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rio car dot org FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)



Category: Main -> Known problems and troubleshooting questions
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·  Why do the visuals disappear every time I put it in the car? 
·  Why is the stereo image of my MP3 messed up? 
·  I get a 'pump' error when I try to upgrade my player firmware. 
·  I get a Windows Installer or MSI error when I install Emplode. 
·  I'm having trouble with my tuner module! 
·  My tuner gets terrible reception, but the extension cable is fine. 
·  My tuner doesn't tune in the correct frequency increments. 
·  When I pause/un-pause, or sleep/wake the player, it starts in a different part of the song. 
·  Why don't fast forward and rewind work properly? 
·  When I pull the power, sometimes it plays a different song when I start it again. 
·  I can't perform an upgrade, install a logo, or install a kernel when the player is in the docking sled. 
·  Why did my player suddenly start freezing at the boot-up logo screen? 
·  Why isn't the headlight-sense dimmer working properly? 
·  Why does my player think it's at home when it's in the car? 
·  Why doesn't my player go into standby mode when I turn off the ignition? 
·  Why is there a 'thump' from my amplifiers when I turn off the ignition? 
·  Why doesn't my Rio Car work in my Mark 2 docking sled? 
·  Why is my docking connector loose? 
·  Why is my Mark 1 getting harder and harder to pull out of the sled? 
·  Why is my Mark 2 hard to pull out of the sled? 
·  Why is my warranty seal already broken? 
·  I get a 'hardware revision check failed' message when I try to upgrade! 
·  Why did ethernet and/or USB quit working after I upgraded the software? 
·  My tuner quit working after an upgrade! 
·  Why is the song count different when I shuffle? 
·  Why can't I figure out how to do searches on the player? 
·  I selected the correct title in a search, and pressed OK, but the song did not play. Why? 
·  Why does Emplode keep getting my tags wrong? 
·  Why can't I read the display in the daylight? 
·  Why am I having problems with my car alarm or my keyless entry system? 
·  My rotary knob is slipping on its shaft! 
·  What do the synchronization errors mean? 
·  The clock on my Mark 1 player does not work. 
·  The clock on my Mark 2 player does not work. 
·  The Mark (cancel) key on the Rio remote doesn't work all the time. 
·  Why is the Shuffle menu backwards? 
·  Why does my player say 'Waiting...' on the screen? 
·  Why does my player rattle when I shake it? 
·  I don't like seeing the circuitry when the sun shines on the player. 
·  I have database errors and all of my playlists disappeared! 
·  Why does Emplode say I have less disk space than I think I should have? 
·  Why does my player sound terribly distorted when I plug it into my home stereo? 
·  My remote control quit working! 
·  I have a Kenwood head unit, and its remote is controlling both players. 
·  Why doesn't Emplode work via USB on Windows? 
·  Why doesn't emplode work via ethernet on Windows XP? 
·  Emplode freezes up on 'Checking Disk Integrity'. 
·  I got an error message about 'e2fsck' at the shell prompt. What do I do to fix it? 
·  My docking sled's top edge is not 'bent'. 
·  Why doesn't my power antenna go up and down at the right time? 
·  The upper-left corner of my screen is cut off. 
·  My config.ini file went all goofy on me, and I can't edit my favorite visuals any more! 
·  My buttons and/or knob are sticking. 
·  What does the battery icon mean? 
·  I just tried to edit one of the visuals, and now my player locks up! 
·  There are glowing red lines on my display! 
·  My display has become garbled or dim. 
·  My display is blank! 
·  Why does my Mk2 player have poor stereo separation? 
·  Why doesn't my player play very high frequencies? 
·  Why doesn't the car player put out as much bass as my CD player? 
·  How do I stop it from trying to play a bad track? 
·  My player takes a long time to boot and says it is Building Music Databases. 
·  Why does it say 'No hard disk found contact support'? 
·  Some wires have pulled out of my docking connector! 
·  My handle doesn't snap back into place as well as it used to. 
·  My handle sticks in the 'open' position. Can I fix it? 
·  There is a gap between the handle and the fascia. Can I fix it? 
·  What is the proper way to remove the display board and the main board? 
·  Why can't I use USB after installing or upgrading Emplode? 
·  Why is my Mark 1 having intermittent power failure problems? 
·  Why are there pops, clicks, screeches, and stutters when I play MP3s? 
·  Half of my display is blank! 
·  In DC mode, player responds extremly slowly to button presses, and music skips. 
·  My Mk2's volume knob is being jumpy! 
·  Why do I get an error message about reiserfs? 
·  Why did my player wake up in the car and start blasting music all by itself? 
·  Why does my player start doing things all by itself? 
·  Why do my remote and front panel buttons only work intermittently? 
·  Why won't the tuner scan for the next station? 
·  Why did the tuner change stations on me? 

·  Is there a way I can test the player's hard disk for sector errors?
 (Entry last updated on May 30th, 2008)

There are three ways to test the player's hard disk for errors. But before doing any of this, please make sure that you're not having hardware disk or cable trouble.

Everything OK in the hardware department? Good. Now, on to the tests...

The first way is to test the filesystem for errors. This checks the organization of the file and folder structures in the event of a crashed synch, a mistake made while messing around at the shell prompt, or some other kind of software glitch. It does not test the hard disk for sector errors, only filesystem errors. The procedure for testing for filesystem errors is outlined here.

The second way is to use the "builder" image that erases the hard disk and puts fresh, blank partitions on it. This includes a stress-testing loop. Follow the instructions in the disk upgrade guide here for details on how to use the builder image. Please note that this is a destructive operation and will erase all your music.

The third way is to use the smartctl utility at the player's shell prompt. The tests described below are nondestructive and will not erase your music.

Using smartctl:

Make sure your player is using the developer version of the player firmware. Instructions for upgrading the player firmware are here.

Make sure the player is using the Hijack Kernel version 426 or later.

Download the smartctl binary file here and save it to your PC's hard disk.

Copy the smartctl binary to the player using one of these methods. You can put the file anywhere you like. I put mine in /drive0/var/smartctl.

Make sure to tag the smartctl binary file as readable and executable (755 if you're using the CHMOD command to do it).

Get to the player's shell prompt as described here.

Change to the directory where smartctl resides. In my case, that was done by typing cd /drive0/var/smartctl at the shell prompt.

From here, you can execute a series of hard disk tests, followed by displaying error reports:

STEP-1:
./smartctl -s on /dev/hda
./smartctl -l error /dev/hda

If the output looks good, next try this:

STEP-2:
./smartctl -t short /dev/hda

Wait a few minutes. The amount of time you must wait is given to you on the screen after you execute the above command. Then do this:

./smartctl -l selftest /dev/hda
./smartctl -l error /dev/hda

Again, if the output looks good, then do the lloonngg test, which will perform a full media scan for bad sectors:

STEP-3:
./smartctl -t long /dev/hda

Wait a long time. The amount of time you must wait is given to you on the screen after you execute the above command. Then do this:

./smartctl -l selftest /dev/hda
./smartctl -l error /dev/hda

If there were hard disk errors, it would show them in the error reports.

If you get errors:
You should probably just toss the disk and get a new one. But if you have reason to believe that you can be happy with repairing a few bad sectors, install a version of Hijack that is build 490 or later, and read this thread on the empeg BBS.


·  Why does it always say End of Playlist? 
·  Is there a master parts list for the car player? 
·  What do the ide_data_test messages mean? 
·  How do I fix the Daylight Savings Time dates on the player? 
·  There are vertical lines on my display! 


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