Rockbox Technical Forums

Support and General Use => Hardware => Topic started by: jaima on November 01, 2006, 03:57:21 PM

Title: Player is shutting down
Post by: jaima on November 01, 2006, 03:57:21 PM

 Hi !
 I installed Rockbox on my iRiver H320  to enjoy more possibilities than with the official iRiver firmware,  for example I can now have a french interface, it didn't work with the
normal firmware, not to speak of the mutiple settings of Rockbox.

 But I am encountering one problem : If I am browsing through the music files, or to some  directory, the player is sometimes shutting down - perhaps I am going too fast  when  browsing -, and if I try to start it again, I cannot got further than the Rockbox splash  screen, I have to wait fifteen minutes to start the player correctly.

  What could be the origin of this ? Bad settings ? Battery problem ? Something else ??

  Thanks for helping

  jaima
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: stripwax on November 08, 2006, 05:56:26 PM
You don't say what version of rockbox you installed.  Is it a recent build, an old build, an official build of rockbox or an unofficial build?  (note that unofficial builds are not supported here).

Please note also of course that rockbox is updated daily (sometimes many times per day).  So it's impossible to say what the problem could be in your specific case with more info.

Of the choices below I'd go for "something else" as my best guess.
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: theone on November 12, 2006, 05:20:17 PM
I have the same problem and based on IRC chats and other similar threads, it seems it's a bad battery.

Here is an example of how it works:

1. I charge my H340 (with the unit off) with the most recent cvs build (have tried multiple cvs builds and daily builds to rule out any specific cvs commits)...until the iRiver charging screen says "Completed".

2. (Last night,) I used the unit for about an 30 minutes after charging to full capacity and it just shut off (no shutting down... screen, just a hard shutdown where the screen goes from a normal rockbox display to off). The only way I know that it was shut down and didn't freeze or is doing something is because the On/Play button is the only thing that does something...and when hitting that, the (bootloader) startup screen shows.

3. When the (bootloader) startup screen shows, it shows a very low battery level (3.40-ish Volts). Sometimes it does not make it even to the startup logo screen.

4. I wait some time before I turn it on again. About 15 minutes of waiting, it seems the battery level rises (or "restores" itself?) a little bit and I am able to use the unit (but at a duration less than what caused it to shut down the first time).

5. If I wait overnight (about 8 hours), it seems the battery level has fully "recovered" and it is at 3.96V, which equates to around 60%.

6. I have not used the stock iRiver f/w at all (only time was to upgrade to the European f/w so that I could install rockbox), so don't know if the iRiver operation is the same.
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: recordame on November 13, 2006, 01:17:19 AM
jaima and theone, you are not alone!
I have been having the same problem with  my iRiver H340. I installed rockbox about 3 months ago, using the latest daily build with my v 1.28 korean iRiver firmware. It was fine at first, then I noticed battery capacity started to decrease. I still use the original iRiver firmware quite a bit as I like to record to mp3 format, something rockbox doesn't do. i used to be able to get 4-5 hours + continuous use out of a full charge, now I can only use it about 45minutes before the unit shuts off ( a sudden, hard shutdown, as theone described). The battery indicator will show two bars remaining before it shuts off, so I know that the battery isn't drained, it's just that the player seems to think it is.
If I try to reboot to either rockbox or iriver f/w at this point, it will indicate battery is too low to boot.  But I wait 15 mins, and the voltage indicator will seem to have risen a bit, and it will boot, sometimes showing 60% or more battery level remaining.
I can keep using it...but it will always shut off before the battery level drains completely to zero.
Sometimes I can go through this shutdown/wait a bit/reboot cycle several times a day. Just when I think it's completely dead, it always seems to find some juice and work for a little longer.
I have tried updating to a more recent daily build but the problem persists.
This is very frustrating as it can sometimes shut off suddenly in the middle of a recording!
Can anyone tell me why this is happening or how to fix it?!?

PS sometimes after I disconnect the charger, the unit flashes, 'Disconnect external battery pack'...could this have anything to do with it? I don't have an external battery pack! Sometimes, it doesn't show anything, it just reverts to the iRIver splash screen as usual.
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: LinusN on November 13, 2006, 03:39:27 AM
jaima and theone, you are not alone!
I have been having the same problem with  my iRiver H340. I installed rockbox about 3 months ago, using the latest daily build with my v 1.28 korean iRiver firmware. It was fine at first, then I noticed battery capacity started to decrease. I still use the original iRiver firmware quite a bit as I like to record to mp3 format, something rockbox doesn't do.
You should update to a newer version of Rockbox. We added MP3 recording on August 28.

Quote
i used to be able to get 4-5 hours + continuous use out of a full charge, now I can only use it about 45minutes before the unit shuts off ( a sudden, hard shutdown, as theone described).
This is a sure sign of an aging battery. 4-5 hours is bad to begin with.

Quote
Can anyone tell me why this is happening or how to fix it?!?
Replace the battery.
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: theone on November 16, 2006, 02:36:54 PM
I should have my new battery any day now...and will let you guys know.

(http://www.sib-usa.com/sg/pic/34.jpg)
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: theone on November 20, 2006, 11:43:25 PM
...or maybe not; still waiting on the damn thing.

Edit: just got it today...but "it" wasn't what it was supposed to be. I ordered a 2200mAh and received a 1600mAh, so more time will pass before I actually get to do it :(
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: arrow224 on November 23, 2006, 05:31:38 PM
This happens to me as well. Using Kosh's Experimental Build 2.9.25. I know it is not supported, but it doesn't seem to matter.
[EDIT]: Not sure if it helps, but I was manually updating Tagcache, as I had put on some new albums. I let it be, and ~5 minutes later, it was off.

I can't even get back into the original firmware. I get to the 1.29k.... LOADING.... part, and it shuts down.

Where can I get a new (and better?) battery in Melbourne, Australia?
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: theone on November 28, 2006, 09:55:30 AM
Well, the battery was the problem. The player never shut off on me (however I did have to do a paper clip reset once when it froze). The battery level indicator didn't even come close to half-way within the 2 hours I had it playing non-stop.

So, if this happens to you, a new battery is what you need. I bought a cheap $11 one off eBay (all you need is a 1st/2nd gen iPod battery...not forgetting to reverse the polarity [just make sure that the positive wire is on the left side of the molex connector...as you can see in the picture above on the left, the iPods have the positive on the right]).

ps: it's such a relief not having to carry the AC adapter around eveywhere!
Title: Re: Player is shutting down
Post by: theone on December 01, 2006, 03:39:57 PM
Update:

still goin' strong with no auto-shutoff problems...