Rockbox Technical Forums

Support and General Use => Hardware => Topic started by: m03da on December 22, 2018, 06:28:08 PM

Title: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: m03da on December 22, 2018, 06:28:08 PM
I suspect this might have been caused by my player being left in a car all the time and having a condensation build up perhaps, but given how much I don't like the touch interface of the replacement Fuze+, this still might be worth a shot.

The situation as it unfolded:
1) Clip+ has a low battery so I plug it in to my lighter plug charger to give it a boost
2) 10-20min. pass by with the player unattended
3) I try turning it on but it won't and I notice that it's very hot
4) upon closer inspection at home I find that it draws over 1A from the USB when plugged in, thermal picture shows that the main processor gets to well over 80°C almost instantly, other components remain reasonably cool

The player boots up for a brief moment when plugged in, flashes a battery low warning and shuts off. It seems to get stuck in a reboot loop doing this but since the temp and current are so high I haven't tested it for more than a couple of seconds at a time. I tried desoldering the battery to no avail.

Has anyone had this happen to their Clip+? Any suggestions as to where to look, where to poke a meter or scope probes to find out more? Would be greatly appreciated, Fuze+ makes me a dull boy  :'(
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: Bilgus on December 23, 2018, 12:44:00 PM
I'd say with behavior like you describe that poor clip+ is toast.

Have you tried the advanced keylock on the fuze+?
IMO it makes it much better almost usable even :p
Adv Keylock and tweaking the touch area/sensitivity turned mine into a player I actually like using.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: saratoga on December 23, 2018, 12:52:09 PM
If it still boots it's probably fixable if you're handy with electronics. I'd guess a short on the motherboard or a blown up battery.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: m03da on December 24, 2018, 05:59:50 PM
@Bilgus I'm still trying to get the hang of it and tweak it to my liking, problem is that I mostly use PMPs in my car and I rarely pull over just to put on a new album, so the non-haptic-ness of the touchy bit draws more of my attention than I can afford. Just out of curiosity, is any development work being done towards enabling gestures? OF seems to be way more pleasant to control, too bad I hate closed source stuff.

@Saratoga Kinda thought the same, unfortunately no other component seems to be getting warm. My guess would be a blown regulator feeding the full 5V to the SoC... I just don't know where to start :'c

Desoldering the battery was the first thing I tried to no avail. Other than that both thermal image and IPA evaporation test only show the SoC getting toasty and I don't want to risk frying it completely by testing it for longer than a second or two. My knowledge of electronics is mostly on a hobbyist level, the tiny SMD millipedes intimidate me. Might have a word with our electronics guy at work but I doubt he'll be able to debug anything at this level of integration.

Another one bites the dust I guess, too bad nice PMPs are a thing of the past. A phone can never replace a proper Iriver brick with 17 jacks on it.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: gomezz on December 25, 2018, 06:00:48 AM
For playing music from my own collection in the car I have a copy on a USB memory button which is plugged into the radio and can use the radio controls to select and play albums.  That said, I would still pull over to change albums.  For long trips I set up a playlist that is more than long enough before I start maybe changing it when I have a pit stop.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: m03da on December 25, 2018, 08:59:23 AM
@gomezz Unfortunately I have a really nice high-end original stereo and replacing it with an equivalent would be rather costly, not to mention the aesthetics. The previous owner didn't pay for the USB extra and I'm looking into installing the module, but it seems that it only plays MP3s (I'd need to convert my collection) and not in as high a quality as I get through the AUX jack (tested with a coworker who has the same head unit and the USB module fitted).
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: gomezz on December 25, 2018, 01:36:21 PM
Must be quite an old stereo if it did not come with USB as standard?  As for converting the music collection to MP3 there are free bulk converters that you can run on your computer.  I ripped mine to FLAC on my laptop with a working copy on my tablet and MP3 conversions copied to my Clip+ and phone as well as the USB memory button.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: m03da on December 25, 2018, 06:12:47 PM
Unfortunately it's one of the last Mondeos that did not have USB as standard even with the premium audio option selected :'(
As far as conversion goes, yeah, I use gnome soundconverter all the time to get OGGs from FLACs

-BUT-

being a bit of a free software vegan I like to avoid MP3 whenever possible. It's a purism thing, not a technical challenge. Yeah, I'm a weirdo.

But since the Ford USB module doesn't sound too good to begin with, I'll probably be sticking with a nice PMP plugged into the aux jack. Having functional steering wheel controls would be nice, the most important ones (volume) still work though.
Title: Re: Clip+ draws massive current, shuts down
Post by: m03da on January 11, 2019, 04:47:38 PM
Fuze+ update: non-plus Fuze is on its way :D

I'm willing to tolerate the non standard connector in favour of a tactile user interface.