iAUDIO U2 Dead after attempted Firmware Update

[Hud Ronson]

I have read forums upon forums, waited, and attempted to reload firmware, tried a different computer, but all has failed in getting my U2 back up. It is completely dead, and had been fully charged at the time of the attempted firmware upgrade. It would appear all memory and programming is gone. It will not turn on no matter what combinations of buttons are pushed with the hold button off. There is no recognition of the device by the PC, which by the way, is running Windows XP. Any more suggestions? Will be most welcomed.

[soundmax]

Hud, I found this from the http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3698 site. This person revived their U2:

One day I was recharging the battery plugged in my PC, and I had to disconect it.

Then I was going to check de 4.1*v, in the Menu ---> Information...

But my U2 didn't turn off, so I took something for pushing the reset buttom, tried to turn it again... but nothing.

I was so sad, I live in Colombia, and I'm not sure if guarantie would work.

I tried to open it, but couldn't. Next day I asked somebody to open it for me.

But it's not possible to separate battery from the chip.

So I tried in many computers with the "recovery mode", but nothing.

I went home, still thinking I could fix it.

I went to "Add new hardware" and put that it's not connected yet, "next" and clicked where said PC would be turned off and hardware would be detected, and finish.

Pc turned off.

It detected a ST*** something, I had the iaudio CD put in the drive.

Manually put E: Win98 stfmp3rec.inf.

It was installed.

Then I formated putting the firmware 1.35 and it WORKED!!!!!

I'm so happy....!!!!

I love U2, not the group (just a few songs)...

[arbennian]

Soundmax,

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

I case you didn't catch the drift, you just saved my G3. I didn't notice this in the iAudiophile forums because I was looking under the G3 groups. My problem was identical to these two. The latest firmware didn't complete installation and my unit was DEAD. It wouldn't turn on and my computer wouldn't recognize it. I was about to contact Cowon and see if I was covered under warranty until I noticed this post. I have to say that I did not get any response from the manual "Add New Hardware" (ie it didn't detect anything) but out of desperation I tried the firmware install one more time and my G3 responded. I swear I felt like Dr. Frankenstein ("It's ALIVE!!").

Thank you once again for bringing this to my attention. I never would have noticed it under the U2 forums. Perhaps I should start checking out the other categories just to see what else is going on with iAudio.

[soundmax]

Hi arbennian,

This is great to hear. I'm very glad this has helped you.

I hope Hud has sucess as well. Hud, if you are out there, let us know.

[xplizit]

Hi!
great - This thread helped my g3 to go in to "recovery mode" !! =D
But I get the same error message as before...
"Operating system reported error: The semaphore timeout period has expired" when choosing firmware update..

I think its cause of my computer gives the error message "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" when i add new hardware.

how can i fix this?

[GSV3MiaC]

You could try ..

Uninstall all the Iaudio software (Jetshell etc) from control panel, add remove programs. Reboot PC. Re-install version of firmware you want to update to. Reboot PC. Now try again. You also need to let go of the power button and let the G3 turn on at some point - when I saw the 'semaphore timeout' message the G3 was not actually powering on like it should do.

[xplizit]

Ok thanks i try that =)
But how can it power on? shouldn't the battery be out under the whole firmware update?

[GSV3MiaC]

It doesn't use the battery when it's connected to the PC, it powers itself via the USB cable (although it can still be 'off' which is what holding the on button down does I guess)

[heks]

Does anyone know a fix for windows 2000 users? I can't seem to find anything related to an option for rebooting when installing new hardware.

[heks]

Okay. I've now tried the above mentioned fix on an XP and 2000 PC and it doesn't work on either. My U2 is dead after firmware upgrading with 1.40. It said "complete" and all in the program so I had no reason to suspect that the player wouldn't boot after disconnecting it from the PC. Had I known, I would have given it an earlier f/w because now it doesnt respond at all, and the PC doesn't recognize it at all (nothing happens). I'm pretty sure it's toast.

Looking at what other users wrote on this forum it seems I'm gonna have to wait a long time for any sort of response from the tech support of Cowon.... oh joy.