Is my Story dying?

MacEachaidh · 06-12-2011, 10:51 AM

It's only 14 months old! (Yes, I know the warranty is only 12 months.

)

Bear with me, and I'll give you details of what's happening. I'd really appreciate any suggestions people might make:

A couple of nights ago, I fell asleep reading from the Story. Next morning, I noticed that the "screen-saver" hadn't cut in, and the screen hadn't timed out (it always has before). Instead, the display was still showing the page I'd been reading when I fell asleep.

Since then, the screen-saver just doesn't come up. Also, the books that are on my SD card show up, but in the menu listing they now have a little icon (apparently representing the SD card itself) beside them - there's never been one there before, and I've not seen any mention - in the manual or on the website - that the Story had this capability.

This all seems very weird to me. It's not as if I've been playing with the Settings at all - I haven't. It just happened - literally - overnight.

So, I tried connecting the device to my PC, copying all the book files off into a holding folder on my desktop, and then I deleted all the files on the Story, and all its default folders. I copied the firmware EBOOK.HEX file onto it, then disconnected and rebooted the device.

It went through the firmware upgrade, then - to my surprise - showed the menu exactly as before, with all the books listed that are no longer on the device. The menu clearly isn't refreshing, and I can't find any way to make it do so. Shutting the device down and rebooting it just brings up the same menu, listing all the books that aren't on there. If I use the menu to try to open one of these, it starts the loading procedure, then pauses for about 30 seconds, then comes back to the menu ... without opening the book (obviously) but with it still listed in the menu.

I tried copying some new ePubs onto the device, then rebooting it ... but they don't show up in the menu. The menu isn't refreshing. If I put the books that are listed on the menu back onto the Story, they'll then open fine from the menu, but nothing that's not already on the menu will.

I've tried all this with both the 1.71 and the 1.86 firmware ... same result with both.

Has anyone got any suggestions about what might be happening? Better still, suggestions about how to fix all this?

Thanks!

MacEachaidh · 06-12-2011, 11:17 AM

Hmm. It just occurred to me that I hadn't tried hard-resetting it. So I just have, and the problem's gone away. (For now, anyway.)

Maybe it was just a glitch. (Though why it should kick in when the device wasn't actually doing anything, I have no idea. And I'm surprised by the icons for the books on the SD card. They'd never been there before, and now they are, even after the resetting. I gather they're intended?)

Anyway, I've left all this here in case anyone has any comments or suggestions to make.

James_Wilde · 06-12-2011, 04:59 PM

Good to know you've solved it, Bran.

So you're using the 1.86 firmware. Any big advantages with that? I'm still on 1.71 as far as I remember.

MacEachaidh · 06-12-2011, 09:45 PM

Hi James,
Thanks for replying.

From 1.86, I've seen no differences at all. The thing's working (for the moment!) but I imagine it would have done so with 1.71 as well. I had to install something, so I figured nothing ventured etc ...

It's certainly quicker in response than it has been for the last few months, but I suspect that's more because it's had a clean re-install than the actual version of the firmware.

I'm wondering if the OS is like early versions of Windows - Windows 3.1 or thereabouts - that it gets bogged down over time and benefits from a clean out and reinstall. A few months back my Story locked up - only time it's happened, so I think I've been lucky - and had to be sent off to the distributor to be sorted out. That's what they did too: cleaned my files off, and re-installed the firmware.

Anyway. Version 1.86? It works OK, but I can't see any differences in functions or options.

greenlees · 06-12-2011, 10:19 PM

How do you do a hard reset?

I was thinking about doing one myself

thanks

MacEachaidh · 06-12-2011, 10:48 PM

Hi greenlees,
I don't mean to sound like I'm fobbing you off, but probably the best thing to do is check the manual that came on pdf with the unit. (If you haven't got a copy of the manual, you can get it at http://www.iriver.com/support/download_list.asp) In the case of the iRiver Story, how to reset the device is on page 14. It has diagrams, so that's probably more reliable than my trying to explain it here in words.

