Dead Jukebox Recorder

[snakey]

howdy,

I have had my JBR20 for a little over a year. I had to resolder the joints on it once before, and had no other trouble until a couple weeks ago.

I was transferring a recording to the 'puter when it died in the middle of the transfer.

Naturally, I thought the joints had broken again, so I resoldered them. Now, the unit still doesn't work, and when I plug in the AC adapter, not even the green lite comes on.

Is there anything I can do about fixing it? Any help would be awesome.

thanks

[snakey]

OK -- I resoldered the joints *again* and now when I plug in the AC adapter, it still won't turn on, but there's the faintest, subtle clicking sound. It's a rapid clicking -- almost a whir.

Any ideas?

[scorche]

Do you feel movement or if you put your ear up to it, can you tell if it is the hard drive?

Difficult to tell from your description, but I think that I and many others have had the same problem (although there are a few differences in what I experienced and what you are describing).  On one of my recorders, I just left it plugged in for a while and it magically fixed itself.  My other one is still dead. 

[snakey]

I can't tell if it's the HD or not.  . . it clicks about 10-15 times a second and is very faint. If I hold the on button, the clicking changes somewhat -- the clicking continues, but stutters a bit.

If it is the HD, is there a fix?

thanks

[scorche]

If it is the HD, you can simply replace it with another 2.5" hard drive.

If you really want to go that route, I would recommend getting one from a retail store so that if it is not the hard drive after all, you can still return it and not be out any money.

[snakey]

OK, so if it is the HD -- is there a rockbox guide to dissassembling the HD and replacing it out there? I hope so, because resoldering the joints has been enough of a pain already. It looks like replacing the HD is going to be at least twice as bad.  . .
 

[scorche]

It really is a piece of cake.  There are links to disassembling the device that can be accessed through the "documentation" link on the side.  Although, if you resoldered your device before, I am sure that you already know all this.

After you have taken your device apart, the worst is over.  You need to slide the drive out (I use a mini flathead screwdriver to make things simpler).  Then, (carefully!) take off the metal plate that is on the top of the drive.  It is best to do this very slowly, as there are adhesive strips that will be reused for sticking the plate onto the new drive.  Then, attach the plate to the new drive while being careful not to cover the "breather holes" on it.  Finally, slide the drive back in and reassemble your device.

Keep in mind that this is solely the hardware end of it.  For your issue, I would leave the Archos disassembled and not put the plate on (or even take it off) until you know for sure if the new drive fixes your problem.  Also, it might be wise (and faster) to format the drive and load any files in an enclosure or a 2.5" HD adapter rather than through the player, although there are no barriers to doing it through the player.

Good luck!  And, I hope that this is your issue.