Andy Mancini
11-12-2005, 11:49 AM
It was supposed to be so easy.
As I've said before, I own a Nomad Zen Xtra hard drive music player, which I love to death. Yes, the interface can be a tad "wonky" at times, but the sound quality more than makes up for it. It's reliable, sturdy as hell... and as of two in the morning, a giant paperweight. I tried to upgrade the firmware, and it pooped out on me midway through. Now, I'm rather expirienced when it comes to flashing firmware. My Linksys router? No problem. My dad's iPod Shuffle? Stupidly easy. My GP32? Went without a hitch. Even upgrading my girlfriend's Neuros II (it's completely open-source... the new one will run on Linux) was easy. But this... this was something else. It was all going fine, until it told me to hit the reset button on the player. The reset button, for those who don't know, is one of those little ones that requires a a pin or a mechanical pencil to use. I grabbed a pencil, but it was too late. The thing reset on its own. Instead of finishing the upgrade, it claimed that I had a "firmware problem" and kicked me back to the recovery screen. My computer refuses to admit that it's even connected. To quote Futurama, I'm boned.
And there you have it. I have absolutely no idea what to do now. It can't be upgraded, my warranty is long gone, I don't have the money to buy a new one, and asking for a new player for Christmas is simply not an option. The only thing that I can think of doing is trading in my Xbox (with the games, controllers, and VGA box) and my G Gundam boxset. I really do not want to part with Domon, but I don't know what else to do.
EDIT: There is, believe it or not, a good side to this. After doing a little investigating, nearly everyone who tried to upgrade to the new "Plays for sure" firmware got screwed over. For some, it freezes while uploading music. For others, it'll randomly format the contents of their players for no apparent reason. Perhaps the worst one was the guy whose system will not even boot up anymore. Hell, at least mine turns on.
As I've said before, I own a Nomad Zen Xtra hard drive music player, which I love to death. Yes, the interface can be a tad "wonky" at times, but the sound quality more than makes up for it. It's reliable, sturdy as hell... and as of two in the morning, a giant paperweight. I tried to upgrade the firmware, and it pooped out on me midway through. Now, I'm rather expirienced when it comes to flashing firmware. My Linksys router? No problem. My dad's iPod Shuffle? Stupidly easy. My GP32? Went without a hitch. Even upgrading my girlfriend's Neuros II (it's completely open-source... the new one will run on Linux) was easy. But this... this was something else. It was all going fine, until it told me to hit the reset button on the player. The reset button, for those who don't know, is one of those little ones that requires a a pin or a mechanical pencil to use. I grabbed a pencil, but it was too late. The thing reset on its own. Instead of finishing the upgrade, it claimed that I had a "firmware problem" and kicked me back to the recovery screen. My computer refuses to admit that it's even connected. To quote Futurama, I'm boned.
And there you have it. I have absolutely no idea what to do now. It can't be upgraded, my warranty is long gone, I don't have the money to buy a new one, and asking for a new player for Christmas is simply not an option. The only thing that I can think of doing is trading in my Xbox (with the games, controllers, and VGA box) and my G Gundam boxset. I really do not want to part with Domon, but I don't know what else to do.
EDIT: There is, believe it or not, a good side to this. After doing a little investigating, nearly everyone who tried to upgrade to the new "Plays for sure" firmware got screwed over. For some, it freezes while uploading music. For others, it'll randomly format the contents of their players for no apparent reason. Perhaps the worst one was the guy whose system will not even boot up anymore. Hell, at least mine turns on.