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#284827 - 26/07/2006 00:19 Car Mode VS Home Mode problems
kendrick
member

Registered: 09/12/2003
Posts: 150
When I plug my empeg into the sled in the car I usually get like hard drive no found error. When i plug up in the house via the ac adapter boots up fine everytime. ANy ideas?

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#284828 - 26/07/2006 04:49 Re: Car Mode VS Home Mode problems [Re: kendrick]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
If this always happens exactly as you're describing it (in other words, the failure never ever ever happens indoors, but it sometimes happens in the car), then the most likely problem is voltage.

The disk drives require more electricity to power on and spin up than they do for normal use. When you first power on the player, it draws about 1000ma at 12 volts. If the main power wire (yellow) to the player isn't able to supply quite that much, you would very likely get a hard disk not found error.

Check the wiring, check all fuses, especially the inline fuse on the yellow wire. If your connections are crimped, solder them instead. Check for the wires pulled out problem. Check to make sure your car's battery, charging system, and voltage regulator are doing the right things and supplying enough power. Check to make sure you haven't wired the amplifiers wrong, such as wiring the amplifiers to the dash harness (amps should be run directly to the battery with heavy gauge wire).

If, on the other hand, you still occasionally get Hard Disk Not Found message when you're in the house, then forget what I said above. It's one of the usual problems, and the reason it's coming up mostly in the car is temperature differences, thermal cycling causing components to expand and contract, making cracked solder joints or badly crimped cables lose their connection. Or, possibly, extreme temperatures making the disk drive fail or perhaps hit its thermal cutoff.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#284829 - 26/07/2006 08:11 Re: Car Mode VS Home Mode problems [Re: tfabris]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
One other thing to look for - do you have one of Mark's docking stations? It uses the empeg's wire loom instead of the power brick connector to supply power to the player.

If you have one of the docks, and it works in there as well, it eliminates the power path from the loom inside the empeg. If it fails, it means the empeg is suspect and to look for a problem there.

Try Tony's recommendations first - that is more likely.
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

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