But the manual says you should only reset the device if it's stopped functioning. If it's working OK, then doing a reset won't improve anything and can actually damage the operating files.

If you meant to ask about doing a re-install, then that's pretty straightforward. What I did was:

a) connected the device to my PC, and used Windows Explorer to copy all my book files onto my PC for safekeeping.
b) deleted all files and folders on the Story
c) copied the ebook.hex file (the firmware) onto the Story
d) then "stopped" the USB connection, disconnected the device from the PC, let it reboot, and let the firmware installation run to its completion
e) pressed the Menu button, went into Settings, and chose Initialise, to set everything back to factory defaults
f) rebooted the Story, then went back into Settings to update the time, date, owner etc
g) connected to my PC again and copied all my files back on

Seemed to work for me. (If anyone can see a problem with what I did, I'd be grateful if you'd let me know.)

Anyway, I hope that helps.

Larrie · 06-23-2011, 09:06 AM

My iRiver story, which used to have better contrast than my PB360, has now faded significantly (it is 19 months old). See how faded it is now compared to by PB360

MacEachaidh · 06-23-2011, 09:42 AM

Wow, that's a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, eh?

I've heard it said that iRiver uses very low-quality components, though I don't have the technical knowledge to know for sure myself. I probably wouldn't mind so much if the iRiver wasn't one of the most expensive eReaders available - in my country, anyway. (And at the time I bought it, it was just about the *only* one available locally, as well.)

I'm not a fan of Sony as a brand, but I'm thinking once the PRS-650s are back in production I'll ditch my iRiver for one of them. Bit of a pity the Story has got pretty much zero resale value!

Larrie · 06-24-2011, 07:38 AM

Yup Pearl E-ink touch is probably the way to go, though there is this rumour of a new sony line floating around... I have heard about e-ink fading in sunlight and have experienced the poor contrast of the sony 600, but I have never heard of an iriver e-ink screen fading beyond usability after < 2 years! (It was fine and had much darker contrast than both my PB360 and sony 600 for > 1 year though..)

06-12-2011, 10:51 AM	#1
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Is my Story dying? It's only 14 months old! (Yes, I know the warranty is only 12 months. ) Bear with me, and I'll give you details of what's happening. I'd really appreciate any suggestions people might make: A couple of nights ago, I fell asleep reading from the Story. Next morning, I noticed that the "screen-saver" hadn't cut in, and the screen hadn't timed out (it always has before). Instead, the display was still showing the page I'd been reading when I fell asleep. Since then, the screen-saver just doesn't come up. Also, the books that are on my SD card show up, but in the menu listing they now have a little icon (apparently representing the SD card itself) beside them - there's never been one there before, and I've not seen any mention - in the manual or on the website - that the Story had this capability. This all seems very weird to me. It's not as if I've been playing with the Settings at all - I haven't. It just happened - literally - overnight. So, I tried connecting the device to my PC, copying all the book files off into a holding folder on my desktop, and then I deleted all the files on the Story, and all its default folders. I copied the firmware EBOOK.HEX file onto it, then disconnected and rebooted the device. It went through the firmware upgrade, then - to my surprise - showed the menu exactly as before, with all the books listed that are no longer on the device. The menu clearly isn't refreshing, and I can't find any way to make it do so. Shutting the device down and rebooting it just brings up the same menu, listing all the books that aren't on there. If I use the menu to try to open one of these, it starts the loading procedure, then pauses for about 30 seconds, then comes back to the menu ... without opening the book (obviously) but with it still listed in the menu. I tried copying some new ePubs onto the device, then rebooting it ... but they don't show up in the menu. The menu isn't refreshing. If I put the books that are listed on the menu back onto the Story, they'll then open fine from the menu, but nothing that's not already on the menu will. I've tried all this with both the 1.71 and the 1.86 firmware ... same result with both. Has anyone got any suggestions about what might be happening? Better still, suggestions about how to fix all this? Thanks!

