Problem with an iAudio X5

[Mihai]

Over the years the device has developed the following (maybe unrelated) problems:

1. - The most annoying - USB does not work anymore - I can charge it via USB (then a "connected" message appears on the screen and I switch it to charge), but the PC does not see it. To transfer data I use the USB host and a USB memory stick.
Any ideas of why that happens and how to solve it would be welcomed. (I checked the contacts on the subpack and they appear to be ok, I'm not 100% sure that the connection between the subpack and the device is ok, but that's just a wild guess).

2. Probably errors on the HDD. Some time ago I decided it would be wise to do a scandisk to mark the bad sectors (USB still worked then). I made a copy of the disk (with dd) and then started a scandisk. The result was less than glorious (blocked device, unable to boot,...). Happyly I was able to copy back the disk image. Since then I did not have the courage to add any new melody on the device. Now I use it just to dump my photos during the hollydays. Problem is that it has developed 2 or 3 more bad sectors and everytime I know that 4 photos from the bunch will not make it to the PC. Any ideea how to repair the HDD (or mark the sectors as bad)

While searching for solutions to the above problems, I found rockbox.org and now I REALLY REALLY want to bring back to life and health the X5. Please help !!!