (que era a principal funcionalidade que eu queria) funcionava pessimamente: eu tinha que andar por vários menus para apagar a música que eu estivesse a ouvir (no Creative Zen Nano eram so 2 cliques) e a musica nem sequer recomeçava sozinha na faixa seguinte!

Ou seja, não te posso dizer se o emissor FM funciona bem, mas em geral aquilo pareceu-me razoavelmente bom (a nível de hardware. o software era um bocado mau nalguns aspectos como já disse).

A bateria, não experimentei para ter a certeza da duração, não posso te informar sobre o assunto, sorry.

Mas olha, recomendo-te que compres o modelo noutra marca que não a zipy. Eles não têm modelos de 2 e 4 gigas, e nem sequer sabiam que o player tinha um slot micro SD!! E o ecrã, que na caixa dizia ser Black Line (OLED, ou seja preto com letras iluminadas) afinal era o modelo LED normal. Existe o modelo OLED, mas provavelmente é um pouco mais caro (embora compense tanto em visibilidade como em consumo de energia). Se encontrares à venda noutro lado, avisa-me que eu compro também! :D

Sorry for the absence.

I am into programming, but i definitely don't know enough to hack a firmware. Dancemammal should be able to help you with it.

I said it isn't worth the effort coz new players come up every day, and having a high quality player with a nice and decently sized color screen, with theme support and all the goodies, i kinda forgot about the USB stick thingies we all started with.

Hey uN1Qu3, welcome back!

Too bad Dancemammal didn't respond so far. Do u have any Idea how I can contact him? I sent him a message in the forum and to his email... Anyway I returned the player to the store but I'll try to buy another one from the same manufacturer (MoreStar) since the guys at Zipy apparently only have that cheaper model with only 1GB of space and a LED screen. If I find another brand that sends MoreStar players, I might buy another MP2007D (2 or 4GB, OLED screen), and try to hack it. It might be hard but it's not impossible surely :) I really want a small player for my mp3's, I don't need a full color screen, etc, so I'll keep looking at the usb stick thingies ;)

btw, a watch-like mp3 player would be cool, something like a Zen Stone with a bracelet :P what do u think?