06-23-2011, 09:06 AM	#7
Larrie Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 18 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: PRS 600, PB 360, Ectaco JB, Kindle DX, PRS 950, M90	My iRiver Story screen died My iRiver story, which used to have better contrast than my PB360, has now faded significantly (it is 19 months old). See how faded it is now compared to by PB360 Attached Thumbnails

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06-12-2011, 11:17 AM	#2
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Hmm. It just occurred to me that I hadn't tried hard-resetting it. So I just have, and the problem's gone away. (For now, anyway.) Maybe it was just a glitch. (Though why it should kick in when the device wasn't actually doing anything, I have no idea. And I'm surprised by the icons for the books on the SD card. They'd never been there before, and now they are, even after the resetting. I gather they're intended?) Anyway, I've left all this here in case anyone has any comments or suggestions to make.

06-12-2011, 04:59 PM	#3
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	Good to know you've solved it, Bran. So you're using the 1.86 firmware. Any big advantages with that? I'm still on 1.71 as far as I remember.

06-12-2011, 09:45 PM	#4
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Hi James, Thanks for replying. From 1.86, I've seen no differences at all. The thing's working (for the moment!) but I imagine it would have done so with 1.71 as well. I had to install something, so I figured nothing ventured etc ... It's certainly quicker in response than it has been for the last few months, but I suspect that's more because it's had a clean re-install than the actual version of the firmware. I'm wondering if the OS is like early versions of Windows - Windows 3.1 or thereabouts - that it gets bogged down over time and benefits from a clean out and reinstall. A few months back my Story locked up - only time it's happened, so I think I've been lucky - and had to be sent off to the distributor to be sorted out. That's what they did too: cleaned my files off, and re-installed the firmware. Anyway. Version 1.86? It works OK, but I can't see any differences in functions or options.

06-12-2011, 10:19 PM	#5
greenlees Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: kindle touch	How do you do a hard reset? I was thinking about doing one myself thanks

06-12-2011, 10:48 PM	#6
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Hi greenlees, I don't mean to sound like I'm fobbing you off, but probably the best thing to do is check the manual that came on pdf with the unit. (If you haven't got a copy of the manual, you can get it at http://www.iriver.com/support/download_list.asp) In the case of the iRiver Story, how to reset the device is on page 14. It has diagrams, so that's probably more reliable than my trying to explain it here in words. But the manual says you should only reset the device if it's stopped functioning. If it's working OK, then doing a reset won't improve anything and can actually damage the operating files. If you meant to ask about doing a re-install, then that's pretty straightforward. What I did was: a) connected the device to my PC, and used Windows Explorer to copy all my book files onto my PC for safekeeping. b) deleted all files and folders on the Story c) copied the ebook.hex file (the firmware) onto the Story d) then "stopped" the USB connection, disconnected the device from the PC, let it reboot, and let the firmware installation run to its completion e) pressed the Menu button, went into Settings, and chose Initialise, to set everything back to factory defaults f) rebooted the Story, then went back into Settings to update the time, date, owner etc g) connected to my PC again and copied all my files back on Seemed to work for me. (If anyone can see a problem with what I did, I'd be grateful if you'd let me know.) Anyway, I hope that helps.

06-23-2011, 09:42 AM	#8
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Wow, that's a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, eh? I've heard it said that iRiver uses very low-quality components, though I don't have the technical knowledge to know for sure myself. I probably wouldn't mind so much if the iRiver wasn't one of the most expensive eReaders available - in my country, anyway. (And at the time I bought it, it was just about the only one available locally, as well.) I'm not a fan of Sony as a brand, but I'm thinking once the PRS-650s are back in production I'll ditch my iRiver for one of them. Bit of a pity the Story has got pretty much zero resale value!

06-24-2011, 07:38 AM	#9
Larrie Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 18 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: PRS 600, PB 360, Ectaco JB, Kindle DX, PRS 950, M90	Yup Pearl E-ink touch is probably the way to go, though there is this rumour of a new sony line floating around... I have heard about e-ink fading in sunlight and have experienced the poor contrast of the sony 600, but I have never heard of an iriver e-ink screen fading beyond usability after < 2 years! (It was fine and had much darker contrast than both my PB360 and sony 600 for > 1 year though..)

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