Pls Help - H340 - Rockbox hangs on Bootloader - New Battery - New Hard Drive

[mrreck]

Hi, i've just installed Rockbox again on my updated iriver h340, but it isn't getting past the bootloader screen so wondered if anyone can help.

Ive installed a new battery and a new hard drive as they were both pretty much on their last legs. There does seem to be an issue with the charge part of the board, as the unit after being left plugged into the wall for 24 hours then gained enough power to boot up, and since has been on usb. After testing the charger itself and updated the parts I have identified an issue with the ac charger connection (which is either just a loose connection or something on the board but i think the usb charge is ok. 

I installed rockbox the latest version and bootloader (with h300 hex). The battery is showing full but i dont know if this is accurate.

The iriver software seems to be working as expected although the stop button isnt taking me out of the file tree. Its been a good while since i used it though. The iriver firmware showing is 1.29

The rockbox which ive used happily in the past isnt getting past the bootloader though. Heres what ive got so far when starting up.

Rockbox bootloader
Version 5
Batt 3.91 v - think this is going down as the battery loses charge.
No buttons work on this screen and neither does pluggin in the usb and i have to hard reset to get out of it.

If i start up with the usb plugged in, it comes up with - bootloader usb mode, though isnt connected to the pc. If i unplug it goes to a white screen.

If i startup with the usb plugged in and the record held down it goes into the iriver connected screen and is connected to the pc. If i unplug it goes into iriver software.

Any help very much appreciated

[mrreck]

Anyone got any thoughts on this? Still cant get past the bootloader screen. After some more tests I think its something to do with the firmware though im lost with it all at the mo.

I dloaded the 1.29 European h340 firmware, fw patched, added to root and ran firmware update, but there was nothing saying its updating. If i left it it would shutdown.

I then dloaded the 1.29 Korean h340 firmware, patched, added and again the firmware update didnt show any signs it was updating. When i restarted and got back into the iriver it said that it was the still the European version so maybe the firmware updating part of my iriver is broken? 

I noticed in the manual it said that the 1.29 European version isnt supported. Could this be the issue for Rockbox hanging on the boot?
I had this working perfectly a couple of years back and so am not sure whats causing this especially after new hard drive and battery (now fully charged.) Only other info i can see is that the Rockbox bootloader uninstall wont let me uninstall.

Anyone can suggest anything id be very grateful.

[mrreck]

Seems that the Iriver firmware must be at fault as have just copied over lots of tracks and none are showing in the iriver software. The update database doesnt seem to function, neither does the tree, or update firmware, but i can browse the menus. Also noticed that even though its set to charging via usb the power (a fully charged 2200 compatible battery ran down to almost zero while transferring the 54 gig of music across) all of which indicates (to my untrained eye) that the firmware is at fault.

Maybe theres some conflict with the rockbox bootloader? The rockbox and the iriver firmware was on the iriver when i installed the new hard drive, so maybe that indicates something? I cant remove it as iriver firmware update doesnt seem to work and have no idea what to try next though.

Apologies to ask again, but can anyone help me with this - or point me in to the correct forum if im on the wrong one? Id ask on Mystic River as well but site seems in accessible due to some phishing warnings that keep coming up in google. From what i have deduced so far from the info above i think i need a way of manually updating the firmware to get the iriver software to work and some other method to get the rockbox software to work but will try anything at this stage. If it sounds like there is no hope then i can look at at cheap old ipod to use these new hard drive and battery with, but would really like the iriver as i use(d) the recording function with binaurul mics.

[mrreck]

YES! After much trial and error the issue is now resolved. For anyone who may have any similar issues, the problem was that the hard drive was formatted in exfat. (Ntfs also doesnt allow iriver firmware/software to operate correctly.)

If on windows 7 like i am, then download swissknife - which is a freeware app, and reformat the drive in Fat32. (I actually used the pro version as had a copy from years back so not sure if this is different). Then i reinstalled rockbox but without the bootloader and all seems to be working correctly \o/