Interesting but annoying F20 upgrade problem

[BBOH]

I've used RB for along time (several years) and recently the thing fell while USB connected and I kept getting a system error upon startup.  Connecting it to a cradle would remove the message and fix the loading issue.  I assumed something got corrupted file wise and dloaded the latest release for the GB F20.  As before, I extracted the files to the root dir and the thing would say RB loaded, but nothing would happen.  IT wouldn't load in rescue mode or USB connect.  I tried to start back as a Gigabeat (holding some button on start up), but the buttons won't work and I can't get out of the setup screens.  Basically, it is completely non-functional.  I'll be taking it apart and performing surgery, but anyone have a CLUE what happened here? 

[burkejavier]

If you dropped it, I would suspect the HDD first (even it it's not clunking on you).   But, maybe it's filesystem related.

Maybe try to wipe it and reinstall the firmware / .rockbox folders.    If you take it apart, you can disconnect the HDD, power up the unit, let it fail, connect USB and then connect the HDD to see if that gets you into USB mode.   If so, you can backup the needed folders and reformat it.  Then, re-do the procedure to get back into USB mode again to re-copy the files back.  Remember to reformat it as FAT32, not NTFS (there are third-party tools to do that, in XP).