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Old 08-14-2008, 09:39 AM   #1
willgordon
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Exclamation PRS505 Invalid Format (tried EVERYTHING! got an ISO?)

Oh boy am I in trouble. Please HELP!!

The trouble started the first day I got my PRS-505, after a few hours of use, when the buttons became non-responsive. I figured it was the battery, so I charged it. But then the same problem.

It reboots after I press the reset button, and the red light goes on when I charge, via USB, so I figure that it must have plenty of battery at this point. It has never refused the soft reset.

Sooooooo I searched around the forums, and found the pages about 1) doing a hard reset, which didn't work for me despite trying many, many times.

So then I tried 2) reformatting the hard drive which may have been my big mistake. I'm now having the "Invalid Format!" error, with the grayed out screen.

I've tried formatting both with Windows and Mac, FAT16, and no success. I may have messed up the filesystem? Does anybody have a photo of what the filesystem should look like? I didn't make a disk image before... stupid, I know.

If anybody has a disk image I could use to restore the internal memory, or any other tips besides pressing the center button, I'd be SOOOOOOOOOOO grateful.

Thanks!
Will
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:10 AM   #2
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Try formatting from inside the Reader (Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Format Internal Memory). You can also try Restore Defaults for good measure.
If that doesn't help, reapply the firmware update.
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:13 AM   #3
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Exclamation Can't do anything on the reader itself...

The trouble is I can't do anything on the reader itself -- the screen is grayed out and no buttons but the tiny "RESET" button on the back and the power slide on top do anything at all.

Also, just applied the new firmware last night on my girlfriend's PC (I'm on a mac) and won't be able to do anything on that front until late tonight.

Last edited by willgordon; 08-14-2008 at 10:14 AM. Reason: added info about firmware
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:15 AM   #4
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What happens when you press the center button?
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:16 AM   #5
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absolutely nothing... depressing, right?

IF this helps, just to test it, I put the flash updater on an SD card, and it ran it, but in the BG behind the gray screen...

I wasn't able, however, to run any of the programs. Buttons 1-9 did nothing as well.
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Old 08-14-2008, 10:52 AM   #6
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Weird. I had that "invalid format" error once too, and pressing the enter button cleared it right up. In fact, that is how I found this forum.

Given that you indicate that the autorun still works, it seems like your reader is functionally OK - does it still show as a USB drive when connected?

Maybe your enter button is broken? (I know, weird guess). Any chance of returning it/getting the whole thing fixed?

Last edited by acidzebra; 08-14-2008 at 10:59 AM.
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Old 08-14-2008, 11:24 AM   #7
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maybe possible, but I'd like to try and fix it myself, if possible.
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Old 08-14-2008, 11:50 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by willgordon View Post
and the red light goes on when I charge, via USB, so I figure that it must have plenty of battery at this point.
As long as the red LED is on that means your reader is not fully charged. It certainly is no indication for "plenty of battery". The battery may be almost fully charged or nearly depleted. Try to fully charge the reader before trying something else. Charge the reader until the red LED goes off. Only then is the battery fully charged.

Depending on what you use for charging (AC-adapter, powered USB port of PC or notebook etc.), there may be a problem preventing to charge the reader. I you use a PC or notebook, try to unplug all other unpowered USB devices. It is possible to draw too much current from the USB circuitry with too many devices. Happened to me the other day when my desktop computer refused to recognize the reader. The red LED was on, I think, even though I doubt that the battery was charging at that moment.

Good luck!
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Old 08-14-2008, 11:57 AM   #9
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Sorry, I should have said that I did charge it overnight last night, and the light was off by morning.

I'll try plugging it into the computer solo and see what happens.
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Old 08-14-2008, 12:42 PM   #10
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Question

Nope, that didn't work either. Light went out, still no progress.



Any chance someone could make a zip file or disk image of their PRS-505's internal memory (everything on "untitled") and either post it or email?

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Old 08-14-2008, 01:47 PM   #11
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Is this something that they could fix for me at a Sony Style store? Anybody have any experience with that?
Scratch that. Just called and because I got the thing engraved, they can't take it back. Ugh!

Last edited by willgordon; 08-14-2008 at 02:12 PM.
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Old 08-14-2008, 04:51 PM   #12
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I also went out and bought a PSP charger, charged until the light went off.

No dice.
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Old 08-14-2008, 04:53 PM   #13
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Have you tried running the standalone official firmware update app (on Windows)?
If it says it's already up-to-date there's descriptions of how to unpack it & edit the version no it compares with - try that?
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Old 08-14-2008, 05:13 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by willgordon View Post
Any chance someone could make a zip file or disk image of their PRS-505's internal memory (everything on "untitled") and either post it or email?
The problem is that what you see when the reader's mounted via USB is only part of the real 'disk' - I suspect you need to try & focus on getting the firmware to reflash.
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Old 08-14-2008, 05:29 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by willgordon View Post
Is this something that they could fix for me at a Sony Style store? Anybody have any experience with that?
Scratch that. Just called and because I got the thing engraved, they can't take it back. Ugh!
But will they take it back for repair?
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