Question for RussSchultz

[mrtwice99]

Russ,

I came across a post on this forum that said you work on the Sigmatel MP3 chip software. Would you have any interest in helping me get some files off a Zen V that comes up as "Player Recovery Device Class"? Creative has no interest in helping and I have scoured the net looking for answers. I have found several firmware update programs for other MP3 players that will recognize my device but they (of course) fail when trying to install the firmware. Creative's firmware upgrade program will not recognize the device.

I have a recording on the device that I would REALLY like to save. I couldn't care less about the player itself at the moment.

Thanks.

 

[RussSchultz]

When it comes up like that, it means its boot image is corrupted in some fashion and our boot rom rejects it, going into recovery mode. Probably not a surprise to you, but I thought I'd share.

I could just be a corrupted boot image, or it could be that the entire flash is corrupted or failing.

For our reference design, the 'updater' downloads a temporary piece of firmware that can access the media, etc. prior to doing the full update (which would give you a chance to see if the files are there).

Unfortunately, the Zen V isn't based on the reference design, so I doubt our reference firmware would even work on it. Our reference design, for example, talks directly to the NAND chips, but the Zen V design has an external NAND controller.

My best suggestion is try the Creative firmware upgrade for it, and hope for the best.

Sorry I don't have any better news.

 

[mrtwice99]

Russ,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have tried Creative's recovery tool which is supposed to be able to restore the firmware when it has been lost, but it doesn't recognize the device. I have also tried the normal firmware update tool they use, but it doesn't recognize the device either.

I did manage to find some software for a Toshiba player that actually recognized the player. However, it would continually fail to install the firmware (which makes sense since it was the wrong firmware). However, I noticed their firmware updater program outlined four files that looked important and read somewhere else that those files were collectively important to getting the firmware on the device. So, I tried using a program called "Sigmatel Firmware Extractor" to get the firmware off of a brand new Zen V that I bought. However, that program didn't even recognize the brand new device.

At this point, I guess I am just out of luck. I don't even know if the recording is still on there and I have wasted 10+ hours trying to figure it out.

Oh yah, the reason the player is having problems is because my wife accidentally put it through the washing machine

 

[Rainbow Man]

Maybe you could unsolder the flash chip itself and resolder it into an identical MP3 player.

Wilsd shot into the dark - and you'd have to waste moeny on buying another player and potentially destroying that one too - but if your file is important enough maybe it's worth it to you I don't know..

Anyway, good luck to you whatever you decide.
Peace.