Frozen iRiver. (Brrr.)

April 6, 2006 4:33 PM

My iRiver U10 is freeze-happy.

So I've been having a bit of trouble with my iRiver U10. When I try to connect it to the PC (Win2K), it hangs during the connection sequence. Every time, any PC, at the exact same point. The PC, for its part, doesn't seem to care either way. (I haven't tried it with XP.)

So, I email tech support. U10 freezes, can't get connectivity to PC, everything else works on the device for playing music, etc. The only way to unfreeze is to reset the device.

Their response? Download and install the new firmware. Which is not exactly possible when, y'know, the thing keeps freezing.

Any similar problems? Sensible resolutions? Workaround fixes?

posted by mykescipark to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I have an iRiver HP-120. About a year ago it was hung on a "Connected" screen regardless if I was connected to a computer. I tried to constantly reset in order to upgrade the firmware (as recommended by the tech support e-mail response), but ultimately, I had to call iRiver to get a case number and mail my player to the iRiver Tech department.

In about three weeks, they sent me a new player sans attachments.

So, your best bet would be to get Tech support on the phone, get a case number, and send them your player. It is an inconvienence, but it will get your player fixed.
posted by Benway at 4:39 PM on April 6, 2006

We had the same problem with an iRiver, but had luckily purchased the evil Best Buy warranty, as the player was for the boy, who is 13. We took it in to Best Buy and they didn't even bother looking at the thing. Said it was "not an uncommon problem with those things" and gave us a voucher for the full purchase price.
posted by ersatzkat at 5:10 PM on April 6, 2006

I'm not sure if this will solve your particular problem, but there's a thread on the MisticRiver forums about getting a U10 to work with Win2K. If it doesn't work, you might want to look around or ask there - there's often good information there.

Otherwise, your best option is probably to contact tech support again and tell them that it's just not going to work. I had an iRiver H320 that started shutting itself off during playback a few months ago. It took tech support a little bit to get back to me initially, but once they sent me a RMA (return merchandise authorization) number, replacement was very quick. I got a new player (again sans attachments) about a week after I mailed my defective one in.
posted by Aster at 5:57 PM on April 6, 2006

Update the firmware from another computer. Then wait a couple of months for the RockBox folks to get their software for the U10.

Aster: I have an H320 as well, which I got specifically because RockBox development was well underway for that iRiver line. The current stage of development is about a million times better than the stock iRiver firmware--you might want to check it out. (On-the-fly playlists, album art, recording level meters, etc.)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:23 PM on April 6, 2006

Oh, and you can play Doom on it, as well as any GameBoy Advanced ROM.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:24 PM on April 6, 2006

I second visiting mistic river reccomend, as well as the h320 rawkin'. Put the korean firmware on it, and you can even play XViD encoded video!

Myself, I'm waiting for the official Rockbox release at the beginning of may before I switch away from the official release. I hear there's quite a nasty power consumption issue with Rb in the current beta...
posted by rabble at 10:52 AM on April 9, 2006

Yeah, I've read that in the forums, but as someone who's currently running one of the beta-builds, I haven't noticed anything amiss. I think this might be one of those "you only read about the people with problems, not the people without problems" kind-of-things.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:11 PM on April 9, 2006