Odd near brick iRiver H140 - Help much appreciated!

[emkeyen]

Hello all,

My darling iHP-140 that has served me since the early days of Rockbox has given up on me. Currently she lies disassembled on my desk with little signs of life. Here is a short and objective summary of what is up:

History:
Ugly disconnect from PC (by mistake) during copy of files. Device went scanning the disk until out of battery. After charging with non-standard charger (4.5V that has worked for ages) device will no longer power up.

Current status:
Charging LED lights up when power supply is connected. No other response; Other LED does not light up, hard disk is not spinning, screen is blank. Near brick.

Actions:
Tried charging with factory charger, no luck. Pushing reset on power, nothing. Removing battery causes power LED to blink. Removing drive makes no difference.

Thoughts:
I've seen the thread on Misticriver about repairing fried charging chips (http://www.misticriver.net/forums/iriver-h1xx-series/44799-repair-fried-players-maybe-possible.html), but I doubt that is the case here as the charger used is 4.5V (iHP-140 wants 5V) and also the power LED is communicating. Right?

Is it possible to hard reset the device directly on the mother board? What about the battery, is it possible to short it and thus reset it?

Can a H1xx run on power supply without a battery connected?

Does a H1xx show anything on screen without hard drive?

Any other ideas for what to measure (got my friends multimeter here) or test?


Any advice very much appreciated! I would so much like to have my darling singing for me again, and especially since there is no backup of her drive either...


Thanks in advance
Em.

PS. Anyone living in Gothenburg/Sweden with a 1.8->3.5" ATA-adapter I could borrow for a few hours?

[piscator]

emkeyen,

There are others here better qualified to give advice, but I can offer some 'guesses'

Ugly disconnect from PC (by mistake) during copy of files. Device went scanning the disk until out of battery.

I suppose this might damage the drive, but I believe the iRiiver H140 should still 'power on' to the 'splash screen' (in the original firmware) and say something like "check HD connection" -- even with the battery and hardrive removed from the player.

After charging with non-standard charger (4.5V that has worked for ages) device will no longer power up

Non-standard chargers seem to be the major cause of 'fried players', as you've probably discovered over at MisticRiver.  If the wall charger can't produce the current the the h140 needs, the charging circuit tries to compensate which can result in a voltage spike that 'fries' the board. 

People report years of 'getting away with' under-rated chargers for 'charging only' until the day they attempt some 'current intensive' operation that 'fries' the player.

I'm wondering if some 'current intensive' function taking place before/during/after, the "ugly disconnect" caused the 4.5v charger to 'fry' the board.  What is the current output of the charger, in mAh?

There's no 'reset' on the 'mother-board'

Reverse battery polarity is another 'iRiver killer', so don't 'short' the battery when it's in the player or reverse the leads!  Batteries don't have 'resets'.

There are LOTS of threads about repairing fried players, but very few success stories.  Unless you're an electronics technician with lots of free time, forget it.

If you can't get the 'splash screen' plugged in to the factory charger, it may be time to look for an h320 on Ebay.  They seem to be selling for less than the h140's.

Good luck!

Piscator

[emkeyen]

Piscator,

Thanks for your extensive reply. I wont waste more time on my old löve no more. She is gone but life must go on.

*Sigh*

Hope she is in a better place now, in jukebox heaven where all songs are drm free and batteries last forever.

Em.


Ps. Disks are the same for 1xx and 3xx series, right? What about throwing the 40GB disk in a H10? Would it fit?

[AlexP]

Not in the small H10, maybe in the bigger one - I'm not sure.  The info is on the wiki whenever that returns.  However if you are used to the H100 then the H10 will likely be an unpleasant surprise.

[emkeyen]

Oh, why is that? I'm used to rockbox mainly. Havent used the original OS for years and years.

[soap]

Because (despite the brand name) the H10 is an iPod with the worst physical interface known to man.
That "strip" is enough to drive the pope to murder.

[piscator]

emkeyen,

You're welcome! 

Many here consider the older iRivers h1xx and h3xx players to be clearly superior to anything being produced today.  I have to agree.  I've compared my h320 to newer players and feel confident saying the sound quality is noticeably better. 

The 'h' series players perform well and are also versatile.  Today, my daughters and I played Xmas music at a nursing home.  Since I had the h320 in my pocket, I was able to casually record my girls performance.  A nice momento.

Also, the 'h' series players are upgradeable.  My H320 now has a 32gig flash card, making it an H332.  My H340 now has a 120gig hardrive, making it a H3120.  The h120, h140 are equally upgradeable.

H320s on Ebay, seem like a bargain, to me.  They're currently selling for $70 to $150 -- which is less than an 8 gig Zune at my local Radio Shack.

I haven't heard the H10, but you'll find threads at MisticRiver where folks who own both the H10 and an older iRiver, describe the H10 as inferior.

If you want a replacement for your h120, take a look at the Sansa 280e.  The gentlemen here recommended the Sansa players for my daughters.  I Rockboxed two of them.  I think our Sansas sound great.  They even have FM and recording functions.  Froobi.com has 'Rockbox Ready' Sansas for $60 to $90.

Also, check out the Rockbox players for sale here on the forum.  There's an 'available players' thread in the general forum.

Ultimately, if you love Rockbox as much as I do (and spoiled by 'drag and drop') -- the simple thing is probably to 'stick with what you know' and replace your h120 with an h320 from Ebay.

Your 40gig hardrive will fit in the h340.  It will also plug into an h320 with the case apart, if you just want to remove the files from it.   H340's are also available on ebay for $250. 

Personally, I use the H320 more often than my H340.  I like the handy size and with the 32gig CF card, it's got plenty of storage for my purposes.  I mostly use the H340 at home as a music server.

Good luck!

piscator

[pixelma]

If you want a replacement for your h120, take a look at the Sansa 280e.  The gentlemen here recommended the Sansa players for my daughters.  I Rockboxed two of them.  I think our Sansas sound great.  They even have FM and recording functions.

While the Sansa E200 can record, its recording capabilities are quite limited compared to the H100s (maximum sample rate is 22.05 kHz and no line-in, maybe possible with a dock but I don't know, some Sansas have problems with electrical noise). So if someone needs a recording device, the E200 (or C200) is not a good choice. It also becomes harder to find a "v1" of these models to have it run Rockbox - although ports to the "v2" Sansas are in progress, it might be a while until they are fully usable.

I also disagree about the sound quality but others may think differently...

[piscator]

Pixelma,

You are correct and I obviously didn't convey my thoughts clearly.  I was focused on Rockbox compatibility and the 'feature set' rather than performance.  Actually, I usually call the Sansa 280e's that I bought my daughters, "junior iRivers"

The Sansa 280e can do the things the hxxx -- but they don't do them quite as well.  'For the money' I think the Sansas offer a lot of functionality, respectable sound, and the ever important ROCKBOX compatibility.

I see people use the phrase, 'gym bag ipod' and I suspect that's where the Sansa fits in.player'.  It's what mad

Hopefully, emkeyen will pick up another h3xx.  I just missed a h340 that went for $95 on Ebay.  It had the docking station charger, which I really like -- drat!

Anyway, thanks for correcting the slant of my post.

piscator

[ej0rge]

you could also get an h120 and use the side and end pieces from your h140 to turn it into an h140.