Rockbox Technical Forums

Support and General Use => Hardware => Topic started by: R_S_W on December 06, 2004, 07:44:43 PM

Title: Big Problems!
Post by: R_S_W on December 06, 2004, 07:44:43 PM
Hi,

I'm glab to be the owner of an Archos Jukebox Recorder 20. But I have also a big problem with my Jukebox for a few weeks. Suddenly and without any reason, my Jukebox couldn't get started any more. There was everytime a message like: "Read access error! Can't read from hard drive" and once (really just onetime) the Jukebox told me to reformat the disk with an 16 or 32 bit format. But how can I do this? I mean, the computer doesn't find the harddrive with this error and so I'm not really able to format anything. Please give me some Tips.

Thanks, Bob!
Title: Re: Big Problems!
Post by: LinusN on December 07, 2004, 01:33:14 AM
Sounds like the usual power problems. Do you hear the hard drive spin?

1) Try replacing the batteries with fresh ones

2) Check this page: http://www.rockbox.org/docs/repairbattery.html

...and to save us some time, let me tell you that just measuring the battery voltage is not enough to see if they are OK. A battery can show the correct voltage, but not be able to deliver enough current to spin up the hard drive.
Title: Re: Big Problems!
Post by: R_S_W on December 07, 2004, 01:23:01 PM
Yes, I hear it spin. But it doesn't sound very well.
Maybe the batteries are always too low, because I'm not charging with the correct charger?
I baught my Jukebox in Germany, but now I'm in Canada and how you can imagine, the plug sockets are different. And I'm charging with another power pack (volts are the same but there are just 300 mAh, while the original charger from archos has around 600).
I will change it, to look if it works.

Thanks, Bob!
Title: Re: Big Problems!
Post by: LinusN on December 07, 2004, 07:03:37 PM
300mAh is way too low. I suggest you get a 12V/1A regulated supply, that's the optimal charger for the Rockbox charging algorithm.
Title: Re: Big Problems!
Post by: R_S_W on December 08, 2004, 01:10:09 PM
Just a little question: Why should i use a 12V charger? There are just four piles with 1.2V everyone. And even the original charger has just 6V I think.
Title: Re: Big Problems!
Post by: LinusN on December 09, 2004, 08:02:38 AM
The original charger is 9V. The charging regulator needs an external voltage that is higher than the battery voltage. Experiments have shown that 11-12V is the optimum voltage for the recorder hardware.

See this page, especially question 10:

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BatteryFAQ