Help! Device kablooey!

[JosieQ]

(Sorry in advance if this is in the wrong forum and needs to be moved, I did my best.)

Around November or December of last year, I put Rockbox on my Sony NWZ-E385.  I realize this is not a supported build (or it wasn't at the time), but it was working fine all this year.

A few days ago however, the battery was almost dead so I plugged it into an outlet (rather than a PC, I say just in case this detail matters) to charge and left it overnight.  The next day I tried to turn it on and it wouldn't.  And I mean it won't turn on.  Even plugging it into a computer gets no results, no recognition of hardware, nothing.

I poked around Sony's forums and what seemed to work for everyone else - a reset via the "reset" button, plugged into a computer or not - doesn't work for me.  (I contacted them via email but they want me to call them on the phone (dafuq?), which I can't and don't want to do, and is probably useless anyway as I no longer have the receipt.)  So I'm thinking perhaps this might be a Rockbox problem, since the Sony fixes don't work?  Maybe?  Or maybe it's not.

My question to you folks is:  Is there any combination of Rockbox key-pushing I can try to get it to start or be recognized by a computer, like maybe holding down the "reset" and the "left"  and "home" all at once while jumping on one foot, something I haven't tried?  Is this problem familiar to anyone?  Is it possible it's bricked even though I've performed no recent updates of any kind?  (Incidentally, I haven't dropped it either.)

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions anyone can offer for me to try, as I am wallowing in poverty and losing my music player would make me very sad.  Very sad indeed.  I will cry and cry and have no music to block out the sounds of my own sad-making, as the radio is completely un-listen-to-able.  (Seriously I hate the radio, holy god three minutes of it and I want to kill myself, how do people listen to it all day??)

[Strife89]

On the off-chance that you haven't tried it (I didn't see mention of it in your post) ... have you tried holding the Power button for 30 seconds or so? (Is there a power button? I can't find any photographs of that device that make the answer clear.)

I've had this happen to me before; on rare occasions, Rockbox may freeze while the screen is off, making the player appear dead; but holding the power button for a short while forces it to shut off on most players, at which point you can just reboot.

If you plug in some headphones, you may even hear a little pop when/if it shuts down.

Hope this helps!

[JosieQ]

On the off-chance that you haven't tried it (I didn't see mention of it in your post) ... have you tried holding the Power button for 30 seconds or so? (Is there a power button? I can't find any photographs of that device that make the answer clear.)

I've had this happen to me before; on rare occasions, Rockbox may freeze while the screen is off, making the player appear dead; but holding the power button for a short while forces it to shut off on most players, at which point you can just reboot.

If you plug in some headphones, you may even hear a little pop when/if it shuts down.

Hope this helps!

Ugh, I don't know why I didn't see this reply until just now!  I never got a notification.  >.<

Well, sorry for the super-late response, but yes I have tried the holding the power button thing.  (There is a power button.)

I actually know that little pop you're talking about!  I had the same thing on my Sansa Fuse when I had that ages ago (since broken) with Rockbox on it, and it would occasionally do that appear-dead-but-pop and you could restart it.  Since you just reminded me, I plugged in the headphones just to see and tried the power button thing, but alas I got not even a pop.

I'm thinking it's probably dead forever, which is a damn shame because I am a pauper and I paid actual real money (as, uh, opposed to fake money) for this and it didn't last a year.  DX  Sony won't do crap about it (emailed them several times), so unless someone stumbles upon this thread and knows a magic key-press combination, then I'm going to have to resign myself to a fate with no music forever.

Thanks for the attempt though, Strife.  :]

[Serenity]

Have you tried getting the player in to Recovery mode? (http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyNWZE380) That could also have been what you referred to when you mentioned plugging in with Reset held, in which case, disregard.

I'm just thinking if you can get into Recovery mode, you might be able to reinstall the original firmware and start over, though that may wipe your music in the process.

[JosieQ]

Have you tried getting the player in to Recovery mode? (http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyNWZE380) That could also have been what you referred to when you mentioned plugging in with Reset held, in which case, disregard.

I'm just thinking if you can get into Recovery mode, you might be able to reinstall the original firmware and start over, though that may wipe your music in the process.

Thank you Serenity, but yes that is exactly what I meant.  I did do those specific recovery options and they didn't work for me.  DX

On a side note, great name and avatar!  BROWNCOOOOOOOOATS!!  *Triumphant fist in the air*

(Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night crying and I don't know why, until I remember that there was only ever one season and one movie, and I lie awake sobbing until I'm finally too tired to remain awake anymore.  What?  Who said get over it it's been over a decade?  I CAN'T IT STILL HURTS.)

[Serenity]

It DOES still hurt! But I enjoyed the movie very much and thought it was a wonderful wrap-up for the show.

That doesn't mean I was ready for the show to end, though!