I recently replaced a failed IBM 10GB drive with an IBM 18GB and it was working fine until last weekend (it was in about two weeks). Now it will only play in the car for 2-5 minutes before it starts stuttering and will freeze up within 10 minutes. When it freezes, it often won't power off when I turn off the ignition (don't know if that's helpful info or not). I don't think it's related, but I did put emphatic on this weekend, though it isn't loading on the player now (the file is still on the player, but I took the line out of the config that starts it). This is a RioCar running 2.00 with hijack. The player works fine on AC (ran it for about five hours last night without any problems), so I don't think it's a problem with the player's hardware, with the possible exception of the IDE cable (can someone help me out and tell me if a bad cable would act this way ?). The HDD doesn't seem bad; the player boots quickly and has NO problems when running on AC power and runs quiet - none of the whirr-clack noises you'd associate with a bad HDD.

Greetings!

The symptoms could be a cable or cold solder joint. You said that it works fine on AC power. The fact that it is not going off after the key is pulled may or may not mean anything - some cars will keep the accessories "live" for a period of time after the key is pulled.

Have you noticed any other symptoms in the car? Battery icon? Is it only when it is really hot / cold out? You may want to open the unit and verify the cable connections, and to see if it is from the batch of bad cables.

You say that it's normal in some cars for the accessories to stay on after the key is off; but my player only stays on if it has locked up. Otherwise, it shuts down when the key is pulled.

No other symptoms that I can think of. Temperature doesn't seem to make a difference (it's never cool in KC in July, but it was below 80 this morning and I had the same problem as described; same thing yesterday afternoon when it was 90+). I'll check the cable and solder joint tonight when I get home.

If it's actually crashed then it won't power off properly since the software/firmware itself does it.

Agreed. That is a rather hard crash, though...

You might want to try disabling any third party software, just to see if that corrects the problem. Are you doing any DC power specific things with hijack and your config.ini?

It could freeze because of a kernel panic if it notices that it can't read the disk properly. That's the most benign thing I can think of which would point to a bad joint or cable.
Any chance of plugging a laptop into the serial connector on the sled and making a log?

I'd thought about getting rid of hijack, but I couldn't convince myself that the problem was there, as it's fine under AC power. I guess I'll add that to the list of things I'm doing tonight.
I don't think I've got any DC-only specifications (I know my lack of Linux ability is showing here) - they'd be specified in the config wouldn't they ? Something like ;@DC ?

Exactly. I would not get rid of hijack, but you may want to disable any advanced settings and start from a basic configuration.

Also, if you force to "DC Power" mode, do you see the same problem?

I'm really hoping it's a bad cable. This is the 3rd HDD I've had with this player (and, to be fair, I don't think this is a bad HDD (at least not yet)).

I'm not sure when I'd be able to hook up a laptop; probably not until this weekend, if then. How do I get it to create a log once I've got it connected ? Is it just a copy of the output that I can get from a hyperterminal connection ?

The only settings I've added/changed in hijack are some ir_translate (hope I've got that right) so I can use my car stereo's remote. And it has the output=1 that's necessary for emphatic.

When you talk about forcing DC mode, is that one of the hijack options ? I seem to recall seeing something like that there, but I can't bring up the player now (being at work and all).

It should be part of the hijack menu, if I remember correctly.

Yeah. Just copy the stuff that appears on the hyperterminal window. I can't remember the serial port speed though in the car. I think it's 9600 instead of 115200.

Standard in DC mode is 4800 (due to that's the GPS rate, normally), unless it has changed in one of the latest versions of Hijack.

Stig

Ah okay. You can tell how many times I've used the serial port in the car! Found it in the FAQ as well

I'm wondering about power spikes...Or loose sled connector wires.

I can check for loose wires when I pull the sled out to build a log (via serial). How would I be able to check for power spikes ? I've a buddy who's an electrician; is there something I should ask him to check with regard to power spikes ?

Hmm. I don't know whether the average household electrician would have appropriate tools. It really needs a scope to look at that.

Do you mean it turns off immediately when you turn off the power?

This would indicate a common sled wiring fault. Have a look in the FAQ.

Do you mean it turns off immediately when you turn off the power?
This would indicate a common sled wiring fault. Have a look in the FAQ.

No, that wasn't the fault as bauble reported it, the statement was the opposite...........

Quote 1) ............but my player only stays on if it has locked up. Otherwise, it shuts down when the key is pulled.

Quote 2) When it freezes, it often won't power off when I turn off the ignition.

Having said that, given the problems only occur in the car I think I'd be checking my sled wiring as you recommended

Cheers, Sim

OK; I wasn't able to open up theplayer last night (I got home way too late), but I did borrow a laptop and connected to the player through it. I've (hopefully) attached a text file with the hyperterminal messages.

Is it supposed to be so different from what I see when connecting when it's not in the car ?

Also, the message at the end ("VM: do_try_to_free_pages failed for kswapd...") would come up with every skip.

Here's a copy of the hyperterminal text that I got this morning.

You're correct, simspos: it not shutting off when it locks up (intermittently).
I was thinking that the problem might be with the sled, but what should I check for ? I've got it loose, but not disconnected (that is, the sled is not attached to the bay, but all the wiring is still attached), and there's nothing that blatantly obvious to my admittedly untrained eye.

Could you post your config.ini file? That might help. The error looks like the player is trying to swap out memory and cannot do it, or that the player application is running out of memory.

Sure; here's a copy of the config.ini:

[synchronise]
seq_num=69
[wendy]
flag_amount=0
[custom]
wendy=
[searches]
amount=0
[VisualFavourites_AM]
count=0
[VisualFavourites_AUX]
count=0
[VisualFavourites_DSP]
count=0
[VisualFavourites_FM]
count=0
[display]
play_count=1
visual_names=1
caching=0
[kenwood]
disabled=0
[menu]
quit=0
sort_playlist=1
[shuffle]
deduplicate=1
[hush]
hushpercent=20
[volumecap]
enabled=0
[ramp]
disabled=0
[controls]
stalk_side=none
[tuner]
region=us
[Options]
Name=Phoenix
[User Info]
Email=agramon@bigfoot.com
Phone=816-250-xxxx
Name=Bob L
[sense]
muteaction=0
mute=-1
[power]
off_timeout=60000
[aux]
source=
title=
artist=
[Network]
Gateway=0.0.0.0
Netmask=255.255.255.0
IPAddress=10.168.2.50
DHCP=0

[output]
notify=1

[hijack]


[ir_translate]
00AD5240=Top
00AD5243=Right
00AD5241=Bottom
00AD5242=Left

00AD5258=Shuffle

Hmm... Okay. Nothing that I was looking for (DC only settings, reservecache, etc.)

Is there anyone physically nearby with an empeg that you could use to help test? Try your unit in their car and try their unit in yours?

I'd thought that that was what that error might be indicating. But I'm stuck as for why it's only a problem in the car and not at home. I don't think I'm running anything different on DC v. AC.

I really don't know if there's anyone in the area (Kansas City). I'm inclined to think the problem may be with the sled, but I don't know any way to test it other than a swap-out as you'd suggested.

It's definately not supposed to do that. It's the kernel complaining about the swapper kernel thread not being able to free a page. Odd. I've never come across that error before. It's especially strange that it only happens in the car. Mark Lord may be able to help if he's somewhere near a computer on his travels...

Don't know if it's related (though I don't see how it could be), but I had problems when installing emphatic (due to my lack of knowledge with Linux) and I ended up with 3 copies of the emphatic file (2 in the root and one in /bin if I'm remembering correctly). The 2 in the root were created (I think) because I didn't have a /usr/bin directory (whatever the default for emphatic is, I may have mis-remembered) when I ran the emphatic install. I later modified the install to put the file in the /bin directory. I'd assumed that the choice of directory wouldn't make a difference. And I didn't (and don't) know how to remove the extra copies.

As I said, I don't think this could cause this problem (espcially since it's only a problem when in the car), but since I can't say for sure, I figured I'd fess up.

Worst case, you could always flash back to the stock kernel and see if that fixes everything. Annoying, but it might be a quick fix, or a troubleshooting step.