Help a cluless one please

[mandom74]

So about a month ago I was messing around with my gigabeat and since then it's been nothing more than an expensive paperweight.  I think I deleted the firmware.  Whatever I did, it makes it not play.  The music files are on there because I can access them and play them via windows explorer, but when I try to play the device itself I get "file not found" for everything.

So, then I hear about rockbox.  Excellent!  So excited.  Did the manual install...nada.  Did the auto install...nada.  So, apparently whatever I did initially is still messing up my player.  Any suggestion on how to fix this?  I have an F-series (I think an F-40).  I do not have my original software (or if I do it's at the bottom of a box in storage) and I've changed laptops since I first got the device.  

I've been using Media Monkey to sync my player/laptop.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on how I can get my tunes back.  My commute is lonely now!

[Llorean]

Since we can'r read minds would you care to be more precise than 'nada'?

[mandom74]

nada = nothing.  Nothing happened.  No change.  It still boots the same way it was booting.  Songs still won't play.  There was zero impact except that now there's a .rockbox folder on my player.

[Llorean]

Then you didn't properly instal Rockbox. Nada could've meant that Rockbox booted but the beaviour did not change in which case I would've given different adcvice. In this case my advice is to reread the manual and make sure the bootloader actually gets installed this time as it too is essential.

[mandom74]

No.  It's installed fine.  I have no question about that.  I think the problem is the lack of firmware or other files that I think I deleted before I even found out about rockbox (remember, I said it was broken before).

What other files do I need to have on my player for rockbox to function correctly?

[Llorean]

It is not installed fine. If it's booting into the toshiba software you did not finish the bootloader intall. This means it's either not there or you did not unplug and turn off the battery switch. Rockbox can be run without any of Toshiba's files and while dummy files may be needed if your player no longer boots at all your description said your problem happened when you try to actually play music.

[zajacattack]

Tell us exactly what happened when you followed the install instructions.

[markun]

No.  It's installed fine.  I have no question about that.  I think the problem is the lack of firmware or other files that I think I deleted before I even found out about rockbox (remember, I said it was broken before).

What other files do I need to have on my player for rockbox to function correctly?

You need to replace GBSYSTEM\FWIMG\FWIMG01.DAT with this file:

http://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/gigabeat/FWIMG01.DAT

Use the battery switch on the bottom of the player to make sure it does a cold boot (and doens't just wakes up the old firmware from RAM)