FiiO M3K Install (Native port)

[projeKct]

The first and simplest thing I would suggest is make sure you're pressing Play+VolUp together, and keep holding them down, until the Fiio recovery screen shows. And make sure you are NOT holding down VolDown by accident because that will override any other keys. If it's truly not working, then read on.

OK, I've done exactly that, I still have the black LCD screen but button lights on. As other user 7o9 said, I think I get to USB boot mode. So when I press VolDown+Power or Play+VolUp+Power, it gets to the same place: USB boot mode. But I want to be able to get to FiiO recovery mode.

If for some reason some part of your flash got corrupted/wiped, I have a full flash dump you could recover with. Unfortunately I don't have anything rigged up to easily dump or restore bits & pieces of the flash. I can spin up something but it may take a couple of weeks.

I think that could help, even if I don't understand exactly what you mean by "anything rigged up to easily dump or restore bits & pieces of the flash". But if you can help, even if I wait several weeks, I would be very glad and grateful. 

If you really need to use the Fiio recovery, and you took a bootloader backup (fiiom3k-boot.bin), then you can restore it using the RB bootloader. That will restore the Fiio bootloader and should let you access the recovery. But this will only work if the rest of the flash is intact, which you can't easily determine yet.

Sadly, I think I made a mistake... I didn't make a backup before flashing my M3K, only after. So when I choose the Restore option, it says "Success" but changes nothing. 

[projeKct]

Is my player bricked?

I might be reading your post wrong, but it sounds like you can get in Rockbox (power) and the original firmware (power+play) but just not in the original firmware recovery.

That's exactly it! And you're right, I misused the word "bricked", because I can still use my player with Rockbox (version 75524a7eec-211002) and with FiiO (FW 1.4.5) but I can't reach the original firmware recovery mode. So it's not the end of the world, but I find it kind of stressful anyway. 

[7o9]

Is my player bricked?

I might be reading your post wrong, but it sounds like you can get in Rockbox (power) and the original firmware (power+play) but just not in the original firmware recovery.

That's exactly it! And you're right, I misused the word "bricked", because I can still use my player with Rockbox (version 75524a7eec-211002) and with FiiO (FW 1.4.5) but I can't reach the original firmware recovery mode. So it's not the end of the world, but I find it kind of stressful anyway. 

I understand your stress, but that is great news. First of all you can still actually use your player but it will also make support much easier.

Your device is pretty much still working. I think if you were to put the original FiiO firmware update file on your sd card and boot the original firmware (play+power), it will flash your M3K back to original (removing Rockbox in the process).

There is very little need to ever get to the FiiO recovery. I do not know how you intend to use your player but for straight music playback Rockbox is so much more versatile. If you want to use the USB DAC or bluetooth fucntionality, you still need the original firmware but you can get to that. I also doubt there will be any FiiO firmware updates as the player seems end-of-life.

[projeKct]

Is my player bricked?

I might be reading your post wrong, but it sounds like you can get in Rockbox (power) and the original firmware (power+play) but just not in the original firmware recovery.

That's exactly it! And you're right, I misused the word "bricked", because I can still use my player with Rockbox (version 75524a7eec-211002) and with FiiO (FW 1.4.5) but I can't reach the original firmware recovery mode. So it's not the end of the world, but I find it kind of stressful anyway. 

I think if you were to put the original FiiO firmware update file on your sd card and boot the original firmware (play+power), it will flash your M3K back to original (removing Rockbox in the process).

But when I (or even you) press on Play+Power, it does not flash the player, it only starts the player in FiiO mode (and this is the way it's supposed to be). For me it's the Play+VolUp+Power combination that does not work. That should, in theory (I never seen it worked, so I guess) leads to the FiiO firmware update screen.

[7o9]

Ok, I was not entirely sure about that.

For me the FiiO recovery does work after installing Rockbox.

I hold play and volume and then press and hold power until the 'Welcome' text shows on the lcd. Initially the button light is on, then the button light gets even brighter and then finally the lcd turns on. This takes about 4 to 5 seconds total.

[amachronic]

If for some reason some part of your flash got corrupted/wiped, I have a full flash dump you could recover with. Unfortunately I don't have anything rigged up to easily dump or restore bits & pieces of the flash. I can spin up something but it may take a couple of weeks.

I think that could help, even if I don't understand exactly what you mean by "anything rigged up to easily dump or restore bits & pieces of the flash". But if you can help, even if I wait several weeks, I would be very glad and grateful. 

Sorry if that was unclear, I mean there's no easy, user friendly way for you to dump and restore bits and pieces of the flash so we can see what's going on.

If you really need to use the Fiio recovery, and you took a bootloader backup (fiiom3k-boot.bin), then you can restore it using the RB bootloader. That will restore the Fiio bootloader and should let you access the recovery. But this will only work if the rest of the flash is intact, which you can't easily determine yet.

Sadly, I think I made a mistake... I didn't make a backup before flashing my M3K, only after. So when I choose the Restore option, it says "Success" but changes nothing. 

No worries, at least your player is otherwise usable.

I think if you were to put the original FiiO firmware update file on your sd card and boot the original firmware (play+power), it will flash your M3K back to original (removing Rockbox in the process).

But when I (or even you) press on Play+Power, it does not flash the player, it only starts the player in FiiO mode (and this is the way it's supposed to be).

I think what 7o9 is referring to is a menu option within the Fiio firmware to start a firmware upgrade. You can try this, but I don't believe it will work if the Rockbox bootloader is installed (but it won't harm your player so feel free to try it -- I may be wrong about how it works).

[projeKct]

I think what 7o9 is referring to is a menu option within the Fiio firmware to start a firmware upgrade.

Oh, I didn't know that such an option exists. Where is it? I don't see it under "System settings".

By the way, would it be possible for me to do something with jztool.exe? Can I use it with other parameters and/or files to restore the standard FiiO firmware? Just asking...

[dconrad]

Just out of curiosity, I just tried to get into FiiO Recovery mode (PWR+play+vol_up) on my own M3K and it also shows a black screen with just the keypad light on. I wonder if some units will do that and some units work fine? I don't think it needs the firmware file there in order to do the initial boot.

I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to need that mode, but just for a data point...

[7o9]

When it finds a firmware file I think it will start flashing without prompt so even if the lcd does not show what is going on, it might flash the original firmware just fine. I should really try that but I like my Rockbox too much.

[amachronic]

Just out of curiosity, I just tried to get into FiiO Recovery mode (PWR+play+vol_up) on my own M3K and it also shows a black screen with just the keypad light on. I wonder if some units will do that and some units work fine? I don't think it needs the firmware file there in order to do the initial boot.

I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to need that mode, but just for a data point...

Maybe there's two slight hardware variants and this has something to do with it? There was definitely that clocking problem which caused the early bootloaders to hang on your unit (and others) but not mine.

[projeKct]

When it finds a firmware file I think it will start flashing without prompt so even if the lcd does not show what is going on, it might flash the original firmware just fine. I should really try that but I like my Rockbox too much.

Nice idea! I tried it, and wait for a very long time, but nothing happened (besides the button lights staying on). I really think that, for an unknown reason, it goes to USB boot mode instead of FiiO recovery mode. Maybe more people can test (like dconrad just did) the Play+VolUp+Power combination and see what it does? I think you can do it without flashing the player: just remove the SD card.

[globalc]

Thanks a lot for the port, been using it since months!

I just wanted to updated to a daily build from yesterday, and that one does not boot. Going back: I see this: until 2021-10-15, things are good. 2021-10-17 and 18 report after boot that the battery needs to be charged and shut down. 2021-10-21 is not booting, drops into the bootloader. Maybe the guide on the first page should hint at a known-to-be-good build?

[amachronic]

globalc,

When the bootloader can't boot Rockbox, it should say "Error loading Rockbox" followed by an error message. What error message do you get? And what bootloader version do you have installed? it's shown at the bottom of the screen in the recovery menu.

The low battery shutdown bug is a separate issue, that was introduced by commit 7a5130a277 and should be fixed in builds from the 19th onward. If you're still getting that (once Rockbox is actually booting) you can try this build and let me know if it fixes it --

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/10SSqteHAQbOuF6_OUyNHpbL6FCD_kBy-/view?usp=sharing

The two issues should be unrelated, BTW, since I haven't updated the bootloader since the shutdown bug was introduced.

[baka_toroi]

Another successful installation completed.
I absolutely love that I can boot to the stock firmware!

[sourex]

Hey. Good Work !!
I installed it using the old method (M3 file on the root directory where the boot looder was included) everything worked out so far. Unfortunately I have a problem, I can't fast forward or rewind Have someone Else that Problem